The animal itself
Salmon navigate thousands of kilometres to the exact stream they hatched in, using an imprinted memory of its smell plus the earth's magnetic field. Most die within weeks of arriving.2 of 2 calendars · 80 searches a month
Salmon
Returning to the source against the current.
Which calendar assigns it, and when
Celtic calendar
5 August – 1 September
Its tree
Hazel
Native American calendar
22 July – 21 August
Its zodiac sign
Leo
Unusual: salmon appears in both calendars. The two systems agree on only 17 days of the year out of 365, so an animal claimed by both is the exception rather than the rule.
What it stands for, and where that came from
Returning to the source against the current — the only animal in either calendar defined by going back rather than forward.
Honoured in: Irish myth makes the salmon the holder of all knowledge; Pacific Northwest nations treat its return as the central annual event.
The symbolism usually grew out of the behaviour rather than the other way round — which is the part worth keeping when the rest is set aside.