India & Constellation Orion Myths Ancient Hindu Mythology About the Hunter and Nearby Constellations In ancient Hindu mythology, the constellation Orion was the god Prajapati, who had an incestuous relationship with the dawn.
Prajapati and the Rg Veda The oldest Hindu myths are those found in the Rg Veda, which is the oldest known document in any Indo-European language and was passed down orally for several centuries before it was written.
In this ancient tradition the constellation, Orion, is the god Prajapati, one of the creator gods. In an interesting parallel with one of the Greek myths about Orion, Prajapati has a relationship with the dawn or in some versions the sky. There is a twist however. She is his daughter. The relationship is incestuous.
Dawn took the form of a doe, so Prajapati took the form of a stag to seduce her. The other gods did not approve of this incestuous relationship. They assembled a malevolent deity, Rudra, and told him to shoot the incestuous stag with an arrow. The deer or the deer's head is the modern constellation, Capricorn. Sirius, the brightest star in the sky and now thought of as one of Orion's hunting dogs, was the deer piercer who shot the arrow.
The brightest star in Taurus, Aldeberan, was called Rohini and represents the female deer. Prajapati is represented by Orion, but the row of three stars that is considered his belt in western tradition is the arrow that pierced him. The three arrow (belt) stars are Agni, Soma, and Visnu representing the shaft, head, and point of the arrow. Visnu was the solar or supreme god. Soma was both the god's ambrosia and the moon. Agni was the fire god. Extend Orion's belt to find Sirius and Aldeberan representing the deer piercer and Rohini. They are roughly equidistant from Orion's belt but on opposite sides of the belt.
In this version of the myth only Prajapati pursued Dawn, but in a later alternate version, Prajapati and his four sons, Fire, Wind, Sun, and Moon all pursue her. In this latter version Dawn was actively seductive by taking the form of a nymph.
Skanda and the Mahabharata In the Mahabharata, a later epic and the major Hindu epic, Orion was the warrior, Skanda. Skanda was the six headed son of Shiva, the god of ascetics and cosmic destruction. Skanda's aliases included Kumara, Karttikeya, and Guha. He was both the god of war and the general of the gods. Riding a red crested cock and blowing fearful sounds on a conch-shell, he thrust his spear into the White Mountain. The top split off into the sky becoming the Milky Way. The hero also killed various demons and restored peace.
Phaethon & the Chariot of the Sun The Constellation Scorpius, the Scorpion, Claims a Victim
In Greek mythology Phaethon is indirectly killed by Scorpius, the scorpion, when he tries to drive the Sun's chariot across the sky.
Scorpius and Orion In ancient Greek mythology, A scorpion sting felled Orion, the mighty hunter and warrior. They were both given an honored place in the sky as the constellations Orion and Scorpius, where the scorpion perpetually chases but never catches the hunter.
Phaethon Orion was however not the only ancient mythological hero to fall victim to the scorpion. The scorpion did not sting Phaethon and kill him directly, but it nevertheless caused his death.
In Greek mythology Phaethon was the son of a mortal woman, Clymene, and the Sun god. His mother told Phaethon that he was the son of the Sun, but the young man had to be sure.
One day Phaethon went to visit the Sun to ask. The Sun assured Phaethon that he was the boy's father. To prove it he promised to grant him anything he wished and swore an oath by the Styx that he would keep the promise.
Phaethon asked to drive the Sun's chariot across the sky one day. Prior to the rise of scientific explanations, ancient myths from many cultures explained the Sun's daily westward motion across the sky with the Sun god's daily chariot ride across the sky. The Sun tried to dissuade Phaethon because not even the gods could control the Sun's fiery chariot over its very difficult daily journey. Phaethon was however not easily discouraged. Like many young boys he had often dreamed of being like his father one day, so he insisted that the Sun keep his promise. The Sun was bound by his oath and had to allow his son to ride to his doom.
Phaethon's Fatal Ride Phaethon set out early one morning to drive the Sun's chariot on its daily journey. As his father feared, Phaethon lost control of the chariot when the scorpion scared the horses. Plunging down, the Sun's searing heat set Mother Earth on fire. She cried out to the gods for help. The king of the gods fired a thunderbolt and killed Phaethon to save Earth. Burning, he fell into the river Eridanus that extinguished the flames.
Eridanus was a legendary river that had never been seen by human eyes; in the sky it is a faint constellation, still difficult, but not impossible, for human eyes to see. In the sky, Eridanus begins near Orion's feet.
Indirectly the scorpion claimed another victim. Phaethon failed in his attempt, but he was still a hero because he tried to do something that was too difficult for even the gods. Even if only briefly, he drove the Sun's chariot. His epitaph read:
"Here Phaethon lies who drove the Sun-god's car.
Greatly he failed, but he had greatly dared."
Tewa Myth for Constellation Orion New Mexico Pueblos and the Legend of Long Sash
New Mexico's Tewa people saw the constellation Orion as the hero, Long Sash, who led his people on a long journey to safety.
