Myths of the Zodiac

The Greeks and Romans wove mythic tales about the planets and constellations. These stories give us hints of which planet or constellation (or zodiacal sign) they were describing. For instance, the story of Jason and the Argonauts is an Aries story since it tells of the Ram skin; the Ram is the symbol for Aries. The story of King Midas has the bull symbol running through it so that we know it is about the sign of Taurus. We can't identify all of the myths that were used to describe all of the zodiac signs, so I have identified myths that I thought fit the signs. These myths have been told and retold for thousands of years and are still popular in our culture today. They are immortal because they relate what is inside our psyche. We can use these myths to learn about ourselves. Carl Jung, the great analytical psychologist, says that myths are a creative, imaginative self-portrait of the psyche describing its own evolution, its own fate.

These myths are teaching stories because they reveal the positive and the negative aspects of the character in the myth and show their psychological and spiritual growth over time. In pagan times, everyone knew these stories. They walked around with them inside their heads, and when they experienced difficulties, they could relate it to a story and find meaning in their lives. These ancient peoples went to see plays like Medea and Orpheus. Everyone went to these plays, including slaves and prisoners who were released just to attend these plays. The ancients believed these stories were very healing and transformative. This was ancient psychology.

Click on each myth to get a comprehensive description.

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

Libra

Scorpio

Sagittarius

Capricorn

Aquarius

Pisces