My own eccentric interpretation of the signs of the zodiac and the planets that represent them.
Aries
Mar. 21 - Apr. 19
Element: Fire
Planet: Mars
House: 1st
Key: Passion
Passion, desire, ambition, drive, the survival instinct. The symbol for Aries could be a shooting star, a soul streaking to earth to begin a new life; or a seedling, root plunging downward and leaflets reaching up. Aries is ego and energy and impetus and will—the life force. It is the passionate desire to be and to become. Think of an acorn. It contains the potential to grow into a mighty oak, monarch of the forest, and live for hundreds of years. Every acorn contains this potential, and perhaps this desire. But the energy of an acorn is far more likely to fuel a hungry creature than to grow into an oak. Aries energy is life’s starting point. Where it goes and what it may accomplish depend on the other elements of the zodiac journey.
Taurus
Apr. 20 - May 20
Element: Earth
Planet: Ceres
House: 2nd
Key: Nurture
Nurture, fertility, receptivity. Taurus represents the archetypal feminine, but our understanding of the feminine has been clouded and polluted by millennia of misogyny, so the qualities of the sign are better understood in non-gendered terms. Of the millions of acorns produced in the long life of an oak, odds are that only one will become a mature tree like its parent. What singles out that one acorn? Nurture. Protection and sustenance, provided steadily over time. Beneficence, generosity, caring for another as if it were one’s self. In the forest, the oldest and best established trees act as “mother trees,” sharing nutrients and beneficial communication with younger saplings. The 2nd house is often associated with wealth and inheritance, and these qualities are derived from the concept of nurture. A good mother, whose nurture bequeaths health and comfort and well-being, is the essence of inherited wealth, and by definition, in order to give of her own resources to nourish another, she must have more than she needs for herself. The symbol of Taurus might be a womb beneath the heavens, or a safe hollow in fertile earth, with horns of rain and sunlight. And though Taurus is referred to as “the bull,” certainly Taurus is a horned cow instead, whose offspring and excess milk were such a generous and regenerating source of wealth for the humans who kept her.
Gemini
May 21 - June 20
Element: Air
Planet: Mercury
House: 3rd
Key: Ingenuity
Ingenuity, resourcefulness, the ability to adapt circumstance to need. The acorn possesses energy and will, the earth offers nurture, but to grow, a seedling must stretch its roots and spread its leaves, perceive its surroundings, and lean into the light. “Failure to thrive” is what happens when Gemini is lacking. Indigenous peoples have a concept of “the bush soul,” a second soul that resides, not within us, but outside us in nature, rooting our being in the natural world that sustains us, and teaching us how to survive there. The symbol of Gemini might be earth and heaven, with the twin pillars of our soul between them. Gemini is how we supply our needs from our environment, the instincts teaching us to seek food and shelter, elude an enemy, survive and thrive.
Cancer
June 21 - July 22
Element: Water
Planet: Moon
House: 4th
Key: Family & Tribe
Family, home, and tribe. The symbol of Cancer might be two sleeping beings, and tribe are the people we trust to guard and share our sleep. One might be tempted to see our little seedling as competing with other trees for sunlight and room to grow, but in fact, a forest is a family, with trees of the same or closely related species looking out for each other. They communicate warnings with chemical signals given off by their leaves, they share resources through mycorrhizal networks connecting their roots, and mature trees “feed” the younger ones growing in the shade to sustain them until it’s their turn in the sun. The density of trees in the forest protects the individual trees, which is why trees in a forest don’t have to be as big and thick as the lone individual on an open plain with no neighbors to shield it from the elements. Family and tribe shape us tremendously, both by what they are, and by what they are not. The child of oaks will also be an oak. But the shape of the tree it becomes will be determined in large part by where it can best reach the light—the space it grows into because its family is not already there.
Leo
July 23 - Aug. 22
Element: Fire
Planet: Jupiter
House: 5th
Key: Self-expression
Leo is the child who dreams of being a hero. This sign represents the joy and pride that come from being well-regarded by our people. The fiery spark of Aries takes on a bigger, brighter scope, wanting to burn not only for its own survival, but to cast light that will be welcomed by others. It’s easy to see Leo’s shadow side: when one cares very much for the regard of others, one is vulnerable to shame and hurt and looking foolish. But think of this: Joy and pride in expressing ourselves to our people, and being rewarded by their warm approval and admiration, is the very foundation and glue of society. Without Leo, we’re all solitary individuals pursuing our own selfish interests in competition with our neighbors. Leo is the force upon which all social cooperation depends. In the forest, Leo is the pleasure trees must take in being of use to their fellow trees, the mysterious satisfaction that sharing messages and warnings and resources must bring the trees who seek to help each other in these ways. The symbol is a child at play, delighting in self-expression and confident of the warm regard and approval of loved ones.
