Lucky Stones by Zodiac Sign

Legend has it that the Ram flew across the sea in search of happiness. Could people born under this zodiac sign possibly think any smaller? Aries longs to do great things. "I dare do all that may become a man," Shakespeare wrote. But what if ambitious Aries wants to do more than an ordinary person can? What if they, too, need to cross a sea, build a castle, or win the heart of an unattainable prince or princess? A little help is in order. For Aries, that help comes in the form of talismans: precious and semiprecious stones.

Mention Taurus, and some people think of Zeus the thunder god, who turned himself into a bull and carried off the beautiful Europa. Others picture a great bull in a field, walking steadily as the plow's blade cuts through the earth. He doesn't hurry, but shows no sign of tiring, either: there's a whole field to plow. Both pictures fit. Taurus' motto is "Love and hard work!"

As daring as thieves and as brave as warriors, with imagination matched by action—how could Gemini ever sit still? Their patron is Mercury, who smiles on thieves and merchants alike. Courage sits beside indecision; a willingness to help borders on mischief. Contradictions pull at both Twins, yet they share one constellation. Its two stars are Castor and Pollux, the names of the Dioscuri twins. Their motto is "Duality."

According to an ancient Greek legend, the Crab somehow ended up allied with the Hydra against Heracles! Its shell was needed less to protect its body—no armor could withstand Hercules' club—than to shelter a vulnerable heart. Those two great claws frighten no one: everyone knows there is no creature more tender or self-sacrificing. Above all, Cancer dislikes change. Loved ones are what this sign holds most dear, which is why Cancer needs the protection of loving people as well as talismans. Those people are the real shell.

In ancient China, lions guarded the gates of temples and imperial palaces. Later, stone lions took their places at entrances in cities around the world. Time passes, and everything changes. It's hard now to say whom those stone lions are protecting bridges and parks from. Only their strength and courage, pride and majesty remain unchanged.

"And Martina will keep spinning," sings a character in a children's film. That simple line captures the nature of someone born under Virgo. Let it snow, let the floods come—practical Virgo will carry on working and make a success of it!

Mention scales, and the figures that usually come to mind are Nemesis and Themis. But another mythological figure holds them, too: Kairos, god of luck and the opportune moment. Why does he need scales? He measures out good fortune to those who deserve it. Fair and impartial, pure in spirit and honest—he shares all these qualities with Libra.

Where other zodiac signs give up and retreat, Scorpio keeps moving forward, often pushing the limits of human endurance. This sign is disciplined enough to forgo every pleasure for a great goal.

Look up at the sky, and it's easy to make out a centaur among the stars: Sagittarius! He races ahead without watching the road, bow drawn. The Muses taught him to shoot, so his arrows never miss.

Why does Capricorn have a fish's tail? According to an ancient Greek legend, Pan, god of fertility and the wild, fled the fire-breathing Typhon and grew a fish's tail while hiding in the Nile. Was he the one the gods placed among the constellations as Capricorn? Or was it Amalthea, the goat who nursed the supreme god Zeus? Myths can be wonderfully tangled. It's easy to imagine a shepherd spinning them while tending a flock: heat, sea, echoes among rocks, lavender flowering on the cliffs, goats, and a boat below rocking on brilliant blue waves.

Aquarius spots a brush and paints and starts drawing. Finds a needle and thread and tries to sew something. Picks up a broken branch in an orchard and attempts to graft it onto a tree. All the while, they're already looking around for something else new and interesting. This is the zodiac sign that uses dreams to see beyond the horizon.

Among the stars, the constellation of two Fishes joined by a silver thread shimmers mysteriously.