Learning the Signs of the Zodiac

                This is a list of the numbers from one through twelve, each with its own word that rhymes with its corresponding number. For instance three is paired with the word tree, and four with door. The rhyming words are meant to be used as keywords that trigger a memory of the image you have come to associate with it, this memory having to do with the corresponding zodiacal sign. Once you have learned this list, it will be easy to recall the zodiac sign that corresponds to the word and number it goes with. In this manner you will be able to learn which signs correspond to which houses, and also the various aspect relationships between all of the signs, which I will explain more about at the end of this list.

 

1. RUN.  Visualize here that you are running through a field and are being pursued by a ram who is trying to butt you. The ram is Aries, the first sign of the zodiac.

2. ZOO. Imagine that you are in a zoo and as you stroll around you see a cage in which you find a bull, and it seems strange to you that such a common animal would be displayed amongst all these other more exotic animals. The bull is Taurus, the second sign of the zodiac.

3. TREE. You come upon a very large tree, and you hear a chattering noise, and when you look up into the tree's branches you see two monkeys chattering at each other in monkey language. They appear to be identical, and so you assume that they must be twins. They are Gemini, the third sign of the zodiac.

4. DOOR. You hear something scraping on your door at night, which is a very strange thing to hear, and you can't imagine what it might be. Carefully and cautiously you open the door and find that it is a giant crab scraping your door with its claw. This is Cancer, the fourth sign of the zodiac.

5. HIVE. Now you see a large bee hive, and there is a lion that is trying to stick its paw in it so it can get some of the honeycomb out of it, for it loves honey. But it is afraid to do so, and so is hesitant. This is Leo, the fifth sign of the zodiac. (The bee keeper has seen all this and later leaves for the lion a generous helping of honeycomb).

6. STICKS. Here you see a young girls who looks like the Virgin Mary, and she is gathering sticks from which she is going to make crucifixes to give to people who would like to have them. This is Virgo, the sixth sign of the zodiac.

7. HEAVEN. You find some stairs and you begin to climb them, they are wide stairs and they go on and on, so far that you eventually realize they must to stairs to heaven. And then when you arrive at the top of them you find St. Peter there holding a balance scale, and you realize that he is weighing someone's good deeds in one of the scale pans and their bad deeds in the other, to see which one is heavier, so that he can decided whether that person will be admitted to heaven. This is Libra, the 7^th sign of the zodiac.

8. GATE. You find a beautiful wrought iron gate covered with wonderful floral designs. It is a gate to a beautiful garden in full bloom. Then as you approach it to enter the garden you look down and see right in your path a scorpion with its tail up, as if it were about to sting. You are so very glad you looked down and saw this so you could avoid it. This is Scorpio, the 8^th sign of the zodiac.

9. WINE. You find yourself in the cave where a centaur lives. He's a master archer. He's telling you of his exploits and as you listen to him the two of you are drinking his favorite wine for he considers you to be very special. He is Sagittarius, the archer.

10. DEN. A goat has wandered into a den of cave dwellers, and although they are very hungry, they do not capture the goat to cook, for the find him to be very stinky. Eventually they all run out of the den and the goat is saved from death by his horrible smell. The goat is Capricorn.

11. LEAVEN. She's baked some bread, which has raised beautifully, because of her skill at growing the leavening agent – the yeast – and it's cooling on the windowsill. The man who carried fresh water to all the builders of the pyramid sees it there, and since hIe's hungry he asks her if he might have a piece. She says, "take it all, and give it to the hungry workers. I'll make more – and be sure to come back for more!"

12. SHELF. There's a bad smell in the room, and you can't figure out its source, so you decided to go looking for it, and you find it's coming from the top shelf of your kitchen, where, somehow, two fish have been left on a plate! The two fish are Pisces.

 

                Go over this list until it becomes vivid in your mind. When you've imagined it vividly enough, it will stay in your memory.

                Then, to know which signs are in opposition to each other, just add or subtract 6 from the number of the sign that you want to know the opposite sign of.

                The signs in square to each other are figured by adding or subtracting 3.

                The signs of the same element are found by adding or subtracting 4.