Constellation Mythology Most of our modern western constellation lore derives from ancient Greek and Roman mythology. They were not however the only people with legends about the sky. Most cultures had legends or myths about Orion and other constellations. Legends about Orion often involved a hunter or other hero.
Tewa Mythology About Orion The Tewa people, who now occupy several pueblos in north central New Mexico, saw Orion as Long Sash, a hero who led his people away from their troubles.
An enemy was attacking their villages, but the Tewa people wanted to live in peace. To escape the attacks, they followed Long Sash to a new land on the endless trail, which is represented in the sky by the Milky Way.
The Milky Way is a faint white band across the sky. As seen from a very dark sky, the winter Milky Way passes near Orion and the summer Milky Way passes through Scorpius. Just as the trail that Long Sash led his people along was long; the Milky Way spans the entire sky.
The journey was so long that people began to tire of it. Being tired they started to quarrel among themselves as we all do when we are tired and irritable. Long Sash told them that they must decide whether to continue the journey and follow him or to stop.
The place of decision where they stopped is represented by two bright stars that we know as Castor and Pollux. They are the twins in the constellation Gemini.
Like most of us, Long Sash occasionally doubted himself. When Long Sash became tired and doubtful of his own ability to lead, he sat down to ask for a sign that he was on the right path. To remind his people to continue when they doubt themselves, he left his headdress in the sky at this place of doubt. In some versions of the legend, that headdress is the star cluster we know as the Pleiades in the constellation Taurus, which is close to the constellation Orion in the sky. In other versions it is a much fainter cluster known as the Praesepe (or beehive) in the constellation Cancer, which is closer to the two stars in Gemini.
After their rest at the place of doubt, the people continued their journey. Being rested however they were kinder and more helpful to each other. Two young men of the tribe helped an old woman by carrying her belongings as well as their own. The place of helpfulness is represented in the sky by three stars in the constellation Leo.
The Tewa people finally reached their new home, but have the stars in the sky to remind them of their leader and their long journey.
Nebula in the Constellation Orion Ancient Creation Mythology, Modern Astrophysics, & Star Formation Some ancient myths about the constellation Orion saw it as a mother or creator god rather than as a hunter. These myths were surprisingly prescient.
Orion Nebula The constellation, Orion, dominates the northern hemisphere winter sky. In western mythology, Orion is a hunter. The constellation has a prominent row of three stars forming his belt and a smaller row of three stars forming a sword hanging from his belt.
Close examination of the center star in the sword reveals a fuzzy patch - the famous Orion Nebula. As revealed by modern astrophysics, the Orion Nebula is a stellar nursery. The hunter's womb is giving birth to new worlds. It is a site of active ongoing star formation. Much of our modern knowledge about how stars form results from studies of the Orion Nebula
Orion as a Creator Hindu and Mayan Mythology Ancient Hindu legend associates Orion with Prajapati, a creator god.
The Maya of southern Mexico and Guatemala also associated Orion with their creator god. Orion's belt stars represented the back of a celestial turtle. First Father, their creator god, emerged from a crack in the back of this celestial turtle to put people in the world. Perhaps barely seeing the Orion Nebula as a bit of a smudgy appearance to the center star in Orion's sword and interpreting this smudge as smoke, they saw the center star in Orion's sword as the flame of creation. The Mayan hearth was a triangle of three stones. Alnitak, the easternmost belt star, along with the two feet stars, Saiph and Rigel, formed the celestial hearth cradling their fire of creation.
Frig and Norse Mythology Ancient Norse legend associates Orion with Mother Earth. The goddess Frig, was married to the supreme Nordic god Odin, also known as Allfather. As Odin's wife, Frig was queen of the gods. Among her roles were Mother Earth, the goddess of motherly love, and goddess of the atmosphere and clouds. The Scandinavians saw Orion's belt and sword as the distaff and spindle that Frig used to spin thread to make linen cloth from flax. It was Frig who gave people flax and showed them how to spin it into linen. Frig spent much of her time at her palace, Fesalin, spinning golden threads or weaving clouds. The clouds represented her linen hanging to dry.
The word nebula means clouds in Latin, so associating Orion's belt and sword with a spindle and distaff spinning clouds is surprisingly prescient. Because this cloud, or nebula, in Orion is giving birth to new worlds, stars, and solar systems associating Orion with Mother Earth is even more prescient.
The Hunter's Womb With modern astronomers' knowledge that this cloud or nebula is a stellar nursery giving birth to many new stars, Mother Earth or the Hindu or Mayan creator gods are perhaps much more appropriate metaphors for this constellation. Unbeknownst to ancient people this group of stars contains the womb giving birth to new stars and solar systems. The winter sky is dominated not by a fierce warrior or hunter killing enemies or prey, but by First Father or Mother Earth creating or giving birth to young stars and new worlds.
Orion and Scorpius Constellations Ancient Greek Myth About the Hunter and the Scorpion
In Greek mythology Orion, the hunter, was killed by the sting of Scorpius, the scorpion. They are in the sky at different times, so the scorpion cannot catch the hunter.
