… but truth is best, and I want to tell only what really happened. Well, not only could they not understand each other, but they forgot their manners.
Sagittarians are droll creatures, sometimes clownish and amusing, sometimes sad and longing. Goats are sensible and surefooted, two knacks the Archers hanker to acquire, since Sagittarians are all a trifle clumpy and they trip a lot, over both their feet and their words, bringing an affectionate chuckle from Capricorn. There’s undeniably an attraction here, of sorts. Goats know exactly where they’re going, and Sag (pronounced to rhyme with badge) finds this an enviable trait, too (if slightly irritating), since Archers would love to have some general idea of where they’re going—although, even if they did, it wouldn’t be long after they got there till they’d be trotting off somewhere else. With the 2-12 Sun Sign Pattern ruling the association, they’ll spend a lot of time learning from and teaching each other. Cappy will do most of the teaching, Sag the learning—reluctantly.
Each possesses a number of qualities which appeal to the other. Sagittarius, for example, is in absolute awe of Cappy’s stoic control in the dental chair. Capricorn secretly envies the Archer’s courage in playing the high roller in the game of life, regardless of how the Goat groans and grumbles over such impetuosity (unless the Sagittarian being dealt with is one of those abnormally quiet Centaurs, always traveling and gambling mentally, but because of an overdisciplined childhood, never quite making the leap … just dreaming about it). There are other qualities, however, which repel more than they attract—not al ways, just if they’re overdone. For instance, travel could create some clashes between them. While most Archers like to buzz around physically, exploring the world—and canter around mentally, exploring philosophy and religion (they all simply adore Don Quixote), Goats become nervous just thinking of such excessive hustling and bustling. The idea of living in an airline terminal, suitcases packed, forever on the ready, freaks them. Nor do they approve of flirting with philosophy and religion. What was good enough for Father (and Mother) is good enough for Cappy. Give Me That Old-Time Religion, with rare exceptions, is the typical Goat’s favorite hymn. The church of childhood is sound and stable, so why question its dogma? As for philosophy, Plato was practical, Socrates was sensible, so why experiment with the new and untried?
Maybe if you zipped around more, observes the Archer cuttingly, you’d see how exciting the world of ideas can be! I’m searching for truth. Haven’t you ever searched for truth?
The Goat yawns. Searching, searching, searching… . and what’s to find? (Note to reader: In ancient astrology legend, Capricorn has always ruled the Hebrew people.) Running all over the place, continues the Goat sternly, looking for something you can’t even identify is a sinful waste of time. You could be accomplishing something worthwhile with all that energy. I can learn more of real value by following a definite plan than by spinning my wheels as you do, with no sense of direction. I’m not poky. And I’m not stuffy. In fact, I intend to travel to Europe next year to study art. But I know why I’m going, where I’m going, how much it’s going to cost—and I have no illusions about what’s over there waiting for me. I’m not going to stop in Rome, toss three coins into the Trevi fountain, and make a wish. Not all, but most Capricorns are symbolically (sometimes it seems even literally), firmly centered on the Earth. A few of them are so firmly centered they give the impression that if they stood too long in one place, they’d root in the ground and become ivy, twining their tough tendrils around their ancestral homes for centuries.
The conversational patterns of Goats and Archers don’t always mix and match. The occasional quiet, introverted Sagittarians, who are more contemplative types, get along rather well with Capricorns in an average chat together, but most Sagittarians like to talk with more gusto. They’re continually asking questions, like friendly puppies, always wanting to know the how and where and why of everything. At first, Cappy won’t mind answering the questions. It pleases these sedate souls to impart wisdom to others, but when it becomes obvious after a while that all the Saturn wisdom imparted is being ignored by the independent Sag, the Goat will consider it all a game—and Capricorns don’t enjoy wasting valuable time on games. Sag may complain that Cappy is too quiet, and never opens up—Capricorn may complain the Archer is never still, and won’t listen.
