The classical elements of Fire, Earth, Air and Water as well as three “modalities” of these elements are also commonly considered when interpreting horoscopes and have their own symbols as well, but for the purpose of this post I’ll leave those out to focus on the origins of the zodiac symbols themselves.Īnother result of Alexander the Great’s occupation of Asia Minor was the change in language. This resulted in the creation of a new type of astrology, known as horoscopic astrology, which places a strong focus on the birth chart of an individual to interpret the underlying meaning of the planets at that moment. The conquest of Asia by Alexander the Great during the 3 rd century BC resulted the exposure of Babylonian culture and astrology to the Greeks. The Origins of AstrologyĪlthough our modern Western astrology has obviously been influenced by Greco-Roman culture (judging by the names of the planets and the 12 signs), the dividing the constellations into 12 equal sections was actually a Babylonian concept. (This post will be re-ordered later to fit in with week 1 and 2)Īfter taking inspiration from week 3’s lecture on semiotics, I decided to look into the astrological symbols of the western zodiac, as I’ve always found it puzzling why many of the symbols look the way they do and, after being introduced to Indexes, Icons and Symbols, I wonder if it is technically correct to call them symbols at all.
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