Scorpio sign Zodiac coin dated to 1605 - 1627 C.E. which was minted by Nur al-Din Muhammad Jahangir, who was a Muslim Indian ruler (the Koran words on the reverse) but who was also influenced by Hinduism (the Zodiac signs on the obverse).
Picture is courtesy of Scott Semans.
Scorpio sign appears on the bottom of the 15th century illuminated manuscript The Hours book (maybe owned later by Henry VIII). Artist: Jean Poyer. Picture shows ploughing and sowing, the agricultural works of October-November.
Scorpio rules the genitals of a horse according to a most interesting 15th century pen drawing from an Italian Manuscript (Livro de la Menscalcia de li cavalli).
Scorpio sign appears on artist Judith Weinshall Liberman’s work titled: THE ZODIAC SERIES I, which was inspired by the 6th century mosaic floor wheel of the zodiac excavated at the synagogue in Beit Alpha, Israel.
Judith wrote to me:
I have completed my first Zodiac series (there will be more). The series consists of 12 separate mixed media works, each one devoted to one of the signs. I have arranged the 12 works in rectangular formation so you can get an idea what they look like when seen together. The arrangement goes row by row from the top row to the bottom row, and each row begins at right so it is read the way Hebrew is read (right to left). The top row represents spring (green), the second row represents summer (yellow), the third row represents fall (red) and the bottom row represents winter (blue).
All Rights Reserved to Judith Weinshall Liberman 2008
Scorpio sign appears at the center (right under Libra)
Spanish Early Renaissance Painter Fernando Gallego (1440-1507) painted the Zodiac and other sky “members” at the ceiling of the old library (Sala Calderón de la Barca) at Salamanca University, Spain, which was founded in 1218 by Alfonso IX of Leon. Picture is courtesy of “muuranker” from Flickr.
American Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) translated Dante (1265-1321) Alighieri's Divine Comedy in 1867. Dante wrote in Purgatorio about Scorpio:
That cold animal which with its tail doth smite among the nations
It seems that Dante didn’t like Scorpio’s…
Charlotte R. Long wrote in her book The Twelve Gods of Greece and Rome (p. 295) that the 1st century C.E. altar, found in Gabii in 1793 by Gavin Hamilton shows the twelve heads of the Roman gods in relation to the zodiac signs relieves that run along the side of the cylinder with their symbols. Mars rules Scorpio and his symbol is the Wolf.
I copied this picture from Wikimedia Commons. It was Uploaded by Jastrow (2006) entry: Image:Altar twelve gods Louvre Ma666.jpg
Scorpio sign and glyph appear on a humoristic 2007 Australian Zodiac stamp designed by
Mitch Vane along with the interpretation of two personality traits associated with this sign.
Scorpio sign appears on an Israeli lottery ticket along with the Hebrew words for Good Luck. The word for luck in Hebrew is also the word for astrological sign. We see Scorpio sign on the left and Libra, Aries on the right.
This ceramic wall-hanging blue Scorpio Sign picture is courtesy of Israeli artist Sabina Saad, who bought it at Ramla Market. Diameter: 6 cm. Copyright: Sabina Saad 2008. I guess the artist who made this medallion didn't pay attention to the connection between this sign and "its color", which is brown.
Scorpio sign appears on a marble capital along with the planet Mars and Aries sign at the Palazzo Ducale (1309 to 1424) in Venice:
Picture is cropped from Wikimedia commons entry: Category:Capitals in the Doge's Palace (Venice) - 18 - uploaded by Giovanni Dall'OrtoThe Twelve important Indian Rivers are connected to the Zodiac Signs:
Ganges is connected to Aries; Reva river is connected to Taurus; Saraswati is connected to Gemini; Yamuna is connected to Cancer; Godavari is connected to Leo; Krishna is connected to Virgo; Kaveri is connected to Libra; Bhima River is connected to Scorpio; Radhya Saga is connected to Sagittarius; Tungabhadra is connected to Capricorn; Indus is connected to Aquarius; Pranahitha is connected to Pisces;
Pushkaram is a celebration near each river once in every 12 years. Millions of people participate in each Pushkaram, taking a dip in the river in order to purify physically and mentally.