That’s what happens now and then, when idealism and seeking conflict with wisdom and caution. Yet, what would idealism be without wisdom to temper it—or seeking be without caution to guide it? Scattered, growls the Goat. More exciting! retorts the Archer. And so it goes. If the Goats would climb down from that high cliff of know-it-all, and the Archers would stifle their rashness and season their sauce with a little experience, they’d both see what glorious attainment might be possible by blending their polarities of opinions in a cooperative effort, rather than bending them out of shape through constant controversy. What the two of them need is a Lion to give them a good lecture, a Ram to demand that they stop fussing, a Libra to listen sympathetically and fairly to both sides of their complaints, and perhaps a Pisces to teach both of them some much needed lessons in humility. Neither counts humility as a great virtue. Sagittarius barely understands the word, and Capricorn only appears to be humble. Beneath the apparent Saturnine self-effacement is a certain ingrained sureness on every subject, except perhaps—personal worth. In this area, Cappy can sometimes feel touchingly insecure.
On the positive side of the strict Saturn ledger of accountability in human relationships, the Goat will shyly, if nonverbally, admire and respect the Archer’s unquenchable faith—and Sagittarius will know in his or her heart-of-hearts that Cappy is right about looking before soaring. The good Lord knows the Archer has flown into the clouds spontaneously, then fallen to the ground with a thud, enough times to appreciate the Goat’s common-sense counsel of waiting a bit to test an idea or an impulse before aiming the bow and arrow.
These two are usually miles apart in their viewpoints concerning money. I’m always prepared to find the exception that proves the rule, but so far, at least, I’ve yet to meet a Capricorn who doesn’t have a savings account, including the youngsters. Many Goats have more than one, in several banks. Sagittarius prefers a personal checking account as a place to sock cash, and there’s seldom enough of the stuff left over to save. If you know an accountant, a CPA, or a banker who’s a Sag, either that person was adopted, or the Moon Sign or Ascendent will be in an Earth Sign. True, Archers are bright, and they can be quick with figures, but they can be quicker with spending than with saving. There may be a few nontypical Sagittarians who have savings accounts, but even with these, the withdrawals will normally exceed the deposits. Those Archers with the Moon in Taurus, Virgo, or Capricorn—or the Ascendent in one of those signs—will have more harmonious financial vibrations with the Goats. Otherwise, money could turn out to be the root of all evil between them.
One happier aspect of their compatibility is that the brutal frankness of Sagittarius—those stinging arrows of honesty—will bounce more easily off the Goat than they’ll bounce off less thick-skinned Sun Signs. Most of the time, when a Sagittarian friend, lover, mate, child, relative, or business associate shoots a barbed observation of painful truth toward Capricorn, the Goat simply shrugs. So nu? remarks Capricorn. It’s not easy to shake these people. Nevertheless, Sag should take it easy. Too many carefree remarks, and the Goat will slap down the Archer with Saturn’s own brand of heavy observation of truth, which could cause the happy-go-lucky Sag to brood in a corner for months. Saturn-ruled Capricorns are excellent instructors of necessary lessons to the impulsive and outspoken of this world.
At first glance, Sagittarians do seem to push Capricorns around. At least, that’s the way it appears to onlookers. But while all the pushing and bossing is going on, the Goat is quietly and determinedly doing his (or her) own thing, and in the long and short of it, Sag will usually get the short of it. Like all Earth Signs, Cappy only gives in temporarily, to avoid argument. Then, when the Goat’s had enough, watch those feet dig into Mother Terra Firma, as the Goat sits there sullenly, a lump of smoldering resentment, those beady eyes daring Sagittarius to push one more inch. Go ahead, push. See what happens. Most Archers have the good sense to know when to stop shoving Capricorn. (Before Cappy becomes really angry. That’s when to stop.)
Sagittarians are, at heart, wistful clowns, bicycling around a three-ring circus, with a generally lighthearted attitude toward life’s problems. Undue fretting and worrying distresses them. Their basic natures are sunny and valiantly hopeful, which is why they suffer so dreadfully when they discover the dark side of the rainbow. Capricorn’s nature is more somber and restrictive (self-imposed restriction), the Goats having been born with a built-in warning signal for excesses and an innate sense of… . well, of surefooted balance on Life’s rocky cliffs. When all’s said and done, Sag is optimistic, Capricorn is pessimistic. Sagittarian optimism troubles the careful Goat. Capricorn pessimism depresses the Archer’s soaring spirit.
