Kay Khosrow

"Hamlet's mill; an essay on myth and the frame of time", 1969, Page 44.

These are the final words spoken by Kay Khosrow, a legendary king of Iran at the end of  Shahnameh, The Iranian Book of Kings:

This basically means "in Aries" (between Pisces and Taurus)...

The author of the Hamlet's mill then goes to say:

The author of the Hamlet's mill then goes on to say that Kay Khosrow is not an earthly king, but a heavenly king, and then he says:

I would like to disagree with the bit that "no fertility or seasonal symbolism can be traced into it". Actually we can, if we assume that originally zodiac was a collection of calendar markers derived from fixed, annual events...As I explained in my article "Zodiac"...

This removes the problem of "heaven keeps moving" and fixes Aries into Mar/Apr. 

The end of the lambing, and the beginning of the milking season...And the start of the transhumance ascend to the mountain pastures. Which happens every year at the same time...

I talked about this in my posts "April" and "Aries must die"...

Another thing that happens in Western Iran in Aries is this: The river discharges suddenly start to increase, as a result of spring rains and snowmelt.

Hence Ram depicted lying in water from the "Zodiac from Isfahan". I talked about it in my post "Sagittarius from Isfahan"...

Which is why, I think, on this late 6th or early 7th c. AD Sasanian silver bowl, we see a king (Kay Khosrow) sitting on a ram (Aries?) throne, feasting, surrounded by musicians and servants. 

Which is what I proposed in my post "Eyeballs platter"...Except when I wrote that post, I didn't now the identity of the King...

Sooooo....See Aries as constellation, and "no fertility or seasonal symbolism can be traced into it". See Aries as animal calendar marker and it all suddenly starts making sense...

That's it. To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...

The damned

 A strange medieval stone panel in the National Museum of Ireland. 

It is thought to date to around the 15/16th century. It depicts the Devil (in the form of a dragon) driving the Damned (in the form of goats) into Hell.

It is funny that when it comes to animal calendar markers, goat is the symbol of winter (Nov-Apr)...And a fire breathing dragon/snake is the symbol of summer (May-Oct)...

Have you ever thought why in the Book of Revelation, Satan appears as a Great Red Dragon? And why hell is burning hot? Did you know that in Levant, Mot, the god of death, the enemy of "The God", Baal, The Devil, was equated with sun? I talked about this in my posts "The oldest Arabic poem", "Anat"...

The burning late summer sun, which causes droughts and creates hell on earth...

This guy, the "monster" which is hot dry Mesopotamian summer. 

Depicted using animal calendar markers: starts in Apr/May, Bull head, Taurus, peaks in Jul/Aug, Lion body, Leo and ends in Oct/Nov, Scorpion tail/Eagle wings and talons, Scorpio/Eagle. I talked about this in my post "Angra Mainyu"...

Deified animal calendar marker at its best. Nergal, the god of death, personification of the destructive sun, as a man-lion.

Leo marks the beginning of the Eurasian lion mating season. 

It also marks the hottest and driest part of the year in Mesopotamia...I talked about this in my post "Winged superhuman hero"...

You know the dragon...

The dude depicted on this very interesting metal plaque from the so called "Let­nit­sa Treas­ure", a 4th c. BC Thracian hoard discovered near Let­nit­sa, Bulgaria...Depicted as part of one of the most common themes from Balkan fairytales: a princess being kidnapped by a dragon...I talked about this in my post "Letnitsa treasure"...

On the other hand goat is symbol of rain, (water of) life...Because in Mesopotamia, Iran, Levant, Eastern Mediterranean, rains arrive when Ibex goats start mating, in Oct/Nov...

I talked about ibex goat as "Goat of Rain", an animal calendar marker linked to rain, and cool wet half of the year, old Mesopotamian winter, in many posts, such as, "Problems with Abzu", "Relief from Dur Sharrukin", "Goatfish", "Flamingos from Susa", "Goat carrier", "Iranian goat of rain", "Strider", "A vessel from Tepe Hissar"... 

BTW, Baal, The God...was the rain god...

So what we have depicted on this Irish relief is "Triumph of (summer, sun) evil over good (winter, rain)"???

Interesting, right?

BTW, this has nothing to do with Mathew 25. I talked about Mathew 25 in my post "Goats and sheep"...

Last Judgement, Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna. Italy, 5th-6th century

In it I explained that this Christian scene is inverted, a mirror image of the celestial scene. The blue cold angel is St Mitar (Martin), Samhain, the beginning of the winter. The red angel is St George, Beltane, the beginning of the summer. Between them is Imbolc, the beginning of Spring...

