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Zodiac
From LoveToKnow 1911
Aries, the Ram
Libra, the Balance
Taurus, the Bull
Zj
Scorpio, the Scorpion
Gemini, the Twins
*IX *
Sagittarius, the Archer
Cancer, the Crab
Capricornus, the Goat
Leo, the Lion
Aquarius, the Water-carrier
Virgo, the Virgin
1W
Pisces, the Fishes
*ZODIAC* (/o ituKAos,/ from 'Cv&cov, " a little animal "), in astronomy
</Astronomy> and astrology </Astrology>, an imaginary zone of the
heavens within which lie the paths of the sun, moon </Moon> and
principal planets. It is bounded by two circles equidistant from the
ecliptic </Ecliptic>, about eighteen degrees apart; and it is divided
into twelve signs, and marked by twelve constellations. These twelve
constellations, with the symbols of the signs which correspond to them,
are as follows: - Gordon </Gordon> and Zobeir met in Cairo </Cairo> on
the 25th and 26th of January (see /Egypt </Egypt> No./ 12 of 1884) and
Gordon from that time onward asked for Zobeir's help. It was not,
however, until the 10th of March that his wish was made public, in a
telegram from Khartum </Khartum> published in /The Times. / XXVIII. 32
The signs - the Greek /&oS€KaT t6pca - are/ geometrical divisions thirty
degrees in extent, counted from the spring equinox </Equinox> in the
direction of the sun's progress through them. The whole series
accordingly shifts westward through the effect of precession by about
one degree in seventy-two years. At the moment of crossing the equator
</Equator> towards the north the sun is said to be at the first point of
Aries </Aries>; some thirty days later it enters Taurus </Taurus>, and
so on through Gemini </Gemini>, Cancer </Cancer_%28disambiguation%29>,
Leo </Leo_%28disambiguation%29>, Virgo </Virgo>, Libra </Libra>, Scorpio
</Scorpio>, Sagittarius </Sagittarius>, Capricornus </Capricornus>,
Aquarius </Aquarius> and Pisces </Pisces>. The constellations bearing
the same names coincided approximately in position, when Hipparchus
</Hipparchus> observed them at Rhodes </Rhodes>, with the divisions they
designate. The discrepancy now, however, amounts to the entire breadth
of a sign, the sun's path in Aries lying among the stars of Pisces, in
Taurus among those of Aries, &c.
*Table of contents* [showhide <javascript:toggleToc()>]
1 Assyria and Babylonia <#Assyria_and_Babylonia>
2 Egyptian Zodiacal Signs <#Egyptian_Zodiacal_Signs>
3 Chinese Zodiacal Sins <#Chinese_Zodiacal_Sins>
4 Aztec Zodiacal Signs <#Aztec_Zodiacal_Signs>
5 Lunar Zodiac <#Lunar_Zodiac>
6 Relative Antiquity of Hindu, Chinese and Arabian Systems
<#Relative_Antiquity_of_Hindu.2C_Chinese_and_Arabian_Systems>
7 Arabian Mansions of the Moon <#Arabian_Mansions_of_the_Moon>
8 Astrological Systems <#Astrological_Systems>
9 Egyptian Astrology <#Egyptian_Astrology>
[edit </index.php?title=Zodiac&action=edit§ion=1>]
Assyria </Assyria> and Babylonia </Babylonia_and_Assyria>
The twelvefold division of the zodiac was evidently suggested by the
occurrence of twelve full moons in successive parts of it in the course
of each year. This approximate relation was first systematically
developed by the early inhabitants of Mesopotamia </Mesopotamia>, and
formed the startingpoint for all their divisions of time. As the year
separated, as it were of itself, into twelve months, so the day was
divided into twelve " double hours," and the great cosmical period of
43,200 years into twelve " sars." Each sar, month and hour was
represented at once visibly and symbolically by a twelfth part of the "
furrow " drawn by the solar Bull across the heavens. The idea of tracing
the sun's path among the stars was, when it occurred to Chaldaean
astronomers, an original and, relatively to their means, a recondite
one. We owe to its realization by them the constitution and nomenclature
of the twelve signs of the zodiac. Assyrian cylinders and inscriptions
indicate for the familiar series of our text-books an antiquity of some
four thousand years. Ages before Assur-bani-pal </Assur-bani-pal>
reigned at Nineveh </Nineveh> the eighth month (Marchesvan) was known as
" the month of the star </Star> of the Scorpion </Scorpion>," the tenth
(Tebet) belonged to the " star of the Goat </Goat>," the twelfth (Adar)
to the " star of the Fish </Fish> of Ea </Ea>." 2 The motive underlying
the choice of symbols is in a few cases obvious, but in most remains
conjectural. The attributes of the deities appointed to preside over the
months and signs were to some extent influential. Two of them, indeed,
took direct possession of their respective portions of the sky </Sky>.
The zodiacal Virgo is held to represent the Assyrian Venus </Venus>,
Ishtar </Ishtar>, the ruling divinity of the sixth month, and
Sagittarius the archer-god Nergal </Nergal>, to whom the ninth month was
dedicated. But no uniform system of selection was pursued; or rather
perhaps the results of several systems, adopted at various epochs, and
under the influence of varying currents of ideas, became amalgamated in
the final series.
This, there is reason to believe, was the upshot of a prehistoric
reform. So far as positive records go, Aries was always the first sign.
But the arrangement is, on the face of it, a comparatively modern one.
None of the /Arses </Arses>. / brighter stars of the constellation
</Constellation> could be said even roughly to mark
</Mark_%28disambiguation%29> the equinox much before 1800 B.C.; during a
long stretch of previous time the leading position belonged to the stars
of Taurus.' Numerous indications accordingly point to a corresponding
primitive zodiac. Setting aside as doubtful evidence derived from
interpretations of cuneiform </Cuneiform> inscriptions, we meet, in
connexion with Mithraic and Mylittic legends, reminiscences of a zodiac
and religious calendar </Calendar> in which the Bull led the way.'
