Z is for Zodiac
I was going to do Zatanna today, and really I should since my normal Zatannurday posts have been taking a hit for the A to Z. But instead I want to talk about something else.
Growing up in the 70s I was exposed to what I like to call a lot of "left over hippy shit". One of those was Astrology. Now I knew astrology was bullshit at a very early age, but I also grew up up when people would ask "what's your sign?". As typical with anything from the 70s occult era, it somehow made it's way into my writings on the witch. So witches, by my reasoning, are all very much into horoscopes and everything.
This manifests itself in my book The Witch as the Aquarian Witch.
The Aquarian Witch looks to the stars, planets and beyond to divine the secrets of the universe. The meaning each witch divines can vary from witch to witch and they will often disagree on what the signs and portents mean, but they all share a common belief; that a new astrological age is coming and the change will be profound. Whether this change will be good or ill is at present unknown.
The Aquarian Witch often serves as an astrologer, soothsayer and diviner of fortunes. They are learned in the ways of the motions of the stars, planets, sun and moon so there is a practical, even mundane, application of their skills.
So this looking to the stars is less Call of Cthulhu "when the stars are right" and more "
Age of Aquarius".
I have always imagined my "
iconic" Aquarian witch as a blonde, waify, looking hippy chick. Stereotypical? Yeah. I never claimed to be 100% original. For a while I had a couple different characters that fit this iconic image, top of that list was
Megan Maclay nee O'Kelly from my
Season of the Witch game. But the best example might be Misty Day from American Horror Story: Coven.
What I really want to do with the Aquarian Witch is expand their beliefs and add more spells based on Zodiac signs.
I would stick with Classical Zodiac 12 signs like Gemini, Ares, and of course Aquarius. Though I might go with there common names like The Twins, the Ram and the Water Carrier instead. I am also still debating on whether or not to use Ophiuchus, the Snake Handler, as the 13th. I like 12 because there 12 hours on a clock and 12 months of the year. Also I have 12-sided dice. I like the idea of using "our" Zodiac as opposed to making one up. It gives me a lot different sources of materials to use and players can relate. Sure I can use Chinese, Celtic, Hindu or other Zodiacs as well.
In truth there is a lot about Astrology I don't know. Though for witch characters I will go online and input an approximate "birth date" and see what I come up with in terms of character traits. Not be a slave to those traits, but play them up more often. I really have no clue what I am reading, but I pick and choose as I like or what I feel works for the character.
Let's pick my favorite witch, Tara Maclay, who I say was born on November 7, 1980.
Here is
her natal chart.
While I can certainly see "brave" not so much the "popular". But like I said, I'll pick and choose.
For
my iconic witch Larina, I had to move to modern times, but that is easy.
Her natal chart I can make more use out of.
Has anyone out there tried this with their characters? Does it work? Are you happy with what you get?
Supernatural AtoZ
