The History of the Zodiac: The Myth Behind Each Sign

 

Photo Courtesy of  Nastya Dulhiier via Unsplash 

"History became legend, legend became myth..." (Bonus points if you know what movie that comes from). 

Basically, everything that is part of this world, including the myths and tales we heard when we were young, all came from somewhere. 

From every myth, rumor, or story out there, there is always at least a fragment of truth behind it. (I mean, how else do celerity gossip columns get by?) 

So, in order to know where the world or the universe is heading towards in the long run, we need to look back and understand where the world and universe came from. And in terms of the zodiac, that means we need to take a look into the origins of each of the twelve zodiac signs. 

You can still see them all today if you just take a look up at the night sky on a clear night. Your science teacher probably called them constellations. 

First Off, What Does The Word Zodiac Signify? 

Like I just mentioned, there are twelve different astrological signs, just like there are twelve months in a year. Each sign is in the form of a various animal or figure, and this is because when the stars were first studied centuries ago, astrologers believed the constellations they saw were all intricately lined up in the shapes of animals.

Thus, we got the word zodiac, which stems from the Greek word zodiakos, meaning “circle of animals”. 

Here is a quick list of the 12 zodiac signs, as well as the myths and legends behind how each one of them became constellations in the first place. (If you low-key have an interest in Greek mythology like I do, you should enjoy this.)

The Twelve Tales

ARIES: The symbol for Aries is the ram, which stems from the infatuation the god of mischief, Hermes, had for a nymph named Nephele. He gifted her with a golden ram whose fleece was magical, and the ram ended up saving the lives of Nephele's two children from their wicked stepmother, Ino.

TAURUS: The god of all gods, Zeus, fell in love with a mortal princess named Europa. (The continent of Europe is named after her.) He transformed himself into a magnificent white bull in order to run off with her, hence why Taurus's symbol is the bull.

GEMINI: Twin boys, Castor and Pollux, who were inseparable, were tragically torn apart when Castor was killed in battle. Pollux sacrificed his life in order to bring his twin back, and Zeus decided to send them both into the stars as a way to honor them. The symbol of Gemini then? The twins, of course.

CANCER: The hero Hercules battled many creatures, and one of them was the giant water crab sent by the vengeful Hera. Hercules won the battle, but it was the crab who Hera placed in the night sky to be remembered forever.

LEO: Another vicious animal Hercules battled against was the undefeated Nemean lion. Once again, Hercules won, (there's not very many stories where he lost) but the strength of the lion was so intense, that the gods still found a way to honor its courageous spirit.

VIRGO: There's no doubt that the symbol of Virgo is the maiden. Scholars have argued who the maiden actually is though, so because of that, I have chosen my favorite tale: Astraea, the goddess of innocence and purity. Rumor has it that when the next Golden Age takes place for us mortals here on Earth, she will come back down from the heavens to live with us in peace.

LIBRA: Oh, the scales. Here we have Themis who was Astraea's mother. She was the goddess of justice, fairness, and equality. She too will grace us with her presence when the second Golden Age of mankind is upon us.

SCORPIO: We can thank the moon goddess, Artemis, for giving us this one. Artemis hated the giant named Orion, for he was probably a little too cocky about himself. But instead of just teaching him a simple lesson, Artemis ordered the poisonous Scorpion to paralyze Orion to death. It must've been an epic battle though, because in the end, Zeus decided to place BOTH the scorpion and the giant in the sky. You can still seem them chasing one another up in the stars to this day.

SAGITTARIUS: The wise centaur Chiron, who was half man and half horse, unfortunately had a very slow and painful death. Freakin' Hercules accidentally shot the centaur with an arrow, but since Chiron was technically immortal, he couldn't just die and be put out of his misery immediately. This is why Sagittarius is represented by both a centaur and an arrow.

CAPRICORN: The symbol of Capricorn is the sea-goat, and legends say that this was modeled after Pan, the god of fields, meadows, and forests. Not sure exactly what he did to deserve becoming a constellation, but most images show him playing a musical instrument...so, there's that!

AQUARIUS: Remember Pandora? You know, the woman who opened the box she was told not to? Well, after she let out all the evil and darkness into the world, Zeus decided to hit the reset button on mankind and start over creating them. So he ordered the water bearer to flood the entire earth and wash out what he considered filth.

PISCES: Aphrodite and her son Eros, (or Cupid as most of the world knows him), were rescued from a sea monster by the bravery of two fish. Athena this time stepped in and honored the two sea creatures by turning them into stars.

These tales are all just the abbreviated versions of each myth. To read more, you need to check out my debut book on Amazon, which will also give you detailed explanations on the personality traits of each zodiac sign! If you want a good place to start reading more about astrology, this is a good place as any to start.

Until next time,

XOXO

Your Favorite Leo