CHAPTER 1

The Myth of God's Children (or How the Twelve Signs Got Their Groove On)

Astrology and Kabbalah can be fully understood when we shift our mind from itsusual preoccupation with cause and effect, beginning and end, to the moreauthentic truth of cycles that continue round and round to eternity. Thefollowing myth of God's children demonstrates the cyclical and eternal essenceof astrology. There is no beginning and no end to any true system of symbolism.We might pinpoint Aries as the first sign and therefore the beginning, but asthe story suggests, you can just as accurately finger Pisces (the last sign) asthe energy that birthed the zodiac. The Sefer Yetzirah asserts, "Their end isembedded in the beginning and their beginning in the end."

Go back in time, some five billion years. Imagine the earth as a great hall, achamber of multiple treasures, both physical and spiritual. Outside of it is anastral lobby—a waiting room for angels, if you will. Separating the two is adoor, but not just any door—it is a portal of raging fire, a vortex of swirlingflames.

God invited his twelve angelic children ... into the waiting room and said,"This is the earth, a glorious garden that I'd like you to protect and serve. Asa token of my appreciation for your dedication to this task, each one of you,one after the other, may take from the chamber of gifts whatever you can carry.Then you must ascend to the skies and fortify yourself as a constellation thatwill help to guide all sentient beings who navigate in darkness."

The magnificent dozen looked at each other, anxious to plunge into the chamberand retrieve their loot. But they were all paralyzed by the fear of theunfamiliar, and afraid, too, of the portal of fire that stood between them andthe treasure-laden chamber called earth. Well, to be precise, eleven of thetwelve were afraid.

Before the debate over who should go first even began, Aries jumped through thevortex with a wild warrior's cry. The others rushed to the window to witness theresult. They anxiously watched the agile, lean, and athletic body of their crazybrother hurtle into the unknown. He survived, thank the Lord. Somehow he landedon his feet, and the fire of the portal did not destroy him. After all, Aries isa fire sign; how could fire destroy fire? How could a flame burn itself? He wasthe first, the initiator, the pioneer, and he liberated all the others from thebondage of their fear. He cleared the path and secured the room.

Brother Aries, who sometimes is called the ram, tends to be the sacrificiallamb, continually undertaking unspeakably bold feats. From that day on, Ariesruled as the first. He was granted the privilege of being the initiator of theastrological year. (According to the Bible, Aries is the first month of theyear.) He marks the beginning of spring, and with spring comes the emergence oflife. In the chamber of treasures, Aries naturally decided to take the abilityto be first at everything. And in order to do that, he could not carry too muchstuff. If you want to be number one, you need to run fast; you cannot allowbulky possessions to weigh you down. Cleverly, brother Aries picked up a seedfrom the ground. What could he do with a seed? Well, within the seed lies theDNA, and the DNA can be cloned into anything new.

Do you think our Aries brother knew where he was going when he jumped throughthe vortex? No. Do you think he was brave? Maybe, but often the Aries seems farmore stupid than brave. And that explains why the Aries often appears with somany scars on his face.

Back in the lobby, a great commotion ensued. Now that the trail had been blazed,who would be second to descend to earth? With an enormous grunt, Taurus bulliedherself right through the gate, pushing and shoving everyone in her path. SisterTaurus is a very practical woman. She is the empress. The minute she landed inthe room, she looked around and smiled. "Fool of an Aries, he left everythingvaluable untouched," she thought to herself. Since Taurus is a beast of burden,she could carry quite a lot on her back. She started loading it all up. She tookthe trunk overflowing with money and jewelry, and since that day Taurus hasruled finance and precious stones. She adores beautiful things, especially ifthey are expensive. She collected every piece of art. She grabbed everythingwith material value, and that is why Taurus rules art, values, talents, andmoney. But the teaching of Taurus is not limited to material goods. Taurus alsoteaches that self-worth or how much you esteem your own valuable talents willdetermine how much money you make. The Taurus equation: self-worth equals bank-accountworth.

After Taurus departed the chamber of treasures, Brother Gemini appeared out ofthin air. What was he doing here? How did he manage to outflank the moreferocious and powerful signs and sneak in before them? Well, the answer, likealways, lies embedded in the question. Gemini is the trickster, the magician. Heschmoozed his way from the rear with his glib tongue. You see it today whereveryou encounter a prestigious "in" nightclub. You'll see a doorman, a rope, and aline of beautiful women and men clamoring to get inside. Then, from out of asmall but fast car, emerges Brother Gemini. He slaps a "press" sign on his chestand cuts right through the line. Why? Was he more famous than the people in theline? More beautiful or wealthy? No. Gemini is the messenger, and as such hegets everything for free: free movies, free gift bags,...