Scorpio sign appears on a 14th century C.E. illustration from an Arabic manuscript , which is dedicated to astrology, astronomy and geomancy and which was compiled by Abd al-Hasan Al-Isfahani
I copied this image was from Wikimedia Commons, entry: Category: Kitab al-Bulhan; uploaded by: “Peacay”.
Scorpio sign is covered by the left hand of Atlas, but all the other signs appear clearly on the Farnese Atlas, which is kept at the Museo Archaeologico Nazionale in Naples, Italy. It is a Roman marble statue depicting 41 ancient Greek constellations, which are shown in relief. The diameter of the globe is 65 cm. Art historians date the statue to the second century C.E., but actually it is a Roman copy from a much earlier Greek original.
Image was copied from Wikipedia entry Farnese Atlas Uploaded by Gssq
Even though astrology/astronomy started in the Near East (Sumer, Babylon, Egypt) the signs of the zodiac as we use them today find their complete explanation in the context of Greek mythology. An excellent website brings a few versions of the same basic story. Here's the story that appears in the 1st century C.E. book titled Catasterismi (Greek: placing among the stars), which is a collection of ancient Hellenistic sources. In The Astronomy Fragment 4 there, which was translated by Evelyn-White, Greek poet Hesiod (from the 8th century B.C.E.) is quoted as saying that:
Orion went away to Crete and spent his time hunting in company with Artemis and Leto. It seems that he threatened to kill every beast, there was on earth; whereupon, in her anger, Ge (the Earth) sent up against him a Scorpion of very great size by which he was stung and so perished. After this Zeus, at the prayer of Artemis and Leto, put him among the stars, because of his manliness, and the Scorpion also as a memorial of him and of what had occurred.
Other sources add that this story about the enmity between Scorpion and Orion explains why they are never seen in the sky at the same time: one of them sets as the other rises.
Colorful Scorpio Sign and date picture is courtesy of “kptattoo” from Flickr
Tattooing the sign alone is like giving away your ID number, adding the date (for those who know some astrology) is like giving away your ID card!
Scorpio sign appears on a Roman Mosaic from the third century C.E., which is showed now at the Bardo Museum in Tunis.
To the best of my knowledge this is the only Roman Mosaic that contains both the zodiac signs and the hexagram.
Copyright: AntonioR [from Flickr] 2008
Scorpio sign and glyph appear on a Silver Zodiac Coin, which was issued by Armenia in 2007
Design: U. Walerzak
Scorpio Sign and glyph appear on an Elizabeth II Coin issued in Cook-Islands in 1977 along with the 11 other astrological signs of the zodiac
Scorpio is De Gaulle’s Zodiacal Sign. This stamp belongs to series with famous people and their astrological Signs, which was issued by Fujeira in 15 March 1973.
Unproportionally big Scorpio Sign
Hebrew word on top means Scorpio
Design: Sabina Saad from Israel
Copyright: Sabina Saad 2008
Silver necklace with Scorpio glyph made by C. Lago. Picture is courtesy of "ametistagirl" from Flickr
Glyphs (Internationally known hieroglyphics / symbols used in Western astrology to represent the 12 signs of the Zodiac) are a surprisingly late astrological development- they were used for the first time only circa 10th century C.E.:
Aries: curved horns of the ram or the letter T
Taurus: circle with horns on top
Gemini: like the roman symbol for the 2 (II)
Leo: small circle connected to lion’s tail
Virgo: looks like the letter M plus the letter V
Libra: pair of scales
Sagittarius: looks like an arrow aiming upward
Capricorn: curved tail of a fish or first two letters in the Greek word tragos, which means "goat."
(Source: The Alpha and the Omega by Jim A. Cornwell)
Aquarius: two zigzags one above the other - looks like water
Pisces: back-to-back half circles connected by an horizontal line in the middle
14th century Scorpio sign from Italy, Milan-Duomo (Cathedral), where at midday, a ray of sun hits the right zodiacal sign.
Picture is courtesy of mixedmediaexpressions.com from Flickr.
Scorpio sign glyph and constellation appear on a 1974 postage stamp among other Signs of the Zodiac in a series issued by Maldive Islands, which are located in the Indian Ocean.
