The Ascendant or Rising sign is the name given to the sign on the eastern horizon during the time of birth of an individual. Having a Capricorn Ascendant means that during your birth, the sign of Capricorn was rising from above the ground, the same way that the Sun rises. People who have Capricorn as their rising sign, have Saturn (Capricorn’s ruling planet) as their overall chart ruler. Saturn is considered one of the toughest planets to handle, and the one that grants the most serious views on life to an individual. Yet, it gives durability, makes people robust when their lives are challenged, and also gives some stability in all their life matters. Thus, you should also examine the condition of your natal Saturn when referring to your Ascendant.
Our Rising Sign is a very important astrological parameter, even though many theories are proposed by different astrologers and astrological systems. Still, most agree that the Ascendant defines our body and physical characteristics, also playing a strong role in the development of our character. This is quite natural, as the 1st house (the Ascendant being on its cusp) is responsible for our ego, self-perception and behavior.
We should keep in mind, that when the Ascendant is at the beginning of a sign, the sign’s traits are more potent than when it is placed at its end. When the next sign occupies the biggest part of the 1st house, it naturally gives a lot of its traits to the native’s character and even to his body. If your Ascendant is at the last degrees of a sign, you can consider the next sign as a co-Ascendant. Many people though, experience the next sign to behave as the Rising sign a lot more than the one which is actually rising.
Before we continue with the traits the sign grants, we should mention that depending on the geographical latitude, each sign needs slightly different time to ascend. If we are born near the equator, the differences are hardly visible. Yet, the closer we are born to any of the two poles, the better the differences between signs can be visible. This is also the reason why people born in rather extreme northern or southern latitudes can experience rather strange natal charts, with some houses being huge while some others quite small.
As always, we propose to our readers to use the Placidus system in calculating their houses, because we find it to function better both on our own charts and on the charts of other people that we have analyzed. In the northern hemisphere, Capricorn is rising a little bit faster than the average. When someone is born at 50 degrees Northern latitude, the sign will need one hour and fifty minutes to rise fully. At a city placed at 60 degrees Northern latitude, the sign will need around one hour and twenty-five minutes. Thus, a person born in the Northern hemisphere has statistically fewer possibilities to have a Capricorn Ascendant, when the average time a sign needs to Ascend is two hours.
As we already mentioned, individuals with Capricorn rising will have Saturn as their chart ruler. The planet of restriction will be very important in their lives, and also strongly connected with their physical body, vitality and appearance. Their body and self will be affected not only by transits of planets through their Ascendant, but also by transits to their natal Saturn. In addition, natal aspects of other planets to the chart ruler, while also its location in a particular house, will play a strong role. People with Capricorn rising, must take care to empower their Saturn in healthy ways, as its functions will always have a positive or negative effect overall on their chart, touching all their life areas.
Saturn is generally considered a malefic planet, responsible for all types of trouble. Thus, they should pay attention, even more, to make him function well, especially if he is adversely aspected in their birth chart. Because Saturn has a natural urge to restrict everything, such individuals must learn to overcome any borders that he imposes, or else they can feel an experience full of pressure and self-limitation. As we already mentioned, Saturn and Capricorn are the most serious planet and sign, prompting people ruled by them to be serious and leading to voluntarily self-seclusion, or to extremes concerning workaholism or physical labor.
Having a Capricorn Ascendant feels like having Saturn in your 1st house. The native may have a very serious and realistic approach to life, and usually avoids optimism and having high hopes. He believes that reaching his goals requires a lot of effort, which he will willingly give. One can say that even during his childhood, such an individual behaves like a grownup. Usually, these archetypes of behavior pass to him from his dominant parent, who frequently is his father. Alternatively, this native may have been influenced a lot from his grandparents, who may have played an important role in his young ages and passed to him rather conservative views on life. In either occasion, he is careful and restrained in his decisions, a wonderful tactician and quite narrow-minded; it is rather difficult to change his opinion even when it is a wrong one.
