Combine a Capricorn’s natural toughness with a Scorpio Moon’s instincts for power and mystery and the result is a Sun/Moon pairing oriented towards emotional self-possession, power through stealth, and being impossible to resist. This combination of intensely potent traits makes for a terrifying super-villain if cast for evil or an anti-hero of tremendous psychological depth if cast for good. To illustrate: actress Jane Badler is a Capricorn with her Moon in Scorpio. (Badler’s Chart) She’s best known for playing Diana, the man-eating, mind-bending, mega-maniacal chief science officer in the original 1983 mini-series V. Badler, who is also an accomplished singer, is well into her second Saturn Return and appears to be as good at acting bad(ler) as ever:

Of the 144 Sun/Moon pairings this is arguably the one most able to survive the crushing pressures of life’s more subterranean realms. Astrologers Suzi and Charles Harvey write of its stainless steel psychological backbone:

Compassion and the courage to undergo suffering for the sake of regeneration is your greatest strength. You have a resonance with suffering and the darker side of human experience, and want to do something about it. (Source)

At least that is what happens when this Sun/Moon pairing is operating at its highest expression. What happens when it’s coming from a less spiritually evolved place? For the answer to that we turn to Badler’s 1983 portrayal of Diana. Her original interpretation of that character approximates what happens when the ambitious nature of a Capricorn Sun and the psychological prowess of a Scorpio Moon both simultaneously turn to their dark sides. When possessed by its shadow, this Sun/Moon pairing goes from tenacious to ruthless, from authentically compassionate to deeply sinister, from refusing to tolerate fools to stopping at nothing in the pursuit of power:

Now take at look at this aggregation of Badler’s scenes from the 2009 series. In the re-imagined series, we find out that Diana suffered something akin to a nervous breakdown after being overwhelmed by human emotions. She has spent the last 15 years in a subterranean prison locked away and left for dead “like a dirty little secret”. During her time in solitary confinement she has come to understand the soul as something not to be enslaved by technology but to be felt deep inside the heart. “Heartache, pain, sorrow . . . I felt it all”, the new version of Diana responds when her daughter demands to know what she’s been up to the last few years.

Want your mind blown? According to the Harveys, the metaphoric image for Badler’s Capricorn Sun, Scorpio Moon combination is, “A prisoner in solitary confinement undergoes a spiritual transformation . . .” (Source) That’s a nearly exact description of the 2009 version of Badler’s alter-ego Diana.

Capricorn and Scorpio may be the two “tough muthas” of the zodiac but don’t think it’s all suffering, survival, and gnashing of teeth with this combo. Tuned as it is to the less pleasant dimensions of human existence, Capricorn/Scorpio natives posses potent yet greatly underrated senses of humor. It’s not the roll on the floor and laugh out loud brand of humor of Cancer is famous or the physical hi-jinks of slapstick loving Sagittarius. Capricorn Sun, Scorpio Moon humor is more the dark sort of satire that subtly communicates a deeper reality while making you feel a good deal more uncomfortable than you were prepared to feel. Take a look, for instance, at this video of Badler meeting with one of the executive producers of the 2009 version of V:

(Don’t worry, she didn’t actually eat the rat.) Here’s the kicker about that video: the producers of the new V actually made her audition for the role of Diana. Given the iconic nature of her original performance, making Jane Badler re-audition for the role of Diana is about as much a “WTF?” move as making Arnold Schwarzenegger re-audition for the role of the Terminator. What Badler managed to communicate in between the lines of that video is “I can’t believe you guys are actually making me audition for this role. Are you seriously thinking anybody else can do it like me? I guess I just have to show you amateurs how it’s done.” Of course being a Capricorn/Scorpio she’s shrewd enough to make the point subtly and within the boundaries of a humorous YouTube skit.

The Capricorn/Scorpio pairing ages quite well, as you may have noticed watching the above video. Speaking astrologically, here’s why: each sign correlates to a certain age range. Scorpio correlates to years 49-56, the age at which a person is just coming into full command of their personal power. Scorpio is ruled by Pluto, the planet associated with the alchemical processes that keep vampires and other creatures of the night looking eternally youthful. Capricorn correlates to years 63-70, the age at which a person begins to be seen as a source of wisdom. It’s ruled by Saturn, the planet associated with anything built for the long haul and is considered the “sign of reverse aging”. (Source) Put the two signs together and you get a Sun/Moon pairing for whom the first 55 or so years of life are what’s known as “the warm up period”.

Capricorn Sun, Scorpio Moon Astro-Twins: Jane Badler, Pat Benatar, Henry Miller

Badler’s Capricorn Sun, Scorpio Moon astro-twin is singer Pat Benatar, best known for songs such as “Love as a Battlefield”, “Hit me With Your Best Shot”, “Sex as a Weapon”, and “You Better Run”. (Benatar’s Chart)

Like Mrs. Benatar, Mrs. Badler is a singer whose songs channel this pairing’s intensely felt emotions: “Men Who Lie”, “I Want a Lot of Boys to Cry at My Funeral”, and “The Devil Has My Double” are a few of her recent singles. People with the same Sun/Moon pairing often bear an impossible to dismiss resemblance to each other even if they’re obviously not related by blood. In the case of Benatar and Badler, the camera picks up on both the angular jawline (Capricorn’s toughness) and the compelling eyes (Scorpio’s intensity):

Singer Rod Stewart – best known for his song “Do You Think I’m Sexy?” – is also a Capricorn Sun, Scorpio Moon. A 2010 Huffington Post article about Stewart’s appearance on the Piers Morgan show summarized the Capricorn/Scorpio zeitgeist of emotional intensity and psychological catharsis quite well:

His second wife, model Rachel Hunter, divorced the singer in 2006 after 16 years of marriage–a heartbreak that took time and therapy to get over. “Bl**dy hell did it [hurt]. Karma gets you! It was a good six months of laying upstairs, looking at the ceiling in bed, couldn’t get out of bed, didn’t drink for six months. That’s how bad it was.” Stewart said. (Source)

According to Wikipedia, “Stewart was born at home during World War II, half an hour after a German V-2 missile warhead fell on the local police station.” (Source) For the Capricorn/Scorpio native sometimes love – and even life itself – really is a battlefield.

About the Author: Matthew Savinar is a California licensed attorney (State Bar #228957), voluntarily inactive as of June 2013. He can be reached for questions, comments, or consults at his contact page.