Tarot and the zodiac · Capricorn
Capricorn in the tarot: The Devil, and the chains you can lift off
The hardest-working sign gets the most misunderstood card. Its decan cards, the 2, 3 and 4 of Pentacles, are a guide to building something solid.
Urania's Mirror, London 1824 · Library of Congress
At a glance
The Capricorn tarot card is XV The Devil. Its decan cards are the 2 of Pentacles, 3 of Pentacles and 4 of Pentacles, and the Sun crosses them Dec 21, 2026 to Jan 20, 2027.
- Major Arcana
- XV The DevilHebrew letter Ayin · Thoth: The Devil
- Decan cards
- 2 of Pentacles, 3 of Pentacles, 4 of Pentaclesruled by Jupiter, Mars, Sun
- Court cards
- Queen of Pentacles (0° to 20°), King of Swords (20° to 30°)Book T's spans
- Sun in Capricorn, this cycle
- Dec 21, 2026 to Jan 20, 2027enters Dec 21, 2026, 20:50 UTC
- Ruler's card
- XXI The WorldSaturn rules Capricorn
Find your exact decan cardBirthday in, five Golden Dawn cards out.
The card
Why Capricorn is The Devil
Try this today
- Make a list of three things you feel you 'have to' do. For each, ask: whose rule is this?
- Notice one way you use work to avoid rest or feelings. Try a single evening without it.
- If your Saturn or rising is in Capricorn, read The Devil there too: ambition, and its cost.
Capricorn zodiac sign: dates and traitsCapricorn myth and constellation
Capricorn has a five-year plan and a backup plan for the five-year plan. They are dry, funny, reliable, and quietly ambitious in a way that makes everyone else look like they're improvising. They are also very good at working through their own exhaustion.
Book T gives Capricorn to XV The Devil, "The Lord of the Gates of Matter; the Child of the Forces of Time," with the Hebrew letter Ayin, which means eye. Capricorns tend to be startled by this pairing. It helps to know what the card is actually about.
The Devil in tarot isn't a card of evil. It's the card of attachment: to money, status, routines, other people's opinions. In the 1909 Waite-Smith card a man and woman stand chained to the Devil's pedestal, but the collars around their necks are loose enough to lift off. The Gates of Matter is a good title for the sign of the material world, of work, structure and time. The card asks what you're chained to, and whether you've noticed you could walk away.
The sky behind it
Book T calls The Devil "The Lord of the Gates of Matter; the Child of the Forces of Time" and gives it the Hebrew letter Ayin. Its number, XV, never moved: Marseille, Waite-Smith and Thoth all agree on it.
On the 1909 card
What The Devil shows, and what it asks a Capricorn
A horned, bat-winged figure crouched on a black pedestal under an inverted pentagram, with a man and a woman chained loosely to it, the collars wide enough to lift off.
The Hebrew letter for The Devil is Ayin, eye, and the card is really about seeing. The figures don't seem to notice their chains. The moment you see what holds you, you get a choice.
For a Capricorn, The Devil often points to ambition that has become a cage, the job, the title, the image. In a reading it can also be honest about desire and pleasure, and remind a very serious sign that wanting things is human. The goat-horned figure is a reminder of Capricorn's own goat.
The three decans
Capricorn's three minor cards: the 2, 3, 4 of Pentacles
Capricorn is cardinal earth, so it opens the Pentacles with the 2, 3 and 4. Book T calls them Harmonious Change, Material Works and Earthly Power: juggle, build, keep.
2 of Pentacles, Lord of Harmonious Change · Jupiter in Capricorn, 0° to 10° Capricorn · Dec 21 to Dec 31, 2026
A young man dances while juggling two pentacles inside a loop shaped like an infinity sign, ships riding big waves behind him. Jupiter's decan is Harmonious Change, the art of keeping several things in the air. It opens Capricorn at the winter solstice, the turning point of the year.
3 of Pentacles, Lord of Material Works · Mars in Capricorn, 10° to 20° Capricorn · Dec 31, 2026 to Jan 10, 2027
A stonemason stands on a bench in a church while a monk and a figure holding plans look on and discuss the work. Mars brings Material Works: teamwork, skill and real craft. Capricorn here builds something in public, with other people, to last.
4 of Pentacles, Lord of Earthly Power · Sun in Capricorn, 20° to 30° Capricorn · Jan 10 to Jan 20, 2027
A crowned figure sits clutching one pentacle to his chest, another on his crown and two under his feet, a city behind him. The Sun's decan is Earthly Power, the card of holding on. It's security, and also the risk of gripping too tightly. A fitting end for a sign that has to learn when to loosen up.
The sky behind it
2 of Pentacles: 9.8 days. 3 of Pentacles: 9.8. 4 of Pentacles: 9.8. Longest this cycle, the 4 of Pentacles; shortest, the 3 of Pentacles.
The court cards
The Queen of Pentacles and the King of Swords
The Queen of Pentacles ("The Queen of the Thrones of Earth", 20° Sagittarius to 20° Capricorn, Sun Dec 12, 2026 to Jan 10, 2027) holds Capricorn's first twenty degrees; the King of Swords ("The Prince of the Chariot of the Winds", 20° Capricorn to 20° Aquarius, Sun Jan 10 to Feb 9, 2027) has the last ten.
The Queen of Pentacles, Book T's "Queen of the Thrones of Earth," holds most of Capricorn. She is generous, grounded and practical, the person who has built a comfortable home and invites everyone in.
In Capricorn's last ten degrees the King of Swords takes over, Book T's "Prince of the Chariot of the Winds." The planning mind of Aquarius starts to arrive, all ideas and strategy.
