The Zodiac and Ages

The zodiac is sometimes referred to as the wheel in the sky. This wheel moves in both directions. In the yearly (365.25 day) cycle, this 'wheel' moves in a clockwise motion as the sun transits through each of the 12 zodiacs. In relation to the ages of the Great Year (which actually consists of approximately 24,000 yearly cycles divided by 12 zodiacs = approximately 2,000 years spent in each zodiac house), over time, the motion of the zodiacs moves in a retrograde (counter-clockwise) motion in the heavens in relation to the earth. This is known as the precession of the Equinoxes, because each age is determined by which zodiac sign the sun resides in during the Vernal (Spring) Equinox. In the Age of Aquarius, for example, the annual Vernal Equinoxes will occur at the same time that the sun is transiting through Aquarius.

At the time of Christ's birth, the sun was beginning to pass through Pisces at the annual Vernal Equinox. Prior to the Age of Pisces, the sun was passing through Aries (the Ram/Lamb) at the annual Vernal Equinox, and as such that period was called the age of Aries. Prior to that, the sun was in Taurus (the Bull) during the yearly Vernal Equinoxes, and as such that time was called the Age of Taurus.

Babylonian Baal worship as well as Egyptian worship of the Golden Calf took place during the Age of Taurus. The Red Heifer tradition of rabbinic Judaism is likewise a holdover from this age.

Egyptian Ram worship took place during the age of Aries. It was during the beginning of the age of Aries (and thus the waning of the age of Taurus) that Mithraic tradition regarding the slaying of the bull as well as the Greek and Roman traditions regarding the bull sacrifices to Bacchus and Dionysus began.