CAPRICORN

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Capricornus means literally a goat's horn, it denotes a male goat, or billy-goat. The figure of the Constellation has the head of a goat, and the tail of a fish and is associated with two types of goats: the Mountain-Goat and the Sea-Goat. It is said to be a symbol of the climbing goat ascending from the waves. It represents the Winter Solstice (December 21st or 22nd) where the Sun, going south reaches its lowest point on the ecliptic, the Tropic, or turning, of Capricorn. There the Sun turns and starts to climb up, heading towards the northern hemisphere, and thereafter the Sun begins to appear higher and higher in the sky each day. An analogy can be drawn with this pattern and a goat climbing a mountain, because according to Olcott that animal in feeding always ascends the hills, and is naturally a climbing animal. The sun in like manner when it arrives at Capricorn begins to mount the sky, and hence the goat was adopted as a symbol of the apparent climbing motion of the sun, while the fish-tail was significant of the rains and floods of the winter season.