Make comments on the constellations here
Make comments on the constellation pages here.
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on Saturday, December 19th, 2009 at 6:53 pm and is filed under Fixed Stars and Constellations Forum.
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Hi. Looks like a good start on a constellation website. I found a number of errors, though. For example; Scorpius and Capricornus are the names of of the constellations, not Scorpio and Capricorn. Still working this site?
Hi Ray
This has been bugging me for some time. When I did notice I didn’t have time to change it and then forgot. I hoped no one else noticed.
I have changed Scorpio to Scorpius and Capricorn to Capricornus on all pages since I got your email.
Please let me know if there is anything else that I should change.
Thank you!
Anne
Hello Anne,
Though I am as yet unfamiliar with his work, I was interested to find that Ray Mardyck had decoded the calendrical symbolism (4 sides x 13 levels) of the Great Seal of America which appears on the back of the dollar bill. Unfortunately, I learned, Ray’s website is no longer available.
While researching, I discovered this interesting snippet apropos our research of the Goddess Bast – perhaps the name relates to the Greek – sa’b – which means ’star’.
http://22-18-13.tribe.net/thread/7e845946-8d73-49d5-9983-ed8badb72f95
“The Golden Gate The Silver Gate
The Golden Gate is at the point where the ecliptic (dotted line) crosses the Milky Way, just near Galactic Centre (GC); the part of the sky which was of great interest to the Mayan people. At the other end of the Milky Way, the Silver Gate is above Orion, at the centre of the Duat; the Egyptian Netherworld which was represented on the ground in the Giza area.
The ancient Greeks, who received much of their knowledge from Egypt, believed that souls reside in the Milky Way between incarnations, and that there are 2 “gates” on the Milky Way. These are the Silver Gate of Gemini, through which souls descend to earth, and the Golden Gate of Sagittarius, through which souls ascend. Other versions say the souls of men can ascend by either gate, but that the Silver Gate leads to reincarnation and the ancestors, and the Golden Gate leads beyond reincarnation. The Golden Gate is also that through which the Gods descend.
The Silver Gate is just above the “hand” of Orion, who the Egyptians associated with Osiris, and they depicted him holding a star in his hand. In the Orion Mystery, Bauval & Gilbert presumed this to be the star Aldebaran. Now, Gilbert has found that the Egyptian word for star, s’ba, also means “door”, so Osiris is holding a Star-Gate. In some depictions, Osiris is holding an ankh towards the gate, so this must be the key which unlocks the star-gate.”
Of course we also know that the astrological symbol for Venus is the ANKH, or KEY to Life, being a combined form of the yonic 0 and phallic 1. Smile.
Myrios
Addendum to post above – to find the above quotation, when the link comes up, scroll to the bottom of the page, then click on “Rebirth of Osiris” by Karina.
Myrios
Anne: I have been updating a star list and notice that some of your data seems incorrect. When I get to another source for accurate coordinates, I’ll let you know. From past experience, I know M. Erlewine’s list has numerous errors.
Myrios: I believe it is fortunate that my website is down. I stopped playing, when I noticed how much of the information began to circulate as disconnected misinformation. The “stars and constellations” are experiential on a soul level and without having experienced this themselves, many pass around information about the stars that is mostly wrong or made up; Richard H. Allen and the “silver gate” for example. The “stargate” is actually closer to Orion’s belt as is keyed into, on one level by the 11:11 code. There is a good reason why in so many thousands of years, there is no good single book about the stars and constellations. When a Maya 13-katun cycle in placed on the 13-layer pyramid (Canis Major/Sirius), starting the summer of 1776, the top is reached 12.21.2012. The 13 5-pointed stars in the other half of the seal (Lyra) also hold great mystery. The “images” or “icons” of the constellations hold the keys to making the stars conscious.
Hi Ray
>Anne: I have been updating a star list and notice that some of your data seems incorrect. When I get to another source for accurate coordinates, I’ll let you know.
I would very much appreciate any data you could get on correct coordinates.
Many thanks
Anne
Lupus is the “victim” of two theta stars
Yes, the one at 5Sag would be right. The other one probably should be pi or mu.