Virgil's Candidus auratis aperit cum cornibus annum Taurus perpetuates
the tradition. And the Pleiades </Pleiades> continued, within historical
memory, to be the first asterism of the /lunar/ zodiac. 2 Lenormant,
/Origines de l'Histoire,/ i. 236.
a The possibility should not, however, be overlooked that the " stars of
the months " were determined by their heliacal </Heliacal> risings (see
Bosanquet and Sayce on Babylonian astronomy, in /Monthly Notices Roy.
Astr. Soc./ xl. 117). This would give a further extension backwards of
over woo years, during which the equinox might have occurred in the
month of the Ram </Ram>.
4 J. B. F. Lajard, /Recherches sur le Culte de Mithra,/ p. 605.
In the Chaldaean signs fragments of several distinct strata of thought
appear to be embedded. From one point of view they shadow </Shadow> out
the great epic of the destinies of the human race; again, the universal
solar myth claims a share in them; hoary traditions were brought into
/ex post facto/ connexion with them; or they served to commemorate
simple meteorological and astronomical facts.
The first Babylonian month Nisan, dedicated to Anu </Anu> and Bel
</Bel>, was that of " sacrifice "; and its association with the Ram as
the chief primitive object of sacrifice is thus intelligible.' According
to an alternative explanation, the heavenly Ram, placed as leader in
front of the flock </Flock> of the stars, merely embodied a spontaneous
figure of the popular imagination. An antique </Antique> persuasion,
that the grand cycle </Cycle> of creation opened under the first sign,
has been transmitted to modern cognizance </Cognizance> by Dante
</Dante> (/Inf./ i. 38). The human race, on the other hand, was.
supposed to have come into being under Taurus. The /Taurus / solar
interpretation of the sign goes back to the far off time when the year
began with Taurus, and the sun was conceived of as a bull entering upon
the great furrow of heaven </Heaven> as he ploughed his way among the
stars. In the third /fiemini./ month and sign the building of the first
city and the fratricidal brothers - theRomulus and Remus of Roman legend
- were brought to mind. The appropriate symbol </Symbol> was at first
indifferently a pile </Pile> of bricks or two male children, always
/Cancer./ on early monuments placed feet to feet. The retro grade
movement of a crab </Crab> typified, by an easy association of ideas
</Association_Of_Ideas>, the retreat of the sun from his farthest
northern excursion, and Cancer was constituted the sign of the /Leo./
summer solstice </Solstice>. The Lion </Lion>, as the symbol of fire, /L
/ represented the culmination </Culmination> of the solar heat. In the
sixth month, the descent of Ishtar to Hades in search /vireo./ of her
lost husband Tammuz was celebrated, and the sign of the Virgin had thus
a purely mythological signification.
The history of the seventh sign is somewhat complicated. The earlier
Greek writers - Eudoxus, Eratosthenes, Hipparchus - knew of only eleven
zodiacal symbols, but made one do double duty, extending the Scorpion
across the seventh and eighth divisions. The Balance, obviously
indicating the equality of day and night, is first mentioned as the sign
of the /Libra/ autumnal equinox by Geminus and Varro, and °b and tained,
through Sosigenes </Sosigenes> of Alexandria </Alexandria%2C_Egypt>,
official re /Scorpio./ cognition </Cognition> in the Julian </Julian>
calendar. Nevertheless, Virgil </Virgil> (/Georg./ i. 32) regarded the
space it presided over as so much waste land, provisionally occupied by
the " Claws " of the Scorpion, but readily available for the apotheosis
</Apotheosis> of Augustus. Libra was not of Greek invention. Ptolemy
</Ptolemy>, who himself chiefly used the " Claws " (XnXai), speaks of it
as a distinctively Chaldaean sign; 2 and it occurs as an extrazodiacal
asterism in the Chinese sphere. An ancient Chinese law, moreover,
prescribed the regularization of weights and measures
</Weights_And_Measures> at the /spring/ equinox. 3 No representation of
the seventh sign has yet been discovered on any Euphratean monument; but
it is noticeable that the eighth is frequently doubled,4 and it is
difficult to avoid seeing in the pair of zodiacal scorpions carved on
Assyrian cylinders the prototype of the Greek scorpion and claws. Both
Libra and the sign it eventually superseded thus owned a Chaldaean
birthplace. The struggle of rival systems of nomenclature, from which
our zodiacal series resulted, is plainly visible in their alternations;
and the claims of the competing signs were long sought to be conciliated
by representing the Balance as held between the claws of the €corpion.
The definitive decline of the sun's power after the autumnal 1 Sayce,
/Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology </Archaeology>,/
iii. 162.
In citing a Chaldaean observation of Mercury
</Mercury_%28disambiguation%29> dating from 235 B.C. (/Almagest, ii./
170, ed. Halma </Halma>).
3 See /Uranographie Chinoise,/ by Gustav Schlegel, who, however, claims
an extravagant antiquity for the Chinese constellational system.
4 Lenormant, /Origines,/ i. 267.
equinox was typified by placing a Scorpion as the symbol of darkness in
the eighth sign. Sagittarius, figured later as a Centaur, stood for the
Babylonian Mars </Mars>. Capricornus /Sagit- / the sign of the winter
solstice, is plausibly connected /tarius. / with the caprine nurse
</Nurse> of the young solar god in Oriental legends, of which that of
Zeus </Zeus> and Amalthia is a /Capri </Capri>- / variant.' The
fish-tailed Goat of the zodiac presents /corpus. / a close analogy
</Analogy> with the Mexican calendar sign Cipactli, a kind of marine
monster </Monster> resembling a narwhal </Narwhal> s Aquarius is a still
more exclusively meteorological sign than Leo. The eleventh month was
known in Euphratean regions as that of " want and rain </Rain>." The
deluge </The_Deluge> was tradi- /Aquarius. / tionally associated with
it. It was represented in zodiacal symbolism by the god Ramman, crowned
with a tiara </Tiara> and pouring water from a vase </Vase>, or more
generally by the vase and water without the god. The resumption of
agricultural labours after the deluge was commemorated in the twelfth
month, and a mystical association of the fishes, which were its /Pisces.
