The Behenian Stars (Part One)

Hermes Trismegistus, "Hermes The Thrice-Renowned", is a quasi-mystical individual to whom thousands of writings have been ascribed since antiquity. Modern scholars consider him an anthropomorphized syncretism of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. According to the Alchemists and the Kabbalists, Hermes Trismegistus was a contemporary of Moses; but whereas Moses gave Man the Mundane Holy Law, Hermes Trismegistus gave Man the Spiritual Holy Law. 

This spiritual law has been given the collective name of Hermeticism or the Western Mystery Tradition. Some of these materials have been organized and ordered into rational teachings, but many seem to be more random.  Such things as the Tarot, Pyramidology, Alchemy, and certain aspects of astrology draw from the greater Hermetic tradition. 

If there ever was a Hermes Trismegistus, whatever his true name may have been he became the lodestar of generations of cross-cultural teachings that led naturally to adepthood. No one post or single blog can even scratch the surface of the mere history of the Western Mystery Tradition.

Among Hermeticism's additions to astrology was the concept of the Behenian Fixed Stars, fifteen stars with unique astrological properties. According to Claudius Agrippa (d. 1535) who systematized the knowledge of these stars he had culled it all from the ancient writings of Hermes Trismegistus.   

The name "Behenian" comes from the Arabic word "Bahman" for "root." Each Behenian star is associated with a plant and with a gemstone, and each has unique powers which are activated when the planets come within a 6* orb of such stars. Like the signs and planets the Behenian stars have glyphs (these glyphs can vary somewhat as can the identity of a few of the stars, depending on the source material consulted). 

There have been many ways of cataloguing these stars and their attributes, and they are often referred to Hermetically by unfamiliar names. There is also debate on the role of the Sun in Behenian study --- is it a "star" or is it a "planet" and if it is both, then how do we distinguish the different attributes? 

"This is the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius . . . "

No one knows who first understood the concept of Great Years; in the West, the discovery is attributed to the Greco-Roman philosopher-astronomer Hipparchus (190 - 120 BCE), who also invented trigonometry. Most of Hipparchus' writings were destroyed in the Great Fire at the Library of Alexandria, but enough survive to inform us that Hipparchus grasped the Copernican-Keplerian heliocentric model of the Solar System later denounced by Ptolemy. 

Hipparchus' review of documents dating back to ancient Egypt also convinced him that the Earth rotated on an axis in space and that this rotation caused the precession of the Equinoxes. Investigating this idea led him to the realization that the axis would one day return to its First Point, which in his time was Aries; but earlier Egyptian and Mesopotamian records clearly indicated that the Spring Equinox was in Taurus and Gemini before that. Extrapolating, Hipparchus calculated that the whole Zodiac would be transited in about 26,000 years. 

This meant that the First Point was in every constellation / sign (in the Tropical System) for about 2150 years. It's not clear if it was Hipparchus who invented the idea of Great Months (or Astrological Ages) or if he drew it from earlier records which we no longer have, but the idea of Astrological Ages corresponds significantly with the Hindu / Vedic idea of Yugas, similar "ages" through which humanity has passed.

Precession of the Equinoxes backward through the Zodiacal circle means that "The First Point of Aries" (i.e., the moment of the Spring Equinox) spends time moving through each Zodiacal constellation (including oft-forgotten Ophiuchus) in reverse order. 

It is difficult to calculate precisely how long the Equinox stays in each constellation because the constellations aren't all the same size in the sky and the Ecliptic, the path of the precession, though set, crosses each constellation at a narrower or wider area of the figure itself. Since some constellations overlay parts of others there's an argument to be made in determining which constellation the First Point is crossing on a given date. Modern astronomers have additionally set boundaries for constellations that include their asterisms and empty surrounding space and unrelated stars as well. The discoverers of the Zodiac undoubtedly would not have held themselves accountable for modern man's rather arbitrary constellational boundaries.  