Some would say this makes them difficult to adapt to new surroundings or to change their patterns of behaving. Yet, as Capricorn Ascendant people tend to see the big picture and organizing their movements on the long-term, sticking to their initial decisions/thoughts/strategies may prove quite beneficial as it is something they have already tested and that worked for them beforehand. In addition, any possible mistakes they do are perceived solely as their own responsibility, and not attributed to others due to possible influences on the Capricorn Ascendant’s mind.
As a body, Capricorn Rising people tend to be short, if proportionally compared to the average person. They have a predisposition to be rather thin, as the ruling planet of Capricorn – Saturn – is responsible for restriction and thus can keep the physical body away from expanding. In addition, people with a Capricorn Ascendant are rumored to live statistically longer than other individuals, while also shrink in size as they get old and losing body mass. They tend to have darker colors of eyes and hair, while also many times choose to wear dark colored clothes.
Considering their appearance, their clothes are usually quite conservative, seeping seriousness and professionalism. They are reserved about laughing and smiling, keeping those traits mostly for their dear people. Their public image is always stable, and they carefully develop it to be inspiring for business collaborations. If their Saturn is afflicted, or malefic planets are present near their Ascendant (especially in the first degrees of their 1st house) they should guard against anorexia.
A person with a Capricorn Ascendant will adore being in control, feeling safety through power over situations and people. This lust for being in power can lead them to obtain high positions in governmental services, or develop their own business and have it as their child – many times being more important than their real-life children. Their natural stubbornness may make them even misbehave towards other individuals – another treat that is usually more present with an afflicted Saturn and malefics near the Ascendant. If the affliction is heavy, malicious behaviors can even be something that they consciously enjoy and not just an automatic reaction.
They can take pleasure from controlling and torturing other individuals, as it gifts them that extreme feeling of power, and sometimes they feed their own energy through other people’s pain and suffering. Of course, these are extreme situations and a lot more parameters are needed so that they get activated. Capricorn people will not like to travel a lot, as their physical body feels better when tied to a certain geographical spot. Known surroundings empower them, and that is why a well-organized office may feel to them as the throne room of their kingdom. They dedicate their energy to that special spot, making it a deposit of power from which they feed.
Natives with their Ascendant in Capricorn are usually not very talkative, preferring to be laconic and to speak only about important subjects. Naturally, business and planning projects are the two subjects to which they prefer to dedicate their thought and speech. They can spend many hours developing their strategies and thinking long-term. This – of course – has some impact on their daily routines and simple life concerns; they simply do not care so much about them which can even create problems with people close to them.
They dedicate a lot less time to their family, appearing to be rather un-emotional; even if the reality is the opposite. Yet, this is how things are; their career is drinking their time and diminishing their abilities to offer small things and precious moments to their family and friends. Even when they do, their mind is probably absent from the “now”, subconsciously flying towards their responsibilities and continuing to work out organizational issues. They will not be very interested in taking part in recreational activities that promote fun and humor, and that involve a lot of people, contributing to a shared wellbeing.
Capricorn Rising people are usually loners, preferring to spend their free time by themselves. This trait can expand any possible depressive tendencies, which are usually a realm also connected to Saturn – the (astrologically) coldest planet. The Capricorn Ascendant body is governed by Saturn, so it may also experience dysfunctions connected and ruled by the sign and the planet. Capricorn rules our bones, and especially our knees and joints. Saturn, apart from our skeletal system, is also responsible for our teeth, and connected to our hair and skin. Thus, difficult transits to such an individual’s Ascendant or natal Saturn can affect the body parts mentioned above.
Always have in mind that any planet present near the Ascendant point will definitely alter both the physical appearance and the characteristics of the native. We could say that in the first 10 degrees of the first house it will have the strongest influence on the Ascendant, while also the last 5 degrees of the 12th house. The planet’s energies blend with the Ascendant ones; we can imagine the sign as a canvas while the planet as the paint that will, in the end, create the unique picture of the individual. Of course, it is possible to have more than one planets (or astrological points/ asteroids) in conjunction with the ascendant – furthermore complicating the big picture. To understand better your body, your Ego and how they function you should analyze all those planetary influences. This is why knowing your Ascendant does not necessarily mean jumping to correct conclusions about your life.