THE ZODIAC.
The zodiac, as already stated, is the course in the heavens apparently
pursued by the sun in his annual journey through the stars. Let us
consider for a moment, however, the series of observations and
reflections that must have been necessary to trace this zone as
representing such a course.
First, the diurnal motion of the whole heavens from east to west must
have been noticed during the night, and the fact that certain stars
never set, but turn in a circle round a fixed point. What becomes then,
the next question would be, of those stars that do descend beneath the
horizon, since they rise in the same relative positions as those in
which they set. They could not be thought to be destroyed, but must
complete the part of the circle that is invisible _beneath the earth_.
The possibility of any stars finding a path beneath the earth must have
led inevitably to the conception of the earth as a body suspended in the
centre with nothing to support it. But leaving this alone, it would
also be concluded that the sun went with the stars, and was in a certain
position among them, even when both they and it were invisible. The next
observations necessary would be that the zodiacal constellations visible
during the nights of winter were not the same as those seen in summer,
that such and such a group of stars passed the meridian at midnight at a
certain time, and that six months afterwards the group exactly opposite
in the heavens passed at the same hour. Now since at midnight the sun
will be exactly opposite the meridian, if it continues uniformly on its
course, it will be among that group of stars that is opposite the group
that culminates at midnight, and so the sign of the zodiac the sun
occupies would be determined.
This method would be checked by comparisons made in the morning and
evening with the constellations visible nearest to the sun at its rising
and setting.
The difficulty and indirectness of these observations would make it
probable that originally the zodiac would be determined rather by the
path of the moon, which follows nearly the same path as the sun, and
which could be observed at the same time as, and actually associated
with, the constellations. Now the moon is found each night so far to the
east of its position on the previous night that it accomplishes the
whole circumference in twenty-seven days eight hours. The two nearest
whole number of days have generally been reckoned, some taking
twenty-eight, and others twenty-seven. The zodiac, or, as the Chinese
called it, the Yellow Way, was thus divided into twenty-eight parts,
which were called _Nakshatras_ (mansions, or hotels), because the moon
remains in each of them for a period of twenty-four hours. These
mansions were named after the brightest stars in each, though sometimes
they went a long way off to fix upon a characteristic star, as in the
sixteenth Indian constellation, _Vichaca_, which was named after the
Northern Crown, in latitude 40 deg.. This arose from the brightness of the
moon extinguishing the light of those that lie nearest to it.
This method of dividing the zodiac was very widely spread, and was
common to almost all ancient nations. The Chinese have twenty-eight
constellations, but the word _siou_ does not mean a group of stars, but
simply a mansion or hotel. In the Coptic and ancient Egyptian the word
for constellation has the same meaning. They also had twenty-eight, and
the same number is found among the Arabians, Persians, and Indians.
Among the Chaldeans, or Accadians, we find no sign of the number
twenty-eight. The ecliptic or "Yoke of the Sky," with them, as we see in
the newly-discovered tablets, was divided into twelve divisions as now,
and the only connection that can be imagined between this and the
twenty-eight is the opinion of M. Biot, who thinks that the Chinese had
originally only twenty-four mansions, four more being added by Chenkung
(B.C. 1100), and that they corresponded with the twenty-four stars,
twelve to the north and twelve to the south, that marked the twelve
signs of the zodiac among the Chaldeans. But under this supposition the
twenty-eight has no reference to the moon, whereas we have every reason
to believe that it has.
The Siamese only reckoned twenty-seven, and occasionally inserted an
extra one, called _Abigitten_, or intercalary moon. They made use,
moreover, of the constellations to tell the hour of the night by their
position in the heavens, and their method of doing this appears to have
involved their having twenty-eight constellations. The names of the
twenty-eight divisions among the Arabs were derived from parts of the
larger constellations that made the twelve signs, the first being the
horns, and the second the belly, of the Ram.
The twenty-eight divisions among the Persians, of which we may notice
that the second was formed by the Pleiades, and called _Pervis_, soon
gave way to the twelve, the names of which, recorded in the works of
Zoroaster, and therefore not less ancient than he, were not quite the
same as those now used. They were the Lamb, the Bull, the Twins, the
Crab, the Lion, the Ear of Corn, the Balance, the Scorpion, the Bow, the
Sea-Goat, the Watering-pot, and the Fishes.
Nor were the Chinese continually bound to the number twenty-eight. They,
too, had a zodiac for the sun as well as the moon, as may be seen on
some very curious pieces of money, of which those figured below are
specimens.
[Illustration: FIG. 10.]
