Capricorn guards the secret of the soul, the secret of the hidden glory, revealed to the disciple at the climax of the third initiation, the transfiguration on the mountain top of the personality by the soul. But this revelation can occur only as the result of effort, of the ability to rise above the limitations of the personality, to persist on the upward way in spite of hindrances and difficulties. There is no easy way for an individual to free himself from his own limitations of selfishness and separateness; and there are no short cuts. It is a long, painful process in which we learn eventually by personal experience that self-discipline, self-control and self-sacrifice form the foundation stones of discipleship.
On this foundation the superstructure of a loving, responsible way of life, reflecting the values of the soul, may eventually develop. This growth in consciousness becomes the way of initiation, the way to the mountain top, towards the supernal light which reveals the soul as the real Self, the Plan as the responsibility of discipleship, and the spiritual Hierarchy of the planet as the center of love into which initiation admits the accepted disciple. Capricorn is therefore the outstanding sign of initiation.