Natal Ascendant in Capricorn
Posted by Luminakisharblaze on March 6, 2011 at 11:20am in Astrology
(Bernice Grebner)
First Decanate (Capricorn-Capricorn): These people are born old and serious, and should watch the tendency to become too disciplined. The result can be stiff calcium deposits in their joints as they get older. Their physical body gets stronger, however, as they get older. They will work very hard and will sacrifice much for ambition. They want to project themselves as authorities in their field, which can mean more to them than financial success.
With Cancer-Cancer on the Descendant, a woman with this position will tend to mother her mate; a man wants a wife who will mother him. There is a very emotional attitude concerning marriage, even though the Capricorn Ascendant makes them seem very cold and unsympathetic. Financial gain may be a primary motive within the marriage.
Second Decanate (Capricorn-Taurus): Whatever they do must serve a useful purpose. They are conservative, but have natural flairs for using energy in creative art works, which usually are profitable. They are ambitious and use mental energy to gain prestige and money as well. They need to learn to relax and have fun merely for fun's sake. If they love you, they may not be the most expressive lovers you know, but they will be protective and loyal.
With Cancer-Scorpio on the Descendant, they have deep and possessive feelings for their marriage partners and friends. They may keep secrets from those they love, but their loved ones had better not keep any secrets from them. They are loyal, protective and sympathetic; and, even though within the relationship changes may come about, marriage and partnerships endure. They bring a strong sexuality to the marriage, and possessiveness to friendships or other deep relationships.
Third Decanate (Capricorn-Virgo): The health is not so good when they are young; and, because they have had to take good care of themselves, they believe in healthful living and grow stronger as they get older. They are practical and careful, perhaps too fussy at times. They will sacrifice personal physical comfort for ambition. While trying to succeed they will abide by the rules of the society in which they reside. This decanate is more flexible than the other decanates.
With Cancer-Pisces on the Descendant, they need friends and sympathetic marriage partners with whom to discuss their problems. They in turn can make great sacrifices for them. This may be the person who sacrifices marriage to care for an aged or sick relative. They may also sacrifice marriage to pursue some noble cause.
(Sepharial and Muchery)
First Decanate: The mind is masterful and ambitious, but often beset with doubts. The sympathies are narrow, and the native is usually a strong sectarian, or disposed to religious austerities, and at times to self-immolation. Sometimes a fatalist, or yet a believer in the occult, the native is ever fearful of his destiny, yet nevertheless carried onward by a prevailing self-confidence and high ambition. Relatives assist, and again obstruct, the progress of the native. Some secret evil mars the life and threatens the fame of a fair destiny. The decan gives very strong religious feeling, capable of arousing a high and worthy ideal.
Second Decanate: The acme of forceful self-assertion, of intense ambition, and of red-hot enthusiasm is reached in this decan of Capricorn. The native may easily achieve military honours, but is always in danger of overstepping the limits of prudence, and suffering a speedy downfall. Yet friends are numerous and powerful, and favours fall in full measure to the native. The nature is capable of extreme energy, and may become cruel and despotic unless tempered by prevailing influences of a softer and more humane nature. There are many and constant rivals who threaten the fame and position of the native. With moderation and proper feeling, the native will secure very high honours and a wide fame. The keynote of the decan is conquest, and again conquest.
Third Decanate: The disposition is proud, cold, reserved, and austere, wanting in sympathy and grace. The native suffers through his children, and also runs the risk of financial ruin by speculations. The spirit if melancholy, and disposed to look gloomily upon life's problems. Not infrequently there is danger of premature death. The struggle of life will be hard, because the nature is too self-centred, and devoid of the wider sympathies.
Physical Qualities: Capricorn gives a slight, bony figure with prominent features; a sharp face, with a long nose, frequently bent inward at the point, and a strong but narrow, long chin; firm lips; a thin neck with a very prominent Adam's apple; deficiency in the lobes of the ears; thin, straight, oily, dark or black hair; a very thin, small beard if any; sometimes problems at the knees. The native tends to be short and sometimes reaches and average stature but is unlikely to be tall, and will stoop if the average height is exceeded. The chest is thin and hollow.
