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	Where did these signs originate? What stories prompted these signs? Who made them up? We attempt to answer these questions, offering our unique perspective on things Zodiac. Next Page
	Aires is the first sign of the Zodiac. Covers our calendar year from March 21st to April 19th. The symbol represents the horns of the Ram. The story of Aires is from the Greek legend of the Golden Fleece. Athamus ruled in Boetia, a Greek province. He had a wife, Nephele and two children by her, Phrixus and Helle. He grew bored of Nephele, and left her. He took another wife, Ino. She was very jealous of her two stepchildren and sought to do away with them. She told the woman planters to roast the grain before planting it, and this, in effect, caused the grain not to grow. This brought on a Famine. The king sent a messenger to the Oracle at Delphi to find out why the crops failed. Ino bribed the messenger to give a false reading from the Oracle, telling the King that his children lives were to be sacrificed to the God Zeus, thus making the crops grow again. The King went to obey the order. Phrixus and Helle were out tending their sheep, which included a great Ram, a Golden Ram, a gift to their mother from Hermes. Nephele found out what was going on, and asked the Ram to help her children escape their sad fate. The Ram spoke to the children, and told them to climb on his back, he would save them, and after they were on him, he flew away across the sea. Helle got dizzy and fell off, at the point where Europe and Asia are divided by a strait (now called the Hellespont) but Phrixus was carried safely to the land called Colchis. Here, the Ram was offered in thanks to Zeus, and his Golden Fleece returns later in the story of Jason and the Argonauts. To remember the Rams heroism, Zeus placed the Ram as a constellation in the heavens.

Taurus is the second sign of the Zodiac. Covers our calendar year from April 20st to May 20th. The symbol represents the horns and head of the bull. The bull comes from the story of Jupiter and Europa. Jupiter prided himself on his sexual abilities, and he loved to woo young ladies. Jupiter had many, many children by human women, Hercules just to mention one of the more famous. Europa was the daughter of a King who lead a sheltered life in her fathers court. Europa was told by a strange woman in her dream to go pick flowers in the meadow by the sea. She and her handmaidens went to the meadow. Jupiter saw her and decided he would have her. He transformed himself into a bull, to get close enough to her, as his own God like figure would scare away any innocent maiden. Europa was taken with this magnificent bull, white with jeweled horns and a moon crescent on his forehead. So tranquil and tame, climbed onto his back. Jupiter had her, and he sprang into the air, carrying her away to Crete. There he took her as his lover. The strange woman appeared to her soon after, telling her she was Venus, and admitting to be the woman in her dream. Venus told her that the continent that Jupiter took her to would be know by her name, Europe. Europa gave Jupiter three children. And Jupiter placed his likeness of the bull in the constellation Taurus in the heavens.

Gemini is the third sign of the Zodiac. Covers our calendar year from May 21st to June 20th. The symbol represents the two joined figures of twins. The origins of this sign is the story of Castor and Pollux and the God Jupiter again. Jupiter took a liking to Leda, the wife of Tyndareus, king of Sparta. In this story, Jupiter lures the lady with the shape of a Swan. Leda was seduced by Jupiter while in the company of this Swan. She has two eggs after this, producing four children, two of them of the union with Jupiter, two of her union with her husband. Out of these eggs hatch two sons, Castor and Pollux, and two daughters Helen (of Troy) and Clytemnestra. It is not clear who sired which of the four children. Castor and Pollux became inseparable. They had great adventures together, including the travels with Jason and the Argonauts. Castor was a great horseman and Pollux was a great boxer. Castor was killed in a battle. Pollux was heartbroken, and asked Jupiter to bring Castor back. He offered his own life in ransom. Jupiter rewarded this great love by placing both brothers side by side in the heavens, as the constellation of Gemini.

Cancer is the fourth sign of the Zodiac. Covers our calendar year from June 21st to July 22nd. The symbol represents the two claws of the crab. Hercules was given Twelve Labors to perform. He was the son of Alcmena and Jupiter. Juno, Jupiter's wife, was jealous of Hercules and was responsible, indirectly, for Hercules being given these impossible labors, all of which he succeeds in performing, much to Juno's surprise and dismay. One of them was to slay the giant Hydra. There are many descriptions of this many headed great serpent, but all agree when one head was cut off, one or two more grew in its place. Hercules was busy battling this great beast when Cancer, the crab, attacked Hercules foot, driven on by Juno herself, to distract Hercules and cause him to make a mistake. But Hercules crushed it, then dispatched the Hydra. Juno, ever grateful that the crab attempted such a heroic deed, placed the crab in the stars in heaven, in the constellation of Cancer.