Yet, at those times when the happy Sagittarius clown is broken hearted over the cruelty of uncaring souls who didn’t share his (or her) gigantic Jupiter faith and generosity, Capricorn is there to heal the hurt with loving tenderness and wisdom—very much in the same way Sag remembers certain beloved grandparents to have behaved in childhood. The Goat may gruffly chide and scold, but no one can be gentler, more affectionate, when Capricorn’s Saturnine counsel has been ignored by the careless Archer, bringing all manner of woe down upon his or her idealistic head.
There, there now, soothes Cappy. Don’t be sad and glum. Everything will turn out all right, sooner or later. The Sun always comes out after the rain. Isn’t that what you taught me youself?
Yes. That happens to be precisely what Sagittarius did teach Capricorn. And the Goat is much wiser for it.
Sagittarius Woman and Capricorn Man
Don’t irritate him unnecessarily.
So you like the truth, no matter how it hurts, is that right, Sag? You believe in honesty, whatever the cost in suffering, correct? All right, steel yourself. You asked for it. You’re going to get it. There may be a few Capricorn men on this Earth who were sadly orphaned as infants or small boys (a truly heartbreaking experience for this Sun Sign), and there may also be a few Goats who fiercely resented their parents and ran away from home to join a carnival when they were little shavers. Maybe about half a dozen. On the entire planet. But unless he was born with a powerfully afflicted Moon and Saturn in his birth chart, the average Capricorn man (the kind you’re probably in love with) will uphold his family in much the same manner as that statue of Atlas, on Fifth Avenue, in New York, across the street from St. Patrick’s, carries the world on his shoulders—with the same resignation, for roughly the same period of time. (Atlas hasn’t shrugged the world off his shoulders yet, at least he hadn’t when I last passed him.)
Let this be a warning to the cheerful, trusting Sagittarius gal who thinks her Goat loves her above all else in the Universe. He loves her, yes. He may even worship her, bring her a rosebud on their anniversary (when the florist is having a half-price sale), let her drive his car (if he does that, he really loves her), but she is not and never will be the most important thing in this Universe to him. His family holds that honor—and they will as long as he draws breath. Whether they’re a burden to him because they all get along rather badly or a pleasure because they’re all a rolicking fun bunch, family is family. A Capricorn man who’s been irreparably hurt by his siblings or parents may not hang around home forever, but he’ll bear the scars for a Lifetime. The Goat won’t necessarily cling to the actual house where his parents are residing, like the male Crab. Capricorns will even move out of the city or state where their folks live. Nevertheless, however near or far he may be from them, trying to wean this man away from his family is like trying to unstick that glue that holds a Volkswagen up in the air. Crazy Glue, I think it’s called. And crazy is the woman who tries the impossible.
To the female Archer, families are certainly jolly sorts, and undeniably handy to have around when one needs to borrow an extra few dollars, or needs a place to crash over an occasional weekend, but her individualism probably caused her to cut ties with home early in Life, and rush off to follow the distant calliope music. If this means leaving the family behind and keeping in touch with a picture postcard from time to time, no harm done. Birds are supposed to leave the nest, aren’t they? As a matter of fact, in Nature, the baby bird is actually pushed out of the nest by his anxious parents, so he’ll learn to fly and survive. Sag thinks that’s both a sensible and an exciting child-rearing theory.
Capricorn thinks it’s ghoulish, gruesome, and unfeeling. The very idea turns the Goat pale. What an awful thing to do. Who’s going to feed them and take care of them when winter comes? Not the baby birds—the parent birds. It’s Cancer who worries-about-being-worried-about. Capricorn is concerned about his family, not because he needs protection, but because the Goat thinks they need protection. It’s different. The end result is the same—both Cancer and Capricorn are difficult to separate from their families. But the motive is anything but the same, and motives are what matter.
