[Die zwölf Zeichen des Zodiaks und deren Bedeutung]
Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl[1]
The Zodiac, is that zone of the celestial sphere which extends about eight degrees on each side of the sun’s orbit. It is called the “Zodiac” because the constellations of the stars that are in it are represented on the celestial maps under fantastic figures of animals. The sun appears to move within this zone, as do the moon and the larger planets. The ecliptic passes through the center of the zodiac and is intersected by the equator. The zodiac, like the ecliptic, is divided into 360 degrees and these into twelve equal parts of 30 degrees each. These parts are called the signs of the Zodiac, and bear the names of the respective constellations with which they formerly corresponded. The twelve signs are counted from the vernal equinox, where the sun intersects the equator at the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere. As the points of the equinoxes gradually move backwards, the Sun is now entering the sign of Aries, a month before it enters the constellation of Aries. Therefore, the signs of the ecliptic precede the corresponding signs of the fixed zodiac by about one place.
The zodiac is thus the belt in the celestial vault through which the sun seems to wander in the course of a year, and within which the earth and the planets move. That the twelve signs of the Zodiac bear the names of animals, because the bodies which represent these signs are said to have a resemblance to certain animal forms, is one of the many foolish theories belonging to the scientific superstition of this century.
To the calendar maker the zodiac signifies nothing more than the positions of the sun during the various months of the year; for the discerning disciple of occult science, the twelve signs of the Zodiac have an entirely different, higher, and mystical meaning; for him the whole evolutionary history of the universe and man is contained in these signs.
What is meant by “occult science”?
Anyone who lives deep down in the valley can perhaps get an idea from descriptions and pictures of what the view is like that someone else enjoys from a high mountain; but he has nothing more than an image produced by his own imagination. What can be seen from above he only recognizes when he is on top himself, and then he recognizes it without further description and discussion; for those who have never been up, despite all the descriptions, it still remains occult or hidden; man can make theories about all sorts of things, but in truth he only recognizes what he has experienced himself. For those who live in the material and sensual, everything higher and spiritual is a mystery; the higher view remains hidden from him because he cannot soar up to it; but whoever can soar to the ideal, which is ultimately the only real thing, for him the ideal becomes reality; it is realized in himself. Therefore occult science is the understanding of those facts which one can only attain by elevating the soul.
In its higher meaning, the twelve signs of the zodiac represent the twelve periods of evolution and involution of the universe. Six of these signs represent the descent into the material state, the other six represent the ascent of the transfigured earthly to the divine spirit.
Ascending Signs:
♈︎ Aries
♉︎ Taurus
♊︎ Gemini
♋︎ Cancer
♌︎ Leo
♍︎ Virgo
Descending Signs:
♎︎ Libra
♏︎ Scorpio
♐︎ Sagittarius
♑︎ Capricornus
♒︎ Aquarius
♓︎ Pisces
In “Isis Unveiled” it is stated as follows:
“Contained within this double sign is the explanation of the gradual transformation of the world from its spiritual and subjective to its “bisexual” and earthly states. The first six are called the ascending, or line of the macrocosm, the great spiritual world, and the other six are called the descending, or line of the microcosm, the small and inferior world, which is, as it were, a reflection of the great. This classification (“Ezekiel’s wheel”) included the ascending signs Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo and concluded with Virgo-Scorpio. Then came the turning point, Libra. Then the first half of the sign Virgo-Scorpio was doubled and placed in front of the descending series of the microcosm, which ended with Pisces. In other words, the sign Virgo-Scorpio became Virgo, and the doubling (Scorpio) was placed after Libra, the seventh sign. Thus Virgo-Scorpio became Scorpio, or “Cain” (the brother of Abel), which led mankind to perdition; but in rising to the knowledge of truth, it pointed to the degradation of the world in the course of its evolution from the subjective down to the objective state.
“Libra is said to be a later invention of the Greeks; but it is not generally known that the initiates made only one change of name among them. They intended to indicate that when the worlds have reached the lowest point of materiality during the cycle of evolution and have arrived at the turning point, then the two opposing forces are in balance. Arriving at this lowest point of humiliation, the divine spark still present gives the impetus for elevation upwards.”
Goethe says:
“Do you want to refresh yourself with the whole
So you have to see the whole in the smallest.”