On some of these the various constellations of the Northern hemisphere
are engraved, especially the Great Bear--under innumerable
disguises--and on others the twelve signs of the zodiac. These are very
different, however, from the Grecian set--they are the Mouse, the Bull,
the Tiger, the Hare, the Dragon, the Serpent, the Horse, the Ram, the
Monkey, the Cock, the Dog, and the Pig. The Japanese series were the
same. The Mongolians had a series of zodiacal coins struck in the reign
of Jehanjir Shah (1014). He had pieces of gold stamped, representing the
sun in the constellation of the Lion; and some years afterwards other
coins were made, with one side having the impress of the particular sign
in which the sun happened to be when the coin was struck. In this way a
series is preserved having all the twelve signs. Tavernier tells the
story that one of the wives of the Sultan, wishing to immortalise
herself, asked Jehanjir to be allowed to reign for four-and-twenty
hours, and took the opportunity to have a large quantity of new gold and
silver zodiacal coins struck and distributed among the people.
The twenty-eight divisions are less known now, simply from the fact that
the Greeks did not adopt them; but they were much used by the early
Asian peoples, who distinguished them, like the twelve, by a series of
animals, and they are still used by the Arabs.
So far for the nature of the zodiac, as used in various countries, and
as adopted from more ancient sources by the Greeks and handed on to us.
It is very remarkable that the arrangement of it, and its relation to
the pole of the equator, carries with it some indication of the age in
which it must have been invented, as we now proceed to show.
We may remark, in the first place, that from very early times the centre
of the zodiacal circle has been marked in the celestial sphere, though
there is no remarkable star near the spot; and the centre of the
equatorial circle, or pole, has been even less noticed, though much more
obvious. We cannot perhaps conclude that the instability of the pole was
known, but that the necessity for drawing the zodiac led to attention
being paid to its centre. Both the Persians and the Chinese noted in
addition four bright stars, which they said watched over the rest,
_Taschter_ over the east, _Sateris_ over the west, _Venaud_ over the
south, and _Hastorang_ over the north. Now we must understand these
points to refer to the sun, the east being the spring equinox, the west
the autumnal, and the north and south the summer and winter solstices.
There are no stars of any brilliancy that we could now suppose referred
to in these positions; but if we turn the zodiac through 60 deg. we shall
find Aldebaran, the Antares, Regulus, and Fomalhaut, four stars of the
first magnitude, pretty nearly in the right places. Does the zodiac then
turn in this way? The answer is, It does.
The effect of the attraction of the sun and moon upon the equatorial
protuberance of the earth is to draw it round from west to east by a
very slow motion, and make the ecliptic cross the equator each year
about one minute of arc to the east of where it crossed it the year
before. So, then, the sidereal year, or interval between the times at
which the sun is in a certain position amongst the stars, is longer than
the solar year, or interval between the times at which the sun crosses
the equator at the vernal equinox. Now the sun's position in the zodiac
refers to the former, his appearance at the equinox to the latter kind
of year. Each solar year then--and these are the years we usually reckon
by--the equinox is at a point fifty seconds of arc to the east on the
zodiac, an effect which is known by the name of the precession of the
equinoxes.
Now it is plain that if it keeps moving continuously to the east it will
at last come round to the same point again, and the whole period of its
revolution can easily be calculated from the distance it moves each
year. The result of such a calculation shows that the whole revolution
is completed in 25,870 years, after which time all will be again as it
is now in this respect.
[Illustration: FIG. 11.]
If we draw a figure of the zodiac, as below, and know that at this time
the vernal equinox takes place when the sun is in the Fishes, then, the
constellation of the Ram being to the west of this, the date at which
the equinox was there must be before our present date, while at some
time in the future it will be in Aquarius.
Now if in any old description we find that the equinox is referred to as
being in the Ram or in the Bull, it tells us at once how long ago such a
description was a true one, and, therefore, when it was written. This is
the way in which the Zodiac carries with it an intimation of its date.
Thus in the example lately referred to of the Persians and their four
stars, it must have been about 5,000 years ago, according to the above
calculation, that these were in the positions assigned, which is
therefore the date of this part of Persian astronomy, if we have rightly
conjectured the stars referred to.
We have already said that the signs of the zodiac are not now the same
as the zodiacal constellations, and this is now easily understood. It is
not worth while to say that the sun enters such and such a part of the
Fishes at the equinox, and changes every year. So the part of the
heavens it _does_ then enter--be it Fishes, or Aquarius, or the Ram--is
called by the same name--and is called a _sign_; the name chosen is the
Ram or Aries, which coincided with the constellation of that name when
the matter was arranged. There is another equally important and
instructive result of this precession of the equinox. For the earth's
axis is always perpendicular to the plane of the equator, and if the
latter moves, the former must too, and change its position with respect
to the axis of the ecliptic, which remains immovable. And the ends of
these axes, or the points they occupy among the stars, called their
poles, will change in the same way; the pole of the equator, round which
the heavens appear to move, describing a curve about the pole of the
ecliptic; and since the ecliptic and equator are always _nearly_ at the
same angle, this curve will be very nearly a circle, as represented on
preceding page.
