Room, Adrian. Dictionary of Astronomical Names.London: Routledge, 1988.
Schwartz, Jacob. Asteroid Name Encyclopedia.St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1995.PIG(BOAR)
The Pig is one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. It refers to one of the 12 earth-
ly branches that are used in Chinese astrology, together with the 10 heavenly stems.
Such a branch designates one day every 12 days: the days are named according to a
sexagesimal (60) cycle, made of 10 series of 12 branches.
Kind, affectionate, scrupulous, courteous, and without problems, the Pig is a nice
person—too nice, perhaps, for he may get on people’s nerves. On the other hand, this
generous and peaceful person may prove to be too innocent. Fortunately, he has a lot of
luck. He often is a cultured intellectual and he enjoys food. He likes nature and solitude.—Michele DelemmePISCES
Pisces, the twelfth and last sign of the zodiac, is a mutable water sign. It is a negative
(in the value-neutral sense of being negatively charged) feminine sign, ruled by the
planet Neptune (in traditional astrology it was ruled by Jupiter). Its symbol is the fish
(two fish moving in opposite directions, tied together by a rope or, in other versions,
by their tails); its glyph is said to be a stylized representation of this symbol. It takes its
name from the plural of the Latin word for fish. Pisces is associated with the feet, and
individuals with a Pisces sun sign are susceptible to athlete’s foot and other foot prob-
lems. The key phrase for Pisces is “I believe.”
The mythology of Pisces is complex. The image is usually said to represent
Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and her son Eros, the god of erotic attraction, who
held hands and turned themselves into fish as they jumped into the water to escape a
conflict. Both these divinities are the subjects of lengthy mythologies. The fish symbol
is similarly complex, with rich associations in Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Norse, and
Sumerian mythologies; it is often a goddess symbol. In classical mythology, fish were
sacred to Venus (Aphrodite) and Neptune (Poseidon).
The symbols for the other two water signs are associated with water, but are in
a certain sense only “part” watery: Cancer is a crab, sticking close to the shoreline,
while one of Scorpio’s symbols is the snake, a creature having earth as well as water
associations. A fish, however, is a purely marine creature, indicating that Pisceans are
more at home in the subtle dimension beyond this realm than they are in everyday
life. Unless other factors in a natal chart indicate otherwise, Pisceans have a difficult
time coping. They attempt to transcend life through an ethereal art form like music
(Aphrodite was patron divinity of the arts), or through some form of mysticism. Nega-
tively, this same tendency can manifest as escapism through daydreaming, drugs, alco-
hol, or the like. Pisces natives can also be highly intuitive or psychic. Like the divini-
ties of love who became fish, Pisceans can be loving, compassionate people; alterna-
tively, they can be so trapped in the swamp of their emotional insecurities that they
become obsessed with themselves.Pig (Boar)
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