The Indians solved this problem by creating a Sidereal ("Stellar") Zodiac based (in part) on the uneven sizes of the visible constellations and using various major stars as celestial markers. Some Sidereal systems include Ophiuchus. Others don't. 

  The Sumerians instead, fixated as they were on divisors and multiples of six, cut the round sky into twelve equal 30 degree slices, assigning to each slice a particular constellation (which usually didn't fit neatly within the slice). Differences between the days the Sun was "in" a constellation varied from dates that the Sun was "in" a sign, and even though the signs correspond to the constellations by name (most of the time), the "neatness counts" system of the Sumerians means that the Sun might not be in a given constellation while its in the eponymous sign. Instead of using stars to mark the critical points of their Zodiac, the Sumerians used natural events --- the Solsti and the Equinocti. This system, based on the seasons became known as the Tropical ("Seasonal") system. At the time it was invented the Tropical system included Ophiuchus but not Libra. 

Aquarius / Let The Sun Shine In (The 5th Dimension, 1969) 

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There's unclear evidence that the Sumerians and the Vedic Indians both understood the precession of the Equinoxes. But the Indians believed that time was cyclical and, as noted, consisted of a number of Yugas, or Ages.

Each Yuga is an age with specific characteristics. There are four Yugas. Each Yuga has its own length, from 1.5 million Earth years down to 0.5 million Earth years. One thousand Yugas (250 Yuga cycles) equals a single Kalpa. 100 Kalpas equals a Day of Brahma. And a century's worth of Brahmanic days equals one Lifetime of Brahma.

The Vedic time scale is vast.

This is a chart of the subdivisions of the Yugas, Note the shortened time scale of a differing interpretation.

In each Yuga there is a specific Yuga Dharma or process of self-realization. The Yugas descend from the most spiritual to the most material and then up again. 

Satya Yuga

Satya or Krita Yuga (The Golden Age): lasts 1.7 million Earth years. During this Yuga the majority of the population is living lives of  high spiritual attainment and saintliness. 

Treta Yuga

Treta Yuga (The Silver Age), lasts 1.3 million Earth years. Spiritual development is tied to study and practice of complex practices such as the various Yogas.

Dvapara Yuga

Dvapara Yuga (The Bronze Age) lasts just over 800,000 Earth years. Spiritual development is tied to the worship of the gods in ornate temples. According to some sources we entered Dvapara Yuga during the era of great cathedral and mosque building in the Middle Ages.

Kali Yuga

Kali Yuga (The Iron Age) lasts just under 450,000 Earth years. Dishonesty, violence, and gross materialism abound. Spiritual awareness is rare, limited, and vulgar compared to earlier Yugas. Most sources say we are living through Kali Yuga, some that it is about to end.

The Tropical system of astrology also has "Ages" that are based on precession, though they are nowhere as lengthy as the various Yugas. Each Age of a particular sign is based upon the transit of the First Point through that sign.  The personality of each Age is based upon the characteristics of its corresponding sign. Due to uncertainty as to the date when the First Point actually enters a particular sign, a precise Great Year calendar seems unattainable. At best, we can say that each Age colors the human development of the time. Ages are thought to last anywhere from 2000 years to 2500 years; 2150 years is the average number given. 

The inscrutable Sphinx was a man-headed lion figure. Archaeoastronomers are gathering increasing information which indicates that the Sphinx and its accompanying pyramids were built not as tombs for dead Pharaohs during the Age of Taurus, but much earlier during the Age of Leo as vast spirituo-scientific stellar observatories

The Age of Leo, the earliest Astrological Age yet calculated, occurred roughly 12,000 years ago. According to the beliefs of astrologers, and of a group of newer investigators, the archaeoastronomers, the Age of Leo was an ice age of blinding sun on the snow and ice fields, though there is a growing awareness and building consensus that in those places where the ice never reached --- a broad belt stretching from about Latitude 35 North to Latitude 35 South, technologically advanced cultures of which we have only limited knowledge may have been building constructions like Angkor Wat and the Pyramids for their original intended purpose, the study of the stars. The Sun was early man's chief object of worship.