[Illustration: FIG. 12.]
Now the pole of the equator is a very marked point in the heavens,
because the star nearest to it appears to have no motion. If then we
draw such a figure as above, so as to see where this pole would be at
any given date, and then read in any old record that such and such a
star had no motion, we know at once at what date such a statement must
have been made. This means of estimating dates is less certain than the
other, because any star that is nearer to the pole than any other will
appear to have no motion _relatively_ to the rest, unless accurate
measurements were made. Nevertheless, when we have any reason to believe
that observations were carefully made, and there is any evidence that
some particular star was considered the Pole Star, we have some
confidence in concluding the date, examples of which will appear in the
sequel; and we may give one illustration now, though not a very
satisfactory one. Hipparchus cites a passage from the sphere of Eudoxus,
in which he says, _Est vero stella quaedam in eodem consistens loco, quae
quidem polus est mundi._ (There is a certain immovable star, which is
the pole of the world.)
Now referring to our figure, we find that about 1300 B.C. the two stars,
[Greek: b] Ursae Minoris and [Greek: k] Draconis were fairly near the
pole, and this fact leads us to date the invention of this sphere at
about this epoch, rather than a little before or a little after,
although, of course, there is nothing in _this_ argument (though there
may be in others), to prevent us dating it when [Greek: a] Draconis was
near the pole, 2850 B.C. This star was indeed said by the Chinese
astronomers in the reign of Hoangti to mark the pole, which gives a date
to their observations. The chief use of this latter method is to
_confirm_ our conclusions from the former, rather than to originate any.
Let us now apply our knowledge to the facts.
In the first place we may notice that in the time of Hipparchus the
vernal equinox was in the first degree of the Ram, from which our own
arrangement has originated. Hipparchus lived 128 years B.C., or nearly
2,000 years ago, at which time the equinox was exactly at [Greek: b]
Aries. Secondly, there are many reasons for believing that at the time
of the invention of the zodiac, indeed in the first dawning of
astronomy, the Bull was the first sign into which the sun entered at the
vernal equinox. Now it takes 2,156 years to retrograde through a sign,
and therefore the Bull might occupy this position any time between 2400
and 4456 B.C., and any nearer approximation must depend on our ability
to fix on any particular _part_ of the constellation as the original
equinoctial point. We may say that whoever invented the zodiac would no
doubt make this point the _beginning_ of a sign, and therefore date its
invention 2400 B.C.; or on the other hand, if it can be proved that the
constellations were known and observed before this, we may have to put
back the date to near the end of the sign, and make its last remarkable
stars the equinoctial ones, say those in the horns of Taurus. Compare
the line of Virgil,
"Candidus auratis aperit cum cornibus annum
Taurus."
The date in this case would be about 4500 B.C.--or once more some
remarkable part of the constellation may give proof that its appearance
with the sun commenced the year--and our date would be intermediate
between these two. In fact, the remarkable group of stars known as the
_Pleiades_ actually does play this part. So much interest clusters,
however, round this group, so much light is thrown by it on the past
history of astronomical ideas--and so much new information has recently
been obtained about it--that it requires a chapter to itself, and we
shall therefore pass over its discussion here. Let us now review some of
the indications that some part of the constellation of the Bull was
originally the first sign of the zodiac.
We need perhaps only mention the astrological books of the Jews--the
Cabal--in which the Bull is dealt with as the first zodiacal sign. Among
the Persians, who designate the successive signs by the letters of the
alphabet, _A_ stands for Taurus, _B_ for the Twins, and so on. The
Chinese attribute the commencement of the sun's apparent motion to the
stars of Taurus. In Thebes is a sepulchral chamber with zodiacal signs,
and Taurus at the head of them. The zodiac of the pagoda of Elephanta
(Salsette) commences with the same constellation.
