Constellations of the Zodiac
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The Zodiac is a sequence of twelve constellations that lie
next to each other, one right after the other, forming a circle
roughly around the middle of the celestial sphere. If you were to
imagine the celestial
sphere as we did before -- as a clear, hollow ball covered
with stars, with the earth inside of it -- and then were to draw
parallel lines in great circles going around the center of the ball,
16o apart,
the Zodiac's constellations would be found within that 16o
band formed by the circles' lines (the zodiacal stars would be toward
the bottom edge of the umbrella mentioned earlier). This band is angled
23.5o
relative to the plane of the earth's equator.
Of all the stars that we can see in the celestial sphere, why are these
groups of stars singled out as being special enough to warrant extra
attention? Because that 16o-wide "band" on
the celestial sphere -- a band known
as the "ecliptic" -- also marks the paths that the Sun and planets take
as they at least seem to orbit the earth in their own spheres inside
the celestial sphere (see diagram here).
Most importantly for our purposes, because the ecliptic is angled, they
are the constellations that
can be seen from all over the world, recalling the Psalm St. Paul
referred to, as mentioned on the first page
of this series:
Psalm 18:2-5
The heavens shew forth the glory of God, and the firmament
declareth
the work of his hands. Day to day uttereth speech, and night to night
sheweth knowledge. There are no speeches nor languages, where their
voices are not heard. Their sound hath gone forth into all the
earth: and their words unto the ends of the world.
The recognition
of the constellations listed as belonging in the Zodiac
is very ancient,
known not only to the Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, and Babylonians, but
to the ancient Israelites and to the heathens of their day who
literally worshipped these particular stars. IV Kings (II Kings in
Bibles with Masoretic numbering) gives us a hint of the battles between
those apostates and our Israelite spiritual ancestors:
IV Kings 23:4-5
And the king commanded Helcias, the high priest, and the priests of the
second order, and the doorkeepers, to cast out of the temple of the
Lord all the vessels that had been made for Baal, and for the grove,
and for all the host of heaven: and he burnt them without Jerusalem, in
the valley of Cedron, and he carried the ashes of them to Bethel.
And he destroyed the soothsayers, whom the kings of Juda had appointed
to sacrifice in the high places in the cities of Juda, and round about
Jerusalem: them also that burnt incense to Baal, and to the sun, and to
the moon, and to the twelve signs, and to all the host of heaven.
Below is a table
of those "twelve signs," the glyphs used to symbolize them, and their
Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Hindu, and Babylonian names. In all of the
languages, the meanings of the names are consistent with our modern
English names for the signs unless otherwise noted in parentheses. I've
also included the planets classically considered to be the "ruling
planets" of each constellation. These "planets"
are sometimes not strictly "planets" at all, given that the Sun and
Moon are included. Planets not visible to the naked eye, such as Uranus
and Neptune, are not included (nor, obviously, is the recently demoted
Pluto) as the ancients were unaware of them and, therefore, didn't
consider them as influences on us. Each of these "ruling
planets" is said to be "exalted" when in its own
constellation -- its "domicile."
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Constellation
Image
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Latin
Name
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Greek
Name
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Hebrew
Name
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Hindu
Name
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Babylonian
Name
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Ruling Planet
and its glyph |
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Virgin holding a
stalk
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Virgo
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Parthenos
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Betulah
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Kanya
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Mul.ab.sin
("Barley Stalk")
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Mercury
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Scales
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Libra
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Zygos
(also "Chelai," or "Claws")
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Moznayim
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Tula
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mul.zib.ba.an.na
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Venus
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Scorpion
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Scorpius
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Skorpios
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Akrav
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Ali
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mul.gir.tab
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Mars
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Archer
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Sagittarius
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Taxotes
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Keshet ("Bow")
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Kamuka
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mul.pa.bil.sag
("Grandfather")
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Jupiter
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Sea-goat
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Capricornus
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Aigokeros
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Gedi
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Ella
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mul.suhur.mash
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Saturn
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Water-Bearer
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Aquarius
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Hydrochoos
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Deli
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Kumbha
(pitcher)
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mul.gu.la
("Great One")
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Saturn
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Fishes
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Pisces
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Ichthyes
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Dagim
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Matsya
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mul.zibbati.mesh
("Tails")
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Jupiter
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Ram
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Aries
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Krios
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Taleh ("Lamb")
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Mella
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mul.lu.hun.ga
("Hired Man")
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Mars
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Bull
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Taurus
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Tauros
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Shor
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Villabha
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mul.gud.an.na
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Venus
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Twins
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Gemini
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Didymoi
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Te'omim
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Mithuna
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mul.mash.tab.ba.gal.gal
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Mercury
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Crab
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Cancer
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Karkinos
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Sartan
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Karka
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mul.al.lul
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Moon
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Lion
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Leo
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Leon
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Aryeh
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Sillha
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mul.ur.gu.la
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Sun
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The Zodiac's Themes
As we go along, you'll see that the Zodiacal constellations can be
easily divided into thirds, with each third having its own theme:
Virgo
Libra
Scorpius Sagittarius |
The Nature
of Christ
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Capricornus
Aquarius
Pisces
Aries |
The Nature of
His Church |
Taurus
Gemini
Cancer
Leo |
Last Things |
Keeping this overall theme structure in mind will help you to
remember the order of the Zodiac's constellations.
