Astrology

Astrology symbols and meanings

The seven wandering lights, and the metals that were said to answer them.

23 marks in the lexicon. A symbol can sit in more than one tradition. The page says which use is which.

• FireHeat that rises, and the temper called choleric.
• AirHeat that does not scorch: blood, spring, thought.
• WaterWhat sinks, gathers, and is felt before it is argued.
• EarthWeight, melancholy, and the body that remains.
• SunThe center, and the metal that does not tarnish.
• MoonWhat changes on a schedule, and still returns.
• MercuryThe go-between. Metal, planet, principle, and a god who travels.
• VenusCopper’s mark, long before it was a gender icon.
• MarsIron’s mark: a blade’s metal, and later a sex.
• JupiterTin, kingship, and the god who enlarges.
• SaturnWeight, time, and the stage of the work you cannot skip.
• AriesThe first slice of the sun’s year, drawn as a ram.
• TaurusA bull on the ecliptic, and a circle with horns in type.
• GeminiTwo pillars. The twins are the story. The mark is the abbreviation.
• CancerA crab, and the sign where the sun used to turn.
• LeoA lion on the ecliptic. The tail in the glyph is the identifier.
• VirgoA woman with a sheaf. The glyph is an M that learned to write.
• LibraScales, set where the year balances — and once the scorpion’s claws.
• ScorpioA scorpion. The glyph keeps the sting so you do not read it as Virgo.
• SagittariusAn arrow. The centaur is the story. The mark is the weapon.
• CapricornA goat and a fish sharing one body. The glyph keeps both.
• AquariusTwo waves. A person pouring is the picture. The mark kept the water.
• PiscesTwo fish tied by a cord. Not the Christian ichthys.