/ sign, with the life after death is evident in a monu ment of Assyrian
origin described by Clermont-Ganneau </Charles_Simon_Clermont-Ganneau>,
showing a corpse </Corpse> guarded by a pair of fish-gods. ? The
doubling of the sign of Pisces still recalls, according to Sayce, 8 the
arrangement of the Babylonian calendar, in which a year of 360 days was
supplemented once in six years by a thirteenth month, a second Adar. To
the double month corresponded the double sign of the " Fishes of Hea." 9
/Cyclical Meaning of the Succession of Signs. - The/ cyclical meaning of
the succession of zodiacal signs, though now obscured by interpolations
and substitutions, was probably once clear and entire. It is curiously
reflected in the adventures of the Babylonian Hercules </Hercules>, the
solar hero Gilgamesh (see Gilgamesh, Epic Of
</index.php?title=Gilgamesh%2C_Epic_Of&action=edit>). They were recorded
in the comparatively late surviving version of the 7th century B.C., on
twelve tablets, with an obvious design of correlation with the twelve
divisions of the sun's annual course. Gilgamesh's conquest of the divine
bull was placed under Taurus; his slaying of the tyrant </Tyrant>
Khumbaba (the prototype of Geryon) in the fifth month typified the
victory of light over darkness, represented in plastic art by the group
of a lion killing a bull, which is the form ordinarily given to the sign
Leo on Ninevite cylinders. 10 The wooing of Ishtar by the hero of the
epic falls under Virgo, and his encounter with two scorpion men,
guardians of the rising and the setting sun, under Scorpio. The eleventh
tablet narrates the deluge; the twelfth associates the apotheosis of
Eabani </Eabani> with the zodiacal emblems of the resurrection.
In the formation of the constellations of the zodiac little regard was
paid to stellar configurations. The Chaldaeans chose three stars in each
sign to be the " councillor gods" of the planets." These were called by
the Greeks " decans," because ten degrees of the ecliptic and ten days
of the year were presided over by each. The college of the decans was
conceived as moving, by their annual risings and settings, in an "
eternal circuit </Circuit> " between the infernal and supernal regions.
Modern asterisms first appear in the /Phaenomena/ of Eudoxus about 370
B.C. But Eudoxus, there is reason to believe, consulted, not the
heavens, but a celestial globe of an anterior epoch, on which the stars
and the signs were forced into unnatural agreement. The representation
thus handed down (in the verses of Aratus) has been thought to tally
</Tally> best with the state of the sky about 2000 B.C.; 12 and the
mention of a polestar, for which Eudoxus was rebuked by Hipparchus,
seems, as W. T. Lynn </Lynn> pointed out, 13 to refer to the time when a
Draconis ' Lenormant, /Origines,/ i. 267.
s Humboldt, /Vues des Cordilleres/ (181o), p. 157.
7 /Rev. Archeol./ (1879), p. 344.
8 /Trans. Soc. Bibl. Archaeol.,/ iii. 166.
9 The god Ea or Hea, the Oannes </Oannes> of Berossus </Berossus>,
equivalent to the fish-god Dagon </Dagon>, came to the rescue </Rescue>
of the protagonist in the Chaldaean drama of the deluge.
1° Lenormant, /Origines, i./ 240.
" Diod. Sic., /Hist.,/ ii. 30, where, however, by an obvious mistake the
number of " councillor gods " is stated at only thirty.
12 R. Brown, /Babylonian Record,/ No. 3, p. 34.
13 /Babylonian Record,/ No. 5, p. 79.
stood near the pole </Pole_%28disambiguation%29>. The data afforded by
Eudoxus, however, are far too vague to serve as the basis of any
chronological conclusion.
[edit </index.php?title=Zodiac&action=edit§ion=2>]
Egyptian Zodiacal Signs
The Egyptians adopted from the Greeks, with considerable modifications
of its attendant symbolism, the twelve-fold </Fold> division of the
zodiac. Aries became the Fleece; two Sprouting Plants, typifying
equality or resemblance, stood for Gemini; Cancer was re-named
Scarabaeus; Leo was converted, from the axe </Axe>-like configuration of
its chief stars, into the Knife </Knife>: Libra into the Mountain
</The_Mountain> of the Sun, a reminiscence </Reminiscence>, apparently,
of the Euphratean association of the seventh month with a " holy mound
</Mound>," designating the biblical tower </Tower_%28disambiguation%29>
of Babel </Babel>. A Serpent </Serpent> was the Egyptian equivalent of
Scorpio; the Arrow only of Sagittarius was retained; Capricornus became
" Life," or a Mirror </Mirror> as an image </Image> of life; Aquarius
survived as Water; Taurus, Virgo and Pisces remained unchanged.' The
motive of some of the substitutions was to avoid the confusion which
must have ensued from the duplication of previously existing native
asterisms; thus, the Egyptian and Greek Lions were composed of totally
different stars.: Abstractions in other cases replaced concrete
</Concrete_%28disambiguation%29> objects, with the general result of
effacing the distinctive character of the Greek zodiac as a " circle of
living things." /Spread of Greek System. - Early/ Zoroastrian writings,
though impregnated with star-worship, show no traces of an attempt to
organize the heavenly array </Array>. In the /Bundahish,/ however (9th
century), the twelve " Akhtars," designated by the same names as our
signs, lead </Lead_%28disambiguation%29> the army of Ormazd </Ormazd>,
while the seven " Awakhtars " or planets (including a meteor </Meteor>
and a comet) fight for Ahriman </Ahriman>. The knowledge of the solar
zodiac thus turned to account for dualistic purposes was undoubtedly
derived from the Greeks. By them, too, it was introduced into Hindustan.
Aryabhata, about the beginning of the Christian era, reckoned by the
same signs as Hipparchus. They were transmitted from India </India> by
Buddhist missionaries to China </China>, but remained in abeyance
</Abeyance> until the Jesuit reform of Chinese astronomy in the 17th
century.
