Goat/Ibex - Steinbock

(Carpa ibex)

The ibex belongs to the ungulates and lives in the high peaks of the Alps, in western and southern Asia and in North Africa. They can be 3.93 to 5.57ft and reach a weight that varies from between 77 to 330lb (35 to 150 k). Both male and female ibexes have large, backwards-curving horns but in the case of males the horns can reach up to 4.59ft (1.4m). In the summer, females have a light brown coat and males are dark brown with white spots on the back and the buttocks. In winter, they replace the short summer coat with thicker hair and a woolly undercoat.

Goats in Mythology: The goat (Capricornus) is probably one of the oldest constellations. In Greek mythology, God Pan (Faunus for the Romans) is said to have the upper body jumped into the sea fleeing the monster Typhoon, which hunted the gods. Pan wanted to take the form of a fish, but he failed. He helped Zeus and healed him of his wounds from the battle against Typhoon. Once Zeus was recovered, he defeated Typhoon, and as a token of his gratitude, placed Pan in heaven, half fish and half goat. The Babylonians knew him as goatfish. It is said that the inhabitants of the Red Sea called so to the period time in which they could fish schools of the goatfish. It was during the Roman period that the name of the constellation was changed to Capricorn (in German, goat).

The goat is also related to Chrono (to the Romans, Saturn). Chrono was the son of the divine couple: Gaia (the Earth) and Uranus (the sky). He castrated his father and became a tyrant. He devoured six of the children he had conceived with his wife Rhea, since it had been predicted that one of his sons was going to overthrow him. Rhea hid the seventh son, Zeus, who then overthrew Chrono and exiled him to the dark underworld, where Chrono made use of all his strength and discipline to transform this desolate place into fertile land. Therefore, Capricornus represents the accomplishment of the plans of the destiny as well as of the challenges of life. In Christianity, the ram is represented as intimate of the devil, a variant of the god of nature Bread, who lived their full creative potential and their sexuality.

The Goat in the interpretation of dreams: It reminds us of our relationship with ourselves and with our perseverance. Are we capable of giving love? How do we deal with material things? Ibex Essence: The goat helps us develop a more loving heart and be able to deal more playfully with material things. It provides softness, tenderness, joy and tolerance towards life.

On the body level: Here, the goat essence helps us take things with more easiness. It helps us release internal tensions and stiffness that could have formed as a result of behaving extremely responsible and hard towards ourselves. It also helps be able to relax the face and muscular tension, which could have appeared as a result of excessive discipline and too much eagerness to work. It helps us stand upright inside and to strengthen our backbone and our joints, when, due to our warrior behavior we have been too harsh with ourselves or when the material things are weighing too much. It connects us to the Earth and strengthens the joints of the feet and knees. We become more flexible and free.

On the emotional level: The goat helps us develop greater discipline and to be able to persevere. It strengthens our self-confidence, our will, our tenacity and our willingness to work so that we can perform our action by ourselves. Besides, it can help us to live with more joy and lightness in our life. We learn that life does not always have to be a struggle and we can also let things flow. We learn to take things with greater ease, and when interacting with other people, we reach them softly.

On the spiritual level: The goats live in the higher mountainous regions where people feel united to the earth and the sky. It gives us security and firmness. We learn to keep the internal balance between above and below; we learn to develop a higher vision of things. We learn that matter should be to our service and not the other way round.

By facing our own shadow, we can better understand things like death or loss, old age or disease. Sometimes, the goat doesn't choose the easiest path in life, taking the rocky steep one instead. It takes us through the ups and downs of our lives and helps us develop our inner value. The goat connects us with the highest spirituality, where we develop a clear confidence toward God.