The Age of Cancer marked the time of Matriarchy triumphant. Women's monthly reproductive cycles made them the natural religious leaders of the Age which was marked by widespread inundation of coastal areas as the glaciers melted. the Moon had advantages over the Sun as a deity: It looks larger in the sky at times and it can be propitiated in ceremonies without going blind.

The Sumerians continued to deify the Moon even as they extended their power and reach during the Age of Taurus

Around 9,000 years ago the ice began to recede --- it melted, causing vast floods which are vaguely recalled in the various but worldwide stories of the Deluge. The glare of the Sun on the snowfields faded, and Mankind began to live in rhythm with the element that now defined their lives --- water. Humans timed their days according to the rise and fall of the tides, realized that the tides were tied to the Moon, and our nearest celestial neighbor supplanted the Sun as the chief object of worship in the world, giving rise to the Age of Cancer, a creature of water. This was the era of Matriarchy.

Around 7,500 years ago, Man began to devise writing systems and began to record ancient legends and stories about the gods. Once begun, the process of communication speeded up, and still does today.  The human cultural memory came out of that development. But humans developed over time a sense of separation from the Whole that continues to haunt us as a species. That sense of duality defined the Age of Gemini. Matriarchy began to fade as a system of cultural organization. 

7000 years ago the Vinca Culture of the Balkans produced this figurine. At about the same time, the local people began developing a script. It was the Age of Gemini. But who were they communicating with?

With the expansion of agriculture and the development of cities roughly 6,000 years ago, it could be said that the Age of Taurus began. Cattle were draught animals, used to plow the fields and for hides and milk and meat. This period was remarkable for its many Bull Cults; and gods began to be paired with and then supplant goddesses. The Patriarchy began its ascent to power.

Give or take some centuries on either side, the Age of Aries began roughly 4,000 years ago. Modern archaeologists consider the Age of Aries to be the equivalent of the Bronze Age, and we are still very much impacted by the Arian Age. The various stories that make up the Hebrew Bible were collected and organized into texts. Wars of conquest and great empires, like those of the Assyrians and the Mauryas in India, and the great Egyptian dynasties, rose and fell. The story of Abraham sacrificing a young ram in lieu of his son Isaac is emblematic of the Age of Aries, and the story of the downfall of the Golden Calf is symbolic of the end of the Age of Taurus. The chief gods became all male with goddesses as consorts, and the idea of one God as "God the Father" rose to prominence. The Patriarchy became dominant. 

Abraham, Isaac, and a young ram

In 1954, the famed Hollywood astrologer Carroll Righter wrote, "The Piscean Age lasted 2,000 years, an age of tears and sorrow, focused on the death of Christ." The exact start date of the Age of Pisces, the Age we are in currently or have just left, is uncertain, but the Age of Pisces has always been closely associated with Jesus (just as Virgo, Pisces' opposite sign, is associated with Mother Mary).  The last bimillennium has been one that has focused exhaustively on spiritual concerns --- it saw the rise of Christianity and Islam --- but it has also been an age of delusion and great sorrow (including two World Wars and countless other military and other calamities).  Early Christians themselves made the connection between Pisces and Christ, quite consciously. The earliest Christian symbol was the Ichthys (or fish) and the Disciples were called "Fishers of men's souls." These were not coincidences. The people of that time knew, just as we do now, that the Age of Aries was ending and they intentionally associated their new belief system with the rise of the new Age.  