Likewise, Rückert says of the Indian sage:
“He has the peculiarity of only seeing individual things,
But to understand everything individually as a whole.”
The meaning of the twelve signs of the zodiac is only properly understood when they are understood in their context, in their totality. The atom is unity, the atom is space. Man, considered as a whole is the universe; subjectively it is everywhere, objectively it appears at a certain point. In the universal man himself is contained the whole world, the sun, the moon, the stars, heaven and earth; what takes place in each individual also takes place in the great whole, and the eternal world order of the great universe is repeated in detail, as described in the Vedas, in the Bible and in all major religious systems, in allegories and described in symbols, because the whole thing is much too grand and raised above the limited earthly mind (occult) to be able to be presented in dry words.[2]
Just as the individual person comes to light through the night, through bitter experiences and disappointments to experience and knowledge (often only when it is too late for this life), a so-called “fall of man” also takes place overall, but without which the universal man could not attain self-knowledge; because if he stayed in the light forever, he would not know the difference between light and dark and would not appreciate the value of light. The subjective universe, as well as the subjective (spiritual) human being, produces an objective projection (appearance) of itself. This puts man in a position to get to know himself objectively; for where the knower and the known are completely one, there is also no knowledge. However, in doing so, man is exposed to the danger of losing himself completely in his objectivity, identifying himself with his appearance, were it not that by the power of the divine spark within him (Scorpio or conscience) he could rise again above the region of delusion to the knowledge of truth. This divine spark resides in Libra, i.e., where dwells complete tranquillity, balance, harmony, justice, evenness, self-restraint, and distinction of the eternal from the temporal.
All creation was not made in six of our days, but comprises six immense world periods of spirit’s descent into matter, and these are followed by six similar periods of ascent to transfiguration. During the descending periods man becomes ever more material and objective, during the ascending ever more spiritualized and able to exist self-consciously in both subjective and objective states, and not only man but everything in the world goes through this spiral of evolution.[3] At the beginning of a new world period (Manvantara), the astral souls of animals re-enter objective existence in order to ascend to human existence.
The antiquity of the Zodiac doctrine is difficult to determine, but is reckoned by Volney to be 16,984 years old. The Egyptians claimed, as Solon relates, that their astronomers observed the motions of the heavenly bodies during two complete equinoctial precessions (a 25,000 year period), and on the ceiling of the temple at Dendara the constellation Virgo is tripled. This indicates an observation of three revolutions, hence 75,000 years.[4] Various “proofs” of the almost unbelievable age of knowledge of the Zodiac could be adduced, but that is beyond the scope of this article.
[Isaac] Abarbanel says that the sign of the coming Savior is the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in the sign of Pisces. Christian astrology therefore presents the birth of Jesus of Nazareth to us under the sign of this conjunction, and if we look at the much older Indian documents we find that the god Vishnu took the form of a fish (fish-avatar) in order to save the Vedas (the teachings) which were lost during a deluge (prevalence of the sensual way of thinking). Among early Christians, a fish was the symbol of Jesus, and the Bible’s allegory of the feeding of the masses with the remains of the fish indicates how the saved esoteric teaching spread and served as spiritual sustenance for later generations of mankind.
The following is given about the meaning of the signs of the zodiac, but it is intended to serve more as a suggestion for introspection than as an “explanation”:
I.
♈︎ The ram means the deity (Parabrahm). It contains the power and essence of the whole. (“His is the power, the might, and the glory.”) It is the self-existent, eternal, and sole root cause of all existence, the ground of all that is called “spirit” and “matter.” The two horns of the ram indicate that both good and evil originate in him (in the Absolute).
II.
♉︎ The bull, the symbol of power; the creative Word, AUM or the Logos; the mark of the Satya-Yuga, or Golden Age, which reigned when man was still formed of heavenly substance and in “Paradise.” ) gives birth.” This generative power, which in the beginning is purely spiritual in nature, becomes the procreative impulse on the physical plane at the lowest point of material evolution. “Everything is created by this Word, and without it not a single thing comes into existence. In to him was life and life was the light of men; the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness (Kāma-Manas) did not recognize it.” (John I, i.)[5] Among the twelve tribes [of Israel], Taurus is symbolized by Issachar the strong [Issachar was, according to the Book of Genesis, the fifth of the six sons of Jacob and Leah].
III.