However, reasons have been given for assigning to the zodiac a still
earlier date than this would involve. Thus Laplace writes:--"The names
of the constellations of the zodiac have not been given to them by
chance--they embody the results of a large number of researches and of
astronomical systems. Some of the names appear to have reference to the
motion of the sun. The Crab, for instance, and the He-Goat, indicate its
retrogression at the solstices. The Balance marks the equality of the
days and nights at the equinoxes, and the other names seem to refer to
agriculture and to the climate of the country in which the zodiac was
invented. The He-Goat appears better placed at the highest point of the
sun's course than the lowest. In this position, which it occupied
fifteen thousand years ago, the Balance was at the vernal equinox, and
the zodiacal constellations match well with the climate and agriculture
of Egypt." If we examine this, however, we see that all that is probable
in it is satisfied by the Ram being at the vernal, and the Balance at
the autumnal equinox, which corresponds much better with other evidence.
[Illustration: THE ZODIAC OF DENDERAH.]
In the first instance, no doubt, the names of the zodiacal
constellations would depend on the principal star or stars in each, and
these stars and the portion of the ecliptic assigned to each may have
been noticed before the stars round them were grouped into
constellations with different names. In any case, the introduction of
the zodiac into Greece seems to have been subsequent to that of the
celestial sphere, and not to have taken place more than five or six
centuries before our era. Eudemus, of Rhodes, one of the most
distinguished of the pupils of Aristotle, and author of a History of
Astronomy, attributes the introduction of the zodiac to Oenopides of
Chio, a contemporary of Anaxagoras. They did not receive it complete, as
at first it had only eleven constellations, one of them, the Scorpion,
being afterwards divided, to complete the necessary number. Their
zodiacal divisions too would have been more regular had they derived
them directly from the East, and would not have stretched in some
instances over 36 deg. to 48 deg., like the Lion, the Bull, the Fishes, or the
Virgin--while the Crab, the Ram, and the He-Goat, have only 19 deg. to 23 deg..
Nor would their constellations be disposed so irregularly, some to the
north and some to the south of the ecliptic, nor some spreading out
widely and others crammed close together, so that we see that they only
borrowed the idea from the Easterns, and filled it out with their
ancient constellations. Such is the opinion of Humboldt.
With regard to the origin of the names of the signs of the zodiac, we
must remember that a certain portion of the zodiacal circle, and not any
definite group of stars, forms each sign, and that the constellations
may have been formed separately, and have received independent names,
though afterwards receiving those of the sign in which they were. The
only rational suggestion for the origin of the names is that they were
connected with some events which took place, or some character of the
sun's motion observed, when it was in each sign. Thus we have seen that
the Balance may refer to equal nights and days (though only introduced
among the _Greeks_ in the time of Hipparchus), and the Crab to the
retrogression or stopping of the sun at the solstice.
The various pursuits of husbandry, having all their necessary times,
which in the primeval days were determined by the positions of the
stars, would give rise to more important names. Thus the Ethiopian, at
Thebes, would call the stars that by their rising at a particular time
indicated the inundation, Aquarius, or the Waterer; those beneath which
it was necessary to put the plough to the earth, the Bull stars. The
Lion stars would be those at whose appearance this formidable animal,
driven from the deserts by thirst, showed himself on the borders of the
river. Those of the Ear of Corn, or the Virgin of harvest, those beneath
which the harvest was to be gathered in; and the sign of the Goat, that
in which the sun was when these animals were born.
There can be but little doubt but that such was the origin of the names
imposed, and for a time they would be understood in that sense. But
afterwards, when time was more accurately kept, and calendars
regulated, without each man studying the stars for himself, when the
precession of the equinoxes made the periods not exactly coincide, the
original meaning would be lost, the stars would be associated with the
animals, as though there was a real bull, a real lion, &c., in the
heavens; and then the step would be easy to represent these by living
animals, whom they would endow with the heavenly attributes of what they
represented; and so the people came at last to pray to and worship the
several creatures for the sake of their supposed influence. They asked
of the Ram from their flocks the influences they thought depended on the
constellation. They prayed the Scorpion not to spread his evil venom on
the world; they revered the Crab, the Scarabaeus, and the Fish, without
perceiving the absurdity of it.
It is certain at least that the gods of many nations are connected or
are identical with the signs of the zodiac, and it seems at least more
reasonable to suppose the former derived from the latter than _vice
versa_.
