Virgo, Virgin Mother, Venus, Eve, Isis, &c.—­([symbol for Virgo]).—­Is the sixth sign of the zodiac, which the sun enters about the 21st of August.  The myths and fables regarding the virgin which abound among all nations and all religions, are both various and voluminous, and we may add somewhat improbable.  They all agree, however, in this, that the female, shown on the preceding diagram, holding in her right hand a branch of ripened fruit,—­the apples of Paradise,—­was intended to represent the reproductive powers of nature,—­the abundance, satisfaction and contentment which mortals enjoy during the happy period of harvest.

Libra, the Balance.—­The seventh sign of the zodiac, directly opposite to Aries, from which it is distant 180 degrees.  It is marked thus [symbol for libra], after the manner of a pair of scales; to denote, probably, that when the sun arrives at this part of the ecliptic, the days and nights are equal, as if weighed in a balance.  Hence the period when the sun enters Libra, (about September 21st,) is called the Autumnal equinox.  On the 25th of September was born John the Baptist, the forerunner of his cousin Jesus, who came to his exaltation of glory on the 25th of March, the Vernal equinox.  “The equinoxes and solstices,” says Higgins, “equally marked the births and deaths of John and Jesus.”  The one preceded and prepared the way for the other, who receded.  One advanced, the other declined.  Jesus ascended, John descended.  Astrologically speaking, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John iii, 30.)

Scorpio, the Scorpion.—­The eighth sign of the zodiac, which the sun enters on the 23d of October, is marked thus [symbol for Scorpio].  Scorpio is fabled to have killed the great hunter Orion, and for that exploit to have been placed among the constellations.  For this reason it is also said that when Scorpio rises Orion sets.

Sagittarius, the Archer:  (marked thus, [symbol for Sagittarius]) is the ninth zodiacal sign, and corresponds with the month of November.  This sign is represented like a centaur and was fabled to be Crotus, the son of Eupheme, the nurse of the Muses.

Capricornus, the Goat.([symbol for Capricornus])—­The tenth sign of the zodiac, which the sun enters the 21st of December, (the longest night in the year,) called the winter solstice.  This sign is drawn to represent the horns of a goat, and is fabled to have been Pan, who in the war of the giants was taken to heaven in the shape of a goat.  Others claim that it was the goat of Amalthaea, which fed Jupiter with her milk.  Macrobius, who calls Cancer and Capricorn the gates of the sun, makes the latter sign to represent his motion, after the manner of a goat climbing the mountains.

Aquarius, the Water Bearer.—­A constellation in the heavens so called, because during its rising there is usually an abundance of rain.  It is the eleventh sign in the zodiac, reckoned from Aries, and is marked thus, [symbol for Aquarius].  It rises in January and sets in February, and is supposed by the poets to be Ganymede.