Scorpio and Capricorn share a hunger for control, yet the reasons behind that hunger and the tactics each sign uses to secure it are not the same. Below are four areas where the two diverge.
1. Public Appeal
The most visible divergence—and the reason Scorpio comes across as the more dangerous of the two—lies in attraction. Scorpio draws people in; Capricorn, though capable of earning respect, does not exert the same pull.
Scorpio's allure works beneath the surface, which makes it impossible to pin down. Scorpio will insist he had no part in your fixation on him, and yet there you are, fixated. He does not advance on a target; he draws the target toward him through sheer magnetism. You never spot Scorpio approaching.
Capricorn, by contrast, is about as subliminally magnetic as a head of cauliflower. He moves toward his target, and you can watch him coming the entire way. That does not make him weaker. Trying to halt Capricorn is like trying to halt a bulldozer creeping straight at you—no more effective.
2. What Drives Them
Another distinction in how the two signs build power stems from their modes: Scorpio is fixed, Capricorn is cardinal. Once Scorpio is headed toward a target, he stays on that course whatever the cost, even if it costs him his life. He can ignore, and does ignore, everything on either side of the path. The path itself becomes an obsession. What Scorpio is after is the psychological sense of empowerment that comes from holding that course, and he regards easier routes that appear along the way with deep suspicion.
Capricorn has little interest in psychological empowerment. His attitude is: how would you deposit that at a bank? What Capricorn wants are power's measurable, tangible returns. He views the psychological variety as a waste of time, partly because he is not sure what it even is. Anything psychological strikes Capricorn as somewhat "silly." So if a better route appears while he is climbing, he will not stay on the old one. He will happily switch to a new path that suggests a better opportunity. In fact, he keeps actively searching for new paths throughout his approach to a target, because he knows fresh routes can open up greater success and shortcuts can get him there faster.
Scorpio will not leave his path even when a new one promises a better opportunity, since psychological power interests him more than arriving at some concrete, physical goal.
Take a Capricorn whose goal is one million dollars in the bank. He may change jobs, investments, and banks as often as needed to make the money grow faster. Growing the money is the point, full stop, no matter where the money comes from.
Now take a Scorpio whose goal is one million dollars of Corporation X's money sitting in the bank, so that Corporation X knows Scorpio is powerful. Scorpio will not shift that investment to Corporation Z, which would pay three times as much, because his target is less about money and more about power. Scorpio wants the money to grow for a specific psychological purpose.
3. Consideration for Others
Scorpio is capable, when the mood takes him and after weighing the possible return on investment, of putting other people first. Capricorn is never moved to do so. Perhaps this relates to Capricorn's house sitting at the top of the natural chart, on the midheaven. Perhaps it is because Scorpio is a water sign, connected to feeling, while Capricorn is an earth sign, unmoved by feeling. Whatever the cause, this difference offsets the edge Scorpio holds over Capricorn when it comes to alluring appearances.
What it amounts to is this: Scorpio notices other people's feelings and will not necessarily flatten everyone in his climb. Capricorn will flatten eighty people on the way up and never even register that he did it. Seriously—he will not notice.
Scorpio, by contrast, will politely ask you to clear out of his path if you want to remain intact. He does not want to flatten you on his way to the top. But the warning comes only once. If you fail to get off his path, he will flatten you—and unlike Capricorn, Scorpio will know exactly what he did. In his mind, the fault is yours for not moving. He would have preferred that you moved, so that he would not have to destroy you. He genuinely does put others first.
4. Self-Destructive Patterns
Once Scorpio reaches his target, he tends to turn on himself. This follows from points 1 and 2 above. First, the spotlight of success erodes his air of mystery and subtle allure, and Scorpio cannot allow that. Like a snake, he sheds his skin and withdraws for a while. Second, maintaining psychological mind control is tiring. Scorpio dismantles himself after one goal is met partly to ready himself psychologically for the next victim—that is, the next goal.
Capricorn lacks this self-destructive streak. He keeps hunting for new and better opportunities that build on what he already holds. He never cared about seeming mysterious, and "subliminal" is not a word he understands. He takes pleasure in crossing another item off his "List of Goals," then carries on climbing. No self-destruction required.
When the Two Meet at the Top
What happens when Scorpio and Capricorn encounter each other at the top? Capricorn is instantly drawn to Scorpio's power, while Scorpio is instantly envious that Capricorn managed to get anywhere near Scorpio's level of success. Capricorn quietly wants to take Scorpio's position. Scorpio quietly wants Capricorn dead and out of the picture. The two cannot coexist at the top. There will always be a contest over power and control, with each wanting the upper hand.
Notable Examples
Dave Grohl, musician with Foo Fighters, has his Sun and Ascendant in Capricorn. As it happens, his midheaven is in Scorpio. Also as it happens, after the lead singer of his band—Kurt Cobain of Nirvana—died, Dave Grohl formed his own band, The Foo Fighters. (Disclaimer: I love Dave Grohl.)
Mao Zedong, the Chinese leader, and Anthony Hopkins both have Sun and Ascendant in Capricorn.
Grace Kelly had Sun and Ascendant in Scorpio. An American actress, she married the Prince of Monaco and became Princess of Monaco. Her son, Albert II, is now the crowned Sovereign Prince of Monaco. Not bad for a girl from Philly.
