Capricorn Season Tarot: Devil, Decans, Spread
The Short Answer: What Capricorn Season Tarot Is
Capricorn season tarot is a tarot guide to the Capricorn season: the sign card, the ruling planet, the three decan cards, the key dates inside the season, and a spread to use through it. This is a season guide, not a one night ritual. It covers about a month of readings, from the solstice on 21 December 2026 to the change into Aquarius on 20 January 2027. Three ideas run through the whole guide: steady the juggling act, join forces on the work, and then guard what gets made. Career and money themes enter only through the cards, because Pentacles is the suit of work, money, and the material world.
The Season Dates: 21 December to 20 January
The Sun moves into Capricorn at the December solstice, 20:50 UTC on 21 December 2026. New York reads 3:50 p.m. EST, Los Angeles 12:50 p.m. PST, and London 8:50 p.m. The Sun enters Aquarius on 20 January 2027 at 07:30 UTC: 2:30 a.m. EST on 20 January, 11:30 p.m. PST on 19 January, and 7:30 a.m. in London. The season therefore runs from 21 December 2026 to 20 January 2027.
Note the end date with care. Generic date tables often list 19 January as the changeover day, because that is the most common changeover day across years. The exact 2027 changeover is 20 January at 07:30 UTC, and four ephemeris based sources agree on it. The season lasts about 29 days and 10 hours, the shortest sign season of the year. For the sign profile behind this guide, see capricorn zodiac sign meaning.
Capricorn the Sign: Earth, Saturn, and the Sea Goat
Saturn rules Capricorn, a cardinal earth sign. Its symbol is the sea goat, a creature with the front half of a goat and the tail of a fish. Cardinal signs open a season, and earth signs deal with the material world: work, money, structure, and the things that last. Saturn is the planet of structure, time, limits, and responsibility in this tradition. That combination gives the season its mood: steady, patient, and bound to the long climb rather than the quick win.
The Devil: The Card of Capricorn
The Devil, Major Arcana XV, is the card of Capricorn in the system most modern readers use. The pairing traces back to a London magical society founded in 1888, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, whose card tables appear in Book T, published in The Equinox in 1912. This is a symbolic system from a nineteenth century magical society, not astronomy or science, and it should be read as such.
The Devil carries no hint of wickedness here. Readers take it as a picture of earthly life: hunger for success, longing, and the ties a person agrees to live with because they bring safety or standing. The two chained figures at the base of the card wear chains loose enough to lift off. That detail is the whole point of the card: the binding is real, and it can also be stepped out of. For the full card meaning, see the devil tarot card meaning.
How to Read the Devil in This Season
Upright, the card points to a deal you stay in because it pays off in real terms: a job that keeps the bills paid but eats your nights, a loan, or a partnership that looks fine on paper. It is about trade, not evil. The question the card asks is what you hold on to out of fear rather than choice. Name the trade honestly, and the card has done its work.
Reversed, the chain is being handled: a resignation drafted but not sent, a subscription finally canceled, a conversation rehearsed. The reversal does not promise a clean break. It shows the loosening in progress, with the hard part still ahead. When the Devil appears alongside the Three of Pentacles, several sources treat the work and material message as doubled in importance.
The Second Card of Saturn: The World
Saturn appears twice in a Capricorn reading. The Devil shows the arrangement that holds you, and The World, Major Arcana XXI, shows the finished shape once a cycle closes. The World is the card of Saturn in the same correspondence system, so the planet of structure and limits also carries the card of completion. That pairing gives the season its shape: the Devil asks what binds you now, and the World asks what a finished cycle would look like. For the full card meaning, see the world tarot card meaning.
The Three Decans: Two, Three, and Four of Pentacles
Capricorn is an earth sign, so its decans fall in the Pentacles suit. A decan is a ten day slice of a sign, and each decan has its own card and its own sub ruling planet. Read side by side, the three decan cards trace one season long movement: keep things steady, work beside others, and hold on to the finished work. The date boundaries move by about a day from year to year, so treat the ranges below as approximate, never as fixed calendar law.
The first decan runs about 22 to 30 December. Its card is the two of pentacles tarot card meaning, sub ruled by Jupiter. The theme is juggling priorities, keeping balance, and adapting as the season opens.