Orion and Scorpius Orion, the hunter, dominates the northern hemisphere winter sky. His position straddling the projection of the equator onto the sky, allows Orion to be seen from all inhabited parts of the Earth.
Just as Orion dominates the northern hemisphere winter sky, Scorpius, the scorpion, dominates the summer sky. It appears further south and in the opposite seasons than Orion.
Cosmic Chase The scorpion is poised ready to strike its next victim if it can ever catch him. In an endless cosmic chase the scorpion pursues the hunter, his intended victim, as they run across the sky. The scorpion never catches the hunter. As the scorpion appears in the east, the hunter drops below the western horizon (In Homer's words, Orion "takes a bath in the ocean."), not to reappear in the east until the scorpion takes its own bath disappearing in the west. The chase continues. They are opposite each other in the sky, so they do not appear at the same time. The hunter is never caught; the scorpion never catches its prey and cannot give the hunter another sting. The stinger remains poised never to strike.
According to ancient Greek myths a scorpion's sting felled Orion the mighty hunter. Like another hero, Achilles, Orion's heel was his downfall. The scorpion bit him in the heel. As for many mythological heroes, the hunter and scorpion both now occupy a place in the heavens. The mighty hunter is still running in fear of the scorpion's stinger. The scorpion chases but also runs in fear. It is being chased by the archer, Sagittarius, whose arrow is pointed straight at the scorpion's heart.
Greek Mythology Why did the scorpion sting the hunter? Legends abound. They frequently contradict each other and also often resemble modern soap operas.
One Greek legend holds that Orion was so proud of his ability as a hunter that he boasted of his ability to kill anything. Gaia, Mother Earth, like all mothers was protective of her young. She protected her young by sending the scorpion to kill the hunter who threatened her creatures. In The Odyssey, when Odysseus visited the underworld, he saw Orion's huge figure in a meadow in Hades tending all the beasts he had killed.
Other legends involve Artemis, goddess of the hunt. She was also the daughter of Zeus, king of the gods, and a twin sister to Apollo, god of light and truth. In one version Orion angered Artemis when he pursued her with considerably less than honorable intentions. As his punishment, she sent the scorpion to kill him.
Other contradictory legends involve triangles. In one of these triangular legends, Artemis was fond of her huntsman, Orion. Apollo became jealous of his twin sister's companion and sent the scorpion to kill Orion. Artemis, finding her favorite hunter dead, honored him by placing him in the sky.
Yet another version, mentioned briefly in The Odyssey, holds that Artemis rather than Apollo was the jealous one. She was angry because Orion also loved and possibly married the blushing goddess of the Dawn. In a fit of jealousy Artemis killed Orion either by sending the scorpion after Orion or, as in Homer's brief allusion, slinging one of her own arrows after him.
In the sky, Orion reunites with the Dawn in late summer. In July, Orion is reclining just above the eastern horizon waiting to take his lover's hand as Dawn lifts her rosy fingers out of the eastern mists. Their daily encounters become more distant and the reunion ends in the late winter when Orion sets in the west just as Dawn shows in the east. The rest of the year the lovers are separated. Orion is not visible at dawn.
Myths for the Constellation Orion Samples of Chinese, Native American, and Western Mythology Cultures worldwide had myths about the constellation Orion. He was the Stormy One, the First Slim One, as well as the cold and Chinook winds.
Orion The constellation, Orion, dominates the northern hemisphere winter sky. Its position straddling the celestial equator, insures Orion's visibility from all inhabited parts of the Earth. Most ancient cultures saw the constellation Orion as a hunter, warrior, or some other heroic pugilistic male figure, but there were exceptions. Because the constellation is so visible nearly all cultures had some type of myth or legend associated with Orion. This article outlines a small sample of myths about the constellation Orion.
The Stormy One Perhaps because Orion is so prominent during the northern hemisphere winter, he is associated with storms in many legends. This association began with the early Hindus and Babylonians. Roman writers including Virgil and Pliny often refer to Orion as the "bringer of clouds" or "the stormy one".
During the second century BC the Romans fought the first Punic war against Carthage in what is now Tunisia in northern Africa. The Romans eventually won, but they did lose three fleets of ships to a combination of battles and storms at sea. The Greek historian, Polybius, attributed the destruction of one Roman fleet during this war to the fact that the fleet set sail with Orion rising. The stormy one sent a storm.
This literary association of Orion with storms continued at least until the 17th century. In Book I line 305 of Paradise Lost, Milton refers to Orion vexing the Red-sea coast armed with fierce winds, as the Israelites fled Egypt and the waters parted.
Chinese Myth of Orion and Scorpius The Chinese saw Orion as a general or warrior, but they had a different twist on the conflict between Orion and Scorpius. In Greek mythology, the sting from Scorpius killed Orion. The Chinese however saw Scorpius as Orion's brother with whom he fought. Sibling rivalry is apparently a universal phenomenon.
In a nearby region of Asia, Mongolian tribesmen saw Orion's belt as three stags to be hunted. They were the prey rather than the hunter as is more common.