In reality, the passing of an Astrological Age is not a sudden event like switching off a light (or switching it on); rather, the Ages flow into each other, which is why knowing the exact date of the beginning on an Age is a near-impossibility. It's more likely that the cultural influence of one Age are slowly supplanted by the cultural influences of the succeeding Age. Thus, dates for the dawning of the Age of Aquarius range from the 1600s (Galileo's discoveries) to the mid-1700s (the Enlightenment) to the 1800s with their rapid technological advancements, to the 1900s and the atom bomb, right down to the present day and computers. Perhaps it has not quite yet begun. The lingering influence of fundamentalist religions is certainly not Aquarian, but technology and science are; we appear to be passing through a period when the remnants of Pisces are fighting to hold on and the first uncertain expressions of Aquarius are occurring. New technologies are being used for old ends ("The Islamic Bomb"). Globalism has taken hold, but for antiquated goals so far, the gathering of lucre into fewer and fewer hands. Universalism is under attack by nationalism and other forms of parochial thinking. Global warming, a technological problem at its heart, is being answered by appeals to a deity who seems ever more distant from true spirit. Religious fanatics are using the internet to trumpet a return to their imagined "good old days."  It is a period of social upheaval and great doubt as things change from one mode of thought to the other. 

Notre Dame Cathedral from a less usual angle

Certainly, there was much beauty in the Age of Pisces, as well as much ugliness, but what is good should be preserved, and the cool technological atmosphere of Aquarius needs to be tempered and warmed by heart. 

Aquarian thought is universalist and technological but also coolly dispassionate. It is also experimental and radical. New ideas come forward, are tested, and are adopted and adapted or thrown out wholesale. The danger is that Aquarius may cause humanity to throw out the baby with the bathwater. But at least that old barrel of stagnant rainwater will be tipped and spilled. The tipping and spilling is dramatic; well-established norms are turned on their heads just to see how they look. But Aquarius also promises an era of true social justice, so in the end, and according to astrologers, the upheavals will remake the world as a better version of itself.

 

Precession of The Equinoxes

 

Our planet Earth not only spins, it wobbles, in part due to the gravitational effects of the Sun and the Moon and the other heavenly bodies upon it. Earth is tilted about 23.5 degrees from the true vertical (90*), and goes 'round the Sun at an angle of about 66.5 degrees. This two-thirds tilt, combined with the not-quite circular orbit of the Earth results in the Earth having seasons (the orbital "eccentricity" of the Earth, its difference from a true circle to an ovoid, is 0.02%, which is why the Earth takes 365.25 days to go around the Sun, and not just 360 days). The whopping difference of 0.02% adds up to about three million miles in about 584 million, the total length of Earth's orbit. Still, that paltry three million miles makes a difference. The Earth moves through space fastest in January, when it is closest to the Sun, and slowest in June, when it is farthest, and the difference totals out to about 7.7 minutes.  

The wobble is called "precession" and precession is a remnant effect of Gaia's collision with Theia, the four billion year old calamity that gave birth to the Earth and the Moon. The Moon's gravity has acted as a brake, causing precession to slow from the exaggerated motion of a gyroscope to a much more leisurely swaying that goes full circle in about 25,772 years. 

 

As a practical matter, that means that every few thousand years our Pole Star changes. In 3000 BCE, the star Thuban was the Pole Star. Thuban, an inconspicuous fourth magnitude star, can now barely be seen in Earth's light-polluted skies. In 1000 BCE, the Pole had shifted so that it pointed (more or less) at the star Kochab, which got its name because it was "The Star," Kochba in Hebrew (although it was never so aligned that everyone called it the Pole Star; ancient Roman astronomers ignored it). 

Familiar Polaris became the Pole Star around 400 CE; at present, the Pole is drifting closer to it, and Polaris and the Pole will be perfectly aligned at 90 degrees in the year 2100. The Pole will then drift away from Polaris toward the star Errai, which will be the Pole Star in the years surrounding 3000 CE. Eventually, Deneb will be our Pole Star in 10,000 CE, and Vega in 14,000 CE. After Vega's time, the Pole will begin shifting back toward Polaris, which will be the Pole Star again in 27,800 CE. I can't wait! 

The wobble also means that the seasons shift slowly over time, which is why the process is called "Precession of The Equinoxes". Actually, the seasons themselves don't shift as much as the First Point of Aries (equivalent to the first day of Spring) shifts relative to the Zodiacal constellations.  The action is called Precession (as opposed to Procession) since the First Point of Aries appears to move backwards through the constellations of the Zodiac. In astronomy, a precession cycle is called a "Platonic Year"; in astrology, it is called a "Great Year." 

