Capricorn - Aquarius

What you like about each other:  Aquarius helps Cappy to lighten up and have some fun as well as introduce some nonconservative ideas that expand the goat's horizons.  Aquarius admires Cappy's work ethic, practical nature and security.

What drives you crazy:  Aquarius confrontations over emotional issues that Capricorn refuses to discuss.

This is probably a fairly unlikely pair.  The sign next door usually is, for some reason.  You'd think they'd overlap and be reasonably compatible, but this is generally not the case.  No wonder when we go through a sign change on our progressed chart we usually have a major identity crisis.  For example, when a Pisces progresses into Aries, they go from the most passive of signs to the most aggressive.  When a person goes from Taurus to Gemini they go from the most stable to one of the most erratic; from Libra to Scorpio from one of the nicest to one of the most ruthless.  And from Capricorn to Aquarius, from the most conservative to the most radical.

So put these two together and what do you get?  The illustration above (with many, many thanks to the artist, Martha Jones, and the Kepler astrology program from which they came) really says it all.  How much in common do those folks have collectively?  You have the stodgy, old establishment versus the essence of youth, both of whom think they know everything there is to know in the known universe.  And in their own way, they're both right.  Resolve that one, Einstein.  There is an entertaining example of a Capricorn and an Aquarius in the movie, "Housesitter."  In the opening scenes, Davis and Becky drive up in front of this brand new house that he designed and built and has put a ribbon around as a present.  She (Capricorn) says:  "You are so nuts!"  and he (Aquarius played by Steve Martin) says, "You are so sane!  Will you marry me?"  and she says, "No!"  Enter one Pisces (Goldie Hawn) and it starts getting more interesting.  Other Capricorn traits come out later in the story when Becky finds out he's gotten a promotion at work and is really doing quite well. 

Earth and Air are not the most compatible of Elements, but they can adapt.  The main problem is that Air signs like to talk and analyze everything to death, including emotional issues, which will drive an Earth sign either to drink, pulling the covers over their head for a week or two, or leaving the country, possibly all three.  (Okay, I misspoke.  Libra is an Air sign and is quite the opposite about confronting emotional issues.  To learn more about Libra with fellow Air sign, Gemini, go here.)  At any rate, Aquarius DOES want to talk about it and Cappy DOES NOT.  Aquarius is a Fixed sign and thus doesn't give up easily and Cappy is a Cardinal sign, meaning they're used to making the decisions, so this can turn into a read standoff.  Which brings to mind the old philosophical question explored in the very old, 1950s vintage Superman series on TV that repeatedly asked what would happen if an irresistible force met an immovable object.  Well, with these two paired up you just might find out.  But the answer is probably not going to be pretty.

Then there is the matter of their ruling planets, Saturn and Uranus.  Saturn, the symbol of stability to the point of even covering delays as well as responsibility of all sorts.  And Uranus, planet of innovation, change and unexpected events.  Put them together and what do you get?  Rings around Uranus.  Hahahahaha.  Sorry, I couldn't resist.  And that's probably as compatible as those two planets are ever going to get.  Oddly enough, those two planets are solar system neighbors like Capricorn and Aquarius are astrological neighbors.  But we've all had neighbors at some time or another that we swore had to be space aliens.  (Speaking of which, I always believed that the TV show, Third Rock from the Sun, was based on a family I lived next to several years ago.)  So harmonious ruling planets score another big zero on the compatibility scoreboard.

And we haven't even touched on the philosophical differences yet.  Cappy, the quintessential conservative and Aquarius, the quintessential liberal.  Alan Greenspan, or better yet, some Bible Belt televangelist, married to Hillary Clinton.  Yeah, right.

But the universe is a strange place and human nature is even stranger, so I'm sure there is someone out there who knows a couple that has been married for 72 years and never had a disagreement.  But you can bet that, whoever they are, that there's no way that they're a Cappy and an Aquarius!