The Esoteric Aspect Of Zodiacal Signs
THE twelve signs of th e zod i ac form the bedrock of astrology fbe esoteric nature of the zodiac as well as the occult significance of astrology were well known to the ancient Indian seers. But. the predictive astrology was not held in very high esteem by them; the main interest of the seers in this science was to discover the clues for unravelling the hidden mysteries of the cosmogcnesis and the role of men in it. It was for this reason that astrology was thought as Vedango—an organ of the Veda;,—whose knowledge was considered essential for acquiring Higher Wisdom—Para Vidya. Under these circumstances, it is but natural to expect that the different signs of the zodiac were not some one's romantic imagination based on certain groups of stars rather they were the embodiment of profound occult teachings which were concealed from the profane.
If we undertake to study the deeper meanings of the zodiac, we shall have to begin by assuming tiiat these stars, which represent the circle, the field of our manifestation, have been divided into several groups to indicate the channels of differentiated Divine Energy. Presently, there have been various scientific thinkers who have begun to accept the astrological signs as having deeper meanings. For example. Professor Carl G, Jung in his book Psychology and Alchemy has given various pictorial representations from ancient manuscripts in which the signs of the zodiac have been used with profound implications. The use of the twelve signs as the outer periphery of the Sidpe-Korlo or the World Wheel which represents the course of human existence in its various forms as conceived by the Buddhists, or in the symbolic representation of the correspondence between the zodiac and the man in the fifteenth century manuscript by Paul Durriens, or in the representation of the zodiac and the planets surrounding the individual in the stale of \igredo—the down most point in the involution of the human soul—suggests the need for approaching the task of studying the implications of the zodiac with greater trepidation.
One need not begin here by enumerating and listing the various signs of the zodiac, but one would like to remind that the Western nomenclature of the zodiac and that of the East are not necessarily identical. Whenever in the East, we refer to any zoQiac, we mean the constellation of that sign. In the west, however, there is a tradition of referring to the first point of the vernal equinox as the starting point of Aries, which need not necessarily always coincide with that of the constellation known as Aries. This difference has led to the serious confusion in many minds, which also gives rise to the famous controversy relating to the "Vexed Question of Avfliiamsa",
No« let us look at the zodiac. There arc various symbols which can be classified in many ways. Among the twelve signs there are three animals, namely. Ram, Bull and Lion. The Ram or Aries is the first sign of the zodiac In early civilizations, Ram was assigned divine status. In early Iran and Sumer, the Ram gave strength to the diseased. In Egypt, it symbolized the power of procreation and fecundity. On the island of Elephantine, the ram-headed god Khnum was considered the guardian of the source of the Nile. It is significant for the astrologers to note that the ram-god Khnum was intimately connected to the sun-god Anion-Ra of the Egyptians. Alexander the Great, who considered himself as the son of Amon-Ra. struck coins on which he was represented with the horns of the ram. Furthermore, one to the Sanskrit names for ram isaja which means that which has no birth. It implies thai this sign symbolizes Swayambhu-Narayan. the Self Existent Absolute, Parobrahma. Considered this way, Aries suggests the source, the foumainhead of all life-forces, the source of the Nile symbolically.
The second sign of lhe zodiac is Taurus, the Bull. In the Indian pantheism. Lord Shiva, who is also known as Mahadeva, the Great God, has bull for his vehicle. In every Saivite temple, one has to pay obeisance to Nandi, the bull of Lord Shiva, .before one enters the temple. Veneration of the bull which arose in pre-historic times in the predynastic Egypt is
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