Capricorn and the climb up the mountain

As the Sun enters Capricorn, marking the Winter Solstice and the start of the slow but sure return of the Sun's light to the northern hemisphere, I'm sharing a few images to illustrate the Capricornian journey to the mountain top. These were taken in Alaska and come courtesy of Maylis at www.maylisphotography.com

Capricorn, a Cardinal Earth Sign, is renowned for its determination and staying power en route to attaining the distant goal it has set for itself. Capricorn is symbolised as half-fish, half-goat. Its tail may draw it back towards the watery world where it was spawned, but its head and upper body lead it onwards and upwards towards the distant heights. If you've ever watched goats climbing up a mountainside you'll know that they are sure-footed and determined, leaping from one rock to the next and not always going in a straight line. They take their time, they have a kind of strategy which keeps them on a safe footing as they gradually work their way towards their goal. Observe these traits in people born with the Sun in Capricorn. They don't take unnecessary risks, they suss out all eventualities before embarking on a project and they usually aim high.

The Capricorn traveller sees the goal - the mountain peak. It's in the distance, there's a lot of ground to be covered and there's cloud on the mountain top. All risks and possibilities have to be covered before the traveller sets off. Capricorns are good planners - be creative and imagine what this one might wear and carry with them at the start of their journey! There's a glacier to be crossed before the mountain is reached and the real climb starts.

Crossing the glacier could be fraught with unexpected dangers so the Capricorn traveller needs to plan ahead and have the right equipment. The journey may take longer than planned if the traveller has to make detours to skirt around the crevasses. And if Capricorn decides to leap across, this will not be done without care, attention and risk limitation!

When the mountain top is finally reached, the view is breathtaking and the air refined and of a different quality. Here, Capricorn may well "see the light" and gain a vastly different and far wider view and perspective on the world, life and his or her own reason for being here. But this is a practical Earth Sign and although the spiritual heights can be reached, Capricorn's task is to bring the insights from this journey and experience down off the mountain and share them in some way (perhaps simply by example) with others.

The esoteric seed thought for Capricorn is "Lost am I in light supernal, yet on that light I turn my back" and that more or less sums up what I've tried to relate to you here about the highest expression of this Sign.