 

Human history is an absurdly short affair in terms of cosmological time. Were we to boil down the 14 billion year old universe to a two week long event, Earth would have appeared just four days ago. The dinosaurs would have ruled the Earth just three hours ago. And the sweep of written human history would be just six minutes old. The Trinity Test and the Moon landing would have occurred two virtually indistinguishable fractions of a second ago. 

The Lascaux cave paintings are just one Great Year old, and the earliest writings of which we know barely look back earlier than a time when the Spring Equinox was in Gemini. The first astronomical / astrological records coincide with a time when the Sun entered Aries on March 21st, and we haven't even quite precessed through the entire constellation of Pisces yet.

 

The Zodiac --- The Sign of Pisces the Fishes

Pisces / J.P. Rhea

Pisces is the twelfth and last sign of the Tropical Zodiac, and the twelfth (and last) sign of most Sidereal systems and the modern rarely-used Constellational system of astrology. In the Tropical system, the Sun is in Pisces from the nineteenth of February to the 20th of March. In the Sidereal system the Sun is in Pisces from March 14th to April 14th. 

Pisces is a Water Sign, and hence strongly focused on emotions. It is also a Mutable Sign, indicating both flexibility on the positive side and inconstancy on the negative side. Pisces is a Feminine, Inner, or Introverted sign. In ancient days, Pisces was ruled by Jupiter, but for the last 150 years it has been ruled also by Neptune, the dark blue, distant, and mysterious planet that rules secrets, the subconscious mind, and the spirit. Pisces is also ruler of the 12th House of spirituality and things hidden. 

Well-aspected Pisceans are leaders in New Age movements, religious and spiritual matters, psychotherapeutics, and the occult. They can be empaths, and are profoundly gifted with sensitivity and an appreciation of mysticism. However, poorly aspected Pisceans are often dismissed as simply odd. Often, a badly-aspected Pisces will seem spaced out or uncertain of where they are and what they are doing there. Evolved Pisceans are credited with seeing visions; unevolved Pisceans are accused of seeing hallucinations. 

Piceans can be kind, compassionate, idealistic, imaginative, and selfless, but they can also be hypersensitive, pessimistic, lazy fantasists who do nothing to bring their view of the world into actual being. Once they find a focus, Pisceans draw strength from it, but lacking focus they squander their gifts. The tendency to get caught up in dreams makes some astrologers characterize Pisces as the weakest sign of the Zodiac, rather unfairly. 

In Maslow's Hierarchy, the Representational Person of the Zodiac having been born (Aries) and having had their fundamental needs met (Taurus), then having measured their place in the world (Gemini) and experienced emotion (Cancer) and creativity (Leo), evaluates the outcome of their work (Virgo), shares the results (Libra), while meeting their own needs (Scorpio), and the needs of others (Sagittarius), after which they make a home for themselves (Capricorn) and others (Aquarius), now moves beyond the strictly physical plane into other dimensions (Pisces). Pisces is thus the ultimate expression of one's humanity. The key phrase for Pisces is "I Believe." 

 

Famous Pisceans include Einstein, Bryan Cranston, Harvey Weinstein, Mr. Rogers, Rick Perry, John Lewis, The BTK Killer, Richard Ramirez, John Wayne Gacy, James Earl Ray, Kurt Cobain, Copernicus, Dorothy Stratten, George Washington, Michaelangelo, Marjorie Post, Lou Reed, Jack Kerouac, Neville Chamberlain, Chopin, and Bobby Fischer. Many people speculate that Christ was actually born under the sign of Pisces --- more on this later. 

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The Zodiac --- The Constellation of Pisces the Fishes

The asterism of Pisces The Fishes.

