This report item reads animals as carriers of character across three separate traditions: the twelve of the Chinese zodiac cycle, the creatures named in several of the Western zodiac's own sign names, and the beasts gods are documented in myth as appearing as or traveling with. A reading names the animals a chart's birth data and placements point to, and what each is traditionally held to stand for.

History

Each of the three animal vocabularies this report item draws on has its own separate, well documented history, described in full on its own home page in this atlas. The twelve animal Chinese cycle is treated at length on the Chinese Astrology report item's page, including the sexagenary system it belongs to. Several Western zodiac signs are themselves named directly for animals, the Ram (Aries), the Bull (Taurus), the Crab (Cancer), the Lion (Leo), the Scorpion (Scorpio) and the Fish (Pisces, doubled), a naming convention going back to the same Babylonian and Hellenistic sources the Western Astrology page already describes. And Greek myth in particular is rich with gods documented as taking animal form or keeping a signature animal companion, Zeus's eagle and his swan form in the story of Leda, Athena's owl, Hera's peacock, each attested across a wide and independently corroborated body of ancient sources rather than invented here.

A Sample Of God-Associated Animals

• Eagle, Zeus's bird and one of his own signature forms.
• Swan, the form Zeus takes in the myth of Leda.
• Owl, Athena's bird, a byword for her own wisdom.
• Peacock, Hera's bird, its tail read as carrying the hundred eyes of the slain giant Argus.

How A Reading Is Constructed

A reading names the Chinese zodiac animal a birth year falls under, the creature named in any Western sign a chart's placements occupy, and any deity-associated animal tied to a planet a chart emphasizes, describing what each animal is traditionally held to stand for rather than treating any of the three as a single unified "totem" system; the three vocabularies are read side by side as what they are, three separate documented traditions, not folded into one.

Where To Read More

• RatRat, first of the Chinese zodiac cycle.
• DragonDragon, the only mythical animal in the Chinese cycle.
• PigPig, twelfth and last of the Chinese cycle.
• AriesAries, the Ram.
• LeoLeo, the Lion.
• EagleBirdsEagle, Zeus's bird and one of his own signature forms.
• SwanBirdsSwan, the form Zeus takes in the myth of Leda.
• OwlBirdsOwl, Athena's bird.
• PeacockBirdsPeacock, Hera's bird.