Have not been here in a while – thanks for your comments, Ray. I look forward to more of your insights. But I think human chicken’s laid the sky eggs when they invented them, along with the names they assigned to them; thus appropriating them to human desires and devices …. A-DAM is a an EVVE, which is a female sheep …smile. So widespread computerised disinformation and miss-in-form-at-ion ensures that we will continue to live in a self-created WORDLY LIE.
Myrios
It was noticed that magha nakshatra was listed as the wrong number nakshatra. Were you using an ancient schema of the nakshatras? Or was this just an error? I realize that the start of the nakshatras was changed to ashwin from its original order, but I forget what the original starting nakshatra was.
Dear Anne,
Having just finished an initial reading of your exsposition on the nomenclature surrounding ORION, a most significant star group readily identifiable and visible worldwide as marking one of the three “Cardinal Points” in the sky, I congratulate you on your extraordinary patience and tenacity in researching this difficult work from a wide variety of “sources”. It is clear from this reading, that when it comes to Sky Lore, nothing is ‘writ in stone’. Smile.
Cutting to the quick regarding potential “source-errors” vis-a-vis the order, identification, and naming of specific sky-bodies, I would respectfully observe (for all who read here) that the nomenclature ascribed to specific star-bodies derives from ancient Oral Myth. As such, the names and identifications as originally first written down, thence trans-scribed, re-transcribed, interpreted and re-interpreted, or even re-assigned to completely different sky-bodies by various ancient and successive generations of differing scholars in many languages, can not claim any degree of accuracy. Sky Lore and Star names can only be what they are :- FABLED. Allen’s brief passage below, as quoted from your Orion Page, well illustrates this fact:-
{Page 316} Seamen have called it the Golden Yard-arm; tradesmen, the L, or Ell, the Ell and Yard, the Yard-stick, and the Yard-wand, as occupying 3° between the outer stars, — the Elwand of Gavin Douglas; Catholics, Our Lady’s Wand; and the husbandmen of France and along the Rhine, Rateau, the Rake. In Upper Germany it has been the Three Mowers; and it is often the Magi, the Three Kings, the Three Marys, or simply the Three Stars, that Tennyson had in his Princess, —
those three stars of the airy Giants’ zone
That glitter burnished by the frosty dark.
The celestial equator now passes through the Belt, but was 12° below it 4000 years ago.
[Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning, Richard H. Allen, 1889.]
Thankyou again Anne, for this important ongoing research and expositon of Star Lore.
Myrios
“When the return of the Sun took place from the middle of Aslesha, the solstice was then right. It now takes place from Punarvasu” (Varaha Mihira). Aslesha is 16:40 Cancer – 00:00 Leo in the sidereal zodiac and Punarvasu is 20:00 Gemini – 3:20 Cancer in the sidereal zodiac.
“On the new Moon of Magha he (the Sun) rests, being about to turn northwards: the priests also rest… He goes north for six months… Having gone north for six months he stands still, being about to turn southwards…” (Kaushitaki Brahmana XIX.3) Here we can see with precession that the year is around 1300 B.C. when this text was recorded.
“Easy to invoke, oh Agni, may the Krittikas and Rohini be, auspicious Mrigashira and peaceful Ardra. Graceful be Punarvasu, beautiful Pushya, bright Aslesha, with the solstice at Magha for me. Virtuous be Purva Phalguni and Uttara, Hasta and Chitra peaceful and may Swati give me joy. Bounteous Vishakha, easy to invoke, Anuradha, the best nakshatra Jyeshta, I invoke, and Mula. May Purva Ashadha provide me nourishment and Divine Uttara Ashadha give me strength. May Abhijit provide virtue, as Shravana and Shravishta grant beauty. May Shatabhishak give me greatness for expansion, and the two Proshtapadas give protection. May Revati and Ashwayujaur give me fortune and Bharani grant me wealth” (AV XIX.7.2-4) Here we see the nakshatras being invoked and by precession we know that in this order and with the solstice mentioned, the year is between 2465 – 1745 B.C. (depending also on the ayanamsha used).