[edit </index.php?title=Zodiac&action=edit§ion=3>]
Chinese Zodiacal Sins
The native Chinese zodiacal system was of unexampled complexity. Besides
divisions into twentyeight and twenty-four </The_Twenty-Four_Parganas>
parts, it included two distinct duodenary series. The tse or " stations
" were referred by E. C. Biot to the date II II B.C. Measured from the
winter solstice of that epoch, they corresponded, in conformity with the
Chinese method of observation by intervals of what we now call righ t
ascension </Ascension>, to equal portions of the celestial equator. 2
Projected upon the ecliptic, these were considerably unequal, and the
/tse / accordingly differed essentially from the Chaldaean and Greek
signs. Their use was chiefly astrological, and their highly figurative
names - " Great Splendour," " Immense Void," "Fire of the Phoenix
</Phoenix>," &c. - had reference to no particular stars. They became
virtually merged in the European series, stamped with official
recognition over two centuries ago. The twenty-four /tsieki/ or demi-tse
were probably invented to mark the course of weather changes throughout
the year. Their appellations are purely meteorological.
The characteristic Chinese mode of dividing the "yellow road " of the
sun was, however, by the twelve "cyclical animals " - Rat </Rat>, Ox
</Ox>, Tiger </Tiger>, Hare </Hare>, Dragon </Dragon> or Crocodile
</Crocodile>, Serpent, Horse </Horse>, Sheep </Sheep>, Monkey </Monkey>,
Hen </Hen>, Dog </Dog>, Pig </Pig>. The opening sign corresponds to our
Aquarius, and it is remarkable that the rat is, in the far East,
frequently used as an ideograph </Ideograph> for "water." But here the
agreement ceases. For the Chinese series has the strange peculiarity of
proceeding in a retrograde </Retrograde> direction or /against / the
course of the sun. Thus, the second sign (of the Ox) occupies the
position of Capricorn, the third that of Sagittarius, and so on. The
explanation of this seeming anomaly </Anomaly> is to be found in the
primitive destination of the " animals " to the purposes of an " horary
zodiac." Their succession, established to mark the hours of day and
night, was not unnaturally 1 Brugsch, /Z. D. M. G., 'ix. 513. '/ Biot,
/Journ. des Savans,/ 18 39, p. 729, and 5840, p. 151; Gaubil, /Hist. de
l'Astr. Chinoise,/ p. 9.
associated with the diurnal revolution of the sphere from east to west.
3 They are unquestionably of native origin. Tradition ascribes their
invention to Tajao, minister of the emperor </Emperor> Hwang-ti, who
reigned /c./ 2697 B.e., and it can scarcely be placed later than the 7th
century B.e.4 The Chinese circle of the " animals " obtained early a
wide diffusion </Diffusion>. It was adopted by Tatars </Tatars>, Turks
</Turks> and Mongols </Mongols>, in Tibet </Tibet> and Tong-king, Japan
</Japan> and Korea </Korea_%28disambiguation%29>. It is denominated by
Humboldt 5 the " zodiac of hunters and shepherds," and he adds that the
presence in it of a tiger gives it an exclusively Asiatic character. It
appears never to have been designed for astronomical employment. From
the first it served to characterize the divisions of time. The
nomenclature not only of the hours of the day and of their minutest
intervals was supplied by it, but of the months of the year, of the
years in the Oriental sixty-year cycle, and of the days in the " little
cycle " of twelve days. Nor has it yet fallen into desuetude. Years " of
the Rat," "of the Tiger," " of the Pig," still figure in the almanacs of
Central Asia </Samarkand%2C_Central_Asia>, Cochin </Cochin> China and
Japan.
[edit </index.php?title=Zodiac&action=edit§ion=4>]
Aztec Zodiacal Signs
A large detachment of the " cyclical animals " even found its way to the
New World. Seven of the twenty days constituting the Aztec month bore
names evidently borrowed from those of the Chinese horary signs. The
Hare (or Rabbit </Rabbit>), Monkey, Dog and Serpent reappeared without
change; for the Tiger, Crocodile and Hen, unknown in America </America>,
the Ocelot </Ocelot>, Lizard </Lizard> and Eagle </Eagle> were
substituted as analogous.6 The Aztec calendar dated from the 7th
century; but the zodiacal tradition embodied by it was doubtless much
more ancient. Of the zodiac in its true sense of a partitioned belt
</Belt> of the sphere there was no aboriginal knowledge on the American
continent. Mexican acquaintance with the signs related only to their
secondary function as dies (so to speak) with which to stamp </Stamp>
recurring intervals of time.
[edit </index.php?title=Zodiac&action=edit§ion=5>]
Lunar Zodiac
The synodical/ revolution of the moon laid down the lines of the solar,
its /sidereal/ revolution those of the lunar zodiac. The first was a
circlet of " full moons "; the second marked the diurnal stages of the
lunar progress round the sky, from and back again to any selected star.
The moon was the earliest " measurer " both of time and space; but its
services can scarcely have been rendered available until stellar "
milestones " were established at suitable points along its path. Such
were the Hindu /nakshatras,/ a word originally signifying stars in
general, but appropriated to designate certain small stellar groups
marking the divisions of the lunar track. They exhibit in an exaggerated
form the irregularities of distribution visible in our zodiacal
constellations, and present the further anomaly of being frequently
reckoned as twenty-eight in number, while the ecliptical arcs they
characterize are invariably twenty-seven. Now, since the moon revolves
round the earth in 273 days, hesitation between the two full numbers
might easily arise; yet the real explanation of the difficulty appears
to be different. The superfluous asterism, named /Abhijit,/ included the
bright star a Lyrae, under whose influence the gods had vanquished the
Asuras. Its invocation with the other /nakshatras,/ remoteness from the
ecliptic notwithstanding, was thus due (according to Max Miiller's
plausible conjecture)' to its being regarded as of especially good omen
</Omen>. Acquaintance with foreign systems of twenty-eight lunar
divisions tended doubtless to fix its position, which remained,
nevertheless, always equivocal. 8 Alternately admitted into or rejected
from the series, it was finally, some six or seven centuries ago,
eliminated by the effects of precession in reversing the order of
culmination of its limiting stars./
The notion of a twenty-seven-fold division of the zodiac was deeply
rooted in Hindu tradition. The number and the name were in early times
almost synonymous. Thus a /nakshatra-mad / 3 Humboldt, /Vues des
Cordilleres,/ p. 168.
