Zodiac Masterclass Series – The Capricorn Guide to Ambition

Capricorn New Moon Mandala painted by Sarah Berry
Line Mandala from Mandala Colouring Book by Barry Stevens
available at http://www.mandalas.freeserve.co.uk/colouringinbook.html

This is the last piece of the Zodiac Masterclass jigsaw puzzle. For many months I searched for the person who could write the Capricorn guide to Ambition, and at long last in March of this year April wrote to me and said “I came across your site doing a Google search about pluto aspects. I am the Capricorn you have been looking for! I’m at home on my kindle currently. Tomorrow I will send you my resume and natal chart and you can let me know if it’s what you were looking for.”

Well I was blown away!  Not only did she recognize herself as the person I was searching for, but she came with a C.V.   I was impressed. This is the only Zodiac Masterclass which has been written by someone I didn’t already know.  So a big thank you to you, April.

A word about the mandala: The brown tones of the mandala fit Capricorn well, with a little orange to lift it from the completely mundane.

 

CAPRICORN GUIDE TO AMBITION

By April Jones, MSW, LCSW-A

Our ambition should be to rule ourselves, the true kingdom for each one of us; and true progress is to know more, and be more, and to do more.
Oscar Wilde

“I’ve heard it said that the best things in life are free but that’s a total lie. There is no such thing as free sex, free love, a free ride, or free lunch. It all costs. If you aren’t paying for it please believe someone else is. The only thing free in life is Free Will given by God.
Everything else is paid for in Blood, Sweat, Tears, Prayers, Soft Heads, A Hard Ass, Hard Knocks, and the Almighty Dollar.”
—- An April Jones original

Merriam Webster defines ambition as an ardent desire for rank, fame, or power; desire to achieve a particular end; and a desire for activity or exertion. Interestingly enough ambition is classified as a noun meaning it can be categorized as a person, place, or thing. This Capricorn Sun woman(2^nd house no less, Sagittarius Rising, & Gemini Moon for you astrology aficionados) who has experienced this exquisite phenomena of ambition is expertly qualified to tell you about it and how you too can begin to incorporate it’s attributes into your own life.

My interest in astrology began when I was in middle school and wanting to learn more about myself. I can recall poring over books in the public library, 2 and 3 at a time, greedily devouring anything I could get my hands on. When I would often read the description of Capricorns I would moan and say “that’s nothing like me at all!”. All of the books made Capricorns sound so boring and I was the antithesis of boring! After all I was creative, fun, shockingly outrageous, and so extroverted, there was no way they could be describing me. As I got older and learned more, I realize now that I was identifying with my Sagittarius Ascendant and Gemini Moon more. But the more I looked back over my life I can clearly see the Capricorn soul shining through.

For example, in high school I was Vice President and President of Dead Poet’s Society, a member of DECA(Distributive Education Clubs of America), a member of the debate team, and I participated in an outreach program at a local photography studio and had the collection of my work displayed at the gallery opening.  But that was just high school.

In September 2002, I found out that I was pregnant with my son and I had only been in college for one month. His father was not going to be heavily invested in making sure we were taken care of so I researched and found arrangements to stay in a maternity home with 7 other women while I finished my first year in school. After giving birth I was able to move into my own apartment, had applied for government assistance, and was able to finish out the remainder of my undergraduate degree all while raising my son on my own (my parents did provide me with support but lived 2 hours away). In September of 2006, I moved back to my hometown to be closer to my parents and their support and attend graduate school full time. I graduated in 2009 with a Master’s degree in Social Work and am currently working on pursuing my clinical licensure so that I can be a Therapist.

Ambition has been my constant companion throughout life.  The desire to be more and do more and to accomplish the impossible has been and will continue to be realized for me, through my educational pursuits. It is through this medium that I am able to express the more positive attributes of my Sun sign. The determination, the perseverance, the steady climb, and strategy that it takes to get the top are all emphasized in this area of my life. The ultimate goal is to use my education to assist in making the world a little better than it was before I came.

To tell you an uncomfortable truth, I used to hate admitting that I was a Capricorn! I often longed to be sexy and powerful like Scorpio, or regal and admired like Leo, or sweet and sensitive like Pisces. I often wished that my soul could have chosen another route instead this boring sounding, stuffy, duty bound, Saturnine Task Master as the Planet that ruled me. Why I wanted to be free! Free I say! I wanted to embody the “randy old goat” and have my way with as many men as I wanted, when I wanted. I wanted to stay up all night and not study for class while in college, and get drunk and pass out, and do stupid college girl things that everyone else did. I wanted to fall in love a few times and get heartbroken a few times, a cry on my girlfriend’s shoulder while eating a pint of ice cream.  But the reality of my situation was that as  a single parent, I could not afford to stay up all night after I drunken binge because I had to get my son up the next day to go to daycare. And dating who had time for that? A few passing infatuations but nothing more than that.  And eating a pint of ice cream over a break up, not happening especially when I had to walk and take city transportation after having my son as I did not have a vehicle. I couldn’t afford to carry those extra pounds.

In spite of all of that, it has not all been gloomy and dour. I’ve had and continue to be blessed with the most amazing friends and family that a girl could ask for. My son, now 10, is the absolute joy and light in my life. The sacrifices and struggles that I have made only made me stronger. It’s true that Capricorns do age in reverse as I find that the older I get the more I laugh at myself and others, I cry at commercials and children’s movies, eat ice cream for breakfast and cereal for dinner, and gaze in wonderment at the stars and ponder life existence and meaning with my 10 year old.  The Sea Goat is the actual glyph for Capricorn denoting a goat body with fish tail from the old Sea God EA. The glyph represents Capricorn’s mastery of the deep mysteries of the sea and his triumphant rise to the mountain top as an example to others of what they can become.

This Capricorn’s Guide to Ambition will conclude with three simple steps in your IDP*(Individual Development Plan):

1. I-Identify your most ardent desire(ie be the best friend, spouse, tennis player, employee, boss, learn a instrument, change careers, find yourself, find a mate, etc. etc.)
2. D– Develop & determine the steps needed to accomplish your most ardent desire
3. P– Plan for delays, obstacles, and disappointments along the way & find strategize ways to work around them (you wouldn’t be exercising the true Capricorn nature if you didn’t take it into account)

*Check the house and sign placement of Capricorn in your natal chart for added power to assist you in accomplishing your desires.

I’LL SEE YOU AT THE TOP!!

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