The ~26,000-year cycle where humanity as a whole passes through each sign as an Age. This is where cosmic time and mythic time intertwine, and the whole human story becomes a single great zodiacal initiation.
The Archetypal Story Thread
Golden Calf → Ram: Humanity leaves the stable fertility of Taurus. Moses breaks the calf-idol, establishing a covenant of the Ram — sacrifice, law, covenant, and obedience. This shift corresponds to the Age of Aries. Ram → Fish: As the equinox drifts into Pisces, a new archetype arises. The Lamb of God (Aries image) becomes Christ, who then multiplies fishes and makes fishermen his apostles. The Piscean motif of water, sacrifice, and compassion permeates two millennia. Fish → Water-Bearer: The fishes dissolve into Aquarius’ flood. Where Pisces carried faith, martyrdom, and salvation, Aquarius promises freedom, technology, knowledge, and shared vision. Its emblem is not the priest or savior but the one who pours waters of life for all.
In the days of old men bowed before the Bull, the strength of the earth, the giver of bread and milk. And the nations worshipped him, from the river of Egypt unto the mountains of Crete, and even unto the plains of Babylon. But the Lord called His people forth from the house of bondage. And Moses came down from the mountain bearing the Tablets of the Law. He saw his people worshipping a golden calf and he broke the tables in wrath, for the time of the Bull was ended. And he spoke, saying, “Ye shall serve the Ram, the Lamb of Sacrifice, for this is the covenant of blood and of law.” And the trumpet of the ram’s horn was lifted in Israel. And in the fulness of time came One greater than Moses, the fulfillment of the age of the ram, containing the strength and the purity of the Lamb . Yet the Lamb gave way unto the Fish, for the age turned, and the season was changed. And He called His disciples from the waters, saying, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. And with two fishes and five loaves He fed the multitude. And the sign of the fish was graven in secret upon the stones of the faithful. The vesica pisces became the sacred womb through which the Christ mysteries were born into this world, and thus began the Age of Love and Spiritual fulfillment. And behold, the Fishes shall swim their course for two thousand years and more. And at the end of that river, the Water-Bearer shall rise in the heavens, pouring forth his streams for all mankind. Then shall knowledge be multiplied, and the lightning of the air shall cover the earth. Nations shall speak one to another across the void, and the chains of kings shall be broken. And men shall remember that they are brethren, for the waters shall be poured without price upon the just and the unjust alike. Thus the Ages turn as the stars are moved, and the tale of man is written in heaven as it is upon the earth.
Dates of the Aeons (estimate)
twelve ~2,160-year ages
Taurus (~4320–2160 BCE)
Bull cults dominate, just as in the astronomical model. The bull is food, fertility, wealth, and sacred sacrifice.
Aries (~2160 BCE–1 CE)
Ram symbolism flourishes. Moses’ destruction of the Golden Calf marks the rejection of Taurus. The covenant shifts to lamb sacrifice and ram-centered imagery. Judaism becomes the religion of the Ram, with the shofar (ram’s horn) as ritual instrument.
Pisces (1–~2150 CE)
The Christ event inaugurates Pisces. The fish is everywhere: the ichthys sign, fishermen as disciples, baptism in water. Religion becomes universal, missionary, sacrificial, oriented to faith and mystical communion.
Aquarius (~2150–4310 CE)
By this reckoning, the dawn of Aquarius is near or already beginning. Aquarius pours water freely, breaking down hierarchies. Its archetypes: electricity, science, networks, technology, equality, cosmic vision. The Enlightenment, industrialization, and the digital revolution all sound Aquarian notes. In this symbolic model, we are living the threshold of the new age.
The precession of the equinoxes — the slow, stately drift of the heavens over ~26,000 years, by which the spring equinox moves backward through the zodiac. This is the clock of the ages. Humanity itself moves through archetypal initiations: the Piscean age of faith, sacrifice, and the great religions; the Aquarian age of knowledge, networks, and collective awakening. These vast epochs are like incarnations of the human species, mirroring in thousands of years what an individual may live through in decades.