4 G. Schlegel, /Ur </Ur>. Chin.,/ pp. 37, 561. /Op. cit.,/ p. 219.
/6 Ibid.,/ p. 152; Prescott, /Conquest of Mexico
</Mexico_%28disambiguation%29>,/ iii. 321 (ed. 1860).
7 /Rig-Veda Samhita,/ vol. iv. (1862), Preface, p.lxii.
e Whitney, /Journ. Am. Orient. Soc.,/ viii. 394.
denoted a necklace of twenty-seven pearls; 1 and the fundamental
equality of the parts was figured in an ancient legend, by the
compulsion laid upon King Soma </Soma> (the Moon) to share his time
impartially between all his wives, the twenty-seven daughters of
Prajapati. Everything points to a native origin for the system of
/nakshatras./ Some were named after exclusively Vedic deities; they
formed the basis of the sacrificial calendar of the Brahmins; the old
Indian names of the months were derived from them; their existence was
pre-supposed in the entire structure of Hindu ritual </Ritual> and
science. 2 They do not, however, obtain full recognition in Sanskrit
</Sanskrit> literature until the Brahmana period (7th or 8th century
B.C.). The /Rig-Veda / contains only one allusion to them, where it is
said that " Soma is placed in the lap of the /nakshatras ";/ and this is
in a part including later interpolations.
Positive proof of the high antiquity of the Hindu lunar zodiac is
nevertheless afforded by the undoubted fact that the primitive series
opened with Krittika (the Pleiades) as the sign of the vernal equinox.
The arrangement would have been correct about 2300 B.C.; it would
scarcely have been possible after 1800 B.C. 3 We find nowhere else a
well-authenticated zodiacal sequence corresponding to so early a date.
The reform by which Krittika, now relegated to the third place, was
superseded as the head of the series by " Agvini " 4 was accomplished
under Greek influence somewhere near the beginning of the Christian era.
For purposes of ritual, however, the Pleiades, with Agni </Agni> or "
Fire " as their presiding deity, continued to be the first sign. Hindu
astronomy received its first definite organization in the 6th century,
with results embodied in the /Siorya-Siddhanta. / Here the " signs " and
the " constellations " of the lunar zodiac form two essentially distinct
systems. The ecliptic is divided into twenty-seven equal parts, called
/bhogas/ or arcs, of Boo' each. But the /nakshatras/ are twenty-eight,
and are represented by as many " junction stars " (/yogatara/),
carefully determined by their spherical co-ordinates. The successive
entries of the moon and planets into the /nakshatras/ (the ascertainment
of which was of great astrological importance) were fixed by means of
their conjunctions with the /yogataras./ These, however, soon ceased to
be observed, and already in the 1 ith century, alBiruni could meet with
no Hindu astronomer capable of pointing out to him the complete series.
Their successful identification by Colebrooke 5 in 1807 had a purely
archaeological interest. The modern /nakshatras/ are twenty-seven equal
ecliptical divisions, the origin of which shifts, like that of the solar
signs, with the vernal equinox. They are, in fact, the /bhogas/ of the
/Surya-Siddhanta./ The mean place of the moon in them, published in all
Hindu almanacs, is found to serve unexceptionally the ends of astral
vaticination.6 The system upon which it is founded is of great
antiquity. Belief in the power of the /nakshatras/ evidently inspired
the invocations of them in the /Atharva-Veda </Atharva_Veda>./ In the
Brahmana period they were distinguished as " deva </Deva> " and " yama
</Yama>," the fourteen lucky asterisms being probably associated with
the waxing, the fourteen unlucky with the waning moon.' A special
/nakshatra/ was appropriated to every occurrence of life. One was
propitious to marriage, another to entrance upon school-life, a third to
the first ploughing </Plough_And_Ploughing>, a fourth to laying the
foundation of a house. Festivals for the dead were appointed to be held
under those that included but one star. Propitiatory abstinences were
recommended when the natal </Natal> asterism was menaced by unfavourable
planetary conjunctions. The various members of the body were parcelled
out among the /nakshatras,/ and a rotation of food was prescribed as a
wholesome accompaniment </Accompaniment> of the moon's revolution among
them.8 1 Max Muller, /op. cit.,/ p. lxiv. 2 /Ibid.,/ p. 42.
3 A. Weber, /Indische Studien,/ x. 241.
4 Named from the Agvins, the Hindu Castor </Castor> and Pollux
</Pollux>. It is composed of the stars in the head of Aries, and is
figured by a horse's head. s /As. Res.,/ ix. 330.
s J. B. Biot, E /tudes sur l'Astronomie Indienne,/ p. 225.
' A. Weber, " Die Vedischen Nachrichten von den Naxatra," in /Berliner
Abhandlungen/ (8868), p. 309.
8 /Ibid.,/ p. 322; H. Kern, /Die Yogatara des Varamihira;/ Weber's /Ind.
Stud </Stud>.,/ xv. 174-181.
The nomenclature of the Hindu signs of the zodiac, save as regards a few
standard asterisms, such as Agvini and Krittikä, was far from uniform.
