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Capricorn, Saturn And Compassion
Astrology in real life
The soldier tells me not to worry all the time but I think he worries at least as much as I do. Pisces rising, he has Virgo on his seventh house so projects this energy but sometimes it’s owned…
“I wouldn’t worry about that,” I said. “Look. We are in impossible conditions, trying to have a life. I have been in impossible conditions myself, for 9 years. The conditions are completely impossible but I have still managed to have some kind of life.”
“Yep.”
“Yeah, well you have been in impossible conditions yourself for nearly as long as I have. Your conditions have been as bad as mine but you have also managed to have a life. You do this, you do that, you teach at the church… whatever! You have managed to have a life in spite of the conditions which anyone in their right mind would recognize are completely impossible and beyond the pale.”
“Yep.”
“Okay so we both know what it is like and I can’t imagine us getting together and either one of us creating the kind of conditions that would make it hard for a person to live after what we’ve both been through. Can you?”
“No, I don’t think we would.”
“Right, so don’t worry about it because it’s not going to happen. We are the last people on this planet who create conditions that would make another person miserable. I wouldn’t do it for all the tea in China. You?”
“Uh uh.”
“So don’t worry then. We will be looking out for each other, we don’t know any other way.”
I find Saturn / Capricorn types are frequently deeply compassionate as a result of their struggles. Have you met this side of Saturn?
25 Responses to “Capricorn, Saturn And Compassion”
Hmm. I find Capricorn very compassionate, but not on demand. Which is important to know, and very honest of them.
Hmm, in my experience, it depends what else they have in their chart…
They certainly can LEARN to be compassionate, if shown the way… (by a sensitive water sign 
So, Elsa, by observation of your archives and your Saturn transit progression from the 7th to a firm placement in the 8th, would this kind of us-against-the-world type thing be a manifestation of that?
Avery - that had not occurred to me. I was just making a general observation. I would not create bad conditions for anyone and either would he so by default we would be considerate of each other.
This is what I meant rather than to make some kind of statement. Neither of us feel people are out to get us. I’m just saying if you have been forced to live in difficult circumstances, some people have compassion… a sensitivity to whatever they have endured so they are loathe to inflict it on someone else.
Sort of like being beaten when you are a child and then not beating children. It is widely applicable rather than having to do with our specific interaction. So it was a comment on what I know is real when it comes to our characters.
For example, people heap shit on me all the time. Why do they do it? Do they not know what that feels like? Apparently not, in many cases. So this means you are dealing with ignorance more than anything else.
“For example, people heap shit on me all the time. Why do they do it?”
I think people do that because they haven’t dealt with their shit, so cannot help it. Like you said, it makes them ignorant. They are on automatic pilot in a way, with their ruts and patterns and blind spots and trigger points and lack of insight.
And I do think that Capricorn can be a very compassionate sign. One that can have the discernment to not automatically pick up another’s burdens when the most compassionate thing would for the other person to deal with their own obstacles.
No, that’s not what I was getting at… it’s the combined resources (strength and loyalty) and agreement of mutual protection against uncontrollable conditions I was wondering about. Sorry, I didn’t word that in the best way. Probably still not. But really, you guys have powerfully allied yourselves against the powers that be. That’s got to be just an awesome feeling, that you’re not truly alone in this anymore.
Okay, so you’re going to get sick of my questions. 
I am studying with the goal to be a really good astrologer someday, and I want to be able to counsel someone whose Saturn is transiting their 8th. Are you in the process of defining shared power and protection? Can I use your example to tell them (and yes, me) that there is light at the end of Saturn in the 7th? That there is a reward for defining relationships, and that truly, truly sharing the deep-rooted stuff is the payoff?
“They are on automatic pilot in a way, with their ruts and patterns and blind spots and trigger points and lack of insight.”
yes, yes, yes, yes and yes. Capricorn experiences this and can recognize it in others, which in turn produces a no frills kind of compassion.
They will help you by teaching you how to help yourself, not by giving handouts. Saturn doesn’t allow for the unlimited compassion and empathy - that is Pisces/Neptune! With Saturn there are always boundaries and limits, even with compassion.
Nope, not seen much compassion in Capricorn unless other things indicate it. Sense of obligation, maybe, but not much compassion.
Yes, my Capricorn brother is the picture of empathetic, non-pitying compassion (and good humor too). One of the finest people I know. And he grew into it. It didn’t really come till his 20s and 30s, after he’d had some rough times.
Once they’ve learned to have compassion for themselves, yes.
Well, I don’t know if this applies to my moon in Capricorn square Saturn….
but, I have a deep amount of compassion. It’s embarassing sometimes, how easily I feel for others. I haven’t been through a lot in my life, mostly family issues (dad and mom), but the compassion has always been there. Besides times of raging anger when I was a teen, I cannot imagine inflicting pain on other souls. That just wouldn’t be me.