Picture of “Rainbow Scorpion” is courtesy of Adelaide Archivist from Flickr. It is made by Anthea
from so colorful crystal beads that it makes one forget the real-life creature (eventhough the shadow is still frightening).
On this postage stamp, which was issued in Greece in 2007, we see Scorpio constellation sign and glyph.
According to the dictionary most of the zodiac sign names date to 1350–1400 Middle English and are based on Latin
Aries - the Ram
Taurus - the Bull
Gemini- the Twins
Cancer – the Crab; : cancr-, akin to Greek karkínos, crab
Leo the Lion
Virgo, the Virgin, maiden (before 1000; Middle English)
Libra- the Balance, pair of scales
Sagittarius- the Archer, from sagitta: arrow
Capricorn, the Goat; caper, goat + cornu, horn
Aquarius- the Water carrier, from aqua, water
Pisces the Fishes - from pisces, plural of piscis, fish
Scorpio Sign Tattoo on the foot
Choosing the skin of the foot as a canvas for this design is cool – people might warn you that there’s a scorpion on your foot:)
Picture is courtesy of “echelonAng3L” from Flickr.
Picture of Scorpio Sign sketch is courtesy of Scurzuzu from Flickr. It looks as if this Scorpio is wearing sunglasses.
Scorpio sign in Palermo Sicily Cathedral as part of 1690 meridian line and solar calendar (heliometer). Above there’s a small hole in the roof. on midsummer's day the light from the hole falls on Cancer and six months' later on Capricorn. Picture is courtesy of maha-online from Flickr.
Scorpio sign medallion on the floor of the Library of Congress, Washington, DC. -picture is courtesy of Marjorie Lipan
The most surprising Antikythera mechanism (no one expected that the Greeks could build such a complicated device so early) was discovered in a ship wreck near the Greek island of Antikythera in 1901 and is dated to about 150–100 B.C.E. It is kept in Athens at the National Archaeological Museum.
The front dial has a scale with the 365 days, which surrounds a scale with the Greek signs of the Zodiac.
Picture is copied from Wikimedia entry Antikythera uploaded by Marsyas.
San Marino stamp with Scorpio sign glyph and constellation
R.S.W.Bobbette wrote in 1997 in her article Introductory Essays On Rudolf Steiner's Star-Knowledge that Steiner claimed
An example of Rudolf Steiner's 12 levels of consciousness is given in another article by Philosophy of Freedom where we see a diagram that attaches
Aries to Idealism
Taurus to Rationalism
Gemini to Mathematism
Cancer to Materialism
Leo to Sensationalism
Virgo to Phenomenalism
Scorpio to Dynamism [which explains the material world in terms of active forces, in contrast to the passive view of matter in philosophical mechanism]
Libra to Realism
Sagittarius to Monadism [of Gottfried Leibniz]
Capricorn to Spiritism [séances]
Aquarius to Pneumatism
Pisces to Psychism [The doctrine of Quesne]
The author of this article claims that the basis for his diagram is found in the fourth lecture of Human and Cosmic Thought where Rudolf Steiner speaks of an inner Spiritual Astrology.
Six hexagrams, a telescope along with the zodiacal signs and glyphs appear on a mosaic ceiling at Greenwich Town Hall, London, England, above the main door. It is not clear why the hexagrams were introduced in this context and why six. I guess it has to do with the influence of alchemy. Anyhow it’s a nice contribution to my new research about the hexagram and the Zodiac
See: www.flickr.com/groups/858932@N24/discuss/72157607482488166/
The Scorpio sign is the second from the bottom on the left column.
Picture is courtesy of a2d
The connection between the zodiac and the six-pointed star is the subject of my new research.
Photo is courtesy of Dobush from Kfar Aza, Israel.
Scorpio sign on an elegant ring
Picture is courtesy of “gizzmo2z”
I’m searching for similar pictures of rings of the other zodiacal signs. In case you have one don’t hesitate to send it to me.
Scorpio sign and glyph (along with Leo Virgo and Sagittarius) are seen in this picture of Paul Manship’s (1885 - 1966) Prometheus sculpture, which was created in 1934 at the Rockefeller Center in New York.
Courtesy of “wallyg”.
Zoom in by clicking the “all sizes command above the picture in Flickr.