Can you imagine what happens with a Capricorn parent and a Cancer child—or vice versa? It’s frightening, really frightening. Read the Cancer-Capricorn section and see. But not yet. We still haven’t rescued that poor female Archer from her romantic notions about the Goat she loves.
The Capricorn male is not the aggressive type. Most of them are touchingly old-fashioned and gallant. This is not a man who will swoop her off her feet with a Tarzan yell and head for the jungle to woo her near a sleepy lagoon in the moonlight. What if Boy should be looking—or a strange gorilla should happen to pass by, out for a midnight stroll? Capricorns are quite proper and circumspect, always concerned—to some degree, at least—about what people will think. This doesn’t mean he’s unromantic. It only means that his romancing (in the early stages) might be tinged with timidity. But to the Sagittarian woman who loves him, when he ventures a shy grin … when his quiet eyes twinkle as he says something intimate in a coded way only the two of them understand, he’ll bear a remarkable resemblance to a jungle hero, even if he doesn’t swing on a vine while he’s saying it. All the other men in her life will seem like apes—gauche and brassy, pushy and immature. If there’s anything a Capricorn male is not, it’s immature. His emotional maturity is, in fact, the thing she needs most from him, and give her credit for sensing this.
Male Goats seldom behave like little boys, even when they are chronologically little boys. Those few Capricorns who drink or take drugs to excess—or allow their emotions to spill over in public—have extremely afflicted birth charts, and should be pitied, not censured. Such behavior troubles their own consciences more than it could possibly trouble those around them, because it’s foreign to their very natures. It’s like being bottled up inside a body which behaves in a way so unlike yourself, it’s truly scary and tragic. Not being true to one’s own Sun Sign essence is a warning signal of serious dimensions. A lazy Virgo, a timid Leo, a pushy Pisces … an extravagant Taurus … and so on … can be headed in the wrong direction, with much sadness in store.
If the female Archer has complaints to register with her Capricorn lover or husband concerning his disposition at times, she should curb her natural instinct for candor and bluntness. She can save his feelings—and their relationship—by studying a thesaurus and using her head. It will save lots of wear and tear on her heart in the long run if she’ll play a kind of synonym game when she’s angry. Here’s an example. What’s another way to say selfish? Self-indulgent. Another way to say cold and heartless? How about sensible, but insensitive? Stingy is a harsh word. Economical or thrifty is kinder. Instead of stuffy, how about careful and respectable? And like that.
If she yells at him: You’re selfish! You’re cold and heartless! Besides all that, you’re stingy and stuffy!—she’ll lose him (and also lose her chance to mature under his firm, patient guidance). It’s softer, less raw and stinging, if she simply says, calmly: You’re very self-indulgent, you know, at times. You’re also a little too practical, economical, and careful. Do you realize that? (Even if she’s calling him a stingy, selfish, cold-hearted monster under her breath.) When she expresses her complaints like this, he’ll probably make a mental note that he should soften his edges a little, and he may even smile. Yes, smile.
It’s amazing how people are pleased to hear a dubious quality of their Sun Sign described (if the harsh word for it is avoided), even though that quality may be what others consider negative. Tell a Taurus he’s impulsive, he’ll frown. The same word will utterly delight an Aries. Tell a Leo he’s proud, he’ll beam. The same word will offend a Virgo. Tell a Gemini he’s changeable, he’ll grin in assent. The same word will bring you a sting of resentment from a Scorpion. Him changeable? No way. Tell a Cancerian he’s conservative, he’ll take it as a compliment to his cautious nature—but tell a Sag she’s conservative, and she’ll tell you to go sit on a cow pie. And so on. What is one person’s fault in the eyes of others, is to his (or her) way of viewing it, a virtue. It’s a good thing it works out that way, otherwise none of us could live with ourselves, right? Right! (Aries is always right, never wrong. Do you think that’s self-centered? I’m an Aries, and I think it’s a splendid quality! If you think it’s negative, it’s just because you’re jealous.)