Mental Qualities: Wilful, strong in purpose; very ambitious, desirous of government; reserved; capricious; quiet and reclusive, but forceful in action; changeful. Morally Capricorn chiefly denotes an exaggerated sense of independence, craftiness, shrewdness in small matters, much patience and perseverance, often leading to a meagre result, especially in the initial period of life. Later on, if the horoscope on the whole is favourable, Capricorn on the Ascendant procures success in politics or business due to cunning.
(Frances Sakoian and Louis Acker)
Discipline, systematic endeavor, hard work, and patience are Capricorns' characteristics. Everything they do has a purpose, and is designed to achieve some definite practical aned. Capricorns are serious, austere, somewhat melancholy, and reserved.
With Cancer on the 7th house cusp, they are strongly attached emotionally to their spouses and partners. However, the fact that their partners also are often emotionally dependent on them presents problems at times. Capricorns are, moreover, emotional about their relations with the public and with dear friends whom they regard as members of their family.
(Dane Rudhyar)
A Capricorn Ascendant leads one to discover one's own essential identity and destiny in activities that involve the integration of distant factors or of basic antagonisms which can be integrated only by means of strictly logical systems or legal instrumentalities requiring some type of police force to enforce patterns of order. The Capricorn Ascendant will resort to large impersonal or superpersonal concepts or techniques of organization. Carl Jung had a Capricorn Ascendant, and his system of depth psychology stresses the idea that the power of archetypes of the collective unconscious is ultimately more important than that of strictly personal feelings or intellectual concepts.
The person with a Capricorn Ascendant has need of people with whom he can relate person to person, for without such concretizing meetings and close interpersonal empathy he might feel personally overinvolved in ambitious schemes and large-scale social planning, or in mystical and cosmic realizations. Capricorn can refer to experiences and faculties that many people would call 'mystical', but the reference is rather to the type of consciousness that is able or desires intensely to operate in terms of a transcendant type of order, of a cosmic and - in teh real sense of this much abused term - occult use of power. He may tend to overwhelm other people with such power, seeking potential subjects in order to fulfill what he considers his destiny. It could be a catabolic kind of destiny.
(Howard Sasportas)
Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn, has a spilt personality in mythology. On the one hand, we hear about him castrating his father and eating his children. In this sense, he represents a repressive principle - critical, cold and harsh. On the other hand, however, in Roman mythology he ruled over the Golden Age. The Saturnalia was a festival of licence, sensuality, abundance and indulgence - the time of the cornucopia.
The qualities of Capricorn on the Ascendant reflect the dual nature of Saturn. Remembering the general principle that we find ourselves through developing the qualities of the Ascendant, Capricorn there suggests that an appreciation of these two sides of life is needed.
The first side of Capricorn is well-documented. With this sign rising, there is often the sense that a stern father watches over them expecting obedience and certain achievements from his children. The energy and enthusiasm of the previous sign, Sagittarius, must be used practically and productively and within defined limits. They cannot just flow or float with whatever comes along or allow themselves to be swept away by every whim or passion. In order to meet the requirements of the father-inoneself, Capricorn rising has to cautiously plan and structure the life, building logically and slowly towards achieving goals and ambitions. Energy must be carefully measured out and this calls for discipline and control. Capricorn rules the knees; and sooner or later those with this Ascendant must bend in submission to a higher authority - internal or external - which expects something of them. Like Job, it is often through hardship and frustration that Capricorn rising is humbled and learns to accept certain laws, limits and structures. Like Christ, there may be doubts at the last minute whether the sacrifices were all worth it.
In short, Capricorn rising needs to 'make something of the self' and achieve some degree of collective validation and respect. They may rebel and try to escape lessons and responsibilities, but eventually it dawns that they simply feel better if they face obligations, whether to themselves or to others.
