sents the control of strong forces and powers—weapons, anger, willpower, machines,
fuel, etc. Although Zeus represents control and restraint, adverse positions of Zeus can
also indicate the loss of control.
Based on the speculative orbits of the Uranian planets, the Kepler, Solar Fire
and Win*Star software programs will all locate this hypothetical planet in an astrolog-
ical chart.
Sources:
Lang-Wescott, Martha. Mechanics of the Future: Asteroids.Rev. ed. Conway, MA: Treehouse
Mountain, 1991.
Simms, Maria Kay. Dial Detective: Investigation with the 90 Degree Dial.San Diego: Astro Com-
puting Services, 1989.
ZODIAC
The zodiac (literally, “circle of animals,” or, in its more primary meaning, the “circle of
life” or “circle of living beings”) is the “belt” constituted by the 12 signs—Aries, Tau-
rus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and
Pisces. This belt is said to extend 8° or 9° on either side of the ecliptic (the imaginary
line drawn against the backdrop of the stars by the orbit of Earth). The orbits of the
various planets in the solar system all lie within approximately the same geometric
plane, so from a position within the system, all the heavenly bodies appear to move
across the face of the same set of constellations. Several thousand years ago, the names
of these constellations became the basis for the zodiac.
A distinction must be drawn between the sidereal zodiac and the tropical zodi-
ac. The sidereal zodiac is located more or less where the constellations are positioned.
The other zodiac originated with Ptolemy, the great astrologer-astronomer of antiqui-
ty, who was very careful to assert that the zodiac should begin (i.e., 0° Aries should be
placed) at the point where the Sun is positioned during the spring equinox. Because of
the phenomenon known as the precession of equinoxes, this point very gradually
moves backward every year, and currently 0° Aries is located near the beginning of
the constellation Pisces. Astrologers who adhere to the Ptolemaic directive—the
great majority of modern, Western astrologers—use the tropical zodiac (also called the
moving zodiac, for obvious reasons). If the tropical zodiac is used, it should always be
carefully distinguished from the circle of constellations (i.e., from the sidereal zodiac).
The notion of the zodiac is ancient, with roots in the early cultures of
Mesopotamia; the first 12-sign zodiacs were named after the gods of these cultures.
The Greeks adopted astrology from the Babylonians; the Romans, in turn, adopted
astrology from the Greeks. These peoples renamed the signs of the Babylonian zodiac
in terms of their own mythologies, which is why the familiar zodiac of the contempo-
rary West bears names out of Mediterranean mythology. The notion of a 12-fold divi-
sion derives from the lunar cycle (the orbital cycle of the Moon around Earth), which
the Moon completes 12 times per year.
From a broad historical perspective, zodiacal symbolism can be found every-
where, and zodiacal expressions are still in use in modern English—e.g., bullheaded(an
THEASTROLOGYBOOK [751]
Zodiac