Native American Myths The Tewa tribe of New Mexico saw Orion as the hero Long Sash, who led their people on a long journey to freedom.
Their neighbors, the Navajo saw Orion as the First Slim One, or the First Slender One. They planted their crops when this constellation set at dusk, which is in May. One of the early uses of astronomy was as calendars. Early agricultural societies needed to know when to plant their crops. Interweaving their calendar with their myths allowed them to easily remember which stars represented specific seasons.
The Wasco tribe of Oregon saw Orion's belt as three fishermen in a canoe and his sword as three fishermen in another canoe. The canoes were each racing to catch a dead salmon, which was represented by a star between the belt and sword. In their region cold winds originate from the north and warm Chinook winds originate from the southwest. So the canoe to the north of the salmon, the belt stars, represented the cold wind. The sword stars, located to the south and slightly west of the salmon, form the canoe that represented the Chinook wind.
The Mayan Calendar
The foundation of all the doomsday prophecies slated for December 21, 2012 (or December 23, depending on which calculations you use) are based on the assumption that the ancient mayans knew when the world was going to end, and structured their calendar accordingly. The final day of their calendar corresponds to 21 December (or 23rd) by the Gregorian calendar which we use in the modern western world.
The Gregorian calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII on 24 February, 1582, as an update to the old Julian Calendar (introduced by Julius Caesar) to correct errors which had crept in. It is the modern calendar which we are all familiar with - twelve months of varying length making up a civil year of 365 days, with leap years every time the year number is divisible by four and not divisible by one hundred (unless it's also divisible by four hundred). The julian calendar was exactly the same, except that leap years were every fourth year with no exceptions, which led to the calendar date drifting out of alignment with the definition of a year (one orbit around the sun), with the count of years starting at the year 1AD, the traditional date of the birth of Jesus. (Updated 13-jan-2010. Previous version only considered the Long Count, ignoring the various other calendars, and the significance the mayans attached to the numbers thirteen and twenty)The ancient Mayans had a different concept of time altogether. For them, a calendar represented a mesh of spiritual and physical cycles, and they therefore had many different calendars which were used for different purposes. The calendars were based on such diverse things as astrological mythology, the menstrual cycle, astronomical observations, and mathematical calculations based on the numbers twenty and thirteen. Each day had a patron spirit, signifying that each day had specific use. The tzolk'in calendar was 260 days long, while the haab' was close to the solar year at 365 days. These two calendars were combined into a cycle lasting 52 haab's, called the Calendar Round. Within the Round were the trecena and the veintena cycles, consisting of thirteen and twenty days respectively. They also had a system called the Venus Cycle, based on the location of Venus in the night sky (they were keen and accurate astronomers), and possibly had even more cycles based on the other planets as well. The Calendar Round was very efficient and practical for normal daily affairs, such as remember religious ceremonies, harvest times, or your birthday, but since it only covered fifty two years, wasn't much use for recording history, or long term predictions. For this purpose, the Mayans devised the Long Count, and it it this Long Count on which the doomsday cultists are focusing.The Long Count works as follows: Twenty days make one uinal, 18 uinals (360 days) make one tun, 20 tuns make one k'atun, and 20 k'atuns (144000 days) make up one b'ak'tun. The calender starts at the day they believed the universe was created, and is presumed to end after 13 b'ak'tuns. Notation works like this: The date of 8.3.2.10.15 represents 8 b'ak'tuns, 3 k'atuns, 2 tuns, 10 uinals and 15 days since creation. The reasoning goes, then, that since the ancient Mayan's believed that the earth was created on date 0.0.0.0.0 and their calendar runs out of number on 13.0.0.0.0, then the world must surely end on 13.0.0.0.0, which corresponds to 21 or 23 December 2012. The first problem with this theory, I think, is that 0.0.0.0.0 corresponds with either 11 or 13 august, 3114 BC. This conflicts with geological evidence (indicating that the earth is over four billion years old), young earth creationist ideas (that the earth was created in 4004 BC), and pretty much every other mythology from around the world. What makes the ancient Mayans so trustworthy, especially when we have solid archaeological evidence of human activity from long before then? More likely the creation date was symbolic mythology, much like the Judeo-Christian creation account, and the date has no actual physical significance. Secondly, the Long Count could just as easily run up to 20.0.0.0.0 - roughly the year 8000AD. And finally, there is no evidence to suggest that the ancient Mayan's themselves attached any significance to the end of their calendar. There's no reason to believe that the Long Count wouldn't just reset, as makes sense for a cyclical system and as even our own annual calendar does. After all, December 31 is usually followed by January 1, not the end of the world! In fact the traditional interpretation of the end of the Long Count is that it signifies the beginning of a new era, a spiritual transformation (not unlike the idea of moving into The Age Of Aquarius), with no bundled apocalypse!In short, it seems that the proponents of various apocalyptic scenarios have latched onto New Age beliefs regarding the Mayan calendar, and are using 21 December 2001 as simply the latest in a very long line of Armageddon predictions. There's nothing new here to see, we can all just move along.
