The Zodiacal Banquet (the Zodiac as a Universal "Software")

Whatever exists around us -or in our minds - every single situation, thing or idea corresponds to a certain sign! There is no situation in our entire world that cannot be represented and somehow related to a sign. And this because signs are in reality the 12 archetypes through which the whole Universe is modeled, they are the ultimate matrices of “bricks” or “lego’s” that have constructed the Universe!

The zodiac in itself depicts an evolutionary process, which starts in Aries and ends in Pisces. Thus, the order of the signs is of an extreme importance. Every living organism, machine, thing and situation comes into being, grows, flourishes and dissolves, following exactly and distinctively the steps of this Aries to Pisces sequence. Thus, the zodiac constitutes an archetypal evolutionary process, according which all universal phenomena develop. It somehow is an itinerary with 12 distinctive stations that have to be followed in a precise order, one by one. If not, the processes do not become evolutionary but decadent!

Thus, every situation in life evolves - either explicitly or implicitly - according to the succession of the signs. Human beings, for example, are born and raised according to it. Let me, now, show you in this article how even the most ordinary, every day situations follow this pattern. Let’s take a situation familiar to all of us, the one of having a dinner (or a banquet, on a more solemn occasion) for our friends, relatives e.t.c.


                   THE 12 STAGES OF THE ZODIACAL BANQUET

THE ARIES STAGE Aries corresponds to the initial stage of a dinner/ banquet. We must decide here what meal to cook. This is the first thing that always worries us, when we start preparing a dinner (that is, after having definitely decided that we will make the dinner and having formed the list of our guests). Actually, this is an every day worry to all the people who cook: from a long list of possible meals we must each time pick up a specific one! Picking up the specific meal, from a long list of possible meals, actually is an individualization process. A process has been commenced, a decision has been made and actions are taken (all these are Aries traits).

THE TAURUS STAGE After having decided what meal to cook, we must consider the practical matters of the cooking. We must secure all the indispensable materials (oven, casseroles, ingredients e.t.c.). If we lack an ingredient we have to go out and buy it. Thus, we have to have the indispensable money. If we decide, for example, to cook a turkey we must have in our disposition (or buy) the turkey, the potatoes, the butter, the corn, the stuffing. Unless we secure all these ingredients (and all the other indispensable for the cooking materials) the impulsion inside us to make a turkey dish will never take form, it will never materialize!

THE GEMINI STAGE This stage corresponds to the mental preparation of the meal. Before starting the cooking we must first (as we usually do in every job) enact in our minds beforehand the whole procedure (how to cook the meal, how much of each ingredient to put in the baking pan, how long we should keep the meal in the oven). Then, if we are not very confident about are skills, we might read a recipes book. This stage corresponds to the sign of Gemini, which is the sign of reasoning, of reading books - and recipes -, of interconnecting things (interconnecting the various ingredients of the turkey, in our case). At the stage of Gemini reasoning gets high: we read the recipe, we calculate the portion of each ingredient to put in the baking pan, we probably use scales and dose-meters. All these procedures, of meticulously calculating each ingredient and throwing it to the baking pan, in order for it to mingle and interact with the others, are clearly Geminian.

THE CANCER STAGE At this stage the dissimilar ingredients put together in the baking pan start - for the very first time - tasting and smelling as a food! We might say that at this stage the food’s “soul” is formed! And this constitutes a small miracle; because it is always strange how dissimilar ingredients put together can bind and produce the meal we wanted! And till this happens, we always feel anxiety, wondering whether our “chemistry” will result into a nice food or in a complete failure! We often open the oven and taste the meat, the potatoes, to feel if they get the right taste or if they are missing something. These are moments of insecurity and anxiety. And suddenly, we get in the air the very first hint of a true turkey dish. This is a turning point and produces in us warm feelings and emotions.

THE LEO STAGE The stage where our meal definitely takes the taste and appearance we wanted! Not just its initial taste, but its final, ripe taste, the one that give us the certainty that we have in our oven a well-cooked meal, as the one we were longing for! This is usually a festive moment! The smell of the meal fills every angle of our house and chases away the doubts we had before! We are now sure that we will serve to our guests a delicious turkey, a dish that will impress them! Euphoria fills us up. Our spirits go high and we start singing - or even dancing! At this stage some early visitors might arrive, and we have the first social contacts among the house lords and the guests. Absolute certainty in us, joy and pleasure, all these are typically leonine traits.