“One should consecrate the fire in the Krittikas;… the Krittikas are the mouth of the Nakshatras” (Taittiriya Brahmana I.1.2.1) Again a reference to the Krittikas (Aries 26:40 – Taurus 10:00 in the sidereal zodiac) as the first constellation rather than Ashwini (Aries 00:00 – Aries 13:20 in the sidereal zodiac).
“The Nakshatras are the houses of the Gods… the Nakshatras of the Gods begin with the Krittikas and end with Vishakha, whereas the Nakshatras of Yama begin with Anuradha and end with the Apabharani” (TB I.5.2.7)
“The Moon is placed in the midst of these constellations. The bridal train of the Sun Goddess comes, which the Sun has set in motion. In the month of Agha the cows are slain, in Arjuni she is wed” (RV X.85.2 & 13) The cows represent the rays of the Sun and are slain in Magha. The month of Phalguni or Arjuni would mark the winter solstice here. The two Phalgunis represent 13:20 Leo – 10:00 Virgo in the sidereal zodiac. This would place the year of this record at 4515 – 2515 B.C. when the Phalgunis marked the new year, rather than Krittika later on, and Ashwini as it was later on due to precession.
“Uttara Phalguni is the mouth of the year. Purva Phalguni is its tail, just as two ends of a thing meet so these two ends of the year meet together” (Gopatha Brahmana I.19).
“The full Moon night in the Phalgunis is the beginning of the year; the latter Phalgunis are the beginning, the former the end. Just as the two ends of a circle unite, so these two ends of the year are connected…” (Kaushitaki Brahmana V.1).
“Chitra is the head of Prajapati [the God of sacrifice or the year], Swati the heart, Hasta the hand, Vishakha the thighs, and Anuradha the foot” (Taittiriya Brahmana I.5.2.2). Chitra is 23:20 Virgo – 6:40 Libra in the sidereal zodiac. This is a record written in hindsight or traditionally, and it represents Chitra as the summer solstice – which is a reference to a time around 6000 B.C.
Anne,
As you can see, the order of the nakshatras changes with the precession of the equinoxes, and therefore the order of the nakshatras which you have on your website starting with Krittika is representative of the past: c.a. 2465 – 1745 B.C.
The order of the nakshatras always follows precession. The contemporary use of Ashwini as the first nakshatra is actually outdated as well, since on the spring equinox it is Uttarabhadrapada which houses the Sun at the present time.
Uttarabhadrapada (3:20 – 16:40 Pisces in the sidereal zodiac) is the 1st nakshatra as the situation stands at the present. Many jyotishis still list Ashwini (00:00 – 13:20 Aries in the sidereal zodiac) as the 1st nakshatra but this is already outdated as well.
Something to consider…
Hi wandering
My information on the Nakshatras is copied directly from Robson on this page http://www.constellationsofwords.com/stars/MoonMansions.htm
Robson, himself, expressed his doubts as to how the mansions should be used in Western astrology.
Robson lists the Pleiades as the 1st mansion and it seems from his explanation that this was traditional.
The Pleiades (Krittikas) are in Taurus and Taurus marked the vernal equinox from about 4000 BC to 1700 BC. Robson tells of the belief that the mansions started when the Pleiades marked the vernal equinox.
The numbered order of the mansions may not be correct at this time, but we know the position of the stars within those mansions, and that hasn’t changed.
I know his listings are a bit out of date and others use the stars of Aries as the first constellation, but his information on the stars within those mansions is what matters to most people (though it might mean something else to a Hindu astrolger).
The mansion name and its stars are still the same, they just have different numbers.
I am only quoting Robson and have added nothing else myself.
Anne
Hi Anne,
Do you have any books published on this topic? I’d love to have a hard copy.
Agnes
Hi Agnes
Thank you for your interest. I take your question as a great compliment.
No, I don’t have a published book at this stage.
I am still trying to find all the word patterns. I lost interest for a couple of years up till about a month ago.
Now that my interest has returned again I’m dreaming about completing this project.
Who knows what that will lead to? Maybe a book one day, but that might be some years yet.