Prajapati and the Rg Veda The oldest Hindu myths are those found in the Rg Veda, which is the oldest known document in any Indo-European language and was passed down orally for several centuries before it was written.
In this ancient tradition the constellation, Orion, is the god Prajapati, one of the creator gods. In an interesting parallel with one of the Greek myths about Orion, Prajapati has a relationship with the dawn or in some versions the sky. There is a twist however. She is his daughter. The relationship is incestuous.
Dawn took the form of a doe, so Prajapati took the form of a stag to seduce her. The other gods did not approve of this incestuous relationship. They assembled a malevolent deity, Rudra, and told him to shoot the incestuous stag with an arrow. The deer or the deer's head is the modern constellation, Capricorn. Sirius, the brightest star in the sky and now thought of as one of Orion's hunting dogs, was the deer piercer who shot the arrow.
The brightest star in Taurus, Aldeberan, was called Rohini and represents the female deer. Prajapati is represented by Orion, but the row of three stars that is considered his belt in western tradition is the arrow that pierced him. The three arrow (belt) stars are Agni, Soma, and Visnu representing the shaft, head, and point of the arrow. Visnu was the solar or supreme god. Soma was both the god's ambrosia and the moon. Agni was the fire god. Extend Orion's belt to find Sirius and Aldeberan representing the deer piercer and Rohini. They are roughly equidistant from Orion's belt but on opposite sides of the belt.
In this version of the myth only Prajapati pursued Dawn, but in a later alternate version, Prajapati and his four sons, Fire, Wind, Sun, and Moon all pursue her. In this latter version Dawn was actively seductive by taking the form of a nymph.
Skanda and the Mahabharata In the Mahabharata, a later epic and the major Hindu epic, Orion was the warrior, Skanda. Skanda was the six headed son of Shiva, the god of ascetics and cosmic destruction. Skanda's aliases included Kumara, Karttikeya, and Guha. He was both the god of war and the general of the gods. Riding a red crested cock and blowing fearful sounds on a conch-shell, he thrust his spear into the White Mountain. The top split off into the sky becoming the Milky Way. The hero also killed various demons and restored peace.
Phaethon & the Chariot of the Sun The Constellation Scorpius, the Scorpion, Claims a Victim
In Greek mythology Phaethon is indirectly killed by Scorpius, the scorpion, when he tries to drive the Sun's chariot across the sky.
Scorpius and Orion In ancient Greek mythology, A scorpion sting felled Orion, the mighty hunter and warrior. They were both given an honored place in the sky as the constellations Orion and Scorpius, where the scorpion perpetually chases but never catches the hunter.
Phaethon Orion was however not the only ancient mythological hero to fall victim to the scorpion. The scorpion did not sting Phaethon and kill him directly, but it nevertheless caused his death.
In Greek mythology Phaethon was the son of a mortal woman, Clymene, and the Sun god. His mother told Phaethon that he was the son of the Sun, but the young man had to be sure.
One day Phaethon went to visit the Sun to ask. The Sun assured Phaethon that he was the boy's father. To prove it he promised to grant him anything he wished and swore an oath by the Styx that he would keep the promise.
Phaethon asked to drive the Sun's chariot across the sky one day. Prior to the rise of scientific explanations, ancient myths from many cultures explained the Sun's daily westward motion across the sky with the Sun god's daily chariot ride across the sky. The Sun tried to dissuade Phaethon because not even the gods could control the Sun's fiery chariot over its very difficult daily journey. Phaethon was however not easily discouraged. Like many young boys he had often dreamed of being like his father one day, so he insisted that the Sun keep his promise. The Sun was bound by his oath and had to allow his son to ride to his doom.
Phaethon's Fatal Ride Phaethon set out early one morning to drive the Sun's chariot on its daily journey. As his father feared, Phaethon lost control of the chariot when the scorpion scared the horses. Plunging down, the Sun's searing heat set Mother Earth on fire. She cried out to the gods for help. The king of the gods fired a thunderbolt and killed Phaethon to save Earth. Burning, he fell into the river Eridanus that extinguished the flames.
Eridanus was a legendary river that had never been seen by human eyes; in the sky it is a faint constellation, still difficult, but not impossible, for human eyes to see. In the sky, Eridanus begins near Orion's feet.
Indirectly the scorpion claimed another victim. Phaethon failed in his attempt, but he was still a hero because he tried to do something that was too difficult for even the gods. Even if only briefly, he drove the Sun's chariot. His epitaph read:
"Here Phaethon lies who drove the Sun-god's car.
Greatly he failed, but he had greatly dared."
Tewa Myth for Constellation Orion New Mexico Pueblos and the Legend of Long Sash
New Mexico's Tewa people saw the constellation Orion as the hero, Long Sash, who led his people on a long journey to safety.
Constellation Mythology Most of our modern western constellation lore derives from ancient Greek and Roman mythology. They were not however the only people with legends about the sky. Most cultures had legends or myths about Orion and other constellations. Legends about Orion often involved a hunter or other hero.