What about the other side of Saturn - the deity who ruled over the Golden Age? As a cardinal Earth sign, Capricorn has the capacity to operate very efficiently in teh material world. Through developing their potential adeptness in handling and organizing practical affairs, Capricorn rising experiences a sense of fulfilment and accomplishment. Next to Virgo, no other Ascending sign is better capable of creating order out of chaos than Capricorn, or taking a vision of possibilities and making it real. And we mustn't forget the Pan or Satyr side of earthy Capricorn - the capacity to enjoy the physical senses and the natural world. Perhaps it is becaeuse Capricorn rising is so aware of the harsher realities of life, that he / she can, by contrast, savour that which is sensual and beautiful.
Capricorn rising has the feeling and watery side of Cancer on the Descendant. The soft-edged, fleshy and rounded image of Cancer opposes and naturally moderates the rigidity and inflexibility of Capricorn. Capricorn rising may look so tough to the world, but often runs home to be pampered and mothered by its mate. In spite of an external hardness or diffidence, those with Capricorn on the Ascendant are unusually sensitive to the feelings of those close to them and often adapt themselves to meet their partners' needs. The stern and judging Father is mediated by the all-accepting and protective Mother. If in one sphere of life we go too far in one direction, life compensates for it in other places.
Many astrologers believe that Capricorn rising, like good wine, matures or ripens well, becoming better and happier with time. Physically, Capricorn on the cusp of the 1st often appears fairly wiry and lean; and there is usually something distinctive about the bone structure in the face. Sometimes, like Pan and his followers, they look a little devilish.
The harsher and more stringent side of Capricorn rising may use sensitivity to other people (Cancer on the Descendant) as a means of better manipulating and controlling situations to personal gain. Another side of Capricorn rising, however, will work hard and discipline the self to bring gifts and talents to the world.
(Jeanne Avery)
The personality of someone with this rising sign can be the most intriguing of all personalities described by the signs of the zodiac because of its very depth and complexity. This individual may appear to be aloof, cool, or remote, yet an elegant quality may conceal an inherent shyness. He is the most responsible of all the rising signs. The ruler of Capricorn is Saturn, the planet that indicates solidarity, security, caution, and reliability. Capricorn is an Earth sign, and is one of the cardinal signs, representing sensitivity. The symbol of Capricorn is the mountain goat, who takes one step at a time, finding sure footing on the steep slopes of his habitat. The Capricorn personality follows this cautious route, setting long-range goals, but reaching the top of the heap in his own sweet time. He must be on sure ground before he can progress.
Traditional astrology pictured Saturn as the planet to fear, teaching that Saturn brought nothing but hardship, burden, and drudgery. It was called the taskmaster. But Saturn has also been named the great teacher. It is true that it seems easier to learn from difficulties than from ease and pleasure. Modern psychology has brought new understanding to the meaning of this planet. Examining Saturn from all directions proves that Saturn is much more than an energy to be wary of. It indicates areas of stability, determination, and practicality. It is the planet of 'gravity' that manifests spiritual qualities on the earth plane. If Saturn were not in the chart of an individual, he wouldn't be on earth, for Saturn indicates the karmic task he comes back to solve and dispense with.
A person with Capricorn on the ascendant can be quite serious and old before his time, for he is not able to take matters lightly. He may even have graying hair early in his life. As a child he appears must self-sufficient and mature, yet there is a lack of security inherent in the personality. He will carefully conceal any pain he feels so no-one would know he is needy in any way. His proper behavior is a façade that protect him. He has somehow steeled himself against the world with a stoic attitude. He secretly wishes he could let down his walls, but he simply doesn't know how. He may be dying for someone to look past the barriers he erects and show the warmth and reassurance he so badly needs. He may be judgemental, cool, and aloof just at the very time he craves affection most. His defensiveness protects him in a strange way.
He can seem chilly when he is anything but that.
This ascendant describes someone who has assumed the burdens of all those around him early in life. It may be entirely subconscious, yet he has what is called an 'Atlas complex'. He desperately needs to be needed. Therefore it is better to be needed by someone than by no-one at all. He can overload himself to the point where he is under tremendous pressure, yet he is motivated by assuming responsibility, perhaps to the breaking point. He tends to wear the 'hair shirt' and is masochistic to some degree. The more he beats himself up, the more he can justify his existence. Deep insecurities stem from early childhood; he feels rejection on a very basic level. It is more than likely that this rejection comes from before his birth, when he felt unwanted by one or both parents.
