The Zodiac --- The Constellation of Capricornus the Sea-Goat

Capricornus The Sea-Goat is the tenth constellation of the Zodiac, the smallest, and the second faintest of this family of asterisms. It is also one of the only two constellations (the other is Scorpius) whose name does not correspond to its astrological sign. 

The constellation and asterism of Capricornus. Deneb Algedi forms the tail.

Capricornus is a triangular asterism that looks not much like a goat (or especially a sea-goat) at all. Its brightest star is the third magnitude Deneb Algedi (Delta Capricorni) "The Tail of The Goat" (yet another Deneb!) that lies 39 light years from Earth. The sun is in Capricornus astronomically from the 19th of January to the fifteenth of February.

As a recognized asterism, Capricornus dates back to the Middle Bronze Age of Sumer (about 2100 BC). It was called Mulshuhurmas, "The Goat-Fish" or "The Horned Fish". Its original mythology seems to be lost, but later Mesopotamians connected it with Ea, their creator-god. 

The Bezoar Ibex from which modern goats are descended.

Like sheep (Aries), goats (Capra) are among the oldest domestic species, at least 11,000 years old. They are descended from the Bezoar Ibex of the Zagros Mountains of Persia. Like the sheep, goats gave early man milk, meat, wool and hides. There was a Goat Cult in the Egyptian city of Mendes; the goat god Banejedet was married to a fish goddess, a continuation of the myth of the Sea-Goat. 

During the Middle Bronze Age the late Solstice of the year occurred when the sun was in Capricornus. Precession of the Equinoxes now means that the Solstice (Winter in the Northern Hemisphere, Summer in the Southern Hemisphere) now occurs in Sagittarius as it has since 130 BCE; but the Southern Solstice Point is still called the Tropic of Capricorn (corresponding to the Tropic of Cancer in the North). 

 

The Greeks believed Capricornus to be the beneficent goat god Pan, who gave himself a fish's tail so he could swim quickly away from the sea-demon Typhon (from which we get the word "typhoon" for what we in the U.S. call a hurricane). During this escape, one of Pan's horns was broken off and became a cornucopia or horn of plenty. 

The monster Typhon of Greek myth.

During Pan's escape from Typhon his horn snapped off, and in keeping with Pan's generous nature, the horn began to produce fruits and vegetables in abundance all on its own. Thus we have the cornucopia or horn of plenty.

Later Christian theologians equated the horned (and horny) Pan with Satan, and declared Capricornus to be the constellation of Baphomet (which may be a corruption of the Egyptian "Banejedet" or perhaps even "Mahomet" who Christians would have seen as a false prophet). 

Pan. He was the Greek god of nature, of flocks, of theater, and of emotional reactions --- to "Panic" is to be afflicted by Pan. To "Pan" a movie, book, or show, is to have a negative response to a program. Pan played a kind of hornpipe called a panpipe, which was supposed to be calming. Pan was associated with lust, and spent the majority of his time chasing human women, goddesses and nymphs, most of whom he bedded. His appearance gave rise to the idea of being "horny." In legend, to escape from Typhon he grew a fishtail to swim away, becoming Capricornus The Sea Goat of the sky. Usually he is shown with a woolly underbody and cloven hooves like a goat. In far less tolerant times he was associated with the Devil and with evil. Which he was not.

Occultists were burned at the stake for their supposed worship of Baphomet as was the leadership of the Knights Templar. Animal sacrifices made to Baphomet (chiefly goats) were considered unholy, as opposed to animal sacrifices to the One God (chiefly sheep) which were considered holy. 

 

Baphomet. Note the caduceus. Despite his rather amiable beginnings as a symbol of positive virtues, thanks to Christian theology Baphomet, clearly related to Pan, has become a symbol of the Dark Arts, the Black Mass, and various forms of wickedness.

This bizarre podal / antipodal view of the animal equivalents of Aries and Capricorn makes little logical sense, although goats were preferred surrogates for human sacrifices in ancient days since their death cries sound strangely like those of an adult human; sheep screams are more childlike, and thus perhaps more "innocent." 

In any event, the goat became linked to the worship of the Devil.