[split] Zodiac Terminology discussion

[-JKP-]

So when I think of zodiac "sign" I think of three things:

• The pictorial representation of a specific portion of the ecliptic (animals, twins, virgo, etc.)
  
• The alphabetic-style symbols used to represent a specific zodiac (a late-medieval development)
  
• The specific zodiac name or figure assigned to a 30-degree portion of the ecliptic.
  

Part of the reason I never refer to the VMS zodiac figures as "signs" is because I don't know if they are. They are inspired by signs of the zodiac in other medieval pictorial representations (perhaps manuscripts, church portals, mosaics, or something else), but since they are not in the same number or the same starting-point, I am reluctant to think of them as signs. They might be. I'm just not sure yet.