Pisces The Fishes is the twelfth constellation of the Zodiac, a large but dim V-shaped asterism that is meant to suggest two fishes tied together with a long cord. According to Greek mythology, the fishes were the goddess Aphrodite and her brother the god Eros, who turned themselves into fishes to escape the monster Typhon, much as the god Pan had turned himself into Capricornus The Sea-Goat to escape Typhon. 

 

Pisces was recognized by the Mesopotamians, but the mythology of the asterism shifted over the millennia, only becoming associated with sea creatures as that region of the sky assumed a unique identity. Though Zodiacal, Pisces, like Aquarius and Capricornus, is also associated with the neighboring constellations of the Celestial Sea. 

Aphrodite and Eros (Greek) or Venus and Cupid (Roman).

Pisces is remarkable as the current actual home of the Vernal Equinox (The First Point of Aries), the Prime Meridian of the sky. Astronomically, the Sun is in Pisces from March 12th to April 18th. 

None of the stars of Pisces exceed the fourth magnitude, making it one of the dimmest constellations. Alpherg, Pisces' brightest star, is 300 light years from Earth and is 316 times as luminous as our Sun. 

A perfect view of a spiral galaxy, Messier 74. The bright "star" in the lower left is a supernova.

Pisces contains the deep sky objects Messier 74, a face-on spiral galaxy, and the two interacting galaxies Pisces A and Pisces B, which are apparently pirouetting around one another.

The dancing galaxies of Pisces A and Pisces B. Gravitational interaction is distorting them. The star "between" them is actually thousand of light years in the foreground, and is in the Milky Way, our own galaxy.

The Zodiac --- The Sign of Aquarius the Water Bearer

Is this the dawning of the Age of Aquarius? Stay tuned. 

Aquarius / J.P. Rhea

The natives of the eleventh sign of the Zodiac, born between January 20 – February 19 in the Tropical system and between February 15 – March 15 in the Sidereal system, are widely known as the eccentrics of the Zodiac. Aquarius is an Air Sign, a sign of intellectualism and contemplation, and Aquarians are not afraid to think boldly and with originality. Aquarius is also a Fixed Sign, the sign of people who are not afraid to dedicate themselves to the hard work of reaching their goals, and the sign of people who won't be shaken in their beliefs. Aquarius is also a Masculine / Extroverted sign, which means Aquarians like to be among people and often take charge in a given situation. Aquarius rules the Eleventh House, the House of friends, associates, and social groupings, as well as plans and dreams. 

Aquarians can be radicals, with all the positive and negative connotations that word implies. They love knowledge. Their modern ruling planet is Uranus, the planet of invention and technological advancement. At their finest they are innovators and inventors, and creators, and perpetuators of social movements. At their best they are humanitarians interested in equality and social justice for all. At their strongest they work toward positive societal goals. They love new technologies, new theories, new ideas, and new ideals. Every Aquarian sees themselves as a singularly unique person. They lack, however, the passion that motivates a Scorpio or a Leo; Aquarians pride themselves on cultivating a sense of detachment.

 

Their classical ruling planet is conservative and staid but dramatic Saturn. In mythology, Uranus was the son of the child-eating Saturn. To save his own life, and the lives of his remaining siblings, Uranus castrated Saturn with Saturn's own sickle. The two planets are hence often in conflict. Thus, even the most evolved Aquarian is not above turning the tables just to see how they look from that other angle. 

Thus Aquarians may use modern inventions in negative ways, technologizing war and using media to promote social conflict. They can be ice-cold technocrats. At their least flexible, they may lead or support extremist and reactionary and fascist movements to maintain the status quo of the old order and not care a fig about outcomes and consequences, especially to others. At their worst "the ends justify the means." At their weakest they may be cranks and terrorists, and paranoiacs lost in their own delusions and fears. They can live either in an ivory tower or in a Bastille of their own making. Either way, a badly-aspected Aquarius has trapped themselves.

