My Sign

I was born in Fremont, Nebraska, under the sign of Aquarius(1).

I note this, not out of a reverence for astrology, but because Aquarius is the water bearer. John the Baptist(2), another water bearer, is traced back to Ea(3), the Sumerian god of water, also called Oannes, or Ioannes in Greek, Johannes in Latin, Yohanan in Hebrew, John in English(4).

This is relevant only in concert with my surname, Johannes, inherited from German ancestry, likely from the Latin, which in English is John, which is the name of Christianity’s water bearer to God, John the Baptist.

What’s more, the astrological sign for this god of water is not Aquarius but Capricorn (5). My wife is a Capricorn: under the sign of the water bearer, I bear one under the sign of the god of water.

Hence, a linguistic, semiotic, and familial astrology aligns to say that I am the water bearer.

1. Picture of Aquarius from http://hsci.cas.ou.edu/exhibits/exhibit.php?exbid=1

2. Picture of John the Baptist from http://www.unf.edu/classes/saints

3. Picture of Ea, God of Water from http://www.piney-2.com

4. Campbell, Joseph. The Masks of God: Occidental Mythology. NY: Penguin, 1991. pp. 349-50.

5. Picture of Capricorn from http://hsci.cas.ou.edu/exhibits/exhibit.php?exbid=1