The above image, chosen in honour of Taurus, the Sun’s recent zodiac sign is a photo of one of the more than 600 stunning Lascaux cave paintings in SW France. Dating from Palaeolithic times they are truly spectacular examples of early human artistic endeavour. But I’ve also included it for reasons of other astrological interest.
Recently I’ve been researching the Astrological Ages - the approximately 2000 year-long epochs ruled by one of the twelve zodiac signs. You’ve no doubt heard of the Age of Aquarius - it’s that sort of thing. These are thought to reflect humanity’s deepest values, its organising myth or story that shapes what we might call ‘the human project’, expressed in civilisations’ religious symbols and god images. It describes something like the flavour of the soup which we all sup, and in which we all swim.
As much as these Ages show themselves in ideas and through the written word, it’s in art and sacred symbolism that we can often see the Zodiac sign imaged, particularly for the pre-literate Ages earlier than the Age of Taurus, which began around 4500 BCE. The Lascaux images - many of them bulls or the related aurochs - are thought to have been painted the Age of Scorpio, around 15,000-17,500 BCE. Scorpio and Taurus are opposite signs.
Being a southern hemisphere astrologer I have a persistent question about how a northern-constructed system lands in the south. For example the northern spring equinox, the sign of Aries - which marks the beginning of our (so-called tropical) zodiac - is actually the southern hemisphere’s autumn equinox. Cutting these ideas dangerously short, I believe that astrology transferred across the hemispheres invites us to see in polarities: one sign invokes the opposite, or contains the shadow of the opposite.
I am curious to see such a polarity as we explore the Astrological Ages. A single yet telling example from the Age of Pisces: beginning around the birth of Christ, this Age brought in the ‘fisher of man’ (Pisces), born of the virgin Mary (Virgo, the opposite sign), distinct themes which leave their stamp throughout the Pisces Age. Not surprising, then, that the almost religious reverence that the Bull appears to have at the time of the Lascaux paintings arises in the Age of Scorpio, with Taurus, the opposing sign. Not surprisingly, the snake (a Scorpio animal) was seen to be an important symbol around the same time, for example in Crete’s Minoan civilisation (see the image of the Snake Goddess to right).
This, then, has significance as we stand on the edge of the Age of Aquarius. Perhaps one challenge of current consciousness - particularly as many are dreaming too idealistically into this shift - could be to see what’s coming as the Age of Aquarius/Leo, and thus avoid the dangers of polarisation. And I pose the question that perhaps the southern hemisphere might have a particular role in holding - one might say sanctifying - Leonine symbols, including the creative, unique heart, and the light of Sun- (Self-) consciousness.
This ideas will form part of a webinar I am running shortly: a basic exploration of the Astrological Ages and look towards the Age of Aquarius. What does being on this transition mean? How do we experience it? And when might the Age actually begin? See Events for more details.