The subject of the Astrological Signs came up in the chat room the other day. Since this is a matter that I have done some research in detail I thought I might do some posts on the subject.
The first of these post will deal with the origins of the astrological signs we use today.
We have all looked up up at the stars in the night sky and even if we could not recognize the modern constellations, we find ourselves seeing shapes in the patterns of those stars just as we do with clouds in the daylight. While ancient people’s may not acquired the accumulated knowledge we have today, their imaginations were just as vivid then as ours is today. It is not unrealistic to believe that they wove the patterns of stars to fit the local conditions of their lives. And in an age when there was no local supermarket, it is easy to imagine that they associated the patterns in the sky with the gathering of food stuffs.
Somewhere in the past someone noticed that the same patterns of stars would appear rising in the same seasons each year. With those rising patterns came the first clues to predicting the future.
In the Spring when many species of fish move up into the shallows to breed, it is easy to cast nets an gather a rich harvest from the local lakes and streams. The patterns of stars rising at their time would give them notice that it was time to mend and prepare the nets. Such a pattern might well be viewed as either a fish or fisherman or as the shape nets or fish traps the locals used. The appearance of the that pattern of stars would become a “Sign” to prepare for the upcoming harvest of fish. Other “Signs” would surly have found there way into the local ancient lore.
The “Sign” of the birds might have warned of the migrations of great flocks so that arrows, nets or traps could be readied. The “Sign” of the Elk or Antelope, Buffalo or Bison could give time to prepare the hunt the migrating herds. More “Signs” could give indicate that grains were ready to harvest in the adjoining valley or that acorns or pine nuts were ready to drop and so preparations be made to harvest this bounty and prepare for the upcoming winter.
Where we see interesting configurations of stars today, those ancient ancestors of ours saw important indicators and fore-warnings that allowed them to be better prepared and thus more likely to survive in a much harsher and dangerous world.
There is no way to know how many different pantheon of “Signs” are lost to the darkness of prehistory. Only a small handful of these ancient patterns of stars have survived to the modern day. While many of the technical advances of astrology came from Mesopotamia, the Signs we use are of Egyptian origin. These signs seem to have come into being in the 3rd millennium B.C. In both cultures, sunset was marked as the beginning of the new day an the star pattern rising in the east was marked. What follows is a profile of each Sign as it rose in ancient Egypt just after sunset.
Sep Aries
This was the time of year when the ewes are separated from the rams in preparation for breeding. (Aries was originally a ewe not a ram)
Oct Taurus
By now the annual Nile floods had subsided and the fields would be prepared for planting. The fields would be oxen drawn plows. Hence: the Bull.
Nov Gemini
The two brilliant stars, Castor and Pollux, would have dominated the eastern horizon at sunset at this time of the year. Thus we have the Twins.
Dec Cancer
Of all the Signs the reason for Cancer is the least understood but since the Sun was at it’s lowest course in the heavens it may have referred to a crab like sideways motion.
Jan Leo
This is the time of year when preparations began being made for the harvest. Now one of the oddities of the ancient Egyptian language was that the phonetics for a sickle and a lion are identical. Thus Leo acquired the later image.
Feb Virgo
This is the time of the harvest. Virgo was originally the Great Mother or corn goddess.
Mar Libra
The harvest in it was time to pay taxes and assess and record how much of your harvest was stored in the community granary. Hence: the Scales.
Apr Scorpio
This was the harsh season along the Nile when the land was parched, swept with sandstorms and infested with scorpions.
May Sagittarius
This is the time of year when many Egyptian military campaigns began. With the harvest in, leaders has a little time to train and equip the auxiliary troops. This was also when the Nile was at it’s lowest flows and was fordable in many places by calvary. Many of these would mounted archers giving rise to the Archer/Horse
Jun Capricorn
Two things happened at this time of year in ancient Egypt. First the Nile began to rise and many of the fish came out of their deep pool in the river to breed in the new shallows. The second was the Sun reached it’s highest elevation in the sky. The Mountain Goat was the symbol of high places, along with a fish tail, giving us our symbol for Capricorn
Jul Aquarius
And now the Nile would start to flood giving rise to the water bearer pouring his burden on the lands.
Aug Pisces
This was the height of the annual floods and as such a time of ample fish.
This then is origin of our modern Astrological Signs. It is clear that these Signs had a much different meaning to the ancient Egyptians than they do to use today. We will examine that transition in my next post.
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