Tidings of the heavens

Reading the constellations

In earlier times, the heavens seemed charged with meaning, and astrologer-wizards gazed into the star-fretted night to seek, in the orderly procession of the heavenly bodies, intelligence about what was past or passing or to come. The scholars defined the universe - whose over-arching structure was everywhere reflected in the world and in humankind - in terms of a band of constellations, a belt around the world that formed the twelve signs of the zodiac. Traveling through this slowly wheeling net of stars, the Sun, the Moon and the five planets nearest the Earth pursued their own magestic courses, guardians and rulers of the constellations they crossed. Stargazers studied the relative positions of the bodies in the cosmic dance, searching for the correspondences that gave insight into the patters of earthly life.

Scourge of winter and source of light and life, the Sun was the biggest and most influential of celestial bodies, the glorious lamp of heaven and its king. Appropriately, the Sun ruled that part of the sky marked by the constellation Leo, a regal exemplar of dignity, magnanimity and creativity. But all the planets and constellations came under the rule of the Sun, for its yearly path - called the ecliptic - passed exactly through the center of the zodiacal belt. The life of the Earth came from the Sun, as well as human strength and health, which was why the Sun was depicted as shining down on sporting exercises.

After the Sun came the Moon, queen to the Sun's king, a female principle to answer the male - responsive, instinctual and so sensitive and sympathetic that it seemed almost to dissovle into whatever it touched.

The Moon held sway over the constellation Cancer, the Crab - an appropriately changable water sign - but like the Sun, the Moon brought any sign it occupied into prominence. It was associated with all things of feeling, with giving birth and with motherhood, home and family. Above all, however, the Moon was the mistress of flux, tugging rhythmically at the tides of the oceans and those of human feelings alike.

Each planet controlled two constellations, or signs of the zodiac. Warlike Mars ruled over Aries the Ram and Scorpio the Scorpion, sharing the beast's courage and the insect's stinging intensity. Mars governed battles and all who fought them.

Wing-footed Mercury, the fastest of the planets, had an altogether more peaceful reign, dominating the witty and versatile Gemini, or Twins, and the modest diligent Virgo - the Virgin. Mercury had powers over travel, the arts, commerce and agriculture.

Disasters and violent death flowed from Saturn, outermost of the five planets. Saturn stood for limitation, contraction and loss. The determined Goat, Capricorn, and eccentric Aquarius the Waterbearer were under Saturn's rule, which tended toward disorder and chaos. Huge Jupiter was Saturn's opposite. Expansive, optimistic, protective, fatherly, the planet controllet Pisces the Fish and the Archer, Sagittarius, symbols respectively of tolerance and justice.

Venus ruled Libra the Scales and the persistent, possessive Bull of Taurus. Venus was a force for harmony, unison and fruitfulness, the planet's influence brought men and women together, in love, in dance and in society generally.

As the planets governed the zodiac, so the zodiac governed the human body, that microcosm of all creation. Each sign of a constellation dominated one organ or part of the body. Appropriately enough, the butting Ram had power of the head, the Bull had power of the neck and shoulders, and the Twins, Fish and Scales - three pairs - over the arms, feet and kidneys. The Lion ruled the heart. The shieldlike Crab controlled the chest, the Virgin the belly and the Scorpion the sexual organs, while the legs were governed by the Archer, the Goat and the Waterbearer.

Some seers found the heavens refigured not only in the body as a whole but also in the hands and head. Palm lines, forehead wrinkles and even facial moles were "the stars of our bodies," rich with significance for both character and destiny.

Each finger was thought to be under influence of one planet and three zodiacal signs. The palm was divided among the planets and traversed by planetary lines governing luck, intuition and health. The longer, straighter and more continuous the line, the stronger the influence of the signs and planets on the owner of the palm.

The same applied to the forehead, which was divided into seven zones ruled by the seven heavenly bodies. And the face, forehead included, was similary ruled by the zodiac. Thus a wrinkle in a planetary zone or a mole in a sign could be read for its astrological meaning. For example, somone with a pronounced winkle in the area governed by the Sun would be likely to acquire great power.