In Maslow's Hierarchy, the Representational Person of the Zodiac was born under Aries, fulfilled their basic survival under Taurus, took their first look at the universe under Gemini, reacted emotionally under Cancer, found direction under Leo, planned for the future under Virgo, shared their plans under Libra, measured their wants under Scorpio, measured society's wants under Sagittarius, built a local community under Capricorn, and is now building a global community under Aquarius. What that community will look like, whether it is utopian or dystopian, depends on the talents, skills, and attitudes of the Aquarius native. The key phrase of Aquarius is "I Know."

Famous Aquarians include Ayn Rand, Paul Ryan, Alice Cooper, Oprah Winfrey, Kellyanne Conway, Betty Friedan, Susan B. Anthony, President Abraham Lincoln, Angela Davis, Alice Walker, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, James Joyce, Norman Rockwell, Jules Verne, Lewis Carroll, Thomas Edison, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

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The Zodiac --- The Constellation of Aquarius the Water Bearer

Aquarius as the ancients imagined him. A dense body of dimmer stars traces the path of the pouring water.

The eleventh constellation of the Zodiac is Aquarius The Water Bearer. The sun is in Aquarius astronomically from February 16th to March 11th.

Aquarius looks only vaguely like a water-bearer, but he was prominent in the sky during the winter wet season in the Northern Hemisphere. Aquarius dates back at least to ancient Sumer, where he was called Gu La, "The Great One," and was identified as the god Enki who made the Tigris and the Euphrates flow with water. In Egypt Aquarius was the god Hapi who commanded the Nile to flood annually. Among the people of the Indus River valley he was named Khumba, "The Pourer." In China, Aquarius was Yu-Lin, whose stream of stars represented an army streaming southward. Among Native Americans he was The Otter, a creature prone to floating downstream peacefully on its back. In Greece, he was either Deucalion, the son of Prometheus and the Greek Noah, or Ganymede, who poured Zeus' refreshments. In Greek representations Aquarius is shown pouring a long stream of water which flows into the mouth of Piscis Austrinus The Southern Fish. The two were once a single constellation. Today The Southern Fish is part of the Celestial Sea. 

Since Aquarius was the provider of life-giving waters he was seen largely as a beneficent deity, but he was known for his caprice in causing uncontrollable floods at times. In Sumeria, his stream of stars was seen as the pathway to the presence of Enki. Since the Winter Solstice occurred in Aquarius some 6000 - 4000 years ago, due to his importance the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians propitiated the god he represented, frequently, and with sacrifices and Solstice celebrations.

For all that, Aquarius is a rather dim constellation with no stars brighter than the Third Magnitude. The Arabs who live in the desert considered Aquarius a bringer of luck and good fortune. The constellation contains the stars Sadalsuud, the name of which means "The Luckiest of The Lucky" in Arabic, Sadalmelik, "The King's Good Fortune," Sadachbia, "Good Fortune in Our Tents," Sadaltager, "The Lucky Merchant," and Nirsaadbula, "The Fortunate Drinker." 

The Helix Nebula or "The Eye of God."

There are at least twelve exoplanetary systems in Aquarius, one of which, Gliese 876, was the first red dwarf star to be discovered possessing a planetary system. Several galaxies and nebulae lie within the bounds of the constellation, including the Helix Nebula (sometimes called "The Eye of God") and the amusingly named Green Bean Galaxy.

The Green Bean Galaxy gave its name to a type of galaxy that appears green when visualized. They are thousands of light years away from Earth, and are larger than the equally entertaining "Green Pea Galaxies" that we have documented.

The Zodiac --- The Sign of Capricorn the Goat

Capricorn / J.P. Rhea

Capricorn is the tenth sign of the Zodiac. Many Capricorns don't even know that their sign is a mythical Sea-Goat rather than simply a Goat, for which we can thank drugstore book rack astrology. 

One of several glyphs that represent Capricorn.

The Sun is in Capricorn from December 22 – January 19 (Tropical) or January 16 – February 14 (Sidereal). Until about 2000 years ago Capricorn was the sign of the Winter Solstice. Precession has caused the Solstice to move into Sagittarius, but Capricorn is still a Cardinal Sign.

