Capricorn Sidereal Sign: Makara
Makara, the tenth rashi, a crocodile with a deer's face, a movable earth sign ruled by Shani; Mangala is exalted there and Guru in fall.
Makara begins on dry land and ends in the water. It is given four legs in its first half, then no feet and swimming in the second. Its emblem is a crocodile with a deer's head. It is the tenth rashi, between 270° and 300° in the sidereal zodiac: a hybrid animal, of composite nature.
Shani is its lord. Mangala is exalted there, at the twenty-eighth degree at its highest, and Guru is in fall there at the fifth. A movable sign, it belongs to the element earth. Being even, it is held to be feminine. Its nature is tamas, that of heaviness, which describes the sign and not the person.
It is seen as massive, spotted, facing south. It frequents forests and soils, dominates the night, and rises on the horizon by the back. On the body of the cosmic being, it corresponds to the knees.
Makara contains three quarters of Uttara Ashadha, all of Shravana, and two quarters of Dhanishta. Its navamshas are counted starting from itself.
Makara as Lagna, the Ascendant
Is Makara fearful? The ancient portrait says so, and in the same breath it says you rush in without thinking. These two traits live side by side more often than you would imagine: you hesitate for three weeks before choosing, then commit in ten minutes. Makara, Capricorn of the sidereal zodiac, is a movable earth sign whose lord is Shani, Saturn. It becomes your lagna if it was rising on the eastern horizon at your birth.
The portrait draws a frugal existence. You fast, you watch your accounts, and few relatives surround you. On the other hand, your attachment to the person who shares your life is plain to see. What you acquire would come from bravery, authority or the forest, this last word belonging to another world and staying unchanged.
As for ease, the portrait contradicts itself without scruple: one line says few possessions, the next says abundance. Nothing decides between them, and neither is promised. Elsewhere, everything agrees, including the wind temperament. Venus and Mercury serve this lagna, Venus above all, which is enough by itself to form a fine combination. The Sun stays neutral.