72 × 12 ” 864 ” ” = 864,000 ” 72 × 18 ” 1296 ” ” = 1,296,000 ” 72 × 24 ” 1780 ” ” = 1,728,000 ” ————- Total number of years in the Maha-yuga, 4,320,000 years. At present the Vernal Equinox is at the very end of the constellation Aquarius, and there was a time when the equinox fell in the middle of Taurus, and the solstices in the middle of Leo and Aquarius respectively. Thus we find Varaha Mihira, an Indian astronomer of the fifth century, stating that in his day the solstices fell in Katakam (Cancer), and Makaram (Capricornus), but that according to former shastras they were once in the middle of Aslesha (Leo) and Kumbha (Aquarius) respectively. This tells us that some two thousand years before Mihira’s time there were Indian observations which determined the positions of the solstices among the asterisms, and it cannot have failed to strike Mihira that there was such a fact as Precession, even supposing that he had no knowledge of it from the Greek and Egyptian astronomers. It was about this time, namely 2000 B.C., that the Babylonian empire was at its height, and accordingly we find the astronomical facts written in all their records and built into their architecture. We find it in the Assyrian Bull and in the Egyptian Sphinx, wherein the four constellations which then held the cardinal points are found to be compounded. They comprise Taurus the Bull, Leo the Lion, Aquarius the Man, and Scorpio (Aquila) the Eagle. In connection with the position of the Vernal Equinox in the constellations, there are a number of very interesting myths and symbols which form an essential part of Occultism. We find, for instance, that at the time when the equinox was in the constellation Taurus the worship of the Bull as a symbol was closely associated with the Spring festivals. The Egyptians at this time decked a white Bull with garlands of flowers and set a golden discus between his horns to represent the entry of the Sun into the constellation of the Bull. Later, when the signs of the zodiac became confused with the constellations by the fact of their coincidence, the same myths and ceremonies were transferred to the signs, and remained associated with them in the popular use. Hence the May Day festival, which had its origin with the Sun in the constellation Taurus at the Vernal Equinox, came to be associated with the entry of the Sun into the sign Taurus in the month of May.