There’s not doubt that a Capricorn male can appear to be cold, because he’s afraid to show his emotions too openly, lest they be trampled upon (and a Sagittarius woman can walk pretty heavily over the heart sometimes). But he’s not totally selfish. It’s true he can be most considerate of himself, but constantly telling him he’s selfish will only cause him to eventually live up to the image. The person you love gradually grows into the image you hold of him (or her) in your mind and heart. Didn’t you know that? It’s true. It’s an inviolate metaphysical law regarding the interreaction of human emotions within the powerful vibratory sphere of love.
Speaking of love, that leads us to sex, since the two matters can’t be separated with success in an emotional relationship between a man and woman. Sex alone leads to sickness of the spirit and deadly emptiness. Love alone, without sex, is unfulfilling and lonely—for love and sex are twins. The sexual compatibility of this 2-12 Sun Pattern, made of Earth and Fire, will be as good or as bad as their adjustment in other facets of their personalities cause it to be. In the beginning, there’s a compulsion to touch, a powerful sense of curiosity on the part of each, which adds much magnetism to the chemistry between them. He is so … different; what is he like as a lover? (Different from her, she means.) She is so … different; what would it be like to totally possess her? (Different from him, he means.)
Undeniably, such strong mutual curiosity creates a powerful sexual attraction between them. It’s only later, when their love has passed the new stage and entered into the familiar, that the physical aspect of their relationship may begin to lose its appeal. Satisfied curiosity takes the edge off the trembling anticipation. But with a little more imagination from him … a little more patience from her … they’ll learn that familiarity need not breed contempt. Familiarity can bring a rare kind of warm affection and deep passion that mere curiosity for the strange can’t touch. He must guard against the emotional clumsiness of making love then quickly falling asleep—or of sexual blending without endearments. She must watch her tendency to verbal clumsiness, like zapping him with an arrow of hurtful truth a second or two before he reaches out to embrace her. Then she’ll complain about his coldness, when she’s the one who doused his erotic intentions with ice water.
Their ruling planets tell the story. His is Saturn, and Saturn can be unduly restrictive. Hers is Jupiter, and Jupiter can be excessive and overwhelming. When Saturn and Jupiter blend their vibrations, these two planets can (literally, in astrology) create earthquakes. Each planet possesses a different kind of power—but neither planet is bland nor boring. Taking a planetary hint, he should make an attempt to mature her impulsively passionate nature into a deeper, more satisfying ecstasy, taking care not to freeze her desire in the process. She should realize how achingly he longs for someone to unlock the key of his Saturnine prison of caution … someone like her to set him free emotionally, so he can abandon his caution and enjoy the passion he feels more strongly than she knows … deep within.
This is a man who is more at home perched high on a mountain top alone (or with her) than walking the noisy, crowded highways of Life. He requires some degree of fame and wordly success. (As long as he doesn’t have to sign autographs. He’d hate that.) To the extent this is denied him, he needs from his woman an equal measure of respectful recognition of both his public and private achievements. It’s a vital need, and can’t be stressed too much. He admires and envies the famous, the successful, and therefore feels he’s failed if he hasn’t made it to the top of at least a modest hill. It needn’t be Pike’s Peak. The key to his moods is his disappointment in himself, in his level of attainment—the distance between his actual record and his inner goal.
The Sagittarian woman doesn’t share his quiet and controlled, yet desperate, need to reach the mountain top, but she does need to know that the arrows of shining hope she shoots from her Jupiter bow of faith and idealism occasionally hit their mark. Her seeking heart needs a miraculous bull’s-eye now and then, or her fiery spirit will leave her. And what is a Sag without fire and spirit? A very sad girl clown. There’s nothing sadder than a clown whose bright, brave greasepaint is smeared with tears.
When he’s grumpy because his success is still hiding in the mist … and she’s blue because her dreams are so slow and poky coming true … they should catch a flight to some faraway, exotic place where there’s a touch of magic in the air. It sometimes happens that a trip together will bring out the wishing stars again for a Goat and an Archer who have stopped kissing each other goodnight.
