Wizard Weekly by Daniel Giamario | June 21, 2026 |
Chiron’s entrance into Taurus, just two days ago, on June 19, is a big event for most Astrologers. As Chiron retrogrades back into Aries on September 17, this is just a timid dip into Taurus. He won’t make it beyond the first degree and won’t move fully into Taurus until April of next year. Due to its highly elliptical orbit, Chiron spends the longest periods in Aries and Taurus, up to eight years, and will not leave Taurus until 2034. TOTAMS has a Highlight Seminar about Chiron in Taurus in the pipeline. I have written quite a lot about Chiron over the years. Type ‘Chiron’ into the search engine at the bottom right of our website and you will see a list of resources.
The other big event is the Cancer Solstice. This is certainly occupying our greatest attention now: Today’s TOTAMS Solstice Seminar will inaugurate our year-long “Rebirthing Astrology: Calling in The 12 Tribes” project. Each month we will come together to re-envision one of the 12 Mystery Schools of Life. During these final years of The Great Turning, the time is ripe to set the old sign meanings to rest, as they have degenerated into their shadow.
Twelveness
In this article I want to celebrate the twelveness of things. Why twelve signs? Surely, myself and colleagues have demolished the 13th sign hoax. Here’s a starting point. Some years ago I was made aware that in 1930, the IAU (International Astronomical Union), in order to mess with astrologers, purposefully inserted a small piece of the constellation Ophiuchus into the ecliptic band of constellations! But there are far greater reasons why 12 is important.
Recent findings of Chinese researcher Thomas Tao indicates that the importance of 12 in astronomy and astrology originated with the movement of the “year star” Jupiter as he moves through the 12 constellations along the celestial equator. This research suggests that this was before the Sumerians and Babylonians adopted twelve. Both sidereal and tropical zodiacs have invariably used 12, not 13. The other “urban myth” is that the 12 was a patriarchal usurpation of the 13. Also a fake story. 12 is one of the sacred numbers of the Moon, as twelve 29.5-day synodic cycles became the month (moonth). Interestingly, thirteen 27.3-day sidereal Lunar cycles also come out to be nearly the same number of days: 354-355. The remainder became known as the “silver fraction” and was used by megalithic builders in many parts of the world to relate Lunar cycles with the year.
At least every decade or so, some book or fashion will propose a “new sign”. But there are actually many constellations that the planets may move through that are not of the 12. These are Cetus, Pegasus, Aquila, Scutum, Serpens, Hydra, Corvus, Crater, Sextans, Canis Minor, Auriga and Orion. These adjacent constellations certainly have significance and meaning, they just aren’t the twelve! The IAU could have just as easily inserted Orion or Cetus.
The Numerical System
Another important reason to celebrate twelve-ness is the numerical system called sexagesimal. It is vastly superior to base 10. A base 13 is nowhere to be found. I include here a short excerpt from Wikipedia and hope you will explore further:
“Sexagesimal, also known as base 60, is a numeral system with sixty as its base. It originated with the ancient Sumerians in the 3rd millennium BC, was passed down to the ancient Babylonians, and is still used—in a modified form—for measuring time, angles, and geographic coordinates.
The number 60, a superior highly composite number, has twelve divisors, namely 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, and 60, of which 2, 3, and 5 are prime numbers. With so many factors, many fractions involving sexagesimal numbers are simplified. For example, one hour can be divided evenly into sections of 30 minutes, 20 minutes, 15 minutes, 12 minutes, 10 minutes, 6 minutes, 5 minutes, 4 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, and 1 minute. 60 is the smallest number that is divisible by every number from 1 to 6; that is, it is the lowest common multiple of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.”
This also helps overturn the frequently resurfacing notion that there used to be 360 days in a year!
Celebrating the 12
In Hermeticism
The importance of 12 can be seen in so very many places. I will share here some twelves you may not be aware of. In the systems that have been derived from Alchemy and Hermeticism they describe:
The Twelve Tormentors
- ignorance
- sorrow
- intemperance
- lust
- injustice
- greed
- deceit
- envy
- treachery
- anger
- recklessness
- malice
And the alternatives
- Knowledge
- Joy
- Self-control
- Steadfastness
- Justice
- Generosity
- Truth
- Honesty
- Supreme Good
- Love
- Life
- Light
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner recognizes 12 senses, not only 5:
The senses for perceiving one’s own body (will senses):
- 1. Sense of touch
- 2. Sense of life
- 3. Sense of movement, or muscle sense
- 4. Sense of balance
The sense organs for perceiving the environment:
- 5. Sense of smell
- 6. Sense of taste
- 7. Sense of sight
- 8. Sense of temperature
Mental senses for perceiving the non-physical world:
The senses in this category are special because they focus on human characteristics: language, thoughts and the individuality of the other person.
- 9. Sense of hearing
- 10. Sense of speech
- 11. Sense of thought
- 12. Sense of ego
From Richie Havens
In his great song “Zodiac”, which we have turned into a theme song for our Rebirthing Astrology Project, he lists a lot of twelvenesses, and comes up with the masterstroke and theme of our project. If you want to watch the video, this is a good one.
Here are the lyrics:
There is a secret that has been kept from man 2,000 years (I would have said 6000 years)
There is a secret that has been kept from man 2,000 years
And that secret is that there are only
twelve people on the earth at any given time
That there are only twelve people on the earth at any given time (or 12 versions of 12, the 144)
And these people have been symbolized
Down through the ages of mankind, by many symbols
They were called:
Twelve tribes of Israel
Twelve sons of Jacob
Twelve gates of Heaven
Twelve inches in a foot to the year
Twelve months (moonths) to a year
Twelve men on the jury
Twelve days of Christmas
Twelve disciples of Jesus Christ
Twelve manners of fruit on the tree by the side of the river
Good for the healing of all nations
Good for the healing of all nations
And these people are
And these people are:
Aries, who is… I am, ain’t I?
Taurus, who is… I have, don’t I?
Gemini, who is… I think, I think…
I think so much I wish I could stop thinking
Cancer, who is… I feel, I feel,
and there are no words to describe how I feel
Leo, who is… I will, o’er my will
Virgo, who is… I analyze, I analyze
Libra, who is… I balance, I balance, I balance
between those who know and those who do not know
Scorpio, who is… I desire, I desire, I desire…
Sagittarius, who is… I see, I see… I see so much in
what I’m doing I cannot finish what I’m doing
Capricorn, who is… I use, I use… I use all of
my experience in order to survive
Aquarius, who is… I know, I know…
why do I know when no one around me knows what I know
Pisces, who is… I believe, I believe…
or there is nothing for me to believe in
These are the twelve people who inherit the earth
You are one of them and there are only eleven others
And if you get to know the eleven others
You will be able to get along with everyone all over the world…
all over the world.”
Of course, Richie was using some of the common understandings of the 12 signs … including the well known and recent ways we understand them. In order to co-create in a post-KaliYuga age, we intend to go deeper, explore the essence, and come up with new content and new expressions.
Come On In
Where else do you perceive the 12?
I hope to see you for the seminar in a few hours or register and get the recordings.
Love and Magic from Daniel
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