The sign for Sagittarius, the centaur with a drawn bow, can be traced back thousands of years. One of the early representations was found on Babylonian boundary stones, or kuddurus, of the 10th Century, where there were two heads, a man and a lion's, and the body of the centaur had wings.

Zodiac Origins

Sagittarius is a 10 starred Zodiacal constellation between Scorpio (Scorpius) and Capricorn (Capricornus), and the 9th sign of the Zodiac. From ancient times Sagittarius has been represented by the centaur with a drawn bow. Many astrologers interpret this as suggesting a duality in the nature of the classic Sagittarius personality. However, the duality suggested may be seen as a symbol of the duality of human nature - our animal nature and our transcendent nature.

We are, in effect, half mortal, represented by the animal body with its hooves firmly on the earth, and half spiritual or transcendant, implied by the centaur aiming his arrow at the heavens, transcending mortality. This is echoed in the nature of the classic Sagittarius personality, who is a born adventurer both in earthly pursuits, and in the higher, intellectual, philosophical, or spiritual pursuits, where ideas, for example, are able to transcend our mortality and 'live' on after us. In this sense, Sagittarians highlight the duality of our humanity.

The Greeks took their myths into the heavens by identifying the constellations with their gods and heroes. The centaurs are probably part of the myths of Greece that followed from the time of the migrations and the coming of the horse, an animal that was unknown in Greece before the second millennium BC. The horse would have been of great significance to the migrating nomads, and an important cult animal, and the centaur with its animal body and man-like head, would have been a union of equals, rather than a degradation. Many centaurs were bestial, but Chiron was a centaur of great wisdom and kindness, friend of both gods and men, and renowned for hunting, music, knowledge of the healing arts, and the art of prophecy. The education of Achilles, Jason and Asclepius, who became a physican with extraordinary powers, was entrusted to Chiron. When Hurcules unwittingly brought about Chiron's death, Zeus placed him among the stars as the constellations of Sagittarius .