The design of Merréll O'Brian's book cover shows that there is a connection between the zodiac and the six-pointed star. this is also the subject of my research.
Merréll O'Brian designed the Zodiac signs, each on a separate Star of David, on the cover of his book The Council of Twelve. He wrote to me that
The Council of Twelve has been in existence for 26000 years since The Creator placed Adam, Aries,"the First" as a high priest of the tribes; Adam created with the sun and moon…
The 12 signs of the zodiac may be interpreted as stages of spiritual development, starting from
slavery and ending in freedom. Take for example Roeland de Looff who wrote on his web page a beautiful piece about Tibetan Astrology. Here are some points:
Aries is symbolized by a drawing of a blind man. Aries is hasty and that's why it stumbles.
Taurus is symbolized by a drawing of a potter. Taurus’s will shapes its future by its deeds.
Gemini is symbolized by a drawing of a restless monkey. Gemini is restless and is jumping between projects.
Cancer is symbolized by a drawing of a ship with two voyagers (consciousness & body) and a navigator (true self).
Leo is symbolized by a drawing of a house with windows representing the six senses: eyes, nose, ears, tongues, body and mind.
Virgo is symbolized by a drawing of two figures making love (representing contact).
Libra is symbolized by a drawing of a figure with an arrow in his eye (representing too much information).
Scorpio is symbolized by a drawing of a woman who is giving beverage to a man (representing desires and feelings).
Sagittarius is symbolized by a drawing of a woman that collects fruit in a basket (representing satisfaction through earthly objects).
Capricorn is symbolized by a drawing of two people making love in a cabin (representing new start)
Aquarius is symbolized by a drawing of a birth (representing new life).
Pisces is symbolized by a drawing of a burial. (Representing loss of material-life and release from the Wheel of Life.
My son got this Scorpio Key Holder (made in Israel) for his birthday, almost a year ago.
Since zodiacal signs are personal and intimate there’s naturally always a demand for zodiacal artifacts – and where there is a demand there is a supplier.
Scorpio and the other zodiacal signs appear on this massive relief carved from a single stone at the Bel Temple, Palmyra, Syria. The zodiac signs surround Bel and the other planet-gods Helios, Selene, Ares, Hermes, Aphrodite and Cronos. Picture is courtesy of “spdl_n1”
Palmyra (aka Tadmor) is 215 km northeast of Damascus. Bel’s Greek name is Zeus and his Roman name is Jupiter. This temple is dated to the reign of Tiberius in 32 C.E.
In order to see the signs clearly I'm afraid you'll have to zoom in by clicking the All Sizes command above the picture
Scorpio sign appears in the center of (Diana) Artemis’ chest along with the other signs of the zodiac around her neck on a 125-175 C.E. statue exhibited in Ephesus Museum, Turkey. Picture is courtesy of AWWS.
In Greek mythology Hellenic goddess Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo.
Zodiac Signs appear on the 1908 floor of the Roman Catholic Dormition (“Falling Asleep” of the Virgin) Church in Jerusalem along with names of Prophets Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel and a verse from Proverbs 8, 23-25. The three intersecting circles in the center symbolize the Trinity. Designer of the church was Heinrich Renard.
Picture is courtesy of “Black and white archive” From Flickr
Picture was taken in 1945 by James George (1921 - 2006)
Scorpio that looks like a lizard. The picture is courtesy of “gorgeoux”. it is one of 12 zodiacal sign reliefs at Calella, Catalonia , Spain (50 kilometers north of Barcelona).
Colum Hourihane wrote in his book Time in the Medieval World that Scorpio was connected in medieval art to October, viewed from above, could have a long tail starting from the head, or could look like a dog, or a tortoise with shell (because the artists in Europe didn’t have a model of a real Scorpio in front of their eyes).
The full details of this book are: Occupations of the Months and Signs of the Zodiac in the Index of Christian Art, Princeton University Dept. of Art and Archaeology. Index of Christian Art, Penn State Press, 2007
Tha late Rabbi S.Z. Kahana quoted on his web page from Lekach Tov to Genesis 1: 14
(And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years”)
Aries- Persia and Madai
Taurus- Chaldaeans
Gemini- Khazari
Cancer- Armenia
Leo - Edom
Virgo: Ashkenazi, German
Scorpio- desert
Libra- Africa
Sagittarius- Negro
Capricorn- Eretz Israel
Aquarius - Egypt
Pisces- Hondea
It seems that the idea of zodiac signs ruling geographical areas was not originally Jewish since
1st century CE Roman poet and astrologer Marcus Manilius already wrote in his Astronomica that Scorpio ruled over Carthage, Libya, Egypt, Sardinia.