Considerable discrepancies occur in the lists given by different
authorities. 9 Hence it is not surprising to meet in them evidence of
foreign communications. Reminiscences of the Greek signs of Gemini, Leo,
Libra, Sagittarius, Capricornus and Pisces are obvious severally in the
Hindu Two Faces, Lion's Tail, Beam </Beam> of a Balance, Arrow,
Gazelle's Head (figured as a marine nondescript) and Fish. The
correspondence does not, however, extend to the stars; and some
coincidences adverted to by Humboldt between the /nakshatras/ and the
zodiacal animals of Central Asia </Asia_%28disambiguation%29> are of the
same nominal character. 10 Mexican loans are more remarkable. They were
apparently direct as well as indirect. The Aztec calendar includes
/nakshatra/ titles borrowed, not only through the medium of the Tatar
zodiac, but likewise straight from the Indian scheme, apart from any
known intervention. The " three footprints of Vishnu </Vishnu>," for
example, unmistakably gave its name to the Mexican day 0111n, signifying
the " track of the sun "; and both series further contain a " flint
</Flint_%28disambiguation%29> weapon </Weapon>," a " stick," and a "
house." 11 Several houses and couches were ranged along the Hindu zodiac
with the naive idea of providing resting-places for the wandering moon.
[edit </index.php?title=Zodiac&action=edit§ion=6>]
Relative Antiquity of Hindu, Chinese and Arabian Systems
/ Relationship of a more intimate kind connects the Hindu lunar mansions
with those of the Arabs </Arabs> and Chinese. The resemblance between
the three systems is indeed so close that it has been assumed, almost as
axiomatic, that they must have been framed from a single model. It
appears nevertheless to have become tolerably clear that the
/nakshatras/ were both native to India, and the /sieu/ to China, but
that the /manazil/ were mainly of Indian derivation. The assertion,
paradoxical at first sight, that the twenty-eight " hostelries " of the
Chinese sphere had nothing to do with the moon's daily motion, seems to
convey the actual fact. Their number, as a multiple of four, was
prescribed by the quaternary </Quaternary> partition
</Partition_%28disambiguation%29> of the heavens, fundamental in Chinese
astronomy. It was considered by Biot to have been originally
twenty-four, but to have been enlarged to twenty-eight about i ioo B.C.,
by the addition of determinants for the solstices and equinoxes of that
period. 12 The essential difference, however, between the /nakshatras/
and the /sieu/ is that the latter were equatorial, not ecliptical,
divisions. They were measured by the meridian
</Meridian_%28disambiguation%29>-passages of the limiting stars, and
varied in amplitude </Amplitude> from 2° 42' to 30° 24'. 13 The use of
the specially observed stars constituting or representing the /sieu /
was as points of reference for the movements of sun, moon and planets.
They served, in fact, and still serve (though with astrological ends in
view), the precise purpose of " fundamental stars " in European
astronomy. All that is certainly known about the antiquity of the /sieu/
is that they were well established in the 3rd century B.C. Their initial
point at the autumnal equinox marked by Kio (Spica Virginis) suits a
still later date; and there is no valid evidence that the modern series
resulted from the rectification of an older superannuated arrangement,
analogous to the Krittika sequence of /nakshatras./ The Hindu zodiacal
constellations belong then to an earlier epoch than the Chinese "
stations," such as they have been transmitted to our acquaintance. Yet
not only were the latter an independent invention, but it is almost
demonstrable that the /nakshatras,/ in their more recent organization,
were, as far as possible, assimilated to them. The whole system of
junction stars was doubtless an imitation of the /sieu;/ the choice of
them by the Hindu astronomers of the 6th century A.D. was plainly
instigated by a consideration of the Chinese list, compiled with a
widely different intent </Intent>. Where they varied from it, some
intelligible reason can generally be assigned for the change. Eight
junction stars lie quite close to, seven others are actually identical
with, Chinese determinants; 14 and many of these coincidences 9 Sir
William Jones </William_Jones>, /As. Res., ii./ 294-95./
10 Humboldt, /Vues des Cordilleres,/ p. 854. " /Ibid.,/ p. 152.
12 Biot, /Journ. des Savans/ (1845), p. 40.
13 G. Schlegel, /Ur. Chin.,/ p. /77.14/ Biot, Etudes, p. 136.
are between insignificant and, for the purposes of ecliptical division,
inconveniently situated objects.
[edit </index.php?title=Zodiac&action=edit§ion=7>]
Arabian Mansions of the Moon
The small stellar groups characterizing the Arab " mansions of the moon
" (/manazil alkamar/) were more equably distributed than either the
Hindu or Chinese series. They presented, nevertheless, striking
resemblances to both. Twenty-four out of twenty-eight were formed, at
least in part, of /nakshatra/ or /sieu/ stars.' That the Arab was
essentially a copy of the Hindu lunar zodiac can scarcely admit of
doubt. They were divided on the same principle; each opened at the
spring equinox; the first Arab sign Sharatan was strictly equivalent to
the Hindu Acvini; and eighteen constellations in each were virtually
coincident. The model of the /sieu/ was, however, also regarded.
Eighteen Chinese determinants were included in the Arab asterisms, and
of these five or six were not /nakshatra/ stars; consequently, they must
have been taken directly from the Chinese series. Nor were the Greek
signs without effect in determining the names of the /manazil, 2/ the
late appearance of which, in a complete form, removes all difficulty in
accounting for the various foreign influences brought to bear </Bear>
upon them. They were first enumerated by Alfarghani early in the 9th
century, when the Arabs were in astronomy the avowed disciples of the
Hindus. But, although they then received perhaps their earliest
quasiscientific organization, the mansions of the moon had for ages
previously figured in the popular lore </Lore> of the Bedouin. A set of
twenty-eight rhymes associated their heliacal risings with the changes
of season and the vicissitudes of nomad </Nomad> life; their settings
were of meteorological and astrological import; 3 in the Koran </Koran>
(x. /5/) they are regarded as indispensable for the reckoning of time.
Yet even this intimate penetration into the modes of thought of the
desert </Desert> may be explained by prehistoric Indian communication.
