Tutorial on How to Draw the Astrological Glyphs
A few days ago a friend of mine told me that she had never learned how to draw the astrological symbols or “glyphs” because she had always used computerized charts.
So, I decided to make a video tutorial which demonstrates how to draw out the glyphs for the signs of the zodiac and the planets.
It should be useful for people who recently started learning astrology and still need to memorize the signs and symbols involved, or for people who already have that stuff down but don’t know how to draw them out by hand.
Here is the video:
I also made a reference sheet for people who would like to be able to refer back to something as they are trying to memorize the astrological glyphs. Here is a link to the PDF:
Astrological Glyphs for the Planets and Signs
Be sure to subscribe to my channel on YouTube and to this blog for updates on future videos and tutorials. If you are looking for more in-depth information then you should check out the online classes in astrology that I offer through my website.
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I prefer to use the even older Hellenistic system (rather than the Byzantine glyphs one) of the names of the various things.
Helios = SO = Sol = Sun
Selene = MO = Luna = Moon
Hermes = ME = Mercurius
Afrodite = VE = Venus
Ares = MA = Mars
Zeus = JU = Jupiter
Kronos = SA = Saturnus
Uranos = UR = Uranos
Poseidon = NE = Neptunus
Hades = PL = Pluto
Obviously with a slant to the Roman names more familiar to moderns.
As you know the glyph for Zeus is a Z, as the one for Kronos is a K.
AR = ARIES
TA = TAURUS
GE = GEMINI
CN = CANCER
LE = LEO
VI = VIRGO
LI = LIBRA
SC = SCORPIO
SG = SAGITTARIUS
CP = CAPRICORNUS
AQ = AQUARIUS
PI = PISCES
It’s more modern, whilst more ancient, and looks a lot less magical and mysterious. Although it only takes half-an-hour to get them all down.
Interestingly the Oxyrhynchus papyri published by Alexander Jones use another system for signs in the Alexandrian calendar. The Alexandrian year began on 29 or 30 August, with the month of Troth, the months were often referred to by ordinal numbers. So too the signs, beginning with Virgo as 1, Libra as 2, etc.
[v. Jones, Alexander, “Astronomical Papyri from Oxyrhynchus” Memoirs of the American Philosphical Society 233, Philadelphia, 1999; these also contain about 70 new horoscopes).
feliciter.
dello Smerillo
I believe this problem is widespread in many areas of life. We as a society look way to highly upon the computer. We even prematurely start children out on computers thinking they’re getting a headstart when what were really doing is creating an unhealthy dependancy. What children need are live human beings to teach them And to know they are more powerful than a computer! Everywhere you go people are staring at screens. In this iPhone age we have maybe gained some but have lost alot! I highly recomend hand drawing charts. The nature of the chart is revealed one piece at a time. And it’s fun:) The hardest part is drawing a perfect circle. But a compass takes care of that.
It is great blog, I enjoy it but it was pointed above – I can´t remember when I was needed to write symbols of signs and planets by hand… in computer era, it is hard to need to need as the radix (given for example like a gifgt) is printed…
Anyway I love that we use the old Roman names as for the planets – Neptune, Mars, Pluto etc. The Greek culture was too unjusticed with some gods and, endeed, it might be reflected in astrology as well. For example Mars. In old Rome, Mars is a god of strenght (used also for wars), but in the same time he was also a god of spring agriculture. Ares in Greece was described in so weird way, almost stupid and cruel, but let´s face the reality – what is bad on strenght, vitality, passion? Nothing. People can use it in wrong way, but without strenght one can´t fight grief, illness etc. Passion for life, passions for love, vitality… without Mars/Ares it would be a hard life. I am happy that we use old Roman names.
I enjoyed that! I also learned something. I didn’t know that the Libra glyph was the setting sun.
I learned to draw charts by hand. While I do rely heavily on my software these days, I still often create several hand-drawn iterations while i’m working with a chart. It’s a more intimate process and helps me to feel more “inside” the horoscope.
A note on the evolution (or corruption) of the Jupiter and Saturn glyphs in modern times: http://hirsig.ca/extra/ZforZeus.pdf
I believe the Libra symbol is identical to the Egyptian hieroglyph meaning “west” – which of course is where the Sun sets.
Thanks for this Axel. Neugebauer wrote a paper in the 50’s where he noted the connection between certain Egyptian characters and the later astrological glyphs as well, and then some of other correlations have been noted in more recent works by Jones and Ross. You might be interested in a post that I wrote a few months ago on the Hellenistic astrology website on the glyph for the ascendant in that tradition: http://www.hellenisticastrology.com/blog/2010/10/07/the-glyph-for-the-ascendant-in-hellenistic-astrology/
Thanks for the note on the Ascendant glyph – I will add it to the set I am trying to get designed by a professional type designer. I was not aware that Neugebauer had written about hieroglyphs and sky glyphs. Can you give us a reference? Fwiw, Camille Pelland wrote about hieroglyphs and astrological symbols in the first issue of Consderations: “Are astrological characters Egyptian?”, pp. 29-39, 77-80. I think she was not aweare of Neugebauer’s work and was flying my the seat of her pants. Since the Issuu website seems to be missing pages in that issue I have taken the liberty to make a PDF available:
http://hirsig.ca/extra/Consid_1-1.pdf
[…] You will also notice that there is a little symbol next to each of the planets. These are known as planetary “glyphs”, and they are important because they are often used as shorthand to designate the positions of the planets in charts. The symbol for Saturn is particularly important for our purposes, so you should make sure that you memorize what it looks like. If you need some help figuring out how to draw it then check out my tutorial on how to draw the astrological glyphs. […]