Best wishes
Anne
Interesting and useful website. I would especially appreciate if you added more nautical terminology connections you run across. Regarding Vulpecula, I noticed a connection between the Offering of First Fruits the third day after Passover (the day of resurrection) and the various etymologies you mentioned regarding foxes getting the ripe fruits and also clergy depicted as foxes. It is in an area of the sky relative to constellations that are metaphorical for the Heaven of Heavens, which partly include Lira/turtle/barque, Cygnus and Cepheus/King/Rock along the positive side of the border (represented by what’s under the Great Pyramid) between the positive and negative area of the sky where Hercules fighting the snake and Libra are depicting the struggle with death and judgment (represented by the pyramid building and why it’s persistently refered to as a tomb). These two areas are the two gates/mountains. In Egypt, Orion is only the beginning of the journey. The journey goes past the Pleides, then Gemini, Cancer/Kheper, Leo, Virgo (lady of the mountain), then Libra where the heart is weighed against a feather. When you see paintings of a mummy pharaoh it first is depicted as a mummy (representing Hercules) on a flying snake (Serpens). Then again as a mummy with two birds and a dog-faced character all in a barque and sometimes pulled by fish. What you are looking at is depictions of Vulpecula, Lira as a barque, Aquilla and Cygnus on their way to Cepheus. Supposedly they are rising up from death then, although from a Christian perspective the pharoahs were false messiahs (sly like a fox). The Egyptian dog-faced character is often confused with Sirius, but in the barque, as Vulpecula, the depiction of all the characters in the barque makes sense by their placement in the sky.
Found your website by accident. It contained a lot of very ideas that I found interesting. I went through your entire comments page – that’s how interested I was in the etymological and phonetical derivation of constellations, stars and gods.
As regards Chess, the Horsehead is the only piece on the chessboard with a peculiar motion or digital switch in that it can move from a particular coloured square(black) in row/column to another opposite coloured square (white) in a nonsequential adjacent row/column. It is of course related to the horse head galaxy – the birth place of stars In mythology, its principle/motion in the form of the trojan horse was responsible for the Greek victory over Troy, suggesting that this was achieved through a substitution of the female form or Yoni. The architect/mastermind of this, Odysseus was cursed and made to suffer for this deceit by Poseidon, the mythological creator of horses. A further article on Acturus, suggests to me the Mithraic rites and tradition, Mithras being the tauroboulos bull slayer, with a knife in his hands. There is so much to talk about. Great site, most illuminating I’ve come across.
Hi, I just thought I’d share with you and your readers an article about the constellations which I recently published on my blog. It concerns Erhard Weigel, a seventeenth-century German mathematician and astronomer who attempted to entirely reform the constellations. He is referred to briefly here and there in Allen, but literature on him, at least in English, is very sparse.
If you’re interested, please find it here: http://michaelakay.wordpress.com/2012/02/27/society-in-the-sky-a-seventeenth-century-attempt-to-redraw-the-constellations/
Thanks!
Michael.
dear anne, first of all, receive congratulations on your extensive work and generosity to publish it -
here in brazil we are trying to identify the most exactly as possible the ingress of regulus in virgo -
the problem is to get to the annual motion, which, among our calculations goes from 58″ to 1′ 2″ 24″‘ -
do you have any advise on this subject?
thanks!
Hi Oscar
I don’t think it is easy to determine the exact date of an fixed star ingress. I looked at a couple of youtube videos on Regulus entering Virgo. One of the commenters in one of these wrote 5 months ago
“According to Solar Fire, Regulus entered Virgo by precession on 9/16/11. Occupy started the next day on 9/17. ”
One video by John Oliver, where he says that he had this calculated by a physicist, gives April 2012 as the date. There are other calculated dates too.
Regulus should signify rules and regulations. This must be why we are seeing so many stifling goverment regulations lately.