But now, that I know a lot more about animal calendar markers, and the link between Old Mesopotamian religions and Christianity (check my post Alexamenos graffito), I think that I was wrong, and that this Christian icon actually depicts this:

The blue cold angel is St Mitar, Oct/Nov the beginning of the winter, cool wet half of the year, marked by a goat. The red angel is St George, Apr/May, the beginning of the summer. Between them is Sun, Shamash, "who came back" (sun reborn at winter solstice) pointing at ram (Mar/Apr)...

I talked about goat and ram animal calendar markers in my post "Goatfish with ram head"...

Sacrificial lamb actually, as ram (Aries) has to be killed (has to end), so summer, the domain of Shamash, can begin in Taurus...I talked about this in my post "Aries must die" about the sacrificial lamb...

Or, if we remember this stuff from my post "You will trample great lion and serpent":

God most high...Happy summer solstice guys...

Snake: Apr/May, beginning of the main snake mating season, beginning of summer.

Lion: Jul/Aug, beginning of the main lion mating season, end of summer.

And the fact that Christ is sitting on a throne, then maybe, the Mathew 25 actually depicts this:

And the Christian scene is not inverted, mirror image of the celestial scene. But the actual  symbolic depiction of the Sun God on his throne...

I just wonder if this is sun on the summer solstice, or is this sun in Leo, The Dragon...Nergal...

Unfortunately, the more I learn about all this, the more I am convinced that the last is true...

To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…then check the rest of the blog posts related to animal calendar markers I still didn't add to this page, and finally check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am 9 months behind now...

Goatfish with ram head

Have you ever seen this symbol? It consists of a goatfish, which on its back, close to its tail, has a pedestal with a ram's head...

What does this mean? Apparently, no one really knows. 

Well, let's see if Animal Calendar Markers can help us solve this "mystery"

This symbol is found on several Mesopotamian Kudurru boundary stones. This particular example is from the Stele of Marduk-apla-iddina which records the grant to Marduk-apla-iddina I  (ca 1171-1159 BC) by Kassite king of Babylon, Meli-Shipak II (ca. 1186–1172 BC )

Anyway...Remember my post "Goatfish", about the meaning of the symbol of Goatfish? Symbol for the wet season in Mesopotamia, which starts with rain, when ibex goats mate (Oct/Nov), and ends with flood, when carps mate (Apr/May)...

This is why Goat-Fish is the symbol of Enki/Ea, the god of fresh water and the annual flood, who is sometimes depicted standing on Goat-Fish...

Now towards the end of the wet period, Oct/Nov-Apr/May, in Mar/Apr, close to the fish tail of the goatfish, we find Aries, Ram...

Animal calendar marker that marks the end of the lambing season of the wild and domestic sheep...And the beginning of the milking season...Very important time of the year...I talked about the origin of Aries in my post "Aries must die"... 

Great, but why is Ram combined with Goat-Fish, symbol of wet season? Because it is "during the sheep lambing season" Feb/Mar/Apr, that the snowmelt suddenly intensifies in mountains surrounding Mesopotamia...

And the water level in Mesopotamian rivers suddenly starts to rise...

So we have Goat (Oct/Nov) -- Ram (Mar/Apr) -- Fish,Carp (Apr/May)...

Makes sense?

PS: To see that I am not seeing things, actually, that I am seeing things the way the ancient Mesopotamians and Iranians saw them, check my post about Islamic zodiac from Isfahan. Here is the relevant bit: 

The combination of the snowmelt and rainfall results in sudden increase of the Zayandehrud river water level starting in Mar/Apr...In Aries...The also the rainiest time of the year in Isfahan...

Monthly flow chart for the Zayandehrud River, from the paper "An overview of the hydrology of the Zayandeh Rud Basin" 

Aries ram, depicted as a wild sheep, mouflon, with blue (water like) horns, lying in water...Describing exactly what is happening in Isfahan in Mar/Apr...In Aries...

To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…then check the rest of the blog posts related to animal calendar markers I still didn't add to this page, and finally check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am 9 months behind now...

Bull god from Dusheti

Standard from the Treasure of Kazbek, Dusheti, Georgia 600-400 BC, Kremlin Museum...

The artifact was made at the time when thunder gods in the region loved riding on bulls while wielding axes...

I talked about this in my post "Kataibates"...But why?

This is climate graph for the Dusheti region. You can see that the maximum thunderstorm activity and the maximum rainfall for the Dusheti region is in Taurus...

An axe wielding thunder god arriving on a bull (in Taurus) brings rain which brings fertility...

