The Capricornian is one of the most stable and serious of the zodiacal types. These independent, rocklike characters have many sterling qualities, although admittedly some of these are as dull as they are worthy. This type is normally cautiously confident, strong willed and calm. Hardworking, unemotional, shrewd, practical, responsible, persevering they are capable of persisting for as long as is necessary they are reliable workers in almost any profession they undertake. But they are neither original nor creative and can only develop what others invent or initiate.
Within their limits, however, they are resourceful, determined managers, setting themselves and others high standards. Honest in their criticism of self, they respect discipline from above and demand it from those beneath them. In their slow, tough, stubborn, unyielding way they persist against boredom, frustration, and hardship to reach their objectives long after more brilliant and volatile subjects have given up. In fact when practical business ability allied with the drive of ambition and lust for power and wealth are required in employees to make a project succeed, Capricornians are the people to hire. They plan carefully to fulfill their ambitions (which often include becoming wealthy), are economical without meanness and able to achieve great results with minimum effort and expense. Because of their organizing ability they are able to work on several projects simultaneously.
They love authority but may not be popular if they reach high rank, for, self-disciplined themselves, they expect their underlings to be equally so and to perform every task undertaken to the highest standard. They are, nevertheless, fair as well as demanding. Among their equals they are not always the most pleasant of work fellows either, for they are reserved and too conservative, valuing tradition more than innovation, however valuable the latter, and they are often humorless. There is also a tendency to pessimism, melancholy and even surliness which many Capricornians are unable to keep to themselves, especially if they fail personally or do not achieve the corporate success which they had planned for their firms. They can spread gloom and tension in their circle which depresses everyone around them. In the extreme this trait can make them manic-depressive, ecstatic happiness alternating with the most wretched kind of misery for no reason that the subject of these emotions can name.
The swings in mood are not the only reason Capricornians deserve the adjective based on their name - capricious. They can be surprisingly and suddenly witty and subtle for the dull, prosaic creatures they seem to be, and they also have a tendency to ruin everything earned by their caution and shrewdness by unexpected and utterly irresponsible bouts of flippancy. In individuals in whom the characteristic is strong, the temptation to do this has to be resisted with iron self-control. Another unexpected quality in some Capricornians is an interest in the occult which persists in spite of their naturally skeptical turn of mind.
Their intellects are sometimes very subtle. They think profoundly though with little originality, have good memories and an insatiable yet methodical desire for knowledge. They are rational, logical and clearheaded, have good concentration, delight in debate in which they can show off their cleverness by luring their adversaries into traps and confounding them with logic.
In their personal relationships they are often ill-at-ease, if not downright unhappy. They are self-centered, wary and suspicious of others, and in turn attract people who neither trust nor understand them. They prefer not to meddle with others nor to allow interference with themselves. Casual acquaintances they will treat with diplomacy, tact and, above all, reticence. They make few good friends but are intensely loyal to those they do make, and they are bitter, revengeful enemies. They sometimes dislike the opposite sex and test the waters of affection gingerly before judging the temperature right for marriage. Once married, however, they are faithful, though inclined to jealousy. Family life, if well ordered as they like it to be, more than balances the goatlike inclination to lechery and inconstancy which some old authorities have ascribed to Capricorns.
Besides those already mentioned, faults to which the type is prone are over-conventionality, bigotry, selfishness, avarice and miserliness, chronic complaining, incessant unnecessary worrying, and severity spilling over into cruelty.
Their occupations can include most professions that have to do with maths or money and they are strongly attracted to music. They can be economists, financiers, bankers, speculators, contractors, managers and real estate brokers. They excel as bureaucrats, especially where projects demanding long-term planning and working are concerned, and their skill in debate and love of dialectic make them good politicians. They are excellent teachers, especially as principals of educational establishments where they have the authority to manage and organize without too much intimacy with the staff members. If working with their hands, they can become practical scientists, engineers, farmers and builders. The wit and flippancy which is characteristic of certain Capricornians may make some turn to entertainment as a career.
Capricorn governs the knees, bones and skin, so its subjects may be liable to fractures and strains of the knees and other defects of the legs. Skin diseases from rashes and boils to leprosy (in countries where that disease is prevalent) are dangers, and digestive upsets may be caused by the Capricornian's tendency to worry or suppress emotions. Anaemia, Bright's disease, catarrh, deafness, rheumatism and rickets are also said to threaten the natives of this sign.