Very Important Note
As noted earlier, the ecliptic along which the signs of the Zodiac
march is a
circle, 360 degrees. Each of the 12
zodiacal signs takes up 30 degrees of that circle, and each of the
twelve signs is divided up further
into thirds (ten degrees each), with each of those thirds being called
a "decan." Each of these decans -- 36 in all -- is associated with yet
another,
non-zodiacal
constellation.
On this tour, I'll be talking about the zodiac signs
themselves and the constellations associated with their decans, but please note: I personally do not
believe that the decan constellations should be considered as being of
great, or maybe of any,
importance in terms of any potential "Gospel in
the stars" possibility.
They are not generally among the stars whose "voices" can be heard
throughout the
world, and their names are typically not consistent in the great
ancient
cultures and
throughout the ages, unlike the
names for the zodiacal constellations.
I've read many Christian attempts to treat
non-Zodiacal
constellations as on par with the Zodiac in terms of relevance to the
Gospel story, and they fall flat, relying on truly outrageous, perhaps
outright intentionally deceitful
interpretations from Arabic and Egyptian heiroglyphs,1
and involving great stretches of the imagination. I've even seen
descriptions of how the ancients and medievals imagined various
constellations that are simply not at all Historically accurate,
something I find, if done purposefully, to be reprehensible. God is in no need of
lies! The Truth stands on its own, and using misinformation, even if
for good intentions, is not something a Christian can engage in without
sin! We cannot do evil even with the goal of bringing about good, and the ends do not justify
the means! I do include the
decans, however, delving into mnemonically
and coincidentally relevant Greco-Roman mythology and other
facts relating to
them, only in order to
encourage people to
look at the skies, and to
give them a way of seeing and remembering the constellations. By
including them, all of the constellations listed by Ptolemy will be
covered.
In other words, while going through this section of the website, pay serious attention only to the Zodiacal signs,
and know that they alone are
the constellations whose names are truly
Historically ancient and consistent, and that they alone are the stars
to which David and St. Paul seem to refer. Treat the information about
the decans' constellations as just
"extra information" and as a mnemonic system for remembering God's
beautiful stars -- only twelve
constellations of which, visible throughout the populated world,
perhaps having been purposefully designed and named to tell the story
of Our Lord and His Church.
It also very important to note as well that while the ancient names of
and symbols for the Zodiacal constellations are consistent, the stories
associated with to them have changed over time. The Greeks and Romans
added a
thick layer of pagan thought to them, even with stories of their false
gods
as being the reason for their very existence. And their gods were
written about as being involved with behaviors, some
quite sordid, that no Christian can condone. For ex., the Sign of
Aquarius, the Water-Bearer, was seen by the Greeks and Romans as
Ganymede, a beautiful young man for whom Zeus developed a great
attraction -- so great that he sent an eagle to abduct him so that
Ganymemde could be his new cup-bearer. Their relationship was sexual,
or at least erotically-charged, so much so that Hera, Zeus's consort,
became jealous and consigned Ganymede to the heavens as the
constellation
of
Aquarius. But, obviously, the stars of the constellation and the
recognition of that group of stars as
a constellation pre-date Greco-Roman myth. They were seen as depicting
a
Water-bearer long before the the tale of Ganymede came about, so any
potential Gospel significance of the
Water-bearer symbolism shouldn't be done away with simply because the
Greeks
and Romans paganized it, adding homoerotic elements and a fantastical
back-story. I do mention Greco-Roman thought as we go along,
however, when it's consistent with
the Gospel message. It may well be the case that those consistencies have their roots in a
much older understanding of the most ancient of all meanings of those
particular sets of
stars.
Footnotes:
1 As just one of many, many
examples of totally bogus
interpretations of Arabic names for the stars, there's this, from "The
Gospel in the Stars," by Joseph A. Seiss, in reference to Orion:
"Betelgeuse, a star of the first magnitude, flames on His right
shoulder; and Betelgeuse means The Branch coming. Rigel, another star
of the first magnitude, flames in His lifted foot; and Rigel means the
Foot that crusheth." Wrong on both counts. "Betelgeuse" comes from the
Arabic word for "hand," nothing about
"branches" or "coming." "Rigel" means "left leg" or "left foot," with
nothing about "crushing." Seiss's book and all others that I've encountered like it
are filled with such errors,
from beginning to end. And those errors have found their way to
thousands of websites out there. So beware if you delve more deeply
into this topic elsewhere!
If you do that sort of research, you'll find lots of talk of the
"Mazzaroth," which some take to be the Hebrew word for "Zodiac." The
word is used in the Hebrew text, and, transliterated, by the Septuagint
version of Sacred Scripture, specifically in Job 38. The word may well
mean "Zodiac," or it may simply refer to stars and constellations. It's
related to the phrase "mazel tov," which is used as a sort of
"congratulations!" among Jews, and references the "luck of the stars"
or the good fortune or luck seen as "ordained" by the stars. It's akin,
in
that regard, to the English expression "to thank one's lucky stars."
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