The alternative view, advocated by Weber, that the lunar zodiac was
primitively Chaldaean, rests on a very shadowy foundation. It is true
that a word radically identical with /manazil/ occurs twice in the Bible
</Bible>, under the forms /mazzaloth/ and /mazzaroth/ (2 Kings xxiii. 5;
Job </Job> xxxviii. 32); but the heavenly halting-places which it seems
to designate may be solar rather than lunar. Euphratean exploration has
so far brought to light no traces of ecliptical partition by the moon's
diurnal motion </Diurnal_motion>, unless, indeed, zodiacal associations
be claimed for a set of twenty-eight deprecatory formulae against evil
spirits </Spirits> inscribed on a Ninevite tablet.4 The safest general
conclusions regarding this disputed subject appear to be that the
/sieu,/ distinctively and unvaryingly Chinese, cannot properly be
described as divisions of a lunar zodiac, that the /nakshatras,/ though
of purely Indian origin, became modified by the successive adoption of
Greek and Chinese rectifications and supposed improvements; while the
/manazil / constituted a frankly eclectic system, in which elements from
all quarters were combined. It was adopted by Turks, Tatars and
Persians, and forms part of the astronomical paraphernalia
</Paraphernalia> of the /Bundahish./ The /sieu,/ on the other hand, were
early naturalized in Japan.
[edit </index.php?title=Zodiac&action=edit§ion=8>]
Astrological Systems
The refined system of astrological prediction based upon the solar
zodiac was invented in Chaldaea </Chaldaea>, obtained a second home and
added elaborations in Egypt, and spread irresistibly westward about the
beginning of the Christian era. For genethliacal purposes the signs were
divided into six solar and six lunar, the former counted onward from
Leo, the " house " of the sun, the latter backward from the moon's
domicile </Domicile> in Cancer. Each planet </Planet> had two houses - a
solar and a lunar - distributed according to the order of their
revolutions. Thus Mercury, as the planet nearest the sun, obtained
Virgo, the sign adjacent to Leo, with the corresponding lunar house in
Gemini; Venus had Libra (solar) and Taurus (lunar); and so for the rest.
A ram frequently stamped on coins of Antiochus
</Antiochus_%28disambiguation%29>, with head reverted towards the moon
and a star (the planet Mars), signified Aries to be the lunar house of
Mars. With the respective and relative positions in the zodiac of the
sun, moon and planets, the character of their action 1 Whitney, Notes to
/Surya-Siddhanta,/ p. zoo.
/Ibid.,/ p. 206.
3 A. Sprenger, /Z. D. M. G.,/ xiii. 161; Biruni </Biruni>, /Chronology
</Chronology>,/ trans. by Sachau (London, 18 79), p. 33 6 seq.
4 Lenormant, /Chaldean Magic </Magic>,/ p. I.
on human destiny varied indefinitely. The influence of the signs, though
secondary, was hence overmastering: Julian called them Os by Svva,uees,
5 and they were the objects of a corresponding veneration. Cities and
kingdoms were allotted to their several patronage on a system fully
expounded by Manilius </Manilius>: Hos erit in fines orbis pontusque
notandus, Quem Deus </Deus> in partes per singula dividit astra, Ac sua
cuique dedit tutelae regna per orbem, Et proprias gentes atque urbes
addidit altas, In quibus exercent praestantia sidera vires.s Syria
</Syria> was assigned to Aries, and Syrian coins frequently bear the
effigy of a ram; Scythia </Scythia> and Arabia </Arabia> fell to Taurus,
India to Gemini. Palmyra </Palmyra>, judging from numismatic evidence,
claimed the favour of Libra, Zeugma that of Capricorn; Leo protected
Miletus </Miletus>, Sagittarius Singara. 7 The " power of the signs "
was similarly distributed among the parts of the human body: Et quanquam
communis eat tutela per omne Corpus, et in proprium divisis artubus
exit: Namque aries capiti, taurus cervicibus haeret; Brachia sub geminis
censentur, pectora cancro.8 Warnings were uttered against surgical
treatment of a member through whose sign the moon happened to be
passing; 9 and zodiacal anatomy </Anatomy> was an indispensable branch
of the healing art in the Middle Ages </The_Middle_Ages>. Some curious
memorials of the superstition have survived in rings and amulets,
engraven with the various signs, and worn as a kind of astral defensive
armour. Many such, of the 14th and 15th centuries, have been recovered
from the Thames </Thames>. 10 Individuals, too, adopted zodiacal
emblems. Capricornus was impressed upon the coins of Augustus, Libra on
those ' of Pythodoris, queen of Pontus </Pontus>; a sultan </Sultan> of
Iconium </Iconium> displayed Leo as his " horoscope " and mark of
sovereignty </Sovereignty>; Stephen of England </Stephen_Of_England>
chose the protection of Sagittarius.
[edit </index.php?title=Zodiac&action=edit§ion=9>]
Egyptian Astrology
In Egypt celestial influences were considered'as emanating mainly from
the thirty-six " decans " of the signs. They were called the " media
</Media> of the whole circle of the zodiac "; 11 each ten-day period of
the Egyptian year was consecrated to the decanal god whose section of
the ecliptic rose </Rose> at its commencement; the body was
correspondingly apportioned, and disease was cured by invoking the
zodiacal regent </Regent> of the part affected. 12 As early as the 14th
century B.C. a complete list of the decans was placed among the
hieroglyphs adorning the tomb </Tomb> of Seti I.; they figured again in
the temple of Rameses </Rameses> II., 13 and characterize every Egyptian
astrological monument. Both the famous zodiacs of Dendera </Dendera>
display their symbols, unmistakably identified by Lepsius. The late
origin of these representations was established by the detection upon
them of the cartouches of Tiberius and Nero </Nero>. As the date of
inception of the circular zodiac now at Paris </Paris> the year 46 B.C.
has, however, been suggested with high probability, from (among other
indications) the position among the signs of the emblem </Emblem> of the
planet Jupiter </Jupiter>. 14 Its design was most likely to serve as a
sort of /thema coeli/ at the time of the birth of Caesarion. The
companion </Companion> rectangular zodiac still /in situ/ on the portico
</Portico> of the temple of Isis </Isis> at Dendera suits, as to
constellational arrangements, the date 29 A.D. It set forth, there is
reason to believe, the natal scheme, not of the emperor Tiberius, as had
been conjectured by Lauth, 15 but of the building it served to decorate.
