The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1890-03-04
THE ZODIAC.
A Brief Explanation as to its
Twelve Signs.

manac of human figure surrounded
by goats and crawfsh and a lot OF
other curious and old style creations
of the artist, impelsSa young student
at Lamonte, who is also a reader Of
the BAzoo. to ask for an explanstio
of the matter. AS there may {
others, not only young but old 90
are anxious as to the signifcan. OF
the group. a BAzoo astronoH r. to
whom The Lamonte boys quert = was
submitted, contributes the subjoiued
brief explanation, He does not
state how much trouble
he was put 10. in order 10 secure al
the interesting information he has
here set down 10 such a little com pass,
but the patient re tder viii, no doubt,
eoncede that iG was no small job. He
rays:
The Zodiac is an imaginary belt in
the heavens extending 900 n. and 800
S. of :he eclipiic, wirhiu which are
confined tie movements Of tue sun,
moon and princip,l plane S. 1t was
divided by the ancients into twelve
parts of 800 each,' called sigus, and
designated as fUIiuws. Aries, the
ram; Taurus the bull; Gemini, the
twins; Cancer, the crab; Leo, the lion;
Virgo, the virgin; Libra, the scales;
Scorpio, the scorpion; Siagiuarius,
the srcher; Capricornus, the goat;
Aquarius. the water-carrier, and Pts
ces, the fishes names given in fan.
cied resemblances 10 toe objects desig-
mated and supposed to be presented
by the CONFORMATION of the stars. This
division is still in use, though modern
astronomers make but little use cfthe
signs except for convenience.
The value of the division of the
belt into twelve consultations, to each
of which was assigned one-twelfIh of
the circumference of the circle, was 10
make it possible to define readily, at
any time, the position of the sun and
pIanets. Ii i. needless 10 slate 10 any
iurelligible person that the old ideas,
suryivals of ignorant beliefs in astrolo-
gy, regarding the signs as having some
influence over men and animals, are
now altogether baseless superstiLions.
The early astronomers were also as
troIogers, aud claimed to be able to
predict the future career of indivld'
uals and nations by observing the pc
sitions and movements OF the planets
aud the condition of the weather at
the most important periods of mems
lives. As stated, all this is regarded
now as exploded superstition. except
by fortune-tellers and their dupes.
So, also, these signs In the common
almanacs is relic of these superstt
lions of the middle ages, protesting to
show what parts the moon governs IL
mind and body corresponding to thu
twelve signs.
The motive underlying the choice
of the sigus is. in a few instances, ob
vious, but in most conjectural. Tb'
zodiacal Virgo is held to represent th'
Assyriaa Venus, Ishtar, the ruiini
divinity of the sixth month, an
Sagittarius the archer god Nergal. t
whom the ninth month was conse
Grated. But no uniform system @
selection was pursued; or rather pei
haps the result of several adopted q
various epochs and under the intlr
ence of varying currents of ideas b'
came amalgamated in the final serio'
So far as positive records go Arie
was always tue first sign. The fri
Babylonian month Nissan, dedicate
TO Ahu aud Bel, was that of ''sacr
fice," and its association with the ran
as the chief primitive object I
sacrifice, is thus ineligible. Accon
ing TO another explanation, ii
heavenly ram, placed as leader
front of the flock of stars, merely en-
bodied a spontaneous figure of Il
popular Imagination.
The human race was supposed
have come into being under Tauru
and the Interpretation of the sign 60
back to the far-off time when the We,
began with Taurus and the sun W
conceived of as bull entering upc
the great furrow of heaven plowil
his way among tie stars.
In the third month and sign g
building of the first city and the fat
cidal brothers tine Romulus and I
mus of Roman origin is brought
mind, ..symbolized iudiferedtly
first by pile Of bricks or two ms
children. always, on early menumen
placed feet to feet. Ely an easy as
citation of ideas the retreat of the s
from its farlhest northern excu; j
is typi6ed by the retrograde mo
ment of a crab.
The Lion, ss the symbol of 6
..-oaa,tad the elimination of