posted April 26, 2005 03:46 PM            

Capricorn ascendant
(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 the 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.

Saturn in the 7th house
(Zipporah Dobyns)

Saturn in Leo provides a natural quincunx; and, unlike Saturn in Gemini, Leo has trouble taking things lightly. Both the sign and the planet are keys to ambition. Both show the desire to be on top. Saturn symbolizes the executive who carries out laws which are bigger than personal will. Leo is the instinct to be king, to make personal will into law. So five-ten combinations can lead to major overdrive in individuals who have faith in their own power. And overdrive can lead to falls. Fire-Earth mixtures need to express power in the world but to accept reasonable limits.

Career choices can include teaching or other work with young people, sales, promotion, the entertainment world, investment, etc.. If possible, people with this combination need to be in charge of their work, as an entrepreneur or owner or manager of a business.

For individuals who have not developed a sense of faith in their own power and self-worth, Saturn in Leo can be manifested as a fear of failure, often in areas connected to love. Since fear normally produces the feared consequences, repreated disappointments in love relationships may eventually lead to shutting down and giving up. All of the drive may be focused into the career. Fear of failure may lead to a conscious choice not to have children, or, when the fear is subconscious, to the inability to conceive or to carry a pregnancy to term. Fear of failure may lead to reduced ambition in the career, to leaving talents undeveloped and 'settling' for a job which provides survival but is unfulfilling. Saturn shows where we have to be realistic; so if a survival job is really all that is possible, individuals with Saturn or Leo need to find a hobby or avocation which lets them develop their talents and earn applause.

The father and other authority figures could be dominant and controlling, leading to power struggles as the individual tries to find his or her own strength. Or, the parent could be loving and supportive in a responsible way. The relationship with the parent is often a key to later experiences in trusting and accepting love or maintaining a guard for fear of being hurt in some way.

Saturn conjunct pluto (7) Leo
(Karen Hamaker-Zondag)

Intensity and tenacity are key concepts in the conjunction of Saturn and Pluto. This is an extremely powerful conjunction if linked with personal factors. The ability to shape things, to work hard and long, and to endure stress are enormously intensified by Pluto, and we are able to tap a great reservoir of strength and resilience. At the same time, a need for power and authority and a desire to leave no stone unturned (Pluto) assume a set form (Saturn). Striving for fame and success, tough behavior, and refusal to give way on any issue, are likely consequences.

Pluto also has to do with repressions, and its conjunction with Saturn makes us painfully aware of these unconscious impulses. We can resort to firm action to enable us to overcome problems and fears. Others may think of us as strong, but do not see the inner struggle - which nothing would induce us to reveal to them.

Profound inquiry (Saturn) plus penetration (Pluto) give a capacity for all kinds of research and for science in general. When working on anything that really interests us, we anticipate good results and are very energetic and ambitious; but nobody must get in the way, otherwise we strike back mercilessly.

Under the influence of Pluto, it can be hard to gauge how forcefully we express ourselves; and when the planet is in conjunction with vulnerable Saturn we can be more prickly and fierce than (seen in retrospect) we intended. We have the strategic ability to outwit rivals. Without realizing it, we choose to confront others and make a bid for power in the very place where we feel most at risk; natually enough, this stirs up a hornet's nest from time to time. Therefore the present conjunction is said to signifiy violence - although our behavior need not sink to that level. Violence is certainly possible, but only if the rest of the chart points in the same direction.

What is more, the conjunction of Pluto and Saturn is found in people who are determined to master important processes at all costs. These can be socio-political processes, processes that are personally meaningful to these natives, or even the processes of parapsychology or magic. Feelings of uncertainty created by unconscious compulsions might prompt us to take the reins of our life completely into our own hands.