Tewa Mythology About Orion The Tewa people, who now occupy several pueblos in north central New Mexico, saw Orion as Long Sash, a hero who led his people away from their troubles.
An enemy was attacking their villages, but the Tewa people wanted to live in peace. To escape the attacks, they followed Long Sash to a new land on the endless trail, which is represented in the sky by the Milky Way.
The Milky Way is a faint white band across the sky. As seen from a very dark sky, the winter Milky Way passes near Orion and the summer Milky Way passes through Scorpius. Just as the trail that Long Sash led his people along was long; the Milky Way spans the entire sky.
The journey was so long that people began to tire of it. Being tired they started to quarrel among themselves as we all do when we are tired and irritable. Long Sash told them that they must decide whether to continue the journey and follow him or to stop.
The place of decision where they stopped is represented by two bright stars that we know as Castor and Pollux. They are the twins in the constellation Gemini.
Like most of us, Long Sash occasionally doubted himself. When Long Sash became tired and doubtful of his own ability to lead, he sat down to ask for a sign that he was on the right path. To remind his people to continue when they doubt themselves, he left his headdress in the sky at this place of doubt. In some versions of the legend, that headdress is the star cluster we know as the Pleiades in the constellation Taurus, which is close to the constellation Orion in the sky. In other versions it is a much fainter cluster known as the Praesepe (or beehive) in the constellation Cancer, which is closer to the two stars in Gemini.
After their rest at the place of doubt, the people continued their journey. Being rested however they were kinder and more helpful to each other. Two young men of the tribe helped an old woman by carrying her belongings as well as their own. The place of helpfulness is represented in the sky by three stars in the constellation Leo.
The Tewa people finally reached their new home, but have the stars in the sky to remind them of their leader and their long journey.
Nebula in the Constellation Orion Ancient Creation Mythology, Modern Astrophysics, & Star Formation Some ancient myths about the constellation Orion saw it as a mother or creator god rather than as a hunter. These myths were surprisingly prescient.
Orion Nebula The constellation, Orion, dominates the northern hemisphere winter sky. In western mythology, Orion is a hunter. The constellation has a prominent row of three stars forming his belt and a smaller row of three stars forming a sword hanging from his belt.
Close examination of the center star in the sword reveals a fuzzy patch - the famous Orion Nebula. As revealed by modern astrophysics, the Orion Nebula is a stellar nursery. The hunter's womb is giving birth to new worlds. It is a site of active ongoing star formation. Much of our modern knowledge about how stars form results from studies of the Orion Nebula
Orion as a Creator Hindu and Mayan Mythology Ancient Hindu legend associates Orion with Prajapati, a creator god.
The Maya of southern Mexico and Guatemala also associated Orion with their creator god. Orion's belt stars represented the back of a celestial turtle. First Father, their creator god, emerged from a crack in the back of this celestial turtle to put people in the world. Perhaps barely seeing the Orion Nebula as a bit of a smudgy appearance to the center star in Orion's sword and interpreting this smudge as smoke, they saw the center star in Orion's sword as the flame of creation. The Mayan hearth was a triangle of three stones. Alnitak, the easternmost belt star, along with the two feet stars, Saiph and Rigel, formed the celestial hearth cradling their fire of creation.
Frig and Norse Mythology Ancient Norse legend associates Orion with Mother Earth. The goddess Frig, was married to the supreme Nordic god Odin, also known as Allfather. As Odin's wife, Frig was queen of the gods. Among her roles were Mother Earth, the goddess of motherly love, and goddess of the atmosphere and clouds. The Scandinavians saw Orion's belt and sword as the distaff and spindle that Frig used to spin thread to make linen cloth from flax. It was Frig who gave people flax and showed them how to spin it into linen. Frig spent much of her time at her palace, Fesalin, spinning golden threads or weaving clouds. The clouds represented her linen hanging to dry.
The word nebula means clouds in Latin, so associating Orion's belt and sword with a spindle and distaff spinning clouds is surprisingly prescient. Because this cloud, or nebula, in Orion is giving birth to new worlds, stars, and solar systems associating Orion with Mother Earth is even more prescient.
The Hunter's Womb With modern astronomers' knowledge that this cloud or nebula is a stellar nursery giving birth to many new stars, Mother Earth or the Hindu or Mayan creator gods are perhaps much more appropriate metaphors for this constellation. Unbeknownst to ancient people this group of stars contains the womb giving birth to new stars and solar systems. The winter sky is dominated not by a fierce warrior or hunter killing enemies or prey, but by First Father or Mother Earth creating or giving birth to young stars and new worlds.
Orion and Scorpius Constellations Ancient Greek Myth About the Hunter and the Scorpion
In Greek mythology Orion, the hunter, was killed by the sting of Scorpius, the scorpion. They are in the sky at different times, so the scorpion cannot catch the hunter.