The interesting complexity of one with this ascendant comes with his decisions about survival. Since the ascendant describes the conditions of birth - the initiation into the earth plane - as well as the conclusions derived due to these circumstances, habits formed at the very first moment can precondition life behavior. Unfortunately, patterns are established before accurate analysis of a situation is possible. These patterns and decisions may be re-examined later on, but until that time, the photographs made early in life set the stage. The birth decisions are especially strong for one with Capricorn rising. The feeling of rejection can seriously inhibit him throughout his life. The birth process itself, for one with this ascendant, is particularly long and drawn out. It appears that one with Capricorn rising is reluctant to come into the world at all.
During regression sessions, the standard memory for one with Capricorn on the rise, or with Saturn in the first house, is that of dreading entry into the world. It is as if he sees the conditions that await him and decides to put off confronting them as long as possible. The resistance to birth is so strong that many individuals with this ascendant recall a feeling of digging in the heels until fatigue set in. The reality of having no way out and no choice in the matter forced him to give in and be born. This extreme dread of life seems primarily concerned with the feeling of not being wanted. Rejection spells lack of safety, with no-one to depend on but oneself.
One of the earliest decisions about survival for one with this Saturnish color to the personality is hat he is only safe when he is in control. He doesn't trust anyone but himself, and feels he is all alone in the world. He starts out contolling his own birth as long as he can. In effect, he says, 'Just a minute, I'm not ready... please don't make me do it... I may not be ready for this ordeal for a few thousand more centuries'. To resist birth, he tenses his muscles, grips inwardly as hard as he can, and generally armors himself against the onslaught of life. Later on, he has muscles that go into spasm, and sleeps with tight jaws and teeth grinding. He feels tensions across the shoulders in particular, as that is where the Atlas complex bears down hardest. He can become tired quite easily, as he tends to constrict the breathing mechanism from habit. The general tension of his body wears him out. He may not realize that he is tight in attitude as well.
The Capricorn personality is born with a sense that he is destined for something important. He wants his life to count for something, yet he goes about delaying his 'destiny' as long as possible. He procrastinates constantly, as he has a storng perfectionist quality. Perhaps if he is perfect in all ways, he will be loved and appreciated. His fear of failure is extremely strong. He sets up conditions around him that may border on hardship in order to build character, or so that he won't muck up his opportunity to do what he came into this life to do. He seems to give himself not quite enough elbow room for fear of straying from the straight and narrow.
Childhood is never easy for one with this rising sign. Luxury and ease of living don't seem to be on the cards for him early in his life. He seems to choose to pay back any karmic debt as soon as possible in order to get the worst over with early on. The burden he carries deep within his subconscious can make him sad and lonely, unhappy about his lot in life. He has deep guilts, whether from memories of a past life or from the situation he sees around him. Somehow he feels responsible for any difficulties in the lives of his parents or those around him. If he hadn't been born, all would be roses. Since he sses himself as the straw that broke the camel's back, he decides to be particularly good and perfect. if he is able to accomplish that, perhaps he will survive the worst. He shouts, 'I won't take up much space, I won't eat very much, and I'll be so quiet and good that you'll hardly notice that I'm here'. The shout is heard by nobody.
Capricorn ascendant comes into life feeling as though he is the parent. He feels he has to take care of his own parents, as he is the strong one, reliable, responsible, and stoic. He is able to bear burdens no-one else is capable of handling. He may have a karmic relationship with his parents, feeling that he is responsible for them somehow or other; that their lives would have been easier without him. His insecurities come from an awareness that he is too little to properly deal with the total responsibility he feels he must undertake. His fear of letting someone down is connected to survival itself. He is handicapped right from the start with a sense of defeat. He cannot solve problems for everyone until he is grown. He worries that it may be too late then. He puts himself under such pressure to perform that his performance is hampered by his own concern. He will tkae whatever anyone dumps on him, as he feels it is his obligation. He will take it and take it, long after it is necesssary. When he has finally finished being the doormat in a particular situation, with a particular person, his walls go up so solidly that he is reaching his breaking point. Only he forsees the end in sight, and he cannot give any clues that it is coming.