Virgo
Aug. 23 - Sept. 22
Element: Earth
Planet: Chiron
House: 6th
Key: Self-sufficiency
In many indigenous societies, a formal initiation ceremony marks the point at which a child stops being the responsibility of others to protect and nurture, and becomes a self-reliant member of the tribe. Initiation often takes the form of a solitary task or an ordeal, in which one has to demonstrate one’s competence to fend for oneself without relying on the protection of others. Virgo is the sign of competence and self-sufficiency. It bridges the states of Taurean nurture and Capricornian mastery. In the forest, Virgo represents the young trees, tall enough to take their share of sunlight and no longer reliant on the “mother trees” which fed them when they still grew fully in the shade. They are reaching the maturity needed to flower and bear fruit, self-sufficient but not yet established enough to be nurturers in their own right. The symbol is a pair of creatures, one with tail down or legs crossed—a virgin who is no longer a dependent child, but not yet ready to partner and breed and sustain another. Classically, Virgo has been associated with the role of the servant, not because Virgo is subservient, but because a servant is someone competent to leave home and support herself by performing tasks that are of use to others.
Libra
Sept. 23 - Oct. 22
Element: Air
Planet: Venus
House: 7th
Key: Partnership
Libra is the sign of marriage, partnership, union. Beyond self-sufficiency, we become capable of attracting a partner, a complement, someone with whom we can join forces and together achieve something greater than either of us was capable of alone. In archetypal terms, the union of masculine and feminine equals yields a child which neither partner could have produced without the contribution of the other. But Libra can refer to any balanced and generative partnership of equals. The symbol is one of merging and union, two individuals coupling, though it has also long been seen as a set of balanced scales, in which neither side dominates the other. In forest terms, Libra is the act of pollination. No longer merely self-reliant, a plant prepares for greater contribution that becomes possible with partnership. And as we enter the second half of the zodiac wheel, the signs are rooted in their complement on the opposite side. The partnership of Libra opposes and complements the singular ego of Aries.
Scorpio
Oct. 23 - Nov. 21
Element: Water
Planet: Pluto
House: 8th
Key: Influence
Beyond the partnership of Libra, something new becomes possible: fatherhood. In modern terms, fatherhood describes a genetic relationship. But for nearly all of human history, that genetic relationship was impossible to verify, even when it was understood, which it often wasn’t. Fatherhood instead described a role—that of provider, protector, and guide to the children in one’s family, however that family was defined. And in extended families, fatherhood was a role shared among the mature men, and also included the idea of lineage, or a family identity handed down through successive generations. Scorpio can also be described as influence. The most direct form of care for a small child is the nurture provided by the mother—feeding, comfort, vigilance—and Taurean nurture opposes Scorpio's influence on the zodiac wheel. Influence is less direct, but powerfully felt. Influence is the way we are shaped by the culture of our families and the environment they create, the practices and expectations and beliefs that comprise a family’s identity. It’s also the way our families pave our way into the world, affecting how we see ourselves and how we expect to be seen by and interact with people outside our tribe. The sign of Scorpio is a pair of creatures like the sign of Virgo, but this time the tail is up, or perhaps that’s an erection. Scorpio involves itself with others and shapes and affects their efforts. In the forest analogy, Scorpio might be the animals who live in the forest and shape and sustain it by spreading and planting its spores and seeds, conditioning its soil and other aspects of the forest environment, maintaining the balance of predator and prey species, and otherwise taking care of and shaping the place that in turn takes care of them. The story of the wolves reintroduced to Yosemite whose presence affected every part of the ecosystem, including the shape of the landscape, the course of the rivers, and the other species the park could support, illustrates the subtle, indirect, and yet extraordinarily far-reaching power of Scorpio.
Sagittarius
Nov. 22 - Dec. 21
Element: Fire
Planet: Eris
House: 9th
Key: Adventure
Sagittarius is the third and last of the fire signs. The energy and ego of Aries, conditioned by Leo’s joy and pride in being valued by one’s community, makes a quest and a mission of seeking that value in the world. The quest might be for knowledge, for resources, for truth, but the goal is some form of victory or achievement. Sagittarius is the knight in pursuit of the holy grail. It’s the scholar who travels far from home, questing for knowledge. It’s the hunter-gatherer who explores new lands, or the conquistadors who sailed to a new world in search of wealth. In perhaps its most ancient form, it’s the youth who leaves home in search of territory and a mate. And in the forest analogy, Sagittarius is exactly that—the young wolf who leaves the pack and may travel 400 miles before finding a new home in a place no wolf has ever lived before. The symbol is the arrow of direction, of mission, of trailblazing and pathfinding. Sagittarius opposes Gemini, carrying the ingenuity of Gemini—the ability to understand and capitalize upon one’s environment—out into the wide world.
Capricorn
Dec. 22 - Jan. 19
Element: Earth
Planet: Saturn
House: 10th
Key: Authority
Capricorn is the sign of leadership and authority. The third and last of the earth signs, Taurean nurture has provided the foundation for Virgo’s self-sufficiency which, with application and discipline, leads to Capricornian mastery. Opposite Cancer, which represents tribe, Capricorn is the progenitors and leaders of tribe. The symbol seems to combine Aries and Taurus—Arian ego, will, and passion with Taurean nurture, or in more concrete terms, the Aries penis with the womb of Taurus, combining to represent the matriarch and patriarch of tribe. In the forest, Capricorn is the breeding pair of wolves who form the nucleus, the genesis, and the authorities of any pack. And Capricorn is the biggest, oldest trees of the forest, the ones who maintain the most extensive root systems and mycorrhizal networks that connect, nourish, and sustain other trees, and whose nuts, bark, leaves and branches provide food and shelter for uncounted other species.
Aquarius
Jan. 20 - Feb. 18
Element: Air
Planet: Uranus
House: 11th
Key: Liberty & Justice
“All for one, and one for all,” the motto of Alexander Dumas’s Three Musketeers, might also be the motto of Aquarius. Aquarius seeks a better society through individual freedom from injustice and constraint. Rooted in Leo’s joy in expressing herself and being admired for it, Aquarius seeks a world in which that joy is available to all, recognizing that the freest societies depend on the understanding that an individual’s liberty ends where it impinges on the liberty of another. Aquarius is the impulse towards justice and fairness, the part of us that seeks good laws and moral leadership. In the last of the air signs, Gemini’s ingenuity has expanded through Libra’s generative and balanced partnership, culminating in Aquarian application of the principals of harmonious partnership to society as a whole. In the forest, Aquarius can be seen in the phenomenon of “crown shyness,” when the crowns of trees who share the sunlight at the top of the canopy maintain a narrow but distinct buffer of space between them, rather than aggressively crowding one another in competition for light. Crown shyness ensures that each tree has access to sunlight, and protects it from clashing against the branches of its neighbors in high winds. The symbol for Aquarius shows two individuals expressing themselves fully and creatively in close proximity, adjusting to the other but not colliding.
Pisces
Feb. 19 - Mar. 20
Element: Water
Planet: Neptune
House: 12th
Key: Transcendence
Pisces is the sign of transcendence. Like Aquarius, Pisces lies beyond the leadership and mastery of Capricorn. Imagine that Capricorn represents a society’s leader. Aquarius represents society’s laws that even the leader is subject to. And Pisces represents the part of us that imagines and yearns for something greater than leadership or law—a higher power, a more perfect justice, a spiritual realm, meaning written in the stars, life after death. Pisces is the part of the human spirit that is driven to invent and discover and learn and imagine and expand, the part of us that is always seeking to know more, do more, be more. Pisces is the spirit behind our greatest artists, mystics, athletes, scientists, and explorers. It may be the sign above all others that sets humans apart from the rest of the natural world, the desire to constantly outdo ourselves. Pisces is rooted in opposing Virgo: competence must always precede transcendence. In the cycle of water signs, Cancer is about belonging to and identifying with our tribe, Scorpio is about the power we have within tribe to influence one another and our environment, and Pisces is about the power to transcend our tribe, our environment, our history, and perceive something new under the sun. In the forest, Pisces is the pine that managed to root in a crevice of rock halfway down a cliff face—and then grow there for 1000 years. The symbol is two curving lines representing the known and the unknown, this reality and the next—and a line passing from before the one to beyond the other.
Signs of the zodiac original artwork by Christina Wilson
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