Mars entered Capricorn a few days ago. After having been peregrine and unstable in the mutable fire of Sagittarius, ruled blindly by retrograde Jupiter in the cardinal water of Cancer, the martial iron now finds its exaltation in one of the densest signs of the zodiac. Capricorn is cardinal Earth under Saturn’s governance, one of the four angular resting points of the zodiacal circle, corresponding to the tenth house, the South and the midday of the wheel, where the soul ascends and manifests as vocation. The word itself, from the Latin vocatio (a calling, from vocare, to call), evokes the ancient notion of a divine summons, the moment when the soul hears its name in the cosmos and answers through action. The passage of Mars into this sign is a profound shift in tone: raw energy becomes capacity for accomplishment and the previous dispersed strength begins to serve structure.
The nocturnal malefic Mars now finds itself under the rulership of the other malefic, diurnal Saturn. It is a relation between planets sharing dryness as their essential quality: Mars, hot and dry, is exalted in Capricorn and governed by Saturn, cold and dry. Iron and lead come together in an alliance of density and precision. This is a period when effort and discipline may yield tangible achievements, although under conditions of austerity. And, if Mars already exalts in the steadiness and sobriety of Capricorn, the cycle opening the year 2026, between 1 and 9 January, will be particularly vigorous, as it coincides with the decan of Mars in Capricorn according to the thirty-six Egyptian decans, strengthening the bond between both malefics.
This decan of Mars in Capricorn corresponds, in the Tarot, to the Three of Pentacles, one of the most effective and constructive Minor Arcana, belonging to the material suit of the zodiac. The triad of the number three symbolises the force of cooperation and synthesis: the energy that surpasses duality and gives shape to something tangible. In the Three of Pentacles, this force manifests as applied work, as the conscious and patient building of a work. It is the phase in which the initial impulse (Ace) and the individual effort (Two) are transformed into a joint and structured creation.
The symbolism of this Arcana fits precisely with the martial exaltation in Capricorn: the iron of Mars, instrument of cutting and execution, acts upon the Saturnian earth, slow and resistant, shaping it through will, rigour, and time. It is the gesture of the alchemical craftsman, who transforms the hardness of matter into architecture.
Precisely within that decan, a triple conjunction will form between the Sun, Venus, and Mars, all under Saturn’s rule, with Mars and Venus crossing the solar heart in cazimi. This means that, as December draws to its close, we are already witnessing the progressive approach between the Sun and Mars, the god Ares slowly consumed and purified beneath the solar rays of Apollo.
It is also important to consider Saturn’s condition, having only recently ended its retrogradation in Pisces, and is found peregrine and unstable in the mutable water that closes the zodiacal wheel before restarting the cycle in Aries. Even so, the relation between this Saturn and the present Mars is a sextile (between the tenth and twelfth houses), connecting action with transcendence, form with dissonance. Despite the positional fragility of its ruler, Mars proceeds under Saturn’s tutelage, giving this Capricornian passage a tone of rigour, maturation, and order, where the energy of will submits to the discipline of time.
As mentioned above, Mars is also the first of the faster planets to enter Capricorn, paving the way for the Sun, Venus, and Mercury. After a long period devoid of significant Earth presence in the heavens (save for an erratic, retrograde Uranus in the fixed, Venusian earth of Taurus), this ingress starts a phase of greater density, materiality, and stability. Not since the Virgo season at the start of autumn has the zodiac known such material grounding. Now, with Mars leading the procession, the element of Earth once again governs the rhythms: impulse learns to construct, and time, lord of Capricorn, reasserts its measure upon the fire of men.
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