The ruler
Saturn, Capricorn's ruler, and The World
Try this today
- Lay The Devil and The World side by side. Name one structure that frees you and one that traps you.
- Find your Saturn sign and house. Astrologers read it as where you build mastery over time.
Saturn rules Capricorn, and Saturn's Major Arcana card is XXI The World. Book T gives it to "Earth and Saturn" and titles it "The Great One of the Night of Time." In the Waite-Smith card a dancing figure floats inside a wreath, the four winged creatures in the corners.
The Devil and The World make a striking pair. One is the card of being stuck in matter, the other of moving freely within it. Both are about the physical world and time. For Capricorn the message is hopeful: the same discipline that can trap you is what builds the completed life the World card shows.
Find your card
Which Capricorn card is yours?
The Devil belongs to every Capricorn; the 2 of Pentacles, 3 of Pentacles, 4 of Pentacles split them three ways. Your birthday picks one.
Clock: UTC.
First decan · 0° to 10° Capricorn
2 of Pentacles
Lord of Harmonious Change. Jupiter in Capricorn. This cycle: Dec 21 to Dec 31, 2026.
Second decan · 10° to 20° Capricorn
3 of Pentacles
Lord of Material Works. Mars in Capricorn. This cycle: Dec 31, 2026 to Jan 10, 2027.
Third decan · 20° to 30° Capricorn
4 of Pentacles
Lord of Earthly Power. Sun in Capricorn. This cycle: Jan 10 to Jan 20, 2027.
A three-card Capricorn reflection
The Devil · 2 of Pentacles · Queen of Pentacles
Lay out XV The Devil, the 2 of Pentacles and the Queen of Pentacles. One question:
Which chain have I been wearing that I could lift off today?
More to read
Shorter reads. Each opens in place.
When it comes up hard
The Devil reversed, or on a bad day
Reversed, The Devil is often read as breaking free, which is good news. On a hard day it can still mean obsession, burnout or using control to feel safe. For Capricorn, the shadow is believing your worth is only what you produce. You are allowed to rest without earning it first.
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Either side
Between Temperance and The Star
Sagittarius hands over XIV Temperance; Aquarius picks up with XVII The Star once the Sun leaves Capricorn, on Jan 20, 2027, 07:30 UTC.
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Plan ahead
Capricorn's cards in the 2027 cycle
Dec 22, 2027, 02:42 UTC: Capricorn opens again. The 2 of Pentacles runs Dec 22 to Dec 31, 2027, the 3 of Pentacles Dec 31, 2027 to Jan 10, 2028, and the 4 of Pentacles Jan 10 to Jan 20, 2028.
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Capricorn tarot cards and their dates
Both cycles, all seven Capricorn cards.
| Card | Book T title | Span | 2026 cycle (UTC) | 2027 cycle (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| XV The Devil | The Lord of the Gates of Matter; the Child of the Forces of Time | 0° to 30° Capricorn | Dec 21, 2026 to Jan 20, 2027 | Dec 22, 2027 to Jan 20, 2028 |
| 2 of Pentacles | Lord of Harmonious Change | 0° to 10° Capricorn | Dec 21 to Dec 31, 2026 | Dec 22 to Dec 31, 2027 |
| 3 of Pentacles | Lord of Material Works | 10° to 20° Capricorn | Dec 31, 2026 to Jan 10, 2027 | Dec 31, 2027 to Jan 10, 2028 |
| 4 of Pentacles | Lord of Earthly Power | 20° to 30° Capricorn | Jan 10 to Jan 20, 2027 | Jan 10 to Jan 20, 2028 |
| Queen of Pentacles | The Queen of the Thrones of Earth | 20° Sagittarius to 20° Capricorn | Dec 12, 2026 to Jan 10, 2027 | Dec 12, 2027 to Jan 10, 2028 |
| King of Swords | The Prince of the Chariot of the Winds | 20° Capricorn to 20° Aquarius | Jan 10 to Feb 9, 2027 | Jan 10 to Feb 9, 2028 |
| Mark | 2026 cycle | 2027 cycle |
|---|---|---|
| 0° Capricorn | Dec 21, 2026, 20:50 UTC | Dec 22, 2027, 02:42 UTC |
| 10° Capricorn | Dec 31, 2026, 16:27 UTC | Dec 31, 2027, 22:11 UTC |
| 20° Capricorn | Jan 10, 2027, 11:52 UTC | Jan 10, 2028, 17:41 UTC |
All times are UTC. In the Americas the local date can be a day earlier; in Asia and Australia a day later.
Quick answers
Is it bad that Capricorn is The Devil?
No. In tarot, The Devil is read as attachment, temptation and material focus, not evil. The 1909 card shows chains loose enough to remove. For an ambitious earth sign it's usually a prompt to check whether goals have become a trap.
Is The World a Capricorn card?
It's the card of Saturn, which rules Capricorn and Aquarius in traditional astrology, so it's the ruler's card for both. Capricorn's own card is The Devil.
What tarot card is Capricorn rising?
The Devil, the same as any placement in Capricorn, since Book T assigns cards to signs. Some readers read it for a rising sign as a serious, determined first impression.
What is the Capricorn decan card for New Year's Day?
Usually the 3 of Pentacles, the Mars decan from 10° to 20° Capricorn. The Sun reaches 10° Capricorn around December 31 or January 1, so a New Year's birthday can sit right on the line. The finder on this page works it out for your year.
When is Capricorn season in 2026 and 2027?
Dec 21, 2026, 20:50 UTC to Jan 20, 2027, 07:30 UTC, then Dec 22, 2027, 02:42 UTC to Jan 20, 2028, 13:22 UTC.