Among the Greeks indeed, who had, so to speak, their gods ready made
before they borrowed the idea of the zodiac, the process appears to have
been the reverse, they made the signs to represent as far as they could
their gods. In the more pastoral peoples, however, of the East, and in
Egypt, this process can be very clearly traced. Among the Jews there
seems to be some remarkable connection between their patriarchs and
these signs, though the history of that connection may not well be made
out. The twelve signs are mentioned as being worshipped, along with the
sun and moon, in the Book of Kings. But what is more remarkable is the
dream of Joseph, in which the sun and moon and the other eleven stars
worshipped him, coupled with the various designations or descriptions
given to each son in the blessing of Jacob. In Reuben we have the man
who is said to be "unstable as water," in which we may recognise
Aquarius. In Simeon and Levi "the brethren," we trace the Twins. Judah
is the "Lion." Zebulun, "that dwells at the haven of the sea,"
represents Fishes. Issachar is the Bull, or "strong ass couching down
between two burdens." Dan, "the serpent by the way, the adder in the
path," represents the Scorpion. Gad is the Ram, the leader to a flock or
troop of sheep. Asher the Balance, as the weigher of bread. Naphtali,
"the hind let loose," is the Capricorn, Joseph the Archer, whose bow
abode in strength. Brujanin the Crab, changing from morning to evening,
and Dinah, the only daughter, represents the Virgin.
There is doubtless something far-fetched in some of these comparisons,
but when we consider the care with which the number twelve was retained,
and that the four chief tribes carried on their sacred standards these
very signs--namely, Judah a lion, Reuben a man, Ephraim a bull, and Dan
a scorpion--and notice the numerous traces of astronomical culture in
the Jewish ceremonies, the seven lights of the candlestick, the twelve
stones of the High Priest, the feasts at the two equinoxes, the
ceremonies connected with a ram and a bull, we cannot doubt that there
is something more than chance in the matter, but rather conclude that we
have an example of the process by which, in the hands of the Egyptians
themselves, astronomical representations became at last actually
deified.
It has been thought possible indeed to assign definitely each god of the
Egyptians to one of the twelve zodiacal signs. The Ram was consecrated
to Jupiter Ammon, who was represented with a ram's head and horns. The
Bull became the god Apis, who was worshipped under that similitude. The
Twins correspond to Horus and Harpocrates, two sons of Osiris. The Crab
was consecrated to Anubis or Mercury. The Lion belonged to the summer
sun, Osiris; the Virgin to Isis. The Balance and the Scorpion were
included together under the name of Scorpion, which animal belongs to
Typhon, as did all dangerous animals. The Archer was the image of
Hercules, for whom the Egyptians had great veneration. The Capricorn was
consecrated to Pan or Mendes. The Waterer--or man carrying a
water-pot--is found on many Egyptian monuments.
This process of deification was rendered easier by the custom they had
of celebrating a festival each month, under the name _neomenia_. They
characterised the neomenias of the various months by making the animal
whose sign the sun was entering accompany the Isis which announced the
_fete_. They were not content with a representation only, but had the
animal itself. The dog, being the symbol of Cannulus, with which the
year commenced, a living dog was made to head the ceremonial of the
first neomenia. Diodorus testifies to this as an eye-witness.
These neomenias thus came to be called the festival of the Bull, of the
Ram, the Dog, or the Lion. That of the Ram would be the most solemn and
important in places where they dealt much in sheep. That of the Bull in
the fat pasture-lands of Memphis and Lower Egypt. That of Capella would
be brilliant at Mendes, where they bred goats more than elsewhere.
We may fortify these opinions by a quotation from Lucian, who gives
expression to them very clearly. "It is from the divisions of the
zodiac," he says, "that the crowd of animals worshipped in Egypt have
had their origin. Some employed one constellation, and some another.
Those who used to consult that of the Ram came to adore a ram. Those who
took their presages from the Fishes would not eat fish. The goat was not
killed in places were they observed Capricornus, and so on, according to
the stars whose influence they cared most for. If they adored a bull it
was certainly to do honour to the celestial Bull. The Apis, which was a
sacred object with them, and wandered at liberty through the country,
and for which they founded an oracle, was the astrological symbol of the
Bull that shone in the heavens."
[Illustration: PLATE IV.--THE ZODIAC AND THE DEAD IN EGYPT.]
Their use of the zodiac is illustrated in an interesting manner by a
mummy found some years ago in Egypt. At the bottom of the coffin was
found painted a zodiac, something like that of Denderah; underneath the
lid, along the body of a great goddess, were drawn eleven signs, but
with that of _Capricornus_ left out. The inscription showed that the
mummy was that of a young man, aged 21 years, 4 months, and 22 days, who
died the 19th year of Trajan, on the 8th of the month Pazni, which
corresponds to the 2nd of June, A.D. 116. The embalmed was therefore
born on the 12th of January, A.D. 95, at which time the sun was in the
constellation of Capricornus. This shows that the zodiac was the
representation of the astrological theories about the person embalmed,
who was doubtless a person of some importance. (See Plate IV.) Any such
use as this, however, must have been long subsequent to the invention of
the signs themselves, as it involves a much more complicated idea.