Capricorn zodiac sign: dates, traits, love and career

Capricorn begins at the December solstice, the shortest day in the northern half of the world. People born under Capricorn are often serious, hard working and patient, with an eye on long goals.

Capricorn at a glance

The dates follow the Western (tropical) zodiac. The Sun changes sign at a different hour each year, so if you were born around 22 December or 19 January, the exact sign depends on your birth year, time and place.

Capricorn traits and nature

In short: Capricorn people tend to be disciplined, responsible and patient with long goals. They benefit from play and from asking for help.

Capricorn people usually take responsibility early and climb toward their aims one step at a time, like the goat on a mountain path. They respect structure, tradition and work that has been earned.

They may seem reserved at first, with a dry humour that shows once they relax. Because they carry so much, they can forget rest and play, and they often grow lighter with age.

Strengths

• Discipline
• Sense of duty
• Patience with long plans
• Practical judgement
• Steadiness under pressure

Things to watch

• Working too much
• Being too hard on themselves
• Pessimism
• Keeping feelings locked away

Element, modality and ruling planet

Capricorn is an earth sign. Earth signs are commonly linked with patience, practical sense and things that last. The other earth signs are Taurus and Virgo.

It is a cardinal sign. Cardinal signs start each season and are said to like beginning things. The other cardinal signs are Aries, Cancer and Libra.

Its ruling planet is Saturn, on which traditional and modern Western astrology agree. Its opposite sign is Cancer, often read as its complement.

Capricorn in love and compatibility

In love Capricorn is usually careful at first and deeply committed once sure. They show care by building a secure life and keeping their word. A partner who is patient, sincere and shares long term plans suits them.

The table reads the match with all 12 signs by a common rule: the same element and complementary elements (fire with air, earth with water) read as easy, signs a square apart as tense, and signs that share nothing as mixed.

This is a general guide from the sun signs alone. How two people get on shows in their full birth charts; in India, marriage matching uses the Moon sign and nakshatra in Kundli milan. Kundli matching by date of birth · Love calculator

Capricorn career themes

Fields commonly linked with Capricorn: Management and administration, Government service, Engineering and construction, Banking, Law, Business.

These are tendencies of the sun sign as commonly described, not predictions. Your rising sign, Moon and the other planets shape each person far more than the sun sign alone.

Western Capricorn and the Vedic sign

Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac, tied to the seasons: Aries always begins at the March equinox. Indian astrology uses the sidereal zodiac, tied to the stars, which now sits about 24° behind (the Lahiri ayanamsa). That is why most people’s Vedic sun sign is the sign before their Western one.

In 2026 the Sun enters sidereal Makara rashi on 14 January. So of the people born 22 December to 19 January, those born 22 December to 13 January have the Sun in Dhanu (Sagittarius) in Vedic astrology, and those born 14 January to 19 January have it in Makara. These are the Sankranti dates.

Your Indian rashi (janma rashi) is a third thing: the sign the Moon was in at your birth. The Moon changes sign about every two and a quarter days, so it needs your date, time and place of birth: use the rashi calculator.

More on this site

• Capricorn horoscope: today, weekly, monthly and yearly
• Zodiac sign calculator: by date of birth, with cusp days flagged
• Rashi calculator: your Vedic Moon sign
• Makara rashi (the Vedic Capricorn)
• Capricorn tarot card

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