Sagittarius Man and Capricorn Woman
Peter’s heart bobbed up and down as he listened. Wendy bound, and on the pirate ship; she who loved everything to be just so!
I’ll rescue her, he cried, leaping at his weapons. As he leapt he thought of something he could do to please her. He could take his medicine.
Here is this enchanting female creature, who seems to know exactly what she wants from life, and how to set about getting it. The Archer senses the Capricorn woman’s goals are not small ones, but may even be as gigantic as his own, and it thrills him. She’s quiet and modest, she doesn’t interrupt him when he’s talking about his ideas and dreams, and that stamps her as a very special lady indeed. She appears to him to be a gentle, docile, girl-type woman. Feminine and appealing.
He is making a sizable mistake. She may have been born under a feminine Sun Sign, but her nature is ruled by the masculine planet Saturn, and planets don’t get much more masculine than Saturn. Although she may have gentle manners, she’s anything but docile. Appealing she may be, but he shouldn’t image her twirling a lace-trimmed parasol, tip-toeing around in a hoopskirt under the apple tree in the backyard, dropping a fragrant hanky to tease him. This woman is tough.
After all, she is a mountain Goat, never mind her sex. She’ll digest anything to get where she’s going, except the one food that upsets her, which comes in a can labeled: Foolishness. To Cappy, foolish is defined as anything that wastes her time and doesn’t have a concrete purpose. This definitely includes idle flirting and casual affairs. Note that I didn’t say she’s against flirting, only idle flirting. I didn’t say she’s against affairs, only casual ones. The distinction may prove to be important, sooner or later. The thing is, a Capricorn woman wants to know what your intentions are before you have any. Or shall I say before the Sagittarius man has thought over what his intentions might be toward her. They had better not be what they are toward most women, or he can forget it. Male Archers are typically rather romantically promiscuous, not the most faithful types in the world, at least not while they’re searching and seeking and investigating the scene. After he’s found Lady Guinevere, Maid Marian—or whomever, the Jupiter-ruled knight (who views himself as both Robin Hood and Lancelot) is capable of Camelot-pure devotion and loyalty. But while he’s riding around through Sherwood on his white horse looking, his shining armour can become a trifle tarnished. Of course, love—true love—can polish it right up again.
Tarnished armour won’t deter this woman. She is as practical in love as in everything else. If armour is rusty, it can be scrubbed clean and shiny, like new—and no one will ever know the difference. A little tarnish is nothing to fuss about, if it can be removed. Yesterday is gone, today is here. Just watch out for tomorrow. She may forgive her Archer for past transgressions, and she’s sensible and emotionally secure enough to trust him today—but she will not put up with any monkey business in the future, or he’ll be dumped into her past, with barely a flick of her long, feminine eyelashes, to join the memories of the few mistakes she’s made throughout her life (and you can count those on one hand with cautious Cappy).
Her toughness won’t stop the Archer immediately. Remember he was born under a masculine Sun Sign, and he’s ruled by the masculine Jupiter as well. A double macho vibe. So he’s not likely to run from her challenge. This woman is not for the fainthearted lover to subdue, but a Sagittarian male is not fainthearted. He’s just a little awkward in the finesse department. He may blurt out some candid observation that offends her dignity, without thinking. (Goat Girls are terribly dignified, especially in public.) It’s not that she doesn’t appreciate wit, she has a whimsical, delightful sense of humor herself, but she’ll frown at shaggy-dog stories without a punch line, rude manners turn her off—and she will not like hearing her faults candidly analyzed in front of others, which is one of the Archer’s more obvious talents. (I am being kind to call it a talent.)
She will, however, appreciate his honesty. And he, conversely, will admire hers. In this area they’ll get along famously. She’s sensible and practical, not inclined to paint things rosier than they actually are—and he calls the shots as he sees them, refusing to dress up the truth in fancy language. The direct approach appeals to both of them, and this will be a shared quality that forms a strong basis for empathy between them, even though it may be hard on their friends. If you’re visiting this couple in their home, and they have to rise early to go to work or catch a plane or whatever, you’ll be firmly reminded of the lateness, should you remain past their pumpkin hour—in a nice, genteel, courteous manner from Cappy, with open, friendly frankness by Sag. But you will be told. You will know you have overstayed your visit. They won’t actually pull the welcome mat out from under your feet as you leave, but you’ll definitely get the message.
