Wine by the Zodiac Line. When in Palermo late last year, a question was posed about the bronze Zodiac line that ran North-South in the city's Cathedral. The conversation was brief, but the questions stuck. The Zodiac is Astrological and therefore Pagan. The only "sun" worship in Christianity is the worship of God's "son" Jesus, who also happens to be the "light" of the world according to John's Gospel. Later on I consulted the narrative in the Cathedral's guidebook. The Cathedral was a former masque, which converted to a church in 1135. The Zodiac line or, the Meridiana, was added in 1690, just before Pope Clement XI commissioned an extravagant solar clock in the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome. The objective of both constructions, and all those built throughout Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries, was an attempt to normalize and introduce a standard parameter to determine the date of Easter Day - the first Sunday following the full moon after the spring equinox. All well and good. But why the astrological symbolism? Astrology is the "science" of using the heavens (stars) for predicting the future - i.e. the birth, growth and development for success. This ideology of predicting the future contends with the Christian doctrine of "free will." The Church was also not very enthused about the Zodiac's pagan references to the Twelve Labors of Hercules. If anyone struggled and suffered and walked the earth for forgiveness and never-ending fame it was Jesus. During his many travels, Jesus encountered many farmers. Farmers were peasants. And peasant farmers look to the future for their farms' success. Similarly, Jesus was teaching faith in the future in a thing called the afterlife. So, if a drought or a flood prevented success this year, don't worry, faith and prayer will lead you beyond the stars of the Zodiac and into the heavens when you die. And thus, peasant farmers became prime targets and followers of the Church. In 1925 a book was published called The Man Nobody Knows. The author, Bruce Barton, an advertising executive and co-founder of BBDO, called Jesus one of the best marketers who ever lived. Jesus, Barton argued, was a man of charisma, warmth and laughter. He used stories to spread the word and symbols to unite people - bread, fish and lions (Jesus was considered the Lion of the Tribe of Judah). The Church picked up on these symbols, similar to those on the Zodiac line, to continue the message of Jesus; although, they later tried to associate the Zodiac symbols with angels - e.g. Gabriele "the bearer of good news" was put in place of Aquarius, the bearer of water. This didn't stick. And the Church was stuck with the Zodiac signs as a means to relate to the day-to-day problems of its growing constituency. Today, modern day farmers know the work of Copernicus and Galileo debunked Astrology, when the scholars stated that the sun did not revolve around the earth, but they still look to the "stars" for guidance. Even if the Church says this is blasphemy because we are the children of God and everything is supposed to revolve around him. [Note, the Catholic Church did not pardon Galileo until 1992.] Anyhow, back to point. The zodiac in the Church refers to, you guessed it, the calendar and the seasons. As a grape farmer, here is how I view it. And, good Lord willing, every wine maker will wish for the same.... Aquarius (January 20 - February 18) - the water bearer, the summers are damn hot and we like it that way. No rain. But rain all you want when we need it to "wet" the soil. Pisces (February 19 - March 20) - some say the two fishes are Venus and Cupid. Dare I say the forbidden "s" word, or as Flaubert would like to say, "intimacy occurs." Aries (March 21 - April 19) - Aries the ram is the "golden fleece" or the mother's womb. Taurus (April 20 - May 20) - the charging bull - growth is upon us. Gemini (May 21 - June 20) - the "twins" - we are fertile! Cancer (June 21 - July 22) - "parasites" will hold tight to destroy, this is when the farmers have to intervene with all those pesticides. Leo (July 23 -August 22) - the farmer conquers and the vines will show their strength. Virgo (August 23 - September 22) - Virgo is also considered Demeter, the Corn Goddess. Lest we forget, we are farmers - so, we harvest. Libra (September 23 - October 22) - "Justice," we weigh our success or failure and we sell our produce. Scorpio (October 23 - November 21) - Scorpions equate to death. Post harvest, the vines die; i.e. birth, life, death - the full cycle in 11 months. Sagittarius (November 22 - December 21) - Sag and his arrows will reverse the curse of Scorpio, killing death and revitalizing life. Capricorn (December 22 - January 19) - A goat... Pan, Bacchus, you say tomato, I say toe-ma-toe. So there it is. The Zodiac in the Church in grape skins. Eat a Lot Drink a Lot And Enjoy Wine Post - January'06 Back to home... Index of Stories E-mail me: danpetroski@yahoo.com

In terms of this website, it was created in jest vis-a-vis all seriousness for the amusement of me more than you. This site has no affiliation with the Sicilians qua the Sicilians whatsoever. Copyright 2006. As it were, no reproduction or republication without written permission.