♊︎ Gemini. The creative power word “Let there be!” resounds and now the universal human is present. In the non-self (Ātma) is the consciousness of selfhood (māyā), out of unity the duality, which is fundamentally one, has arisen. The subjective projects part of its essence into objectivity. The pair of twins (Simeon and Levi) signify the spiritual and material man; the fertilizing and giving birth, the male and female principle, Adam and Eve, imagination and will, spirit and matter.
IV.
♋︎ Cancer means regression. The idea of selfhood and limitation arose from universality, the idea of temporality arose from the eternal. Now the “self” feels more and more attracted to the peculiarity and materiality, loses the consciousness of its spiritual origin and identifies itself with the tool of the spirit, the form and its will, feeling and thinking. Among the “twelve tribes of Israel” Benjamin the crab is the glutton.
V.
♌︎ The lion is the symbol of power (Judah the strong). Subba Row says: that it represents Jīva Ātma, the life of the soul, the creative force, or rather the hierarchy of creative forces. In a sense it could be called the power of the will, or the “holy spirit” (all English terms are insufficient). In Tibetan, this power is called “Fohat.”[6] The lion is one of the four “sacred beasts” in Ezekiel’s vision of the ox, eagle, lion, and angel after which the four “evangelists” are named, occupying the four cardinal points at the time of the winter solstice. According to Coryn, Leo signifies the strength of manas, which is revealed in the three following signs, Virgo, Libra, and Scorpio.
VI.
♍︎ The virgin means the “soul,” more precisely describes the astral light. In another sense, it symbolizes Prometheus, the power of buddhi-manas bound to kāma-manas (the “mind” bound to matter). In another sense it signifies the “celestial maiden,” the spiritual soul, the pure substance in which, through the permeation of the spirit of wisdom, is born the divine self-knowledge which redeems everyone who attains it. But the soul is called a pure virgin because it is free from all outside or alien influences. True knowledge does not come about through tradition, nor through external observation, nor through objective consideration, calculation or conclusion, but in the soul itself the eye opens, understanding awakens in itself, the light ignites in itself and becomes the ideal to reality. In the Vedas this light is described as “Daiviprakriti,” [Daiviprakṛti] the “Mahachaitanyam” [Mahāchaitanya] of the cosmos; a conscious energy whose presence is the source of life on all planets.
VII.
♎︎ Libra is the turning point between the northern and southern signs. It is a mysterious sign and difficult to explain. The Secret Doctrine says:
“When the ‘woman’ proceeds from the ‘rib’ of the second Adam, the pure virgin separates from him and ‘falls into the generation,’ or descending line. Thereby Virgo (Buddhi-Manas) becomes Scorpio (Kāma-Manas), the sign of sin and the material. The ascending series indicates the purely spiritual races; the Prajapatis [Prajāpatis] and Sephiroth are directed by the creative Deity, which is Adam Kadmon or Jod Heva (Jehovah). The spiritually inferior series is that of the terrestrial races, headed by Enoch, or Libra, the seventh, who is said to be half divine, half terrestrial; that he went up alive to heaven.”
The balance therefore probably signifies that point at which the mind (manas) attains the knowledge of wisdom after it has learned to distinguish the true from the false.
“Enoch (Hermes or Libra) is the one who changes form, yet always remains the same. He is the Nameless One who has many names, yet whose names and essence are unknown. He is the great sacrifice. He sits on the threshold of light and looks into the light from the circle of darkness, from which he does not want to cross.”
But this is the description of yoga, which is mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita, chap. XIV, v. 23-26, which means:
“Whoever, like someone who is not concerned with these things, does not let the three forces of nature disturb his calm, behaves like a silent and uninvolved spectator, is not fickle, and says to himself: “These forces follow their law,” if pleasure and pain are equal, and all things are equal, he who stands firm and cares neither for praise nor blame is called a conqueror of his nature; he becomes free of the three qualities and of being in Brahma.”
As we see, man has come to the consciousness of his own individuality on the descending path of evolution. In Aries it was contained as an idea in Deity; in Taurus he came into existence as a universal being; in Gemini, will and imagination took different directions; in Cancer he approached the material to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; in Leo he attained a material body and power of his own; the purpose was achieved, and the self-confidence or self-consciousness of his spiritual individuality could awaken in him in Libra. As a knowledgeless but heavenly being, he emerged from the spiritual state, became earthly and now ascends again as a knowing individual being to God, in order to enter the Deity as a God, and what he used to do without knowing it, possessed, now enjoying with the awareness of the value of his possessions.
