mysteries of egyptian zodiacs - HiddenMysteries Information Central

80 5 Symbolism on Egyptian Zodiacs and New Complete Decoding
this book we assume that all the astronomical content of an
Egyptian zodiac is accurate and we will look for the exact solutions.
That means, we do not look for any excuse to accept
a flaw in a solution by justifying it using non-astronomical
arguments. This strict approach is also supported by the fact
that we have obtained the exact and unique solutions for the
all analyzed Egyptian zodiacs.
5.1.5 Leo
The constellation of Cancer is followed by Leo. On Figure
5.10, we show the representations of this constellation on the
Egyptian zodiacs and compare them with the Dürer drawing.
It is clear that Leo can be easily distinguished on all the
Egyptian zodiacs. However, we would like to point out two
important features of Leo present on different zodiacs.
Figure 5.10: Representations of Leo on different Egyptian zodiacs
and in the European astronomy.
On several zodiacs, there is a female figure usually standing
on its tail or sometimes holding it in her hand. At the
first glance, this female figure could be considered as a symbol
of the next constellation of Virgo, but in almost all such
cases there is another figure representing Virgo. The only exception
is the Upper Athribis zodiac, where the female figure
holding Leo by the tail is indeed Virgo. On the other hand,
it is clear that this female figure has to be related to Virgo,
so we will simply call it secondary Virgo. As a matter of fact,
Virgo is represented by as standing female figure occupying
much smaller space than Leo, whose body on a zodiac usually
spreads horizontally over much larger area, but this is not the
case on the real sky. Among all the zodiac constellations Virgo
occupies the largest part of the ecliptic, while Leo occupies
much smaller area. This disproportion causes some difficulty
in picturing Virgo on the zodiacs or star charts. For example,
on the medieval European star maps Virgo was shown in a
laying position, what allowed Virgo to cover a larger apace.
But on Egyptian zodiacs there was another way to expand
Virgo over larger area on ecliptic. The little secondary Virgo
standing on the tail of Leo indicates that this place belongs to
Virgo. Notice, that Leo often stands on a snake. This is an important
detail in Egyptian astronomical symbolism. We will
present later many examples of symbols standing on snakes or
boats. We claim, and will justify it, that it always means that
the symbols using such attributes were shifted or expanded
to another place on ecliptic or are even related to the time
different from the main date of the zodiac. For example, Leo’s
figure is often placed on a snake to indicate that it expands
“illegally” over the neighboring constellation of Virgo, which
is in addition is indicated by the presence of the secondary
Virgo.
Figure 5.11: Representations of Virgo on different Egyptian
zodiacs and in the European astronomy.