The second decan runs about 31 December to 9 January. Its card is the three of pentacles tarot card meaning, sub ruled by Mars. The theme is skilled work, collaboration, and building with others. Reach for this card when a project needs a team rather than a solo push.
The third decan runs about 10 to 19 January. Its card is the four of pentacles tarot card meaning, sub ruled by the Sun. The theme is holding on, security, and guarding what has been built.
Key Dates Inside the Season
The season opens on 21 December 2026, at the solstice, when the Sun enters Capricorn. Then, on 23 to 24 December, the Cold Moon rises: a full moon in Cancer, opposite the Capricorn Sun. That is the emotional peak of the season, and the full moon meaning for the sign is covered in full moon in cancer meaning.
The next marker is 7 January 2027: a new moon in Capricorn, at about 17 degrees 18 minutes, at 20:24 UTC, or 3:24 p.m. EST. It is the first new moon of 2027, and the cleanest goal setting moment of the season. Astrooly lists 13 January 2027 as the date Mercury enters Aquarius, at about 06:06 UTC. The season ends on 20 January 2027 at 07:30 UTC, when the Sun enters Aquarius.
The Four Card Capricorn Season Spread
Set out four cards in a row. The layout is the Simple Capricorn Season Spread from tarotcard.top, published on 15 July 2026. It is the only named Capricorn season spread found that is built from the cards of the sign itself: the summit is ambition, the chain is the Devil, the foothold is discipline, and the release is the counterweight.
Card 1 is the summit. It points to the true aim hiding below the daily rush, the high point the whole effort is really climbing toward.
Card 2 is the chain. It points to a hold on your life that arrived without a clear yes from you: a deal, a demand, or a debt that keeps you in place.
Card 3 is the foothold. It points to a single steady move, one real deed rather than a scheme or a hope.
Card 4 is the release. It points to a hold worth easing: a rule, a resentment, a deadline, or a demand on your nights.
Total Apex offers a three card Light Return spread built around release, transformation, and welcome. It overlaps with the solstice work of the same week, so it is mentioned here only, and the four card spread above is the one to learn. Pick one layout and use it through the whole season. More layouts in the same family live on our tarot spreads hub, and if the cards are new to you, our how to read tarot cards guide can stay open while you work.
What to Do After the Reading
Write the reading into a notebook. Write down all four positions, each in one line. Revisit the note at the new moon on 7 January, and again at the end of the season on 20 January. Ask whether the foothold step moved you up, and whether the release made the climb lighter. If you want a second pair of eyes on your cards, a chat reading can take the spread apart with you, one question at a time. First 3 minutes FREE — every time, for every reading, with all advisors.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is capricorn season tarot?
Capricorn season tarot is a tarot guide to the Capricorn season, from 21 December 2026 to 20 January 2027. It covers the sign card, the Devil, the ruling planet Saturn, the three Pentacles decan cards, the key dates inside the season, and a four card spread built from the sign cards.
When does Capricorn season start and end?
Capricorn season opens with the December solstice at 20:50 UTC on 21 December 2026, and it closes when the Sun moves into Aquarius at 07:30 UTC on 20 January 2027. Generic date tables often list 19 January, but the exact 2027 changeover is 20 January.
Which tarot card is Capricorn?
The Devil, Major Arcana XV, is the card of Capricorn in the system most modern readers use, the one built by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The Devil carries no hint of wickedness here. Readers take it as a picture of earthly life: hunger for success, longing, and the ties a person agrees to live with because they bring safety or standing.
What are the decan cards of Capricorn?
The three decans of Capricorn are the Two, Three, and Four of Pentacles. The first decan, about 22 to 30 December, is the Two of Pentacles, sub ruled by Jupiter. The second, about 31 December to 9 January, is the Three of Pentacles, sub ruled by Mars. The third, about 10 to 19 January, is the Four of Pentacles, sub ruled by the Sun.
How do I use the Capricorn season spread?
Lay four cards in a row at the start of the season: the summit, then the chain, then the foothold, then the release. The summit points to the true aim below the daily rush, the chain points to a hold that arrived without a clear yes from you, the foothold points to one steady move you can make this week, and the release points to a hold worth easing. Revisit the reading at each decan change and at the new moon on 7 January.
Last updated: November 13, 2026
