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Astrological Spain
Note: It might also be interesting for those who give a fuck about astrology.
When trying to establish the internal zodiac of a country, two basic problems appear at the very beginning: first, determinining the place that should be taken as its centre; secondly, knowing if earth's cardinal points are its foundation for all cases.
After having studied how to apply this with regard to Spain, I wish to show the conclusions I reached both for these questions and for several others that came up.
The initial hesitation is about the real centre of Spain being in Madrid or in Toledo, since the latter is the city that gathers a set of traits that make of it a sort of spiritual or esoteric capital of Spain... Toledo was the capital city of the Visigothic state. Later, in the Middle Ages, after having been recovered by the Christians, it was the capital of Castile for several centuries and of Spain until such status was transfered to Madrid in 1561. It continued to be a cultural focus along those times in which Madrid was but a village. Let us simply remember the Toledan court of Alfonso X the Wise in the 13th century.
According to tradition, Toledo is ruled by Sagittarius, just like Spain as a whole. I do not doubt about the latter, after having checked it with several historic verifications. But the official capital nowadays is Madrid, and that has its symbolic weight too. Alexandre Voguine's opinion about it in the 119 number of Les Cahiers must be taken into account. Yet, the problem about the real centre is not so important in the case of Spain, as the fact that Toledo and Madrid are so close make the influential zones of the signs are not altered too significantly.
Let us analyze now the traditional data we have and complete it with some common sense to check their validity after several centuries.
First, the traditional attribution of Catalonia to Scorpio. Let us remember that outstanding features of the Catalan character are willpower, maintained effort, awareness of the aims and a determined search of the rightest ways to achieve them... The existence of a pro-independence stream calls the attention of any dispassionate astrologer, since it deals with a specific Scorpian trait, a sign ruling the stages of disintegration and rejection. Besides, Scorpio is also symbolized by a phoenix, which is the symbol of the Catalan new birth or Renaixença. Some months ago, a Catalan astrologist told me that she noticed in Catalonia many Virgo features, based on perceptions of the external behaviour of the Catalans. I rather think it must be that 'virginized Scorpio' in which inhibition prevails, a type of Scorpio that is common.
Galicia has always been considered to be ruled by Pisces. Even the weather and geography agree with it, being a region turned into the sea, which enters the territory via the rías. As a consequence, fishing is one of the basic activities. It is also the rainiest region in Spain; the sky is grey and only a wet mist replaces the drizzle sometimes. In addition, Galician people are known by their melancholic sentimentalism, their dreamy character, their way of achieving aims without any aggressiveness, only by indirect imperceptible procedures. It is also remarkable how the folk beliefs in witches and other kind of mythological beings are still well rooted in the Galician soul, as well as the attraction for everything mysterious and magical. We must also mention the close relationship between Galicia and Portugal, a Piscean country. And finally mention Saint James of Compostela, the famous symbolic ending of the pilgrimage way, which reminds us of the zodiac pilgrimage ending in the 12th sign.
Tradition also sets the Columns of Hercules, placed by the hero in both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar as a symbol of union between Europe and Africa, as a clear image of Gemini, which graphic symbol seems to represent the two columns. The duality is evident.
From these three well-established traditions, let us complete the map of Spain:
Aries falls into Extremadura, a hot region, where huge herds of sheep and rams flock every year since centuries ago. Cradle of so many conquistadores (Cortés, Pizarro...) and setting of several wars with Portugal.
The attribution of Taurus to the south of Badajoz and Huelva is a bit darker. Yet the old Tartessian civilization, which probably had its peak during the Taurus era, was centered in this area.
The Gemini sector above mentioned can also be seen in the character of Sevilians: joyful, superficial, witty, informal, talkative, changeable, exaggerated... It is also interesting to notice that the big mercuries sites of Almaden, already exploited before the Romans, are within this mercurial sector.
Cancer shares the Strait with Gemini, although its influence is smaller, but noticeable as the area has always been a sort of yin receptacle for successive immigrations/invasions from Northern Africa.
Leo covers most of eastern Andalusia (Malaga, Granada, Jaen), where the landscape is extremely bright (influence of the 5th sign even in names: Costa del Sol means Sun Coast). The influence is also shown in many of the luxurious resorts built there. And the luxurious Alhambra of Granada, where the most admired part is the Patio of the Lions...
The Virgo sector is formed by a coastal region (Almeria and Murcia) with people whose personality is not as colorful as that of people from elsewhere in Spain: the 'Virgo normality'. It mainly deals with pacient people who work hard against the droughts (Virgo is a dry sign). Also within this sector we find much of La Mancha. The two essential characters from there in the Quixote symbolize perfectly the two poles of the Virgo-Pisces axis: Sancho Panza (panza means belly, the Virgo body part) represents Virgo, the typical peasant of the region, realistic, practical, wise and lover of concrete things. On the contrary, Don Quixote, the idealistic visionary, the universal madman, clearly represents the Piscean type.
Going on, we enter the land of Valencia, ruled by Libra. It is a beautiful fertile territory, its main traditional source of income coming from the growing of the scented orange. The traditional Valencian female dress is specially rich in ornaments. All of this agrees perfectly with the Venusian nature of Libras.
Crossing the Scorpian Catalonia already mentioned, we enter the Sagittarian sector, covering most of Aragon, including Saragossa. The character of the Aragonese, known by its frankness, its nobility and generosity, coincides with the main qualities of the Archer. Their friendliness, sense of humour and hospitality too... They are not unsteady like Sevillians, but steady and stubborn, and famous for this. Because they are open, they often lack diplomacy, something common in Sagittarians (their 'horse' side). As for the (ir)religiosity attached to the sign, it is interesting to remark that the Church of the Pillar, in Saragossa, has been declared the centre of the Catholic religiosity of Spain and the whole of Hispanic America. Navarre, between Sagittarius and Capricorn, has been a focus of religious intolerance for a long while. Carlists wanted to subject the State completely to the Church. We are in front of the politicization and the Capricornian toughening of the Sagittarian religious ideals.
The whole Basque Country is ruled by Capricorn, which looks natural if we take into account that they form an ethnicity with very old traditions and that even their typical features seem to be linked to the tenth sign: robust, bony, big not straight nose, somewhat gangling... Psychollogically, it's enough to say they are not friends of many words, and rather serious. They are known as well by their physical/psychical resistence, their practical sense and their early industrialization. The Basque Country causes a rather northern impression...
An important part of Old Castile is also within the Capricornian sector, which explains the austerity of its people -sometimes even asceticism- as well as their strong resistence, both physical and psychological, to the hard weather and living conditions of the Meseta (Castilian Plateau). We must also remark the tendency towards fatalism and tragicism of Castilians. Their religious manifestations often have a sad even funereal hue.
The Aquarius zone covers Asturias and Leon. We certainly see here powerful tendencies towards nonconformity and rebelliousness, particularly in Asturias, the revolutionary tradition of which is well known. Even nowadays, big strikes continue in this region... Let us not forget that it was the only region that was never subject to the Muslim invasion in the 8th century.
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Originally Posted by Samnium
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