The 360 Symbolic Degrees of the Zodiac

A man plowing a field, a monkey in front of a mirror, a threatening comet... Symbolic degrees can conjure up some rather strange images. In this astrological tradition, each of the 360 degrees of the zodiac is given a scene, an object or a character, along with an interpretation. They are also known as monomeres. Their language is one of analogies and correspondences, often accompanied by an imagination that has little use for half measures.

Astrotheme lets you explore symbolic degrees and their interpretations for any sign and degree you choose. The application brings together five historical traditions, each presented separately. This allows you to compare their images without mixing them up: for the same degree, different authors may offer markedly different interpretations.

Five traditions, five perspectives

There is no single collection accepted by all astrologers. Different sets have appeared over time, borrowing from one another and changing through translations and the outlook of each author. Astrotheme features the following five series:

• Janduz: Jeanne Duzéa, known as Janduz, published her Les 360 degrés du Zodiaque in the 1930s. She drew on and reworked older material, notably from the Volasfera. Astrotheme has reviewed and rewritten these texts to make them easier to read without stripping away their original character.
• The Volasfera, in the version associated with Sepharial: a series traditionally known as the “Hindu degrees”, in which each degree has its own image and interpretation. Translations and later revisions have sometimes introduced differences from the material subsequently used by Janduz.
• Pierre Christian's Theban Calendar: published in L'Homme rouge des Tuileries (1863), it offers generally very brief symbols and interpretations. It also associates each decan with a planetary spirit. The very ancient Egyptian origin often attributed to it, however, remains difficult to establish.
• Charubel: under this pseudonym, the Welsh mystic John Thomas published The Degrees of the Zodiac Symbolised in 1898. He recounts his visions, sometimes striking ones, and then offers his interpretation. Some symbols even seemed impossible for him to describe.
• Isidore Kozminsky: in Zodiacal Symbology and Its Planetary Power (1917), this Australian author presented 360 symbolic images, accompanied by interpretations.

Other series exist, notably the Sabian symbols popularized by Marc Edmund Jones. We have chosen five collections whose approaches and styles already give a sense of the diversity of this old branch of astrological literature. So do not be surprised if one version offers an encouraging image for a degree while another is much darker: the authors were not all following the same logic.

How do you find the right degree?

The rule is simple, although it often causes confusion: the first degree of a sign runs from 0°00' to 0°59', the second from 1°00' to 1°59', and so on. A planet at 22°35' Aries is therefore in the 23rd degree of Aries. At 29°59' Taurus, it is in the 30th and final degree of that sign. At 0°00' Gemini, we start again with the first degree of Gemini.

In Astrotheme's online application, simply choose the sign and the whole-number degree of the astrological position: for 22°35' Aries, select “22” and the application displays the 23rd degree. You will then see the interpretations corresponding to that exact part of the zodiac, with each tradition clearly identified.

Which degrees should you look at in a birth chart?

If you would like to explore this approach, the usual starting points are the Sun, the Moon and the ruler of the Ascendant, followed by the personal planets Mercury, Venus and Mars. The degrees of the Ascendant and Midheaven may also be of interest, on one condition: a sufficiently accurate birth time. These angles move quickly, and a difference of just a few minutes may be enough to change the degree involved.

Some authors also consider the other chart angles or the lunar node. Others suggest comparing degrees on the same zodiacal cross, separated by 90° or 180°. These are practices specific to certain schools, not rules on which everyone agrees. As for the slow-moving planets, their symbolic degrees are generally less personal, unless one of those planets has a particular role in the chart, for example as ruler of the Ascendant.

Read an image, not a verdict

How should we approach these texts? It is best to start with the image itself. A gesture, a landscape, the presence of an animal or a particular posture may spark an association of ideas. Two very different descriptions can sometimes suggest a similar theme; conversely, two traditions may flatly contradict each other. That variety is part of their appeal. There is no need to force every symbol to tell the same story.

Older commentators attached great importance to repeated words, analogies and connections between images. There is something to be gained from this approach when reading several versions of the same degree, provided that we do not turn a coincidence or a personal impression into a certainty about someone's character.

One precaution remains essential. Symbolic degrees belong to a tradition often marked by fatalism. Some texts foretell disasters, illness or death with a confidence that may seem startling, even disturbing, today. Astrotheme does not subscribe to this deterministic view of astrology. We present these documents for their historical, cultural and symbolic interest, not as personal predictions. None of these texts should be taken literally or used to draw conclusions about anyone's future.

And yet there is pleasure in exploring these images, even when they are puzzling: they also tell us how authors from different periods populated the zodiac with scenes and characters. Everyone can find food for thought in them, should they wish, while retaining complete freedom of interpretation.