These two may have a mutual interest in music or art, the law or religion, and he gets the impression she’ll sacrifice anything for her heart’s desire. He’s right. If she’s living in a small town, for example, and attending a high school where she can’t get all the art courses she needs, she’ll take a job in a service station, filling gas tanks, scrubbing windshields—Check your oil, sir?—to save enough money to go to New York where they teach what she wants to learn. Still, one way or the other, Cappy will usually manage to live with her family while she’s getting her education—and will leave their home reluctantly to strike out on her own. The Archer can understand her fierce dedication to her goal. He possesses great bushels of such dedication himself. But his route to the Emerald City is somewhat different. A Sagittarius man is always ready to strike out for Oz or Shangrila with a turtleneck tucked under his arm and a toothbrush in his pocket.
She won’t go with him. She has a million excuses. No planning, she says. More fun! he replies. She frowns. He coaxes. She is firm. It’s about at this point when he begins to think she’s stuffy. Then she’ll twinkle that shy Saturn smile at him, he’ll melt and approach her again, with a light, optimistic heart, thinking there must be a way to win her over. There is. Just prove you’re serious—not only about loving her—but about what you expect to contribute to this world—and what you expect to receive in compensation for your efforts. A Sagittarius man is brimming over with daydreams (until they’re smothered by life’s disappointments). He offers her a basketful of them, and her heart is touched, but she waits. A daydream is fine with her, but where is the blueprint for it? You can’t build a house without one—you can’t build a dream without one. Wishing will make it so! whistles the Archer, arguing with her. That’s just a Disney double-dip ice-cream cone of delusion, retorts Cappy. It takes more than wishing. So, all right, if wishes are the dreams we dream when we’re awake, like your song says—even wishes need a blueprint. If things don’t work out the way you think they will, if we were married and neither of us had a job—what would we eat, what would we wear, how would we pay the rent?
Oh, ye of little faith! answers the Archer. It may soften her. He can try. Sagittarius (like Scorpio) often quotes the Bible to make a point. It properly impresses most people, but Cappy would demand proof from God Himself that He knows where He’s going. Considering the condition of the world today, it’s a sensible, Saturnine sort of question. We cause these cataclysms and tragedies, poverty and misery, on Earth, not God, explains the Archer. And as for astrology, how do we know the planets cause our actions? Maybe, by our actions, we cause the course and direction of the planets. (She may think that one over for a while.)
The older the Capricorn woman becomes, the more likely she is to enjoy traversing the planet with her Sagittarian lover or husband. She missed that sort of bounding joy and freedom as a child, since she was born at age one hundred and five, give or take a few years … and her practical, yet secretly yearning, heart beats a little faster at the thought of experiencing it with the man she loves. The key to her heart is patience. But all the advice can’t be one-sided. She may need a blueprint for happiness herself, once the Archer has conquered her emotionally. He puzzles her, and sometimes he hurts her—deeply—with his blunt speech. She should try to understand that he doesn’t really mean to be unkind. His candid speech is spontaneous, springing from a sort of instantaneous compulsion to express truth. Actually, when he said the picture she painted of an ancient druid looked like a potbellied stove—when he remarked that her nose was a little crooked, her hair would look better short than long—and her best girlfriend was a dingbat—it was only proof that he really meant it when he said I love you. This man couldn’t lie if he tried. When you look at it that way, being loved by the Archer can be like a romantic insurance policy. You’re secure until he says he doesn’t love you. At least with him, you know. That’s sort of like having a blueprint, isn’t it? A Sagittarius man who’s been rejected by the woman he loves may become a Franciscan monk or join the Merchant Marines—but he won’t be dishonest with himself—or with her. If he ever lies, he’s convinced himself it’s truth, and that’s rare because … well, did you ever try to convince him of anything? It’s not easy, even when it’s himself trying to win an argument with himself. It’s not that he’s stubborn (she’s stubborn), it’s just that he can always think of another point to make, a new idea, to change the entire initial concept of the situation.