According to Maslow's Hierarchy: Having been born (Aries), fulfilled their basic needs (Taurus), evaluated their environment (Gemini), experienced a reaction (Cancer), begun to create something unique (Leo), evaluated that creation (Virgo) and shared its benefits (Libra) while exploring the nature of the Self (Scorpio) and the Other (Sagittarius), the Representational Person of the Zodiac is now both buckling down to work and providing for their community. 

 

Ruled by Saturn from which we derive the adjective "saturnine", Capricorns have a reputation for dourness and gloominess that is not quite earned. Saturn is Chronos (Father Time) in Greek myth, and though Father Time was known to eat his children, he was also a lavish giver of gifts. The chief celebration of the Roman year, Saturnalia, took place at the time of the Winter Solstice. It was a multiweek fire festival, during which the stored provisions of past months were feasted upon. And still are: For when Christianity became the State Religion of Rome, Saturnalia was transformed into Yule, or Christmastide, which of course is still celebrated. 

Saturnalia was a time of wild revelry and what some people would call lewdness. Note Pan and a Centaur in the painting. The goat-human hybrid was called a Satyr.

A Victorian-era Christmas card: Father reading by the fire while mother is at the piano and the children bustle happily about. It's a Capricorn's dream!

Krampus was the companion of St. Nick. He abducted and beat badly-behaved children and left coal in the stockings of the simply naughty. Another Victorian-era Christmas card, and there we have the goat again as a symbol of negativity. Today, Krampus is barely remembered.

Capricorn was also linked to Ea, the Babylonianian creator-god, who was Enki the Sumerian god who gave gifts. The Greeks also tied Capricorn to happy Pan, who liked to carouse, certainly a symbol of the season. But Pan was also a critic and a giver of wise advice, and those are certainly Capricorn traits. Capricorn is not just the sign of Saturnalia, but it is also the sign of the depth of Winter, when things grow quiet and still and people conserve themselves for small tasks and deeper thought. This is a good sign for craftsmen and perpetual learners. The key phrase for Capricorn is "I use." 

It is as if, after having explored tested the social limits as Scorpio and Sagittarius, Capricorn steps back to a firmer foundation. Capricorn is an Earth Sign, and a Feminine ("Dark", "Inner" or Introverted) sign, one that decides to stay indoors while the wind howls beyond their snug, well-appointed, fully-provisioned space. When we think of Capricorn we should think of a traditional family-centered Victorian Christmas. 

Deneb Algedi ("The Tail of The Goat") is Capricorn's chief star, and because the Sea-Goat has a fishtail, Deneb Algedi is marked as a Behenian star that can be either positive or negative. Cauda Capricornus, as it is known in that branch of astrology, gives favor in lawsuits, improves the homelife, keeps the house secure, and increases all manner of riches. Negatively, it can mark greed and possessiveness and domestic tyranny. 

Capricorns are ambitious and driven, but utterly goal-oriented rather than self-oriented. They do not want praise as much as they expect respect for a job well-done, a task completed. Capricorn rules the Tenth House, the House of reputation, social status, work and fatherhood. They can be archly conservative, but their conservatism is literally that --- they are conservationists in the broadest sense, perpetuating what is best and finest about the past. They want to be seen as the wise authority. 

Poorly-aspected or unevolved Capricorns can be stuffy and smug and difficult, demanding, unreasonable selfish, grasping, and even cruel. Capricorn is the sign of utilitarianism, and that which they do not see as useful and productive can get tossed aside --- no matter who they hurt in the process. 

Capricorns need to learn that everything has its place and time and season and simply because something seems of little worth in the moment its true value may be far greater than they imagine.

Famous Capricorns include Stephen Hawking, Simone de Beauvoir, Michelle Obama, Clara Barton, Kit Carson, Jeff Sessions, J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert E. Lee, Janis Joplin, Al Capone, President Woodrow Wilson, Paul Revere, Benjamin Franklin, Rudyard Kipling, Cary Grant, Benedict Arnold, Marilyn Manson, and Howard Hughes. 

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