Capricorn

Capricorn covers the weeks from about 22 December to 19 January and begins at the winter solstice, the longest night of the year. It is an earth sign ruled by Saturn, and the tradition describes it as patient, steady and building something that lasts.

The constellation and its story

The twelve signs come from Babylon, where astronomers had divided the sun's path into twelve equal parts by the fifth century BCE. This figure is one of the strangest: SUHUR.MAŠ, the goat-fish, with the front of a goat and the tail of a fish. It was the animal of Ea, god of fresh water and wisdom, and appears on boundary stones more than three thousand years old.

The Greeks gave the goat-fish a story. When the monster Typhon attacked the gods, Pan leapt into the Nile to escape. The half of him under water became a fish, the half above stayed a goat, and Zeus set the odd shape among the stars. Another telling links the sign with Amalthea, the goat who fed the infant Zeus in a cave on Crete.

Capricornus is faint: a wide triangle of dim stars, like a smile, below the bright star Altair. The Tropic of Capricorn is named after the sign, because in antiquity the sun stood here at the winter solstice. Since Ptolemy fixed the signs to the equinox in the second century CE, the slow wobble of the earth's axis has moved the stars, so the sun now stands in front of Sagittarius for most of Capricorn season.

Element and planet

The four elements come from Greek philosophy, and Aristotle gave each two qualities. Earth is cold and dry: rock, frozen ground, everything that holds and endures. Capricorn stands with Taurus and Virgo as an earth sign, and it is "cardinal", a sign that opens a season, here the winter. The tradition describes Capricorn as patient, ambitious and ready for the long climb. These are old character sketches, not facts about anyone born in January.

Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, the slowest of the planets you can see with the eye, which takes almost thirty years to circle the sky. Saturn is traditionally the planet of time, limits and long work. In the old system it rules two signs side by side: Capricorn and Aquarius.

The stone

In The Curious Lore of Precious Stones (1913) the American mineralogist George Frederick Kunz gives ruby as the stone of Capricorn. Ruby is red corundum, the same mineral as sapphire in another colour. In Sanskrit it was called ratnaraj, "king of precious stones", and some of the finest rubies have come for centuries from the valley of Mogok in Myanmar.

Ruby is the July stone on the American jewellers' list of 1912. Modern lists vary a lot for Capricorn; both tables are modern, gathered from older lore.

Colour and scent

Capricorn is often associated with dark brown and black, the colours of winter earth and bare wood, and with the scents of cypress and myrrh. Cypress is the tall dark tree of Mediterranean hillsides, resinous and green; myrrh is a warm, bitter resin, one of the gifts of the three kings. These are modern pairings from astrology books and shops.

Our Capricorn fragrance oil is made by Ancient Wisdom: 10 ml in a night-blue box printed with the sign and its dates, for the oil burner only. The maker does not list the notes of each blend, so we will not invent them. It comes in our bundle The Twelve Signs, with an oil burner and tealights.

The Sign Candle for Capricorn, also by Ancient Wisdom, is hand-poured soy wax in a midnight glass, with notes of coconut, rose and macaron. Raw crystals crown the wax, and more come to light as it burns down. A gemstone bracelet for your sign comes with it, packed beside the candle.

A ritual for your season

1. Choose the evening. The solstice, around 22 December, or your birthday. It is the longest night, so there is time.
2. Set up the burner on a fireproof surface, away from curtains. Fill the bowl with water, add a few drops of the Capricorn oil and light a tealight beneath. Oil into the water only, never on skin.
3. Light your Sign Candle and put on the bracelet.
4. Write what you built. One page about the past year: what did you work at, step by step, and where did it bring you?
5. Set your intention for the year ahead. One sentence, and below it the first three steps. Saturn is traditionally the planet of slow, patient work.
6. Close. Read your sentence aloud. Blow out the tealight before the bowl runs dry, then the candle. Never leave a flame alone.

Your Sign, Lit adds a copal resin stick and aventurine pocket stones to the candle.

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions