[The Dragon.]
When the Summer Solstice was between the signs of Leo and Virgo, the Winter Solstice was between those of Aquarius and Pisces, and the figure composed of the body of a man with the tail of a fish became the mid-winter symbol of solar worship. Such was the form of this symbol to which the ancient Phoenicians paid homage to the Lord under the name of Dagon.
[The Bull.]
At the same time the Summer Solstice entered the sign of Leo, the Vernal Equinox entered that of Taurus, and the bull becoming the spring symbol of solar worship—the Lord was designated in the ancient allegories as the bull of God which taketh away the sin of the world; which, shorn of its allegorical sense, signifies the sun in Taurus, or sun of spring, which taketh away the evil of Winter. Such is the purport of hieroglyphical inscriptions upon papyrus rolls found in Egypt, and engraved upon obelisks erected in the Nile valley, one of which has been recently brought to the City of New York and set up in Central Park. In the East Indies this symbol was represented by the figure of a bull with the solar disk between his horns; and the Egyptians, who were of Hindoo origin, perpetuating it in their "Apis," it was reproduced in the golden calf of the ancient Israelites. The Assyrians represented this symbol by the figure of a winged bull with the face and beard of a man; the Phoenicians, in their "Baal," by the figure of a man with a bull's head and horns; and the small silver bull's heads with golden horns, recently discovered by Dr. Schliemann in the ruins of Mycenae, were jewels worn by the women of that ancient city, when the Vernal Equinox was in the sign of Taurus.
[The Ram.]
By deducting 2,150 years from 6,450, we determine that about 4,300 years; ago the Vernal Equinox entered the sign of Aries, and the spring symbol of solar worship, changing from the bull to the ram, was represented by ram-headed figures, two of which, found in Egypt, are on exhibition in the British Museum. Then the text which read the bull of God, was changed to the Ram of God which taketh away the sins of the world.
[The Lamb.]
Ultimately attaching a meek and lowly disposition to the imaginary incarnations of the mythical genius of the sun, the symbol of the ram was changed to that of the lamb, and the text in the allegories, which read the Ram of God, was changed to read "The Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the World," John i, 29. The explanation we have given relative to the Zodiacal Symbols of solar worship makes the assurance doubly sure that the originals of the New Testament were composed when the Vernal Equinox was in the sign of Aries, as will be shown hereafter. Having adopted the symbol of the lamb, it was represented by several forms of what is known as Agnus Dei, or Lamb of God, one of which was in the form of a bleeding lamb with a vase attached into
which blood is flowing, which originated in reference to the shedding of blood as a vicarious atonement for sin. But the most comprehensive form of this symbol in its astronomical signification, was represented by the figure of a lamb in a standing attitude, supporting the circle of the Zodiac, divided into quarters to denote the seasons. At each of the cardinal points there was a small cross, and the lamb held in its uplifted fore-foot a larger cross, the long arm of which was made to cut the celestial equator at the angle of 23½ degrees, the true angle of obliquity of the Ecliptic. This symbol is still retained in the Catholic Church.