The numerical order of the Zodiac hasn't really seemed right to me...
I notice Cancer was the start in Hellenistic Astrology.
It makes sense because Water signs represent Space, and things seem originate from nothing; from chaos to order.
This is my take on it:
Alimal,
Having Aries as the beginning of the astrological chart makes sense for me from a human perspective. Starting from the 1rst and ending with the 12th house:
We start out as beings, only aware of ourselves, gradually we become aware that there's a physical world around us, this gives rise to thinking about the physical world and finally we become aware of the home. After we are in the home for awhile, we want to make ourselves known so we express ourselves and work on that self-expression until we become aware of and are ready to meet others around us. We blend with these others in some way and this allows us to open up to the world at large until we finally have to set some sort of limitation on our openness. Later in life we break down these limitations and restructure them until, finally, at the end of our life, we dissolve into everything around us. Some say we are then reborn, once again only aware of ourselves (this is the circular nature of the chart: the end connects to the beginning).
About the cycle of human life,
Tim
Why is the 8th House associated with death?
Because the Age of Aquarius spells doom.
We don't start out as beings, we start out being one with the mother - in the womb. We are not aware of the self in the beginning.
The cycle you described is what I've went with given the numerical order by Modern Astrology.
The Hellenistic order definitely makes more sense.
Even then, however, one would still be at a loss which of the four to prefer. Indeed, in a circle, absolutely considered, no one of them takes the lead, as would be the case if there were one starting-point, but those who have written on these matters have made use of each of the four, in various ways assuming some one as the starting-point, as they were led by their own arguments and by the natural characteristics of the four points. This is not strange, for each of these parts has some special claim to being reasonably considered the starting-point and the new year. The spring equinox might be preferred because first at that time the day begins to be longer than the night and because it belongs to the moist season, and this element, as we said before, is chiefly present at the beginning of nativities; the summer solstice because the longest day occurs at that time and because to the Egyptians it signifies the flooding of the Nile and the rising of the dog star; the fall equinox because all the crops have by then been harvested, and a fresh start is then made with the sowing of the seed of future crops; and the winter solstice because then, after diminishing, the day first begins to lengthen. It seems more proper and natural to me, however, to employ the four starting-points for investigations which deal with the year, observing the syzygies of the sun and moon at new and full moon which most nearly precede them, and among these in particular the conjunctions at which eclipses take place, so that from the starting-point in Aries we may conjecture what the spring will be like, from that in Cancer the summer, from that in Libra the autumn, and from that in Capricorn the winter. For the sun creates the general qualities and conditions of the seasons, by means of which even those who totally ignorant of astrology can foretell the future.
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Ptolemy/Tetrabiblos/2C*.html#10
David,
And even if you don't start with conception as the beginning, but with the actual birth (since the chart is taken from the moment of birth), a baby is first only aware of themselves (and something around them that is "not-self"). Then they develop a sense of their physical surroundings. Then the mental connections happen, that tie everything together. And finally the baby realizes that there is an outside world out there that is a home. We all start out intensely focused on ourselves and our own need to survive and develop from there.
About babies' development,
Tim
Cancer is a fiery sign.
Cancer is a fiery sign.
places in the Water category
In 12/12, the Moon is the Domicle-ruler of ; however, the "Regulating-ruler" of is Mars, which is domiciled in Cardinal-Fire Aries.
Aries = the head, it also represents the face, which is most closely associated with identity, self, and personality.
Capricorn = the legs, as it is the most stable thing in our body, given its what we use to stand.
Cap/Saturn = stability anyways, so this makes too much sense to be coincidence.
I stand by the original zodiac order.
Also, there are so many charts that prove that the original zodiac order must be true. My own moon is in the 12th house/house of pisces, loneliness, suffering and it makes perfect sense given the condition of my moon/mood and how much I can say for certain that my mood has always contributed to my loneliness and isolation. So surely pisces is the 12th house and thus the 12th zodiac sign.
And lets think about pisces as being the last sign. Pisces is the sign of sacrifice, end, and spiritual enlightenment. Clearly it must be the 12th and final zodiac sign by that description, right?