THE VIRGO STAGE The stage where the necessary preparations for the serving of the dinner take place. The table must be prepared here; plates and cutlery must be brought out and rightly set on the table e.t.c. This is a rather technical stage, corresponding to the sign of Virgo (the sign of the “savoir vivre”. You cannot rightly set a table unless you are familiar with the rules of “savoir vivre” - i.e. you should always put the guests fork to the left of his/her plate, the knife to the right and so on). At this stage aperitifs are offered to the early visitors. An atmosphere of hasty and anxiety reigns in the air, as so many things and details have to be done, in a due time and in a correct mode.

THE LIBRA STAGE The stage where the guests approach each other and gather to the table. This is the stage of Libra, which supports the harmonic co-existence of the people, even if they are totally strangers among them. So, at this stage people gather to the table in a civil and basically harmonic manner. It is here that the collective phase of the dinner/banquet actually commences! This very moment, where everyone is pulling his/her chair to sit to the table has a uniting flare and usually is pleasant. People tend to be in a good mood (or they pretend to be) as they come close to each other. People of the opposite sex, that where attracted to each other, come for the first time close here and can freely talk to each other! Or they might discover how attractive a person is, who before they thought of as indifferent, since he/she was standing away from them in the living- room.

THE SCORPIO STAGE This is the stage of the inner unification of the guests, the unification of their souls! People that physically came so close to each other must now come psychically close, as well! This cannot be done easily. It all depends on the specific “synastries” formed at the table and - of course - on the idiosyncrasy of each guest. Usually, when people gather together sympathies and antipathies arise. Part of these sympathies and antipathies will surface and manifest during the dinner/banquet. Disguised irony, malice, even open hostility begins to surface. Guests that secretly sympathize each other form alliances and attack those they dislike or support each other from other guests’ attacks, regardless if they are right or wrong! They are motivated exclusively by their feelings. On a pure erotic level, here we have the most passionate and meaningful looks (or some under the table secret feet contact among the people that fancy each other). Obviously, this stage corresponds to Scorpio.

THE SAGITTARIUS STAGE The guests, after having discharged much of their negative psychological energies at the previous stage of Scorpio - feel better and come now closer to each other. Usually, somebody at this stage tells a joke, the guests start laughing and the “ice” begins to melt, the tensions go away. When all the members of a company laugh unhurriedly and spontaneously it means that all of them are internally united and none isolated to the rest. A relaxing and gay atmosphere begins now to reign at the table. People become truer and better intentioned to each other, they start talking more freely and exchange ideas about interesting subjects (often of a philosophical nature). This is the Sagittarius stage of the dinner.

THE CAPRICORN STAGE At this stage discussions regarding professional and social matters usually take place among the dinner guests. The stage of Capricorn usually commences when the coffee is served, after the dinner. Those guests, whose professional or social interests match, engage in conversations about their reciprocal activities. They discuss on their affairs and subjects of common interest and sound out the probabilities of a mutual cooperation or of a joint activity (i.e. a lawyer usually starts giving advises, at this stage, to the people around him who have engaged in legal matters. He might, then, give them his business card as well, in order to continue their discussions in his/her office).

THE AQUARIUS STAGE At this stage the dinner/banquet guests start to feel much more free and comfortable, in the presence of each other. They unbutton their jackets, untie their ties and sometimes sit on the floor! They become more friendly and unconventional. They begin to discuss exciting and unusual subjects (i.e. metaphysics, astronomy, astrology). Each guest begins to clearly see here which people around him are like-minded and which suit him the most. Potential friendships are formed. Invitations are exchanged (to other activities, clubs e.t.c.).

THE PISCES STAGE The breaking up, the end of the dinner. As time passes the guests become tired and sleepy. One by one they start leaving. But as they return home and prepare to sleep, they somehow re-enact in their minds the whole evening, the situations and the faces. They start wondering: why that person behaved like this? Would it have been better if I had not said what I said? Should I have been more explicit to that man/woman I was attracted to? So, they somehow re-experience the feelings they felt at the dinner. By re-enacting the night, the guests will analyze them and see more clearly the main issues raised at the table. They will better understand the quality of their interaction to the various guests, they will draw better conclusions for their characters e.t.c.

It is not only in this dinner/banquet process that the 12 zodiacal principals are followed - step-by-step. The same thing happens to every single situation and process in the Universe (from the act of making love to the very production of a car), since every situation first undifferentiated itself (comes to being), then develops, flourishes and finally dissolves! The “ouroboros” (the snake eating its tail) hides behind every single manifestation in the Universe!

Thomas Gazis
Copyright: Thomas D. Gazis

(This Thomas Gazis article was published in the “Horoscope Guide” magazine, on the April 2004 issue).