The sexual compatibility of these two Sun Signs will suffer from only two things—which can be brought under control if they wish. They are: his tendency to thoughtlessly say something that causes her emotions to freeze, then to expect her to melt in his arms a few hours (or minutes) later—and her tendency to classify their lovemaking as an enjoyable necessity, which should conform to their schedule, but never interfere with it, combined with her fear of allowing passion to control reason. Her sexual responses may seem too disciplined to him, as though she really isn’t submitting to love’s mysteries, only tolerating her body’s needs as a practical matter. But she will never be able to find joy in their Oneness until he gently, tenderly helps her to learn to trust his embrace, until she’s sure such abandon of her inner self is safe. Just when she starts to trust him, he shoots an unnecessary arrow of painful truth into her heart, something which would have been better left unspoken. When a Saturn heart is wounded, it takes longer to heal than other hearts. Much longer.
She may seem to shrug off his cruel words, even the kind and complimentary ones, as though she couldn’t care less, either way. Oh, but she does care. She cares deeply. The unkind words will leave scars she’ll never show. The kind ones will cause her to grin shyly, and breathe a little sigh of happiness, when she’s sure he’s not looking or listening. The outward coolness of this lovely, serious, and self-contained woman hides a depth of loneliness inside she can never express. This is a woman who needs so very much … kindness. To be told she’s pretty, to be appreciated verbally, will bring more brightness into her life—more than this man who loves her may realize. Never mind that her verbal response is: What mushy sentiment! Don’t you believe it. Saturn restricts her from demonstrating her gratitude, from showing her tenderness, but it’s there—just as she’s always there, when he needs her. Her love is steady and dependable, like a grandfather clock, ticking away forever (unless he insults her family, then the chimes may stop).
Still, for all the growing pains of their love, the Sagittarian man’s soaring ideals will teach the Goat Girl’s mind to fly higher into the realms of Life’s meaning than she ever dared venture before he came along to take her by the hand, and race her to Sirius and back.
He has a truly magical way of lifting her out of her inky-blue spells of Saturn depression, with a bright sunbeam thought that turns her eyes and her spirit toward the sky, where his ruling star, Jupiter, twinkles all his riddles of existence. One gloomy Sunday, when she’s unable to respond to his cheerful optimism, and his bright faith in a Higher Power solving all their problems, she may tell him that she doesn’t believe he should count so much on God—and miracles.
Maybe you’re right, he’ll reply then, Jupiter-like. Maybe we shouldn’t count on Him. Maybe the real truth is that He’s depending on us … for some sort of ultimate miracle.
His logic touches her, and she answers, slowly, I never thought of it that way. For a moment longer, she’s silent. Perhaps God, too, is lonely and uncertain. The loneliest One of all. For, who and what may a Supreme Power count on, lean on? Yes, he’ll stretch her Saturn-bound soul, this Sagittarian man of the impossible dreams and endless queries. To be depended upon, counted upon by a trusting Divinity … is a lovely new concept to responsible Cappy. And so much truer than she knows … truer than even her searching Archer guesses.
His love can be an experience in both heartache and ecstasy for her, but if she’ll turn over the comic valentine her Centaur clumsily offers her, she’ll see that he’s drawn a heart on the back—his own. The one he offers her so honestly, with such faith she’ll never break it, like an awkward boy in a schoolyard, whatever his chronological age. I can hear her words as she reads this, can’t you? Mush, mush, mush! as she turns away with a shrug of dismissal. But watch her closely. See her Mona Lisa smile?
| Sagittarius | Aquarius |
| Fire—Mutable—Positive | Air—Fixed—Positive |
| Ruled by Jupiter | Ruled by Uranus |
| Symbols: Archer & Centaur | Symbol: The Water Bearer |
| Day Forces—Masculine | Day Forces—Masculine |