_ORIGINof the ZODIAC_

_____inNumber and Geometry_

The zodiac is derived not from the sky nor from the past, but from the nature of numbers

and a coresponding geometric sequence.

The zodiac is not only a counting, but a recounting, an account, a story. The story is

told as follows. 0 1 2 3 4 12 5 6 9 7 8 11 13

ZERO

The start, creating out of nothing, no stopping. ARIES. Stopping occurs in the next step.

ONE

Unity. The first substantial number. The concept of unity can be extended to homogeneity and solidity, like a rock and foundation. Hence the nature of TAURUS the Bull or Ox, classified as fixed-earth. Number One corresponds to the single geometric Point, the first location or Place. From this it follows that before the first place, there is no place to stop. Hence the previous stage, Zero, gives rise to the restless, forward-driving character of ARIES the Ram, all-starting and no-stopping.

TWO

In this stage the single point divides into opposite poles. Duality. Such division is the beginning of conflict. It is also the beginning of Communication, of articulate speech, as there can be no articulation (linking things together) until things have first been divided. From this is derived the zodiac sign GEMINII the Twins.

THREE

Now a third point appears, swinging back-and-forth between the poles. Because there is no dimensional context in which to fix its course, it follows a random and variable path, like a Flow. And as duality (2) is followed by Multiplicity or Plurality (3) which can be read as Fertility, that can be combined with the Flowing nature to identify this as the stage of the Female principle. From this is derived the zodiac sign CANCER, classified as running water, the sign of birth and motherhood.

FOUR

In this stage the swinging arc goes all the way around to form a complete circuit. Because the two poles of Geminii are still present to serve as focal points, the new orbit is an Ellipse. And with its two axes at right angles to each other, this is the first Structure of the sequence. One axis is long and the other short, which as two legs, suggests Lameness. Or regarded as two phases of the same "leg", alternately long and short, it is clear that this is the stage of the Male archetype, the king. And the king is lame. LEO

TWELVE

Reading the Flow of stage Three as the flow of Time, and the Structure of stage Four as the structure of Space, then their product is the entire time-space universe, 3x4=12, the number of PISCES the Fishes, representing the unbounded ocean as an image of universality. The Totality.

FIVE

Since unity cannot in principle be added, and 2+2 is a doubling, the first Sum is 2+3=5. and the character of Summation is confirmed by the geometric figures of this stage, as the two focal points of the ellipse (4) coalesce into the unitary center of a Circle, and

of all-encompassing concentric circles. Perhaps it is this return to the pristine point

of unity (center) that gives this stage its virginal nature as VIRGO.

And the motionless theme is reinforced by number Five being the Middle number in the

sequence (above), But there is a second geometric figure of movement that appears here. The

circle spins around one of its diameters, which thus becomes the axis of a

Sphere. We shall see in the next section what this leads to.

SIX

The doubling of Three, with Three on each side, gives this step its character of dynamic Balance, depicted in the Balance-scales of Justice, LIBRA. And by spinning the circle around its perimeter,

while extruding that perimeter out into the third dimension, a new figure is formed: the

Helix (a coil shape). So the sphere here (carried over from the previous stage) looks not back,

to motionless concentric circles (5) but forward, to the Helix. And by its spinning growth,

the helix is always entering new territory. It is the discovery

figure of the third dimension.

NINE

The number is out-of-place, largely because it is opposite to TAURUS (1) where being
in-place is all-important. Nine is the first higher Power in the sequence, the square
of Three. And we might say that as the Flow of stage Three is random and relatively
Incoherent (like the tides) the "power" of incoherence (3) is disintegration (9). From this
is derived SCORPIO, the opposite of unity, the Adversary and Antagonist.
The geometric figure of this stage is formed as the Helix narrows down in one direction
into the funnel-shape of a spinning Vortex.

SEVEN

Seven is derived as 3+4=7, thus containing the numbers of time and space, female and male.
That makes it the largest, most complete number short of Twelve (3x4) the number of the
universe itself. So SAGITTARIUS is associated with large size, completeness, and hence
with wealth, maturity, and winning at contests. We might say the geometric figure of this
stage is evolved from the Sphere, as the Mutable Sphere, the full range of all organic
forms.

EIGHT

Four plus Four is the derivation of Eight. Thus it is a doubled or intensified Structure,
an Inner-Structure we might say, as the skeleton is the inner-structure of the body. Its
only geometric figure is the Eight-pointed Cube. This can be called the "limiting figure"
of three dimensions. And CAPRICORN is the sign of limits, being composed of a mountain
goat for height and a fish's tail for depth.
(TEN is not counted, because it is Zero again.)

ELEVEN

This is the new number One, hence new unity or Reunion. Or to say it another way, it is a
matter of regaining the original unity. Recovering from the fall into division. AQUARIUS

THIRTEEN

Beyond the universe of Twelve, even as Zero is Before everything, this stage is therefore
of the same nature (sign) as Zero: ARIES.

The above sequence is found in the Bible: in GENESIS 49 (including Moses), in the Judges,
among the minor prophets, and in the "historical" zodiac from Abraham (1) to Josiah (13).
And we might enumerate the Creation story this way:

ARIES (0) The Creator (or creating)
TAURUS (1) The first Place (the garden of Eden) where Adam-and-Eve live together in
Unity (until their fall into division, 2) as the Foundation of humanity.
GEMINII (2) Division, conflict-of-opposites. Abel and Cain.
CANCER (3) The Flood, and the pairs of breeding animals (fertility).
LEO (4) Noah builds the first Structure, the ark, and overcomes the flood,
restoring coherence to the world.

The same sequence is found in "Parzifal" by Wolfram von Eschenbach (c.1210 A.D.)
and in "Finnegans Wake" by James Joyce.

And history can be understood as a pattern of zodiac cycles, of wheels within wheels.
See: Great Cycles of History
For discussion of all this, try Forum. (Finnegans Wake)
A summary of the Bible zodiac can be found there, among the archives.

Paul Albertsen

_______ORIGIN__of __ the __ZODIAC_____

_________________in__Number__ and __Geometry___________