Mars in Capricorn

[Jim Eshelman]

I would think that Mars' long-term stretch in Capricorn would have shown in world events as a primary marker of the year. However, I can't offhand think of major theme either of individual events or of a single ongoing event. (Or, at least, any keywords that come to mind are too easy to lay on any period of time, e.g., battling over authority etc.)

We would expect intensified Mars events ("Mars on Mars action") and something like Mars transiting the world's Saturn. We also would expect a fire-like stirring up of themes that trigger puns and other mental associations to Capricorn themes. For behavior, we might expect the same psychological factors as appear for Mars in Capricorn in natal charts:

Courage, stands own ground (prefers action to complaining). Confrontational, discontent: creates unnecessary struggle & conflict (over authority, control, father issues). Private, secretive, self-veiling. (Mysterious façade, or deceptive; to avoid control, look good, or not be found out). Much unresolved shadow; vulnerable to dark moods; carries past darkness around. Sexually forthright (strong needs + practicality).

This does bring to mind "daddy issues" such as the power struggles around the presidency, and perceptions of "shadow government" and covert disruptions. As mentioned, these are very general and shown by so many other things, so I'm not inclined to call them a persuasive "hit."

Natural disasters have been around but there has been nothing much to call them Capricorn disasters. For example, it hasn't been a year of major earthquakes. It has been a year of unusual volcanic activity, which would fit nicely, though I don't remember whether this was before or after Mars entered Capricorn.

Therefore, I'll thumb through the monthly mundane events threads to see what pops.

[Jim Eshelman]

Mars' tenure in Capricorn in 2018 is from May 4 to November 7. What immediately comes to mind is that it ends the morning that the midterm election results will hit the morning papers.

As I survey the whole area thus far, I see that the Mueller investigation really hit its stride since May, and that tariffs began flying at a rapid rate making "trade war" a household word. (There were also a lot of vehicular accidents but these are easily related to the Capsolar's Mercury-Saturn so I'm skipping them.) We've had active fire and hurricane seasons, but that could be any year and (other than some angles on the fires) I doubt they have anything to do with this. Similarly, the several shootings of the summer are not, I think, much different than other summers and don't seem to have themes that speak of Capricorn.


Mount Kilauea erupted May 3 and a magnitude 6.9 quake struck the same spot the next day with Mars in the last minutes of Sagittarius. This eruption was not a Mars in Capricorn event.

May 13, the U.S. embassy in Israel moved to Jerusalem causing various kinds of violence to break out. (That would have been better symbolism if it fell in Sagittarius.)

May 17, Kilauea's really big "blow its top" eruption occurred.

May 29 Rosanne Barr tweeted the wrong offensive comment and her rebooted show was instantly suspended and quickly cancelled. The best symbolism for this would be (what was quickly interpreted as) hate speech.

June 3 a volcano erupted in Guatemala, much deadlier than the one in Hawaii.

June 26 the Supreme Court ruled that Trump's (latest version of his) travel ban is lawful.

July 3 Poland's government purged its Supreme Court. This triggered massive protests and - very Capricornian! - "campaign of civil disobedience" led by Lech Walesa.

July 19 was the most Capricornian vehicular tragedy I can imagine: The Branson, MO duck boat accident, involving a strange craft that is half-way of the land and half-way of the water!

August 24 John McCain gave up treatment for cancer and died a couple of days later. (He had a Capricorn Moon, to tie him potentially to this.) The sequelae of his death dominated the news for a couple of weeks.

A couple of historic, important old bridges collapsed. I'm not sure this is a Mars in Capricorn event, though.

[Jim Eshelman]

That's what I've got so far; and we still have a couple more months of this. It does seem that some relevant themes emerged.

[TheScales_BothWays]

With all the focus on Kavanaugh and the accusations on him lately, do you think that Mars in Capricorn is relevant to the men who are "expressing their fear" that their past actions in their romantic and sexual lives would lead to women from their past to "make up false accusations of rape and sexual assault" to "ruin their future lives," and such sort of discussion?

As Donald Trump said:

It's a very scary time for young men in America, where you can be guilty of something that you may not be guilty of.

Here's a comic that shows what I mean:



(The original comic is on top, and a "corrected version" is on the bottom. I couldn't find the original comic by itself.)

[James Condor]

I have noticed a darkness, a confrontation, a cautious mistrust of others unless obviously worth it. I have noticed everything written for "Mars in Capricorn". Like a pressure of fitting in yet a sense of strengthen and worth. Like people can see your weakness so you get uptight and defend yourself. A struggle indeed.

[TheScales_BothWays]

I've also noticed there were some discussions on whether should one be held accountable for the things they have said, or the opinions they had in the past, (especially on social media) and there was this thing (a code?) being shared on Twitter that gets your tweets deleted automatically after a set period of time. Didn't really look into it as I don't have a Twitter account of my own.

[Jim Eshelman]

I do think the entire Kavanaugh ordeal - especially how Kav handled himself - seems like a very pure expression of Mars in Capricorn traits and, in the future, might be the events to remember in assessing this passage in the future.

I think the themes discussed here have merit, though I'd be slow to attribute fear to the position - at least, overtly. It might be an underlying, buried thing. In people with Mars in Capricorn, one rarely se3ews it (they are so defiant), though behavior observed could easily be compensation for fear. I'm more inclined, though, to think of it as response for feeling threatened, which isn't really the same thing.

I'm expecting a retaliatory or compensating wave against MeToo once Jupiter enters Scorpio in a few days.

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

Mars in Capricorn.... an aggressive goat. Goats, while represented as over-sexed, are not. They are about dominance and power. Which I think describes Capricorns. And they are always testing who is dominant, which I think also describes Capricorn.

This wasn't a sexual assault from the aggressor's point of view. It was an assertion of dominance (aka bullying) and a male bonding moment. Look again. Two older teenage males, both on the football team, both large and physically intimidating, both drunk, grabbed someone younger and smaller than either of them, pushed that person into a room, locked the door and proceeded to terrify and humiliate, while having a good time, laughing uproariously, bleeding off a little mutual aggression, and creating mutual trust (I won't tell if you won't.)

Two against one, both bigger and heavier... against a 15 year old girl or a 15 year old water boy for their team, what difference does it make? The point was to dominate and humiliate.

Now, backed by a bunch of 70 year old men who see women as servants who should do what they're told, one of those bully goats has just demonstrated his power and dominance over his victim, and against thousands of other women and men they see as wimps. Pussy-whipped. All those men did believe Dr. Ford. They just think it's irrelevant.

[James Condor]

Jim said

I'm more inclined, though, to think of it as response for feeling threatened, which isn't really the same thing.

I can see that. Struggle over authority and control I've seen allot lately.

[Jim Eshelman]

Mars has now left Capricorn after this long stay. This has been very interesting run, that ended the day after the midterm elections.

Now we get it in Aquarius for almost two months, until Christmas Eve.