An old friend of mine who is an expert in astrology (among other things) was visiting and explained some aspects of astrology I was not familiar with by sketching out a small diagram that was the basis for this painting.
Starting from the outermost circle you can see the names of the twelve months of the Hebrew calendar. The first month, Nissan is in the spring. In the Torah the months are not named, they are referred to by a number - the first month, second month, etc. Similarly the days of the week are not named in the Torah, they are called the first day, the second day, etc. except for the seventh day which is also called Shabbat - the day of rest. The names of the months in this chart came from when the Jewish people were exiled after the destruction of the First Temple.
This outermost circle also contains the human aspects associated with the twelve months. The origin of this is Sefer Yetzirah - I believe it is related to the Jewish Holiday that take place in the respective month. Passover, Pesach פסח in Hebrew, is in Nissan - the word Pesach can be broken down to two words Peh Sach which means the mouth speaks. Iyar is when we count the Omer - according to the Kabbalah the 49 days of this counting lead up to the 50th day and parallels the 50 Gates of Understanding, thus thought. Sivan is when Shavuot is, and the celebration of the receiving of the Torah on Mount Sinai - when we learned how to walk the path of righteousness. Tamuz and Av are month when there are fast days commemorating destruction of the Temple because we didn't see the harm of bad actions and didn't hear the true message of the Torah. Elul is a month when we prepare for the High Holidays by rectifying our actions.
Tishrei is the month of the Autumn festivals - Sukkot is associated with the marriage chuppa and seven-day celebration that culminates in sexual union on the eight day (Shimini Atzeret (see the explanation of my picture Infinite Eight). Cheshvan has the Ethiopia Jewish holiday Sig'd commemoration their longing to return to Zion and the Messianic era - the Messiah is said to be able to judge by the sense of smell. Kislev is the when the nights are long and sleep comes easy after eating Chanukah latkes and jelly doughnuts. Tevet contains another fast day and the destructive quality of anger that leads to destroying our inner Temple. Shevat has Tu B'shevat which we celebrate by eating many kinds of fruit. And finally, Adar has Purim when traditionally people drink wine and perform funny shpiels.
Moving from the outer circle inward, the next circle shows whether the astrological sign associated with each month is cardinal, fixed or mutable. The first months of the four seasons are associated with 'cardinal' signs. Aries (Nissan) is a cardinal sign because the spring equinox takes place in it - when day and night are of equal length at the beginning of spring (March 21). Cancer (Tamuz) is a cardinal sign because the summer solstice takes place in it - the longest day and shortest night - at the beginning of summer (June 21). Libra (Tishrei) is a cardinal sign because the autumn equinox takes place in this month - when night and day are of equal length at the beginning of autumn (September 22). Finally, Capricorn (Tevet) is a cardinal sign because the winter solstice takes place in it - the shortest day and the longest night - at the beginning of winter (December 21).
The middle months of the four seasons are associated with 'fixed' signs. These four signs are also related to the four Chayot of the Merkava (Chariot) that the prophet Ezekiel described in the first chapter of that book. Taurus (Iyar the middle month of spring) is an Ox - associated with Gevurah, the left column, North, the angel Gabriel, etc. Leo (Av the middle month of summer) is a Lion - associated with Chesed, the right column, South, the angel Michael, etc. Scorpio (Chesvan the middle month of autumn) is also seen in Western Astronomy as an Eagle - associated with Tiferet, the middle column, East, the angel Uriel, etc. And finally, Aquarius (Shevat the middle month of winter) is the Human face of the Merkava - associated with Malchut, the container, the one who receives from the other three, West, the angel Rafael, etc.
The last months of the four seasons are associated with the 'mutable' signs. Gemini in Sivan when spring is moving into summer; Virgo in Elul when summer is moving into autumn; Sagitarius in Kislev when autumn is moving into winter; and Pisces in Adar when winter is moving into spring.
The next circle inward has the English names of the astrological signs. The next circle has their symbol in Western Astrology. The next circle shows which are fire signs, earth signs, air signs and water signs. There are three of each - thus we find one 'cardinal' fire sign, one earth, one air and one water; one 'fixed' fire sign, one earth, one air, one water; and one 'mutable' fire sign, one earth, one air and one water.
The next circle inward shows how the first four signs of this 12-month cycle are 'primal' signs associated with the embryonic development of the self; the next four are 'individual' signs associated with the development of one's individual personality; and the last four sign are 'universal' signs associated with a self that is involved with world-centric global concerns.
The next circle inward has the Twelve Simple Hebrew letters that according to Sefer Yetzirah are associated with the twelve months of the year.
The innermost circle shows the four seasons and their relation to the twelve months and the twelve signs of the zodiac.
