Sweet Scorpions

If you’re a scorching Scorpio like Joni Mitchell, Neil Young or Goldie Hawn, you may have wondered why the symbol for your star sign is a scorpion, after all they don’t really score high in the cuddly critters list. Astrology was developed in the Northern Hemisphere, and when Scorpio graces the sky, animals and humans tend to hide from the inclement weather just as a scorpion hides amongst the rocks. The notion that this particular constellation is related to scorpions goes back into distant history. In 1,000 BC, the Mesopotamians knew it as Mul Gir-Tab (the scorpion), and there is a suggestion that the name may date back to the Old Babylonian period. Unappealing as these antisocial anthropoids can seem, scorpions have been important to many ancient faiths; in the Epic of Gilgamesh they act as magical guardians. In ancient Egypt, they were the companions of Isis and were also one of the aspects of the goddess Selkhet. Selkhet protected the dead, but she was also a fertility goddess who guarded one of the sources of the river Nile. So, next time you feel that Scorpio’s were rather cheated in their allocation of astrological symbol, think again, the mystical and magical scorpion might just suit them well.