But how does this ascent to God take place? What is it caused by? The ascending series of the zodiac tells us about it:
VIII.
♏︎ The Scorpion means the material, Kāma, the passion, the desire; It is greed directed towards the base, love striving towards the unselfish. This sign needs no further explanation.
IX.
♐︎ Sagittarius, whose eye is directed only to one goal, the realization of the highest ideal, signifies the divine will awakened in the human heart. Those who recognize this meaning will wish that all of humanity may soon enter the sign of Sagittarius. Then it would be better on earth.
X.
♑︎ Capricorn is, among other things, the symbol of perseverance, which cannot be prevented from achieving the set goal by any obstacles. In another respect it signifies sublimity; the beast which dwells on the highest mountains and no longer cares about what dwells in the valleys; in other words, the soul in Devachan.
XI.
♒︎ Aquarius, according to the Subba Row’s arguments, means the fourteen lokas or spiritual spheres, the dwellings of men-turned-gods. “In my father’s house are many mansions.”[7]
XII.
♓︎ Fishes. “Heaven and all heaven heavens may not provide for God.”[8] Even the highest existence, in which there is still some limitation conditioned by one’s own nature, is not enough for the soul striving for perfection, which only infinity can fill. Only when the illusion of being oneself has been completely sacrificed on Golgotha, when the apparent self rises in the true universal Self, like a spark in the flame becomes light, and the soul enters Nirvāna, then the highest bliss is attained and the human being finds himself like a fish in water, in its native element.
No one is more convinced than the author of these lines of the inadequacy of the above “explanations”; but their purpose is not so much to set out a theory as to point out that the symbols of the zodiac have an entirely different purpose than simply registering the mechanical movements of dead masses in cosmic space. The universe has not only its material side, but also its spiritual side. Whether or not the planets are inhabited by human-like beings is ultimately a superfluous question; they are themselves manifestations of the one omnipresent life in the universe, which gives birth to these forms here and those there. The “planets”[9] themselves, in the mystical sense, signify not the outward appearances of them which we see through our astronomical telescopes, but the seven distinct principles or states in the universe, the outward symbols of which are the so-called “seven planets,” viz., after the exoteric teaching as follows:
- Ātma, the “universal spirit”, symbolized by L, the governing principle when the sun (self-awareness) is in ♈︎.
- Buddhi, z, the “soul,” the force that governs in ♉︎.
- Manas, O, the mind whose sign is ♊︎ because it is “bisexual,” i.e., feels pulled in two opposite directions.[10]
- Kāma, 0, the desire for material existence and earthly lust ♋︎.
- Prāṇa, t, the life, the power, symbolized in ♌︎.
- Linga, Y (attraction), the astral light, the astral body, ♍︎.
- The embodiment, q. It is realization and at the same time rest, the cessation of movement, life as well as death in a different sense, ♎︎.[11]
During the ascension through the Zodiac, all seven “planets” act on the microcosm (man). In order to get from the sign of Scorpio into that of Sagittarius, mind and love (O,Y) must fulfill and master the will (0), etc., and what is true of man as an individual is also true of humanity as a whole. Every human being has his own “zodiac,” his own zone of evolution, in which his life, his feeling, thinking, willing and acting moves, and as everyone descends into matter and then ascends again to the ideal, so does the whole human race, even if incredible periods of time are necessary to complete this cycle. Four such ages are known in Indian doctrine, namely:
- Krita-Yuga or the golden age of 1,728,000 years, the age in which wisdom reigns.
- Tretā-yuga, the silver age of 1,296,000 years.
- Dvāpara Yuga, 864,000 years.