The Kabbalists say that Saturn is the 'playpen' that Mother Earth put her children in. A playpen is designed primarily to keep a baby safe from harm. It is a restriction, yet a safety. A baby graduates from his playpen when he learns to take responsibility for his actions. He is allowed more freedom if he learns not to 'play in traffic' or get into situations that will harm him. Life seems to provide a 'playpen' for one with this ascendant through restrictive situations early in life. He may have very strict parents who curtail his activities; or he may have losses early in life that put a natural damper on his personality and opportunities. He may have to assume special burdens in the family very early on, making him old before his time. Some sadness can be due to an actual loss of a parent in his childhood. Whatever the actual source of heaviness of heart appears to be, the inner feeling of loneliness, sadness, and rejection causes him to assume responsibility all his life. He will never get away from his need to be needed and relied on. He simply learns how to upgrade the level of responsibility and pressure he takes on. He learns how to be in control without being controlling.
Eventually, the Capricorn ascendant is able to be somewhat objective about his childhood. He can then re-evaluate some of those decisions he made, perhaps without even knowing he made them. His willingness to probe through painful memories lifts great burdens from his shoulders, as he can clearly see that his early decisions are no longer viable. Since his survival depends on his trusting no-one but himself, however, he cannot easily give over the control to someone else. He finds it hard to consult another person in order to gain the objectivity he needs. If he continues to hide behind his fears, guilts, and insecurities, he may be avoiding his ultimate responsibility and destiny. A refusal to examine early issues may be his way of staying safely in his playpen. Finally, if he becomes tired enough of attracting or feeling continued rejection, loss, and hardship, his weariness enables him to give in to what he came into life to do. He begins to take better care of himself.
Transactional Analysis proposes the theory that we have three ego states that are all equally important to express. The use of one ego state to the exclusion of others results in blocked energy. Saturn is the planet associated with the parent ego state. We develop that ego state early in life by listening to our parents' messages or injunctions. The directives necessary for a two-year-old's safety can be very inappropriate later in life, yet we record those messages in our subconscious and act on them long after they are valid. A two-year-old is told such things as 'You're too little, you can't, don't embarrass me, be perfect'. In some cases, these messages become even more stringent and poisonous. If we continue telling ourselves the same things long after those directives are useful, we may be saying, 'I can't, I'm too little, I'm not good enough' when we're old and gray. Parent messages can reinforce insecurities or contribute to their development in the first place. The aspects to Saturn in the natal chart indicate the severity of these early injunctions.
One with Capricorn rising was born expressing the parent ego state. It is the easiest ego state for this individual to deal with because it is developed in him extremely early in life. He seems to set up situations and conditions of life that reinforce a need to take charge, be in control. Past life memory may subconsciously bring in an especially strong sense of duty. He seems to choose to be born to the very parent or parents that will reinforce his feelings, memories. One young lady, during a regression session, experienced a prenatal feeling of not being wanted. Circumstances were not ideal for another baby in the family, and the father was definitely upset over the situation. She remembered her defensive attitude and was aware that she rejected the father before he could further reject her. She assumed a strong parental role very early in her life, deciding that she could do a better job than her father. Later on, she was motivated by a responsibility she felt for her family and for almost everyone around her. Tremendous guilt set in if she felt she wasn't doing everything for everyone and satisfying the expectations of all those around her.
Another lady with Capricorn rising sensed a mission and important destiny before she was born. She knew she had to come to the earth plane to play a decisive role in helping people. She had a very strong sensation that she literally 'used' her mother to get to the earth. It seemed to explain many things in her childhood. She had no real connection with her mother during her growing years, yet often felt guilty for being unresponsive, without knowing why or being able to change. Many times, one with this ascendant feels as though he simply doesn't belong to the family he was born to. He feels he is the outsider and somehow different from other family members. His sense of aloneness and isolation begins very early on.