on 1/4/2002 3:23 PM, Stephen Davis at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > There were 12 gods represented by the signs of the zodiac!
The signs of the zodiac used by astronomers (and astrologers) do not represent gods. Most (but not all) of them represent animals, hence the name "zodia" from Latin "zoo" for animals as in "zoology" and "zoological park" (or just "zoo"). Some of them are Ares the Ram, Taurus the Bull, Cancer the Crab and Pisces the Fish. Not a one is a god. Steven also wrote: > This (the 12 gods idea) is why we have 12 zodiac > signs and months of the year!! There are 12 months in a year because the month is intended to be the time of one lunar cycle from new moon to full moon and back to new moon. There happen to be between 12 and 13 lunar cycles in a year. Much of western society uses the 12 month calendar which pads each of the 12 months with enough extra days to make the yearly total 365 (or 366 in leap year). This is an imperfect solution IF it is important for the months and the lunar cycles to keep in step. Since it is not important in many parts of the world, we in those parts of the world don't worry about it. However it IS important to some people who therefore use a calendar that has either 13 months each year, or 12 months some years and 13 months other years. The Jews do this for religeous and historical reasons (I believe). Passover is at the time of the first full moon after the first day of Spring (the Vernal Equinox). Christians inherit this in the celebration of Easter which takes place just after Passover. Muslims do this because their religeous celebrations depend on the phases of the moon. The holy month of Ramadan starts with a new moon* and ends on the next new moon*. Regards, Bill Hooper *(To Muslims, the "new" mon is the first visible sighting of the thin, crescent moon in a new cycle. To astonomers the "new" moon is the moment when the earth, moon and sun are most closely lined up with the moon etween the other two. That's a small difference of a couple days.) ======================== Keep It Simple - Make It Metric! ========================