- Kali Yuga,[12] the black age lasting 432,000 years and in which we are now.[13]
The passage from one age to another is not sudden; rather, each of them has its appropriate dawn and dusk (sandhyā [twilight]), consequently the time periods of the individual yugas are as 8 : 6 : 4 : 2; i.e., the length of the Krita-Yoga corresponds to 80 equinoctial precessions of 25,920 years, that of the Tretā-Yuga 60, the Dvāpara-Yuga 40 and the Kali-Yuga 20.[14]
Thus everything in the world proceeds according to certain rules and in a certain order, and when the world enters a higher sign of the zodiac a different spirit will reign in it. But it would be completely wrong to conclude from this that the individual should sit back and devote himself to pious contemplation and wait until the whole world, and himself with it, is raised to a higher level. Man differs from other creatures in that he has free will, can rule his “planets” himself and can traverse his own zodiac. Eternity is everywhere and the “seventh day” (rest) is always there to celebrate. The current state of science and the theories of our academics are not sufficient for man to make use of these divine powers, but above all religious feeling and the knowledge of God (Theosophy) arising from it are necessary. We are now in the Kali Yuga, i.e., in the age of sensuality, when everything is concerned only with physical comfort and objective knowledge, and some may perhaps regret being born in an age when so many obstacles stand in the way of intellectual progress. But it is these very obstacles which enable him who has the strength to overcome them to rise much higher than is possible in an age when there is no struggle. But this fight is not the fight for earthly existence, but the fight for divine existence, and in order to conquer matter we need less material science and its theories than knowledge. This is why Rückert also says in his “Wisdom of the Brahmans” [“Weisheit des Brahmanen”]:
“Worldly wisdom is a word which has neither meaning nor power; The highest stronghold of wisdom is the science of God. But worldly wisdom, in order for it to have meaning, should see the wisdom of God in the reflection of the world.”
Notes
[1] The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac and their Meaning. [Die zwölf Zeichen des Zodiaks und deren Bedeutung. Franz Hartmann, M.D. Lotusblüten 4, no. 26 (November 1894), 809-833] {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos. Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}
[2] The twelve signs of the zodiac are described in the “Old Testament” as the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is made clear by a comparison with the teachings of the Mahābhārata and Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa. The books of “Moses” are written after the “invention of the sign Libra by the Greeks”; for the chapters on genealogy there are modified to conform with the new Zodiac, instead of the latter being made to correspond with the list of patriarchs. “Isis Unveiled,” vol. II, page 457.
[3] See: “The Calendar of the Brahmins,” Lotusblüten, vol. II, page 489.
[4] S. G. P. Coryn, “The Zodiac.”
[5] As is well known, the constellation Taurus includes the Pleiades, of which Alcyone is its brightest star. Certain scientific calculations indicate that our sun orbits around a center that is Alcyone. Mädler calculates the cycle of the sun around Alcyone to be 1,800,000,000 years.
[6] {R.H.—“Fohat” is not a Tibetan word. There is no “f” sound in the Tibetan language. As to what this word is, since it is not a Sanskrit word either, it is either Chinese, Greek or Senzar. The Greek word “phos,” φως (fos), the consonant of which was aspirated, was anciently written ΠΗ and was later written in the Latin by ph, although φ was used to make the Latin sound f. It means light or limelight and is pronounced exactly like: “Fos.” For the Chinese, there is Fo, which is the name of the Buddha.}
[7] Bibel.
[8] I. Kings, VIII, 27.
[9] {R.H.—The planets and asteroids are the absorbers and reflectors of the constellational energies and qualities, both esoterically and esoterically. Thus, constellational astrology will be the astrology of the future.}
[10] {R.H.—[upwards towards Buddhi or downwards towards Kāma]}
[11] The meaning of the planetary signs given here is not invariable; the position of the planets varies according to the point of view from which we look at them.
[12] {R.H.—Kali yuga means the age of Kali or the demon or darkness.}
[13] It began on February 17, 3102 BC. {R.H.—This date, according to the Indian mathematician and astronomer, Āryabhaṭa (who wrote the famous Āryabhaṭīya, was the date of Kṛṣṇa’s death. Āryabhaṭa mentions in the Āryabhaṭīya that he was 23 years old after the beginning of the Kali Yuga (3,600) which would be 499 ce and that he was born in 476. The date of the Kali Yuga is mentioned in the Sūrya Siddhānta (Treatise on the Sun). Āryabhaṭa’s mathematics was very comprehensive. He calculated π, pi, to four decimal places and surmised that pi was irrational, a conclusion which was not determined in Europe until 1761; he wrote works on spherical geometry, and calculated lunar and solar eclipses, and works on quadratic equations, etc. He also determined it was due to the earth’s rotation on its own axis which was the cause of the apparent westward movement of the stars. He lived 476–550 ce.}
[14] S. G. P. Coryn, “The Zodiac.” London T. P. S. 1893.