Capricorn in the Ancient Zodiac

In today’s horoscope if you are born between December 22 and January 20 you are a Capricorn. In this modern horoscope interpretation of the astrological zodiac, you follow the horoscope’s advice for Capricorn to find love, good luck, wealth, health, and insight on your personality.

Capricorn forms an image of the front of a Goat joined to the tail of a Fish. Where did the Goat-Fish come from?

What did it mean from the beginning?

Be Warned! Answering this will open up your horoscope in unexpected ways – embarking you on a different journey then you intended when just checking your horoscope sign…

In the ancient Zodiac, Capricorn was the fifth of twelve astrology constellations that formed a Great Story. We saw that the first four constellations were an astrological unit concerning the person of a Great Redeemer and his mortal conflict with His Enemy.

Capricorn begins the second unit which focuses on the work of this Redeemer as it affects us. In this unit we see the results – the blessings to us – of the Redeemer’s victory over His enemy. This unit opens with a Goat and closes with a Ram (Aries) and the middle two Signs concern fishes (Aquarius & Pisces). How fitting then that Capricorn has always been the front of a Goat joined to the tail of a Fish.

In the ancient Zodiac, Capricorn was for all people since it foretold benefits available to anyone. So even if you are not a Capricorn in the modern horoscope sense, the ancient astrology story embedded in the stars of Capricorn is worth understanding.

Capricorn Constellation in Astrology

Capricorn is a star constellation that form the image of a Goat fused with a fish tail. Here are the stars forming Capricorn connected by lines. Can you see anything resembling a goat-fish in this image? I cannot. How could anyone even imagine a fused goat-and-fish creature from these stars?

Goats and fishes are not even remotely related in nature. But this sign goes back as far as we know in human history. Here is the zodiac in the Dendera Temple of Egypt, more than 2000 years old, with the image of the Goat-Fish Capricorn circled in red.

Dendera Zodiac with Capricorn circled in red

As with the previous zodiac constellations, the Capricorn image of the Goat-fish is not obvious from the constellation itself. It is not innate within the star constellation. Rather, the idea of a fused Goat-Fish came first, from something other than the stars. The first astrologers then overlaid this idea onto the stars to be a recurring sign. But why? What did it mean to the ancients?

Capricorn Goat-Fish

The image of Capricorn shows the Goat bowing its head, with its right leg folded underneath the body, and he seems unable to rise with the left. It looks like the goat is dieing. But the tail of the Fish is supple, bent and is full of vigour and life.

Capricorn Goat dying but fish tail is alive

From the beginning of human history the goat (and sheep) was the accepted way to offer a sacrifice to God. The Bible tells us that Abel, son of Adam & Eve, offered sacrifices from his flocks. God accepted his sacrifices but not Cain’s. Abraham offered a Ram (male goat or sheep) and God ransomed him with it. God instructed Moses to tell the Israelites to offer a lamb for Passover. These were all signs to teach us that a ransom of another life would be needed to redeem us from the balance of Libra. Jesus, in his sacrifice on the cross volunteered to be that sacrifice for us.

The Capricorn goat bowed in death was the sign for the ancients to remind them of the promise of the coming redeemer who would be that sacrifice. Jesus was the fulfillment of that Sign.

The Capricorn Fish

But what is the meaning of the Capricorn Fish tail? To illustrate we look at another ancient culture – the Chinese. The Chinese New Year celebration occurs January/February (around the time of Capricorn) and is a tradition that goes back thousands of years. This festival celebrates with decorations that Chinese hang on their doors. Here are some images of this.

You will notice that all show fishes. Fishes are used in their New Year Greeting because, from ancient times, fishes were symbols of life, abundance and plenty.

In the same way, in the ancient zodiac, fishes represented the abundance of living people – multitudes – for whom the sacrifice was made.

Jesus used the same image of fishes when he taught about the many whom his sacrifice would reach. He taught

Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. ⁴⁸When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.

Matthew 13: 47-48

When Jesus explained the future work of his disciples he said

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”

Matthew 4:18-19

Both times the image of fishes represented the multitudes of people who would receive the gift of the Kingdom of Heaven. Why not you too?

The Capricorn Horoscope in the Writings

Horoscope comes from the Greek ‘Horo’ (hour) and thus means the marking of special hours. The Prophetic writings mark the Capricorn ‘horo’ in vivid ways. Because Capricorn is two-fold (Goat and fish), the Capricorn horo reading is also two-fold: the hour of sacrifice and the hour of multitudes. Jesus marked the first of the hours like this.

¹⁴When the hour (horo) came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. ¹⁵And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” …
Luke 22:14-16

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
Luke 22: 20

This is the ‘hour’ of the Capricorn goat. This hour had been marked by the Passover exodus over 1500 years previously, when the blood of the sacrifice was painted on the doors so that death would pass over. That very hour Jesus revealed the full meaning of Passover by stating that his blood would similarly be poured out for them … and us. He would die so we would get life, just like the Passover with Moses … just like the Capricorn goat. That hour leads to the next hour – multitudes with life.

I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the hour (horo) to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” ¹⁶So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

Revelation 14: 14-16

The prophetic writing says that this hour will come when those joined to the Capricorn sacrifice will participate in the harvest to heaven at the end of this age. This is the hour in the parable of Jesus when the fish are brought in the net. These two hours of Goat and fish balance and fulfill each other. These two hours marked Capricorn in the ancient astrological horoscope.

Your Capricorn Horoscope Reading

You and I can apply the Capricorn horoscope reading today with the following.

Capricorn tells that there is more to life than meets the eye. If you or I were running the universe perhaps all its characteristics would be straightforward and obvious. But you need to accept the fact that neither you nor I are in charge. Just as there are physical laws that govern the motion of planets, there are spiritual laws that govern you. Better accept that reality than continue to fight or try to get around it. Otherwise you will find that going against these laws is just as painful as going against physical laws. Certainly you do not want to be incompatible with the fundamental spiritual horos.

Perhaps a good place to start getting in sync with these spiritual laws is to just express thanks and gratitude instead of first trying to understand it all. After all, if there is Someone who is looking out for you in such a way as to spill some of his own blood on your behalf – why not try saying ‘thanks’. Being thankful is a trait that can smooth out a lot of questions in any relationship. And thanks can be done straight from your heart, anytime and any day. Perhaps then all the puzzling pieces may start coming together to make sense of your life. Be bold, take a new direction, and say ‘thanks’ to Capricorn.

Further in the Zodiac and deeper into Capricorn

In the Capricorn Goat we have the sacrifice of death pictured. In the Capricorn Fish we have the many peoples for whom the sacrifice gives life. Since they live in water, the fish of Capricorn also prepares us for the next chapter in the ancient Zodiac Story – Aquarius – the Man bringing rivers of living water. To start at the beginning of the Zodiac Story see Virgo.