Celtic Moon Signs: How the Mystical Power of the Druid Zodiac Can Transform Your Life. Helena Paterson
when she entered her Earth realm to be reborn in spring. Samhain marked the period of winter and was identified with Pwyll, God of the Underworld, who would regenerate the Sun god so he could be reborn at the Winter Solstice. Samhain also marked the beginning of the Celtic New Year because the Celts calculated a day from sunset to sunrise, and their New Year accordingly began at the darkest time of the year.
The thirteen lunar months marked the passage of the Sun through the cycles of the Moon, and Celtic Moon signs represent the two dimensions of light and darkness. When comparing the two zodiacs, the disadvantage of the Greek/Roman Sun zodiac is its failure to be a perpetual calendar like the Celtic lunar zodiac, which makes no attempt to relate the equinoxes and solstices to the twelve zodiac constellations. The thirteen-month lunar calendar and zodiac is more ancient than the twelve-month version and is less easy to handle with the equinoxes and solstices falling at irregular intervals. The druids, however, obviously preferred a ritual calendar and zodiac that represented an exact guide to the seasons as well as a guide to the stars and Creation itself.
NOTE
For people living in the southern hemisphere, i.e. Australia, where there is a complete reversal of seasons, the Celtic lunar zodiac as a perpetual calendar is still highly relevant because the changes of light in the sky relating to the Sun and Moon are universal. The observations of the druids, though related to the northern hemisphere, come from an ancient astronomy, which provides universal concepts of the stars for all mankind.
For people living in the northern hemisphere, i.e. America or the rest of Europe, it is a question of differing time zones regarding the exact times and even days relating to the druidic eightfold year; marking the solstices, equinoxes and four fire festivals celebrated on the first days of February, May, August and November. Because Greenwich Mean Time is the official universal time, most people, especially astrologers, will have no problem adjusting these differences if drawing up their own astrological charts.
Comparison of Druidic and Greek/Roman Zodiacs
| DRUIDIC SIGN | MONTH | GREEK/ROMAN ZODIAC |
| BIRCH, Beth | 24 December–20 January | CAPRICORN |
| ROWAN, Luis | 21 January–17 February | AQUARIUS |
| ASH, Nion | 18 February–17 March | AQUARIUS/PISCES |
| ALDER, Fearn | 18 March–14 April | PISCES/ARIES |
| WILLOW, Saille | 15 April–12 May | ARIES/TAURUS |
| HAWTHORN, Uath | 13 May–9 June | TAURUS/GEMINI |
| OAK, Duir | 10 June–7 July | GEMINI/CANCER |
| HOLLY, Tinne | 8 July–4 August | CANCER/LEO |
| HAZEL, Coll | 5 August–1 September | LEO/VIRGO |
| VINE, Muin | 2 September–29 September | VIRGO/LIBRA |
| IVY, Gort | 30 September–27 October | LIBRA/SCORPIO |
| REED, Ngetal | 28 October–24 November | SCORPIO/SAGITTARIUS |
| ELDER, Ruis | 25 November–23 December | SAGITTARIUS/CAPRICORN |
Tree Names and Symbols
The first sign of the Celtic lunar zodiac begins with the Birch Tree and is associated with the letter Beth in the Celtic tree-alphabet. Beth is also the first of thirteen consonants of the Celtic letters that formed a calendar of seasonal tree-magic. The Celts believed that the spoken word had great power, the pitch or tone being harmonious or hurtful, a poem or a curse. The tree symbols represent the mystical tree spirits or dryads that the druids believed came from the first rays of the Sun that gave life to their sacred trees. They breathed life by changing the Earth’s atmosphere into oxygen so that mankind could be born.
Though people living in Britain and Ireland today cannot consciously remember these symbols, all can be found on the signboards of British pubs and inns. Symbols like the White Swan, White Horse, Black Horse, Green Dragon, the White Stag/Hart and the Unicorn are commonplace and are evidence that these ancient symbols lie deeply buried in our national psyche and in our native folklore. The lunar symbol of the Unicorn for the Holly month corresponds with the Sun symbol of the Lion for the Leo sign and both represent nobility and immortality. Not surprising, therefore, to find both symbols on the British royal family’s coat of arms. A fascinating coincidence perhaps, but it reveals how symbolism can project a powerful statement of status that our ancestors obviously knew about and later acknowledged in heraldry.
Mythological Star Map
24 December – 20 January
ZODIAC DEGREES: Capricorn
RULING PLANET: The Sun
ARCHETYPAL GODS: Greek: Apollo; Egyptian: Osiris, Ra; Celtic: Taliesin, Arthur, Lugh
STARS: Vega, Capricorn
IN CELTIC ASTROLOGY the first sign of the lunar zodiac is the Birch Tree. Its ruler is the Sun because this time marked the return of the Sun gods from the Underworld. It was the time of year when the Sun began its annual ascent in the sky after the Winter Solstice on 22 December. The proud White Stag associated with the Birch Tree sign figured prominently in all Celtic myths and symbolized the seven-month reign of their Sun gods from the Winter Solstice to the Summer Solstice. As a time when the light of the Sun was increasing, and according to the concept of light and darkness, it had profound meaning for the Celts, who divided their year on this basis as the pivotal duality of birth and death.
The following astrological interpretation is based upon the Celtic Moon sign with reference to its corresponding Sun sign. Because the lunar zodiac has thirteen signs it creates an overlapping system of degrees and, though they exist within the same 360 degrees of the Sun zodiac,