There are a handful of people who I hide it from though, who I don’t want to see such vulnerability in me. It’s very draining. And it’s very true, it’s a non-pitying, non-giving handouts type of compassion. You just hope that people find a way to help themselves.
the capricorn in me thanks you for seeing this
either compassionate or totally hard hearted. it’s an odd extreme. sometimes both seen in the same person within moments.
though at it’s best it can be a remarkably effective form of “tough love.”
I love Stephanie’s description. It fits so well!
Avery I have Saturn in my 7th (placidus) and 8th (koch) and feel like I am very well-equipped to deal with relationships.
I recently finished my first S. Return and learned even more…
Saturn is a wonderful, beautiful teacher if and when a person is ready. Basically a person needs to accept there is no ‘get out of jail free card’ and things improve. Exponentially.
I have a strong saturn and strong libra and therefore I do not do well with capricorn, but somehow capricorn is always in my life.
Even if I try I cannot avoid it, and this is, I think, what the capricorn is about.
That’s why I’m feeling like adding something to this old post.
I have always met the very worst side of capricorn, so I am surprised to see compassion as one of its attribute.
I have met capricorn pushing you down with all theyr strenght with no positive intent.
I have seen them avoiding grace with every mean. I have strong saturn myself, but I would never attack anybody for free as I wittnessed capricorn do.
Maybe I just had no luck with them, but I cannot help thinking cap is overrated.
Somewhere in the blog I read “venus cannot do much without mars”, I think mars on the other side can do damage without venus.
I hope I’m not annoing anybody with this personal complain, I guess I’m still looking for a way to relate to it, since I keep having them around (family or work).
My problem is that I have lots of venus and being around them it’s so depriving; I cannot express myself…they just do not need so much venus.
And as this comes out in the relationship there’s a specific path taking pleace: “If I cannot like/love you (the way I want), I will openly dislike you”.
Elsa said, “You have managed to have a life in spite of the conditions which anyone in their right mind would recognize are completely impossible and beyond the pale.ā€¯
I have a very long time Cappy Sun friend (male) who has been a loyal and compassionate soul in my life and the life of my family. For decades this old friend who cries at the drop of a hat and is a the Cosmic Social Worker. No idea what the rest of his natal chart is …but I do know he thanks his Pisces partner everyday for the good he brings to his mountain climbing.
What I have learned as a Capricorn Moon with lots of Saturn throughout my nativity is that he and I both have been in horrendous places in life … for long periods of time. The compassion that you get after decades of rolling in that stuff is a very real acceptance for life in the raw. It isn’t always or almost always gonna be nice. The illusion of that falls away and then life happens big, bold, bloodied and glorious at different moments.
Cappy/Saturn teaches me that not everyone feels compassion. Pity is not compassion as has been said here and when I finally experienced pity when I really bounced along the bottom of a long deep hole I got that important distinction… and (Kashmiri) there is no ‘get out of jail free card’.
I am careful not to pity others … if a guy stands at the stop sign with a cardboard sign I no longer 1) pretend I don’t see him 2) read the sign. If I have change or dollars to spare I roll down my window and hand it to him/her and say something real. I’ve been there and that makes for compassion in this Cappy/Saturn woman.
Elsa, my first comment vanished. Trying again. Moderate at will haha…
I have a very long time pal Capricorn Sun. Throughout the decades this guy has been a loyal and compassionate friend to me and my family. When I was living on the streets this is the guy with his Pisces mate who took us in, held me to his large frame and said, “It’s okay,” while crying through his tears. Yes, I know the compassion of Capricorn.
My Capricorn Moon has become a great teacher and source of resiliency. I didn’t give it the attention necessary to benefit from this 12th house placement until my Saturn return near my 60th birthday laid me on my back and yes, I saw stars*** I used to live without distinquishing between compassion and pity. There were lessons to learn. Life has done that.
Today I am careful to not pity others, or own dear self. When I see a man/woman standing at the stop sign with a cardboard sign I don’t 1) pretend I don’t see him/her 2) read the sign. I dig for any change I have or a buck if I have it, roll down my window and smile while I hand it. It’s not a hand-out. It’s a hand of a woman whose been there. It’s compassion.
Sorry, Mokihana, it is not moderation, you just went into the spam filter along with some others. Sorry, it has a mind of it’s own…. literally:
http://www.elsaelsa.com/archives/2009/03/13/behind-the-scenes-elsaelsa-regarding-the-comments-and-the-spam-filter-on-this-blog/
I was watching a movie the other night, “The Great Debators” and I was struck by what a great performer Denzel Washington is, but I think he may be just like that in real life….he is a Capricorn and in this movie a great example of one and in other movies too…that same persona comes out…tough guy, goes through hell, but in a nano-second, faster that a mosquito can blink, he is deeply compassionate….you know that this quality is deep within him. He is a teacher as are most Capricorns/Saturn types….they want to show you the way….they are the ones to carve out the path with their machetes so that others can find their way through the jungle of life.
I’ve got a Sun/Saturn/Asc thing going on and I find that, as someone pointed out above, I had to learn to be kind to myself before I could truly be kind to others.
But yes, I am very conscious of “I know how that feels and don’t want to do that to someone else.”
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Compassionate, but not pitying at all.