Zodiac - Aries: The Year of the Sheep
What's all this Aries stuff I here you say!
Aries is an astrological sign, largely associated with the constellation Aries. Under the tropical zodiac, Aries is occupied by the Sun from about March 21 to April 20 (depending on the exact year) and is associated with the Spring Equinox. Under the sidereal zodiac, it is currently from April 15 to May 15. The opposite sign to Aries is Libra. Aries is the first sign of the Zodiac and associated with fresh vigor and new beginnings. Individuals born under this sign are thought to have a confident, energetic, adventurous, enthusiastic, fair, passionate, and pioneering character but one which is also prone to selfishness, boastfulness, intolerance, impulsiveness, and impatience. In terms of anatomy Aries is said to rule the cranium, jaw, facial bones, brain, upper teeth, carotid arteries, and nerve centers. In terms of geography Aries is linked with England, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland, Syria, and Poland. In mythology Aries is often associated with the Greek myth of the ram which carried Athamas's son Phrixus and daughter Helle to Colchis to escape their stepmother Ino, as well as the mythological figure of Theseus, from the Greek myth of the Minotaur. Aries is also associated with the Greco-Roman god Ares/Mars.
Mythology
When including fainter stars, visible to the naked eye, the area resembles the head of a ram, having a general herbivore head shape and a spiral horn. In Greek mythology, this is believed to represent the ram which carried Athamas's son Phrixus and daughter Helle to Colchis to escape their stepmother Ino. Helle fell off into the sea which later became the Hellespont. On reaching safety, Phrixis sacrificed the ram and hung its fleece in the Grove of Ares, where it turned to gold and later became the quest of Jason and the Argonauts. It appears that Babylonians, Greeks, Persians and Egyptians all agreed on the name of the Ram for this constellation. The main area of the sky constituting the sign of Aries, containing part of Pisces, the Pleiades, and the constellation of Andromeda, may be the origin of the myth of the girdle of Hippolyte, which forms part of The Twelve Labours of Hercules.
Famous humans, lucky to be born in the year of the sheep
Jane Austen, Anne Bancroft, Cilla Black, Elkie Brooks, Coco Chanel, Nat "King" Cole, Catherine Deneuve, John Denver, Ken Dodd, Douglas Fairbanks, Mel Gibson, Paul Michael Glaser, Mikhail Gorbachev, Larry Hagman, George Harrison, Hulk Hogan, Isabelle Huppert, Julio Iglesias, Mick Jagger, Paul Keating, Ben Kingsley, Franz Liszt, John Major, Michelangelo, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Nimoy, Robert deNiro, Oliver North, Des O'conner, Michael Palin, Keith Richards, William Shatner, Freddie Starr, Lana Turner, Mark Twain, Rudolph Valentino, Vangelis, Terry Venables, Lech Walesa, Barbara Walters, Andy Worhol, John Wayne, Tuesday Weld, Bruce Willis, Debra Winger.