Orion and Scorpius Orion, the hunter, dominates the northern hemisphere winter sky. His position straddling the projection of the equator onto the sky, allows Orion to be seen from all inhabited parts of the Earth.
Just as Orion dominates the northern hemisphere winter sky, Scorpius, the scorpion, dominates the summer sky. It appears further south and in the opposite seasons than Orion.
Cosmic Chase The scorpion is poised ready to strike its next victim if it can ever catch him. In an endless cosmic chase the scorpion pursues the hunter, his intended victim, as they run across the sky. The scorpion never catches the hunter. As the scorpion appears in the east, the hunter drops below the western horizon (In Homer's words, Orion "takes a bath in the ocean."), not to reappear in the east until the scorpion takes its own bath disappearing in the west. The chase continues. They are opposite each other in the sky, so they do not appear at the same time. The hunter is never caught; the scorpion never catches its prey and cannot give the hunter another sting. The stinger remains poised never to strike.
According to ancient Greek myths a scorpion's sting felled Orion the mighty hunter. Like another hero, Achilles, Orion's heel was his downfall. The scorpion bit him in the heel. As for many mythological heroes, the hunter and scorpion both now occupy a place in the heavens. The mighty hunter is still running in fear of the scorpion's stinger. The scorpion chases but also runs in fear. It is being chased by the archer, Sagittarius, whose arrow is pointed straight at the scorpion's heart.
Greek Mythology Why did the scorpion sting the hunter? Legends abound. They frequently contradict each other and also often resemble modern soap operas.
One Greek legend holds that Orion was so proud of his ability as a hunter that he boasted of his ability to kill anything. Gaia, Mother Earth, like all mothers was protective of her young. She protected her young by sending the scorpion to kill the hunter who threatened her creatures. In The Odyssey, when Odysseus visited the underworld, he saw Orion's huge figure in a meadow in Hades tending all the beasts he had killed.
Other legends involve Artemis, goddess of the hunt. She was also the daughter of Zeus, king of the gods, and a twin sister to Apollo, god of light and truth. In one version Orion angered Artemis when he pursued her with considerably less than honorable intentions. As his punishment, she sent the scorpion to kill him.
Other contradictory legends involve triangles. In one of these triangular legends, Artemis was fond of her huntsman, Orion. Apollo became jealous of his twin sister's companion and sent the scorpion to kill Orion. Artemis, finding her favorite hunter dead, honored him by placing him in the sky.
Yet another version, mentioned briefly in The Odyssey, holds that Artemis rather than Apollo was the jealous one. She was angry because Orion also loved and possibly married the blushing goddess of the Dawn. In a fit of jealousy Artemis killed Orion either by sending the scorpion after Orion or, as in Homer's brief allusion, slinging one of her own arrows after him.
In the sky, Orion reunites with the Dawn in late summer. In July, Orion is reclining just above the eastern horizon waiting to take his lover's hand as Dawn lifts her rosy fingers out of the eastern mists. Their daily encounters become more distant and the reunion ends in the late winter when Orion sets in the west just as Dawn shows in the east. The rest of the year the lovers are separated. Orion is not visible at dawn.
Myths for the Constellation Orion Samples of Chinese, Native American, and Western Mythology Cultures worldwide had myths about the constellation Orion. He was the Stormy One, the First Slim One, as well as the cold and Chinook winds.
Orion The constellation, Orion, dominates the northern hemisphere winter sky. Its position straddling the celestial equator, insures Orion's visibility from all inhabited parts of the Earth. Most ancient cultures saw the constellation Orion as a hunter, warrior, or some other heroic pugilistic male figure, but there were exceptions. Because the constellation is so visible nearly all cultures had some type of myth or legend associated with Orion. This article outlines a small sample of myths about the constellation Orion.
The Stormy One Perhaps because Orion is so prominent during the northern hemisphere winter, he is associated with storms in many legends. This association began with the early Hindus and Babylonians. Roman writers including Virgil and Pliny often refer to Orion as the "bringer of clouds" or "the stormy one".
During the second century BC the Romans fought the first Punic war against Carthage in what is now Tunisia in northern Africa. The Romans eventually won, but they did lose three fleets of ships to a combination of battles and storms at sea. The Greek historian, Polybius, attributed the destruction of one Roman fleet during this war to the fact that the fleet set sail with Orion rising. The stormy one sent a storm.
This literary association of Orion with storms continued at least until the 17th century. In Book I line 305 of Paradise Lost, Milton refers to Orion vexing the Red-sea coast armed with fierce winds, as the Israelites fled Egypt and the waters parted.
Chinese Myth of Orion and Scorpius The Chinese saw Orion as a general or warrior, but they had a different twist on the conflict between Orion and Scorpius. In Greek mythology, the sting from Scorpius killed Orion. The Chinese however saw Scorpius as Orion's brother with whom he fought. Sibling rivalry is apparently a universal phenomenon.
In a nearby region of Asia, Mongolian tribesmen saw Orion's belt as three stags to be hunted. They were the prey rather than the hunter as is more common.