Scorpio comics picture is courtesy of natashahohoho and it shows Scorpio sign, glyph, dates and quite negative traits: secretive, vindictive, forceful, sullen
Scorpio Tattoo (“Eylcia and the Scorpio of Pain”) picture is courtesy of Glandrid who shot it on the beach at a North Provincial Park party on a vacation at Lake Ontario. It is not entirely clear to me if the pain we are talking about here is the pain of Scorpios or the pain of Eylcia in the process of getting a tattoo... or both.
This Cuneiform tablet picture is courtesy of Nickmard Khoey who published it on Flickr with the following caption:
This is the last datable cuneiform tablet in the British Museum. It gives the monthly positions of the planets in the zodiac signs and the dates of their characteristic phenomena. Dates of solstices, equinoxes and eclipses are also given. The text also refers to the rising of Sirius, and especially bright star used as calendar markers by various cultures across the ancient world.
61 C.E., Babylon, Iraq
P.S.
Nickmard Khoey added:
It is the "last" dated Cunieform tablet. It has been dated because of the Zodiac information on it. Cunieform was still in use until the 1st Century AD. It was used for more than 3,000 years in various forms by different near eastern empires.
It’s a pity that I can’t read cuneiform letters. It would have been much more friendly if we could see the known zodiac-signs scattered between these strange letters, but it seems that these were invented latter.
The Tetractys shows the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 as dots, each in a separate line.
The Tetractys is connected to the six-pointed Star, like we see here in the following drawing.
It is also connected to the zodiac as Clare Martin showed in her book "Mapping the Psyche", London, 2005:
Pythagoras devised the Tetractys as a mathematical model that shows how numbers describe the nature of the universe as well as the nature of any system, including the human being…
These numbers are not simply quantitative, but are also archetypes of number, with ‘oneness’, ‘twoness’, ‘threeness’ and ‘fourness’ being understood as wholes or unities in themselves, each with their own qualitative meaning.
1- There is one zodiac
2- The signs are active or passive (Scorpio is passive)
3- The signs are cardinal, fixed or mutable (Scorpio is fixed)
4- Each sign belongs to one of the elements: fire, earth, air, water (Scorpio is water)
Scorpio sign appears on a 1982 German Zodiac signs stamp issued to mark four hundred years of the Gregorian calendar.
Copyright: Dobush From Kfar Aza, Israel
Scorpio name sign glyph and constellation appear on a Russian stamp issued on the 21st of April 2004.
Scorpio sign statue at Cleveland Museum of Art picture is courtesy of stu_spivack from Flickr.
Scorpio sign in a modern design
Picture is courtesy of “iko” from Flickr who took it in Toulouse, France
Zodiac in French
Les signes du Zodiaque
Aries Le Bélier
Taurus- Le Taureau
Gemini Les Gémeaux
Cancer- L’Écrevisse
Leo- Lion
Virgo- La Vierge
Libra- La Balance
Scorpio- le Scorpion
Sagittarius- Le Sagittaire
Capricorn- Le Capricorne
Aquarius- Le Verseau
Pisces- Les Poissons
Nearby there's a big sign notifying that an ancient legend has it that if you touch your Zodiac sign and make a wish while looking at the sea - your wish will come true. To me it looks like a modern legend invented to attract tourists - why didn't they mention the source of the legend?
Scorpio with the other signs of the zodiac appears on a Bas-relief, which is kept now in the Estense Museum in Modena, Italy.
From: The Mysteries Of Mithra by Franz Cumont, Chicago, 1903 p. 223
At Housesteads on Hadrian's Wall, Britain, there was found a A bronze image of Mithras surrounded by the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac. This is the earliest artifact showing the Signs of the Zodiac in the north-west provinces of the Roman Empire.
Mithraism was brought to Rome by Roman soldiers from Persia in the first century C.E.
