1. Mesha ........................... Ram, or Aries.
2. Rishabha .......................Bull, or Taurus.
3. Mithunam ................... Twins, or Gemini (male and female).
4. Karkataka ...................... Crab, or Cancer.
5. Simha .............................. Lion, or Leo.
6. Kanya ............................. Virgin or Virgo.*
7. Tula .......................... Balance, or Libra.
8. Vrischika ..................... Scorpion, or Scorpio.
9. Dhanus ....................... Archer, or Sagittarius.
10. Makara ........... The Goat, or Capricornus (Crocodile, in Sanskrit).
11. Kumbha .................. Water-bearer, or Aquarius.
12. Meenam ................. Fishes, or Pisces.
The figures of the constellations included in the signs at the time the
division was first made do not at all resemble the shapes of the
animals, reptiles and other objects denoted by the names given them.
The truth of this assertion can be ascertained by examining the
configurations of the various constellations. Unless the shape of the
crocodile** or the crab is called up by the observer's imagination,
there is very little chance of the stars themselves suggesting to his
idea that figure, upon the blue canopy of the starry firmament.
--------
* Virgo-Scorpio, when none but the initiates knew there were twelve
signs. Virgo-Scorpio was then followed for the profane by Sagittarius.
At the middle or junction-point where now stands Libra and at the sign
now called Virgo, two mystical signs were inserted which remained
unintelligible to the profane.--Ed. Theos.
** This constellation was never called Crocodile by the ancient Western
astronomers, who described it as a horned goat and called it so--
Capricornus.--Ed. Theos.
--------
If, then, the constellations have nothing to do with the origin of the
names by which the Zodiacal divisions are indicated, we have to seek for
some other source which might have given rise to these appellations. It
becomes my object to unravel a portion of the mystery connected with
these Zodiacal signs, as also to disclose a portion of the sublime
conception of the ancient Hindu philosophy which gave rise to them. The
signs of the Zodiac have more than one meaning. From one point of view
they represent the different stages of evolution up to the time the
present material universe with the five elements came into phenomenal
existence. As the author of "Isis Unveiled" has stated in the second
volume of her admirable work, "The key should be turned seven times" to
understand the whole philosophy underlying these signs. But I shall
wind it only once and give the contents of the first chapter of the
History of Evolution. It is very fortunate that the Sanskrit names
assigned to the various divisions by Aryan philosophers contain within
themselves the key to the solution of the problem. Those of my readers
who have studied to some extent the ancient "Mantra" and the "Tantra
Sastras" * of India, would have seen that very often Sanskrit words are
made to convey a certain hidden meaning by means of well-known
pre-arranged methods and a tacit convention, while their literal
significance is something quite different from the implied meaning.
---------
* Works on Incantation and Magic.
---------
The following are some of the rules which may help an inquirer in
ferreting out the deep significance of ancient Sanskrit nomenclature to
be found in the old Aryan myths and allegories: