ZODIAC | semester-portfolio

The Origins of the Zodiac

These artworks have been created with the original myths and Gods in mind. Stemming from Babylonian religion, these zodiacs are either pretty much exactly what their modern counterparts are, or have a history varying wildly from common belief.

Virgo A depiction of two different deities and their floral emblems.	Cancer The Crab symbolises the summer-time drought.	Gemini The Great Twins are closely related to Nergal, the king of the dead in Mesopotamia tradition. The Twins stand guard, weapons at the ready, at the entrance to the underworld – their divine role being to prevent the living from descending to the realm of the dead, and perhaps more importantly to prevent the dead from rising up to overwhelm the realm of the living.
Aries Summons Springtime.	Libra Truth, Justice and the all-seeing eye of Shamash.	Pisces Anunitum (Northern fish of Pisces) She was closely affiliated to Ishtar, who as the ‘Syrian Goddess’ was envisioned holding her sacred fish and dove. As a mythic symbol the fish guides the sun on its ascending path from the darkness of winter towards the spring. Swallow (The western fish of Pisces) The Swallow may be identified with the dove that appears in Greek myths surrounding the Ishtar goddess.
Sagittarius The Babylonians identified Sagittarius as the god Nergal, a strange centaur-like creature firing an arrow from a bow.[23] It is generally depicted with wings, with two heads, one panther head and one human head, as well as a scorpion's stinger raised above its more conventional horse's tail.	Taurus The Bull of Heaven symbolises the fecund powers of the spring-time skies – rain and sunshine – which bring life and growth to the earth.	Scorpious In astrology the Scorpion’s armoured body segments and its array of weaponry predisposed it to become a creature symbolising war and the martial prowess of the king. However a different meaning is attached to it where Scorpion-men and women guard the sacred mountain. The Scorpion-people are said to guard the sun at his rising and setting and the subterranean path that the sun travels every night under the mountain.
Ophiuchus The God Niveh, the serpent god, or Apollo battling the snake guarding the Oracle of Delphi.	Leo The lion that represents the ferocious Sun.	Capricornus The god Ea, coming from the sea dressed in a fish skin coat.
Aquarius The Great One with his overflowing vases symbolizes the rains of heaven and the swollen rivers that characterize late winter and early spring. In the context of the star-map he can also be regarded as the ‘Irrigator’ who waters the barley fields that are represented on the star-map by the adjacent constellation known as the Field.