. The Hindus were acquainted with the precession of the equinoxes, as
may he easily seen from their work on Astronomy, and from the almanacs
published by Hindu astronomers. Consequently they were fully aware of
the fact that the constellations in the various Zodiacal divisions were
not fixed. They could not, therefore, have assigned particular shapes
to these shifting groups of fixed stars with reference to the divisions
of the Zodiac. But the names indicating the Zodiacal signs have all
along remained unaltered. It is to be inferred, therefore, that the
names given to the various signs have no connection whatever with the
configurations of the constellations included in them.

II. The names assigned to these signs by the ancient Sanskrit writers
and their exoteric or literal meanings are as follows:--

The Names of the Signs ....... Their Exoteric or Literal Meanings

1. Mesha ........................... Ram, or Aries.
2. Rishabha .......................Bull, or Taurus.
3. Mithunam ................... Twins, or Gemini (male and female).
4. Karkataka ...................... Crab, or Cancer.
5. Simha .............................. Lion, or Leo.
6. Kanya ............................. Virgin or Virgo.*
7. Tula .......................... Balance, or Libra.
8. Vrischika ..................... Scorpion, or Scorpio.
9. Dhanus ....................... Archer, or Sagittarius.
10. Makara ........... The Goat, or Capricornus (Crocodile, in Sanskrit).
11. Kumbha .................. Water-bearer, or Aquarius.
12. Meenam ................. Fishes, or Pisces.

The figures of the constellations included in the signs at the time the
division was first made do not at all resemble the shapes of the
animals, reptiles and other objects denoted by the names given them.
The truth of this assertion can be ascertained by examining the
configurations of the various constellations. Unless the shape of the
crocodile** or the crab is called up by the observer's imagination,
there is very little chance of the stars themselves suggesting to his
idea that figure, upon the blue canopy of the starry firmament.

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* Virgo-Scorpio, when none but the initiates knew there were twelve
signs. Virgo-Scorpio was then followed for the profane by Sagittarius.
At the middle or junction-point where now stands Libra and at the sign
now called Virgo, two mystical signs were inserted which remained
unintelligible to the profane.--Ed. Theos.

** This co