Regulus comes from the Indo-European root *reg-. Other words that derive from this root on this page http://www.constellationsofwords.com/Constellations/Leo.html
thank you so much for your answer, anne, your comment is very helpful
as you said, anne, regulus mean regulations – my expectation (besides being my desire too) is that this wave of ironing rules that we are witnessing is the last breath of the era of empires, the concentration of power resulting of important stars as pleiades and regulus preceding in taurus and leo – I am interested in calculating the exact (as possible) the ingress of regulus in virgo, because this would mean the end of the era of empire and the beginning of a long era in which men power will be less and less concentrated
Could you please clarify on the issue of the fixed star Rastaban. Rigor gives the 2010 position as 11 degrees 49 of tropical Sagittarius and records it as ‘B’ Draconis. Robson also gives it as ‘B’ Draconis in the head of the Dragon. Allen says that the early Arabs gave this name to ‘B’ Draconis.
Your list of stars places Rastaban at ‘y’ Draconis.
By the way, I admire your site very much
in friendship
Tethy
On the page describing Antares, it says, “{p.366} The Hindus used alpha (? Antares), sigma (?), and tau (?) for their nakshatra (Hindu Moon Mansion) Jyestha, Oldest, also known as Rohini…” This is a mistake. Antares is Jyestha, but Jyestha is not Rohini. Jyestha is in Scorpio, but Rohini is in Taurus, ask any Jyotishi.
Also, Indra is not a sky goddess, but a god. He is male, not female.
Awesome website, highly informative and insightful! Ever since I read the Art of Memory by Francis A. Yates, I have been learning the names of the stars and constellations, and your website is by far the most in depth. Recently I have been curious about the Zenith, for a meditation on it reveals a plethora of linguistic and spiritual implications. I have some ideas about that are not yet on the Internet. Have you, in your studies, come across any literature about the Zenith? So far, the etymological info on the web is somewhat shallow, the most I can find is that it is a 14th century mistranslation of the Arabic word for the direction overhead.
I just had to comment. Much appreciation for your patience in compiling this indepth website on the stars. While pondering whether to pursue my literary career, your site validated a gift I must use.
Betelguese in Gemini. Aldebaran in Gemini, the list goes on with the amazing conjuncts and trines. I am not an expert, but your website has awakened me.
My biggest ”eureka” came when I found my Regulus and and discovered it is going into Virgo! The feminine era must herald in new energy, my writings depend on it. Again, wonderful work.
Apropos the origin of the name Cepheus/Kepheus, I would suggest that it is more likely to be a corruption of the Phoenician and Hebrew word kephir (m) kephira (f) meaning ‘lion/lioness’. This would make enormous sense if Cassiopeia ‘the Lady on the throne’ (Dha’t al-Kursyy) is actually Magna Mater, Cybele, Rhea whose main attribute was a lion/lioness. According to the Arabs, the five stars of Cassiopeia also represented the raised right hand of the goddess bestowing her blessing, appropriately ‘hennaered’ or ‘painted ‘ as a symbol of marriage. This can be clearly seen in at least one image of the goddess Allat with a lion seated by her side.
Thank you for the excellent work!
I´ve recently discovered “by Chance” Constellations of words and I find it very useful and just want to say that I like it. I share it for a group of Astrologer/Astronomer on facebook got good response. I just read about Myrios post and learn already. Thank You!
How long does Regulus in the Constellation of Leo now in Virgo take to make through the 12 Constellations of the Zodiac? Is it about 26000 years?
Hi Anne, do you have a contact email? I was hoping to discuss using your content on a new website I am creating. This is my email: funkastrology@gmail.com
The article here: http://www.constellationsofwords.com/categories/precession.htm is wrong in the third paragraph. The zodiac belt is 18 degrees wide, not 8.
Hi A
I ony just saw this. Thank you for pointing out this typo. I just fixed it.
Dear Anne,
I am a Utah archaeologist with a specialty in archaeoastronomy. I will be submitting an article on the origin of Crater to the on-line “Journal of Cosmology” soon. I would like to use the the black-and-white Figure of Hydra, Crater, and Corvus found at the bottom of your website in the article. Would it be possible for you to grant me permission to do that? I would deeply appreciate it.
Sincerely,
John McHugh
Provo, UT, USA
Hi John
That picture comes from the book
The Witness of the Stars
E. W. Bullinger
1893
Page167, illustration 40, Hydra (the serpent) Crater (the cup) Corvus (the raven)
Yes, you have my permission to use that picture. The picture in the book looks more clear.
Anne