Have you often wondered about the nature of the 12 zodiacal symbols as they appear today?

Imagine them as pictographs, perhaps premonitions, of events, archetypal phenomena, or ubiquitous experiences possibly representing the deepest primordial impressions of the universe upon the human psyche.

The four elements correspond as follows:

Earth - physical world, resources, material things

Air - mind, ideas, communication

Fire - will, spirit, energy

Water - feelings, emotions, compassion

The quadruplicities (so named because the zodiac is divided into four quadrants, 3 x 4 = 12):

Cardinal - start, initiate, lead

Fixed - maintain, stabilize, continue

Mutable - adapt, stop, end

...perhaps a story, or a prophecy, in symbol...

Aries

creation, genesis, manifestation, bursting forth, outward, upward, the first idea

Traditional Tarot - Emperor IV

Fire, Cardinal

Taurus

differentiation, emanation, from the one come two, otherness

Traditional Tarot - Heirophant V

Earth, Fixed

Gemini

magnetism, electricity, attraction, two bodies interact

Traditional Tarot - Lovers VI

Air, Mutable

Cancer

the dance, the ritual, copulation, unity of opposites, conjunction

Traditional Tarot - Chariot VII

Water, Cardinal

Leo

the seed, the individual, the masculine

Traditional Tarot - Strength VIII (XI)

Fire, Fixed

Virgo

the womb, the virgin, the mother, the feminine

Traditional Tarot - Hermit IX

Earth, Mutable

Libra

equilibrium, equality, horizon, the sun, a great dawn or dusk

Traditional Tarot - Justice XI (VIII)

Air, Cardinal

Scorpio

sexuality, individuality and uniqueness, desire, creativity

Traditional Tarot - Death XIII

Water, Fixed

Sagittarius

spirituality, will seeking a larger will, will seeking itself

Traditional Tarot - Temperance/Art XIV

Fixed, Mutable

Capricorn

shelter, retreat, struggle between ego and self

Traditional Tarot - Devil XV

Earth, Cardinal

Aquarius

a great flood, deluge, flux, transition

Traditional Tarot - Star XVI

Air, Fixed

Pisces

apocalypse, collision of two celestial bodies, rebirth

Traditional Tarot - Moon XVII

Water, Mutable