Native American Myths The Tewa tribe of New Mexico saw Orion as the hero Long Sash, who led their people on a long journey to freedom.
Their neighbors, the Navajo saw Orion as the First Slim One, or the First Slender One. They planted their crops when this constellation set at dusk, which is in May. One of the early uses of astronomy was as calendars. Early agricultural societies needed to know when to plant their crops. Interweaving their calendar with their myths allowed them to easily remember which stars represented specific seasons.
The Wasco tribe of Oregon saw Orion's belt as three fishermen in a canoe and his sword as three fishermen in another canoe. The canoes were each racing to catch a dead salmon, which was represented by a star between the belt and sword. In their region cold winds originate from the north and warm Chinook winds originate from the southwest. So the canoe to the north of the salmon, the belt stars, represented the cold wind. The sword stars, located to the south and slightly west of the salmon, form the canoe that represented the Chinook wind.
The Mayan Calendar
The foundation of all the doomsday prophecies slated for December 21, 2012 (or December 23, depending on which calculations you use) are based on the assumption that the ancient mayans knew when the world was going to end, and structured their calendar accordingly. The final day of their calendar corresponds to 21 December (or 23rd) by the Gregorian calendar which we use in the modern western world.
The Gregorian calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII on 24 February, 1582, as an update to the old Julian Calendar (introduced by Julius Caesar) to correct errors which had crept in. It is the modern calendar which we are all familiar with - twelve months of varying length making up a civil year of 365 days, with leap years every time the year number is divisible by four and not divisible by one hundred (unless it's also divisible by four hundred). The julian calendar was exactly the same, except that leap years were every fourth year with no exceptions, which led to the calendar date drifting out of alignment with the definition of a year (one orbit around the sun), with the count of years starting at the year 1AD, the traditional date of the birth of Jesus. (Updated 13-jan-2010. Previous version only considered the Long Count, ignoring the various other calendars, and the significance the mayans attached to the numbers thirteen and twenty)The ancient Mayans had a different concept of time altogether. For them, a calendar represented a mesh of spiritual and physical cycles, and they therefore had many different calendars which were used for different purposes. The calendars were based on such diverse things as astrological mythology, the menstrual cycle, astronomical observations, and mathematical calculations based on the numbers twenty and thirteen. Each day had a patron spirit, signifying that each day had specific use. The tzolk'in calendar was 260 days long, while the haab' was close to the solar year at 365 days. These two calendars were combined into a cycle lasting 52 haab's, called the Calendar Round. Within the Round were the trecena and the veintena cycles, consisting of thirteen and twenty days respectively. They also had a system called the Venus Cycle, based on the location of Venus in the night sky (they were keen and accurate astronomers), and possibly had even more cycles based on the other planets as well. The Calendar Round was very efficient and practical for normal daily affairs, such as remember religious ceremonies, harvest times, or your birthday, but since it only covered fifty two years, wasn't much use for recording history, or long term predictions. For this purpose, the Mayans devised the Long Count, and it it this Long Count on which the doomsday cultists are focusing.The Long Count works as follows: Twenty days make one uinal, 18 uinals (360 days) make one tun, 20 tuns make one k'atun, and 20 k'atuns (144000 days) make up one b'ak'tun. The calender starts at the day they believed the universe was created, and is presumed to end after 13 b'ak'tuns. Notation works like this: The date of 8.3.2.10.15 represents 8 b'ak'tuns, 3 k'atuns, 2 tuns, 10 uinals and 15 days since creation. The reasoning goes, then, that since the ancient Mayan's believed that the earth was created on date 0.0.0.0.0 and their calendar runs out of number on 13.0.0.0.0, then the world must surely end on 13.0.0.0.0, which corresponds to 21 or 23 December 2012. The first problem with this theory, I think, is that 0.0.0.0.0 corresponds with either 11 or 13 august, 3114 BC. This conflicts with geological evidence (indicating that the earth is over four billion years old), young earth creationist ideas (that the earth was created in 4004 BC), and pretty much every other mythology from around the world. What makes the ancient Mayans so trustworthy, especially when we have solid archaeological evidence of human activity from long before then? More likely the creation date was symbolic mythology, much like the Judeo-Christian creation account, and the date has no actual physical significance. Secondly, the Long Count could just as easily run up to 20.0.0.0.0 - roughly the year 8000AD. And finally, there is no evidence to suggest that the ancient Mayan's themselves attached any significance to the end of their calendar. There's no reason to believe that the Long Count wouldn't just reset, as makes sense for a cyclical system and as even our own annual calendar does. After all, December 31 is usually followed by January 1, not the end of the world! In fact the traditional interpretation of the end of the Long Count is that it signifies the beginning of a new era, a spiritual transformation (not unlike the idea of moving into The Age Of Aquarius), with no bundled apocalypse!In short, it seems that the proponents of various apocalyptic scenarios have latched onto New Age beliefs regarding the Mayan calendar, and are using 21 December 2001 as simply the latest in a very long line of Armageddon predictions. There's nothing new here to see, we can all just move along.