Oh, btw, this Taurus has nothing to do with stars. It is an ancient animal calendar marker which marks the beginning of the calving season of the wild Eurasian cattle, Aurochs, which used to start in Apr/May...I talked about this in my post "Ram and bull", "Thunder poppies", "Dairy farming seas", "Butt chewing", "Killing of the bull of heaven", "Sacred fig goddess", "Calydonian boar", "Palla fish", "Holly cow"...

This symbol always means "Apr/May", no matter what age it is and at what location it is found in Eurasia and North Africa...

Oh and why bells? May, Taurus, is the time when people in the Dusheti region drive their flocks and herds up to the highland pastures...

One last thing? Ever thought why are lambs sacrificed at the end of April, beginning of May? Cause Aries has to end so Taurus can begin...I talked about this in my post "Aries must die"...

To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…then check the rest of the blog posts related to animal calendar markers I still didn't add to this page, and finally check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am 9 months behind now...

Ram and Bull

This is zodiac

Have you ever wondered why Aries (Ram) and Taurus (Bull) astrological signs are where they are on a solar circle? 

Aries (Ram) 21 March – 20 April

Taurus (Bull) 21 April – 21 May 

I can hear everyone say: "Because the constellations in the sky at that time look like ram and bull"!

Well wait till you hear this. 

The mouflon is a subspecies group of the wild sheep (Ovis orientalis). Populations of the wild sheep can be partitioned into the mouflons (orientalis group) and the urials (vignei group). The mouflon is thought to be one of the two ancestors for all modern domestic sheep breeds.

The aurochs, also urus, ure (Bos primigenius), is an extinct type of large wild cattle that inhabited Europe, Asia and North Africa. It is the ancestor of domestic cattle. The species survived in Europe until the last recorded aurochs died in the Jaktorów Forest, Poland in 1627.

In the article "The Corsican Mouflon - and the EU Life Nature scheme" we read that the main lambing season for European wild mouflon, starts in March and lasts until May. 
In the article "Characteristic activity patterns of female mouflons (Ovis orientalis musimon) in the lambing period" we read that the wild European mouflon were monitored during their lambing season between the 1st of March to the 20th of April.

This means that the wild sheep main lambing season in Europe ended during the time of Aries (Ram or is it maybe Lamb) zodiac sign 21 March – 20 April. 

In the book "Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour of Wild Cattle: Implications for Conservation" by  Mario Melletti, James Burton we read that the main calving season for European wild bison starts in May with 80% of calves being born by the end of July and the rest being born by the end of September.
In the article "Strontium isotope tracing in animal teeth at the Neanderthal site of Les Pradelles, Charante, France. " by Tegan Kelly we read that wild aurochs calving occured in May-June. 

This means that the wild cattle main calving season in Europe started during the time of Taurus (Bull or is it maybe Calf) zodiac sign 21 April – 21 May.

Interestingly, in "Agroecological Practices For Sustainable Agriculture: Principles ...
edited" by Wezel Alexander and in "Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour of Wild Cattle: Implications for Conservation" by  Mario Melletti, James Burton we can read that the main aurochs mating season was most likely July to September. 

So summer, the part of the year symbolised by a bull starts with wild cattle calving and ends with wild cattle mating...

17th of May 2026. Today I came across this paper: "Diverse prehistoric cattle husbandry strategies in the forests of Central Europe" which talks about Early Neolithic cattle farmers in Europe, and in it there is this image showing "A model of Early European Farmer cattle herding and diet across the annual seasons, represented by the trees"...Interesting...

Today, lambing season starts in January and lasts until April and calving season is all year round, but this is not a natural thing. We people changed the natural cycles of animals through domestication because it suited us. But even today, with domesticated sheep, Aries is an important animal calendar marker. It marks the end of lambing season and the beginning of the milking season. I talked about this in my post "Aries must die"....

The first lunisolar calendars were created by our henge building Central European ancestors 7000 years ago. The reason for the creation of the lunisolar calendar is because it allows a reliable way of marking cyclical yearly events that happen in nature, particularly the events linked with agriculture. To be able to do this you need a static point on a solar circle, a point within the solar year, that you can reliably determine and which doesn't change. Once people were able to precisely determine the winter or summer solstice, they had that static point on the solar circle, and now they could plot all natural events that occur during the yearly cycle. 

I am sure that they soon noticed that the lambing season and the calving season always happens at the same time and they simply marked these periods with a lamb and a calf. And hey presto, Aries and Taurus were born...

I can hear you asking: "What about the stars"?

Well I believe that constellations were added much much later. But basically, when the constellations were chosen, they were chosen to look like already existing zodiac signs of Ram and Bull, and not the other way round. And when I say look like, I mean vaguely, very vaguely look like (or not at all) look like... :)

Here is the constellation of Aries:

Here is the constellation of Taurus:

See what I mean?

Neat don't you think? What do you think?