A RELIC OF ASTROLOGY. 83 



A EELIC OF ASTROLOGY.* 



By Peoi-. H. CAEEINGTON BOLTON, Ph. D. 



rp HE mysterious picture of a nude man surrounded by the signs 

 -L of the zodiac, which forms a prominent feature of nearly *all 

 patent-medicine almanacs, is familiar to every one, yet few realize 

 the great antiquity of the symbolism implied and the interesting 

 history of this persistent relic of astrology. 



The supposed connection between the zodiac and the anatomy 

 of the human body is related in the following lines: 



" The Head and Face the Princely Ram doth rule, 

 The Neck and Throat falls to the sullen Bull, 

 The lovely Tivins guide Shoulder, Arm, and Hand, 

 The slow-paced Crah doth Breast and Spleen command, 

 The Lion bold governs the Heart of Man, 

 The modest Maid doth on the Bowels scan, 

 The Reins and Loins are in the Ballance try'd. 

 The Scorpion the Secret Parts doth guide, 

 The Shooting Horse lays claim to both the Thighs, 

 The Knees upon the headstrong Goat relies, 

 The Waterman he both the Legs doth claim, 

 The Fishes rule the Feet, and meet the Eam'again." 



Moore's Vox Stellarum, 1721. 

 As commonly drawn, this "repulsive picture " has changed very 

 little in the last fifty years; a study of the bizarre conception takes 

 us back to the earliest records of civilization: Chaldean astronomers 

 laid Its foundations, Hebrew sages and Greek philosophers built on 

 them, Christian mystics and mediaeval astrologers enlarged them so 

 that a popular superstition arose which still has a hold on the com- 

 mon people. The first step in the evolution of this conception was 

 taken more than four thousand years ago, when the star-gazers of 

 Babylon observed the circular zone through which the sun appears to. 

 pass m the course of a year, and divided it into twelve constellations, 

 creatmg what is known as the zodiac. To these twelve divisions 

 signs were given, some of which are said to be Babylonian ideo- 

 graphs of the months. The astronomers of Egypt adopted this 

 system, and their lively imaginations peopled the constellations with 

 gemi; thus arose a symbolism in which each group of stars is likened 

 to a given animal or human character; these zodiacal signs are 

 found sculptured on Egyptian temples and inscribed on papyri. 



The second step was taken when philosophers, who "in the 

 infancy of science are as imaginative as poets," assumed that the 



* Abstract of a paper read at the Baltimore meeting of the American FoIIilore Society 

 December 28, 189Y. ' 