The Greek signs of the zodiac, including Libra, are obvious upon both
these monuments, which have thrown useful light upon the calendar system
and method of stellar grouping of the ancient Egyptians.16
/Planispheres. - An/ Egypto-Greek planisphere, first described by
Bianchini, 17 resembles in its general plan the circular zodiac of
Dendera. The decans are ranged on the outermost of its five concentric
zones; the planets and the Greek zodiac in duplicate occupy the next
three; while the inner circle is unaccountably reserved for the Chinese
cyclical animals. The relic was dug up on the Aventine in 1705, and is
now in the Louvre. It dates from the 2nd or 3rd century A.D. The Tatar
zodiac is not unfrequently found engraven on Chinese mirrors in polished
bronze </Bronze> or steel </Iron_And_Steel> of the 7th century, and
figured on the " plateau of the twelve hours "' 5 " Orat. in Solem,"
/Op.,/ i. 148 (ed. 1696).
/Astr.,/ bk. iv. ver. 696 seq.
7 Eckhel, /Descriptio Nummorum Antiochiae Syriae,/ pp. 18, 25.
8 Manilius, /Astr.,/ bk. iv. ver. 702-5.
9 A. J. Peirce, /Science of the Stars,/ p. 84.
1° /Journ. Arch. Soc./ xiii. 254, 310, and xx. 80.
" In a fragment of /Hermes </Hermes>/ translated by Th. Taylor </Taylor>
at p. 362 of his version of Iamblichus </Iamblichus>.
12 Pettigrew, /Superstitions Connected with Hist. of Medicine
</Medicine>,/ p. 30.
13 Lepsius, /Chronologie der Aegypter,/ part i. p. 68.
/14 Ibid.,/ p. 102.
15 /Les Zodiaques de Denderah,/ p. 78.
1s See Riel's /Das feste Jahr von Denderah/ (1878).
17 /Mem. de l'Acad.,/ Paris, 1708, Hist., p. 110; see also Humboldt,
/Vues des Cordilleres,/ p. 170; Lepsius, /op. cit.,/ p. 83; FrOhner,
/Sculpture </Sculpture> du Louvre,/ p. 17.
in the treasury of the emperors of the Tang dynasty.' Probably the most
ancient zodiacal representation in existence is a fragment of a
Chaldaean planisphere in the British Museum, once inscribed with the
names of the twelve months and their governing signs. Two only now
remain.' A zodiac on the " astrological altar </Altar> of Gabies " in
the Louvre illustrates the apportionment </Apportionment> of the signs
among the inmates of the Roman Pantheon </Pantheon>; 3 and they occur as
a classical reminiscence in the mosaic </Mosaic> pavements of San
Miniato </San_Miniato> and the baptistery </Baptistery> at Florence
</Florence> the cathedral </Cathedral> of Lyons </Lyons>, and the crypt
</Crypt> of San Savino </Monte_San_Savino> at Piacenza </Piacenza>.4
Zodiacal symbolism became conspicuous in medieval art. Nearly all the
French cathedrals of the 12th and 13th centuries exhibit on their
portals a species of rural calendar, in which each month and sign has
its corresponding labour. The zodiac of Notre Dame </Dame> of Paris,
opening with Aquarius, is a noted instance.' A similar series, in which
sculptured figures of Christ </Christ> and the Apostles are associated
with the signs, is to be seen in perfect preservation on the chief
doorway </Doorway> of the abbey </Abbey> church at Vezelay </Vezelay>.
The cathedrals of Amiens </Amiens>, Sens </Sens> and Rheims are
decorated in the same way. In Italy </Italy> the signs and works survive
fragmentarily in the baptistery at Parma </Parma>, completely on the
porch </Porch> of the cathedral of Cremona </Cremona> and on the west
doorway of St Mark's at Venice </Venice>. They are less common in
England </England>; but St Margaret's, York </York>, and the church of M
i ley in Oxfordshire </Oxfordshire> offer good specimens. In the zodiac
of Merton College, Oxford </Oxford>, Libra is represented by a judge
</Judge> in his robes </Robes> and Pisces by the dolphin </Dolphin> of
Fitzjames, warden </Warden> of the college, 1482-1507.6 The great
rose-windows of the Early Gothic </Gothic> period were frequently
painted with zodiacal emblems; and some frescoes in the cathedral of
Cologne </Cologne> contain the signs, each with an attendant angel
</Angel_%28disambiguation%29>, just as they were depicted on the vault
</Vault> of the church at Mount Athos </Athos>. Giotto's zodiac at Padua
</Padua> was remarkable (in its undisturbed condition) for the
arrangement of the signs so as to be struck in turns, during the
corresponding months, by the sun's rays.' The " zodiac of labours " was
replaced in French castles and hotels by a " zodiac of pleasures," in
which hunting </Hunting>, hawking, fishing and dancing were substituted
for hoeing, planting, reaping </Reaping> and ploughing.8 It is curious
to find the same sequence of symbols employed for the same decorative
purposes in India as in Europe </Europe>. A perfect set of signs was
copied in 1764 from a pagoda </Pagoda> at Verdapettah near Cape Comorin
</Cape_Comorin>, and one equally complete existed at the same period on
the ceiling </Ceiling> of a temple near Mindurah 9 The hieroglyphs
representing the signs of the zodiac in astronomical works are found in
manuscripts of about the 10th century, but in carvings not until the
15th or 16th. 10 Their origin is unknown; but some, if not all of them,
have antique associations. The hieroglyph of Leo, for instance, occurs
among the symbols of the Mithraic worship." See also the article
ASTROLOGY, and the separate articles on the constellations. The whole
subject of the history of the zodiac is very obscure. See generally
Franz Boll </Boll>, /Sphaera/ (Leipzig, 1903); also the bibliographies
to ASTROLOGY and BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN RELIGION
</Babylonian_and_Assyrian_religion>. (A. M. C.)
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