Axial precession causes the vernal equinox to shift through zodiac signs every 2160 years (one "processional age"), with a full cycle of 25,920 years. Pisces Age (c. 1 CE): Symbolized by fish (e.g., Jesus as Fisher of Men, vesica piscis, feeding multitudes with loaves and fishes). Aries Age (c. 2160 BCE): Ram symbolism in myths (e.g., Moses with ram's horns, temples like Karnak with ram-headed sphinxes). Taurus Age (c. 4320 BCE): Bull symbolism in cultures (e.g., Minotaur labyrinth, rape of Europa, Shiva-Parvati union, Apis bull in Egypt). Fixed zodiac signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio/eagle, Aquarius/man) correspond to elements, directions, and biblical Tetramorph (four living creatures from Ezekiel and Revelation). Mithraism: Tauroctony (Mithras slaying the bull) as astrological allegory for the vernal equinox in Taurus, with solstice figures (Cautes/Cautopates) and zodiac elements.
Age of Aquarius
“Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples? And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready.” — Luke 22:10–12, KJV
Ages before Taurus
Before Taurus, the vernal equinox would have lain in Gemini (~6480–4320 BCE, if you keep equal 2,160-year slices). This is deep prehistory, the late Neolithic. Myths are faint, but hints remain. Gemini is the sign of the Twins — duality, partnership, doubling. Cultures across the world enshrined divine twins: Castor and Pollux in Greece (later), the Ashvins in Vedic myth, the Sumerian Lugal-Irra and Meslamta-ea, the Mayan Hero Twins. Twin-gods and sibling myths abound from this era onward. Symbolically, you could say the Gemini Age was humanity’s awakening into language, dual thought, and exchange — fitting the Neolithic revolutions of settlement, weaving, counting, and the first clear symbolic records.
Before Gemini would be Cancer (~8640–6480 BCE). That falls into the late Ice Age / early Mesolithic. Cancer is the Crab, the Womb, the Great Mother. This was the age of caves, shells, lunar calendars carved into bone, and goddess cults in early Neolithic figurines. Many scholars see this period as dominated by fertility cults and lunar-maternal symbolism. Cancer as “the womb of the year” resonates strongly with humanity emerging from the womb of Ice into a new world.
The New Aeon
In the book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar has a dream. When he awakens he can’t remember this dream.....he only remembers that it terrified him. So he calls his magicians before him.....men he had rounded up in early childhood and sent to be trained by the “Chaldeans” - the priests of south-eastern Mesopotamia. The magi. The Bible calls Daniel the “master of magicians.” Nebuchadnezzar tells these magi that not only do they have to interpret his dream.....they have to tell him what the dream was first. Daniel is able to do this because God sent him the exact same dream as Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel tells the king....”You dreamed of a statue. This statue had a golden head.....chest and arms of silver.....thighs of bronze.....calves of iron....and feet of iron and clay. You are the golden head of this statue. God has given you this kingdom. You are the purest, most valuable and sought after part of this statue. The Golden head is Babylon.” When we look at this on one level, it’s predicting future kingdoms. If the golden head is Babylon, then the silver chest and arms would be Persia....the next kingdom that rose to world power. Then next came the Greek empire....Alexander the Great conquered Persia. That is the bronze thighs. Next came the Roman Empire....the iron calves, spreading out and conquering the known world. Lastly we have the feet, made of iron and clay. This is where we are now. All the separate toes are all the European countries, America, etc. This is the most diluted and weakest part of the statue. On another level it’s not about world empires at all. It’s about the current of magick. How with each passing Empire it has become more and more diluted, watered down, and less of less value. We are not even in the age of Iron anymore. We are clay and iron mixed. Clay and iron represents how the modern magickal traditions, etc still have some workable techniques (iron) but they no longer know the information that accompanied them. This cycle begins again with every aeon. Most of the lodges, orders, etc that exist now rely upon the formula of the old aeon - the age of Pisces. It’s why their rituals rely so heavily upon Christian and Judaic formulas. We are now entering the aeon of Aquarius, when we receive a new dispensation. A new way of understanding and interacting with divinity that is more suited to our current state of consciousness. We are not here to endlessly perpetuate the formula of the old aeon. That’s the whole story of the Israelites worshipping the Golden Calf when Moses finds them. They were trying to go back to the formula of Taurus, even though they were entering Aries. We are here to christen the new aeon. To help deliver a new dispensation. This is what Crowley tried to tell the members of the Golden Dawn, but they couldn’t understand it. They couldn’t see what he was telling them. They weren’t far enough along to be able to see it yet.
- Damien Echols