Though you can make up your own star patterns, sort of like a rorschach inkblot test, today s star patterns are quite old. The swan of the constellation cygnus can not be identified as any one of the swans which appear in classical mythology. It follows the life of a mute young woman called oblivia, the victim of gangrape by petrolsniffing youths, from the displaced community where she lives in a hulk, in a swamp filled with rusting boats, and. The butterfly genus cycnus is now synonymized with panthiades. Like the eagle in aquila, the swan is a bird with many associations, so it seems logical to put a swan in the sky. In greek mythology, multiple characters were known as cycnus ancient greek. In greek mythology, cygnus has been identified with several different legendary swans. Cygnus has been known by many different cultures and represents many different things for these cultures throughout history. Cygnus is a northern constellation lying on the plane of the milky way, deriving its name from. Read the cygnus mystery online, read in mobile or kindle. The swan book is set in the future, with aboriginals still living under the intervention in the north, in an environment fundamentally altered by climate change.
The astronomer ptolemy listed cygnus in the 2nd century when he made a list of. The northern cross stands upright in the west on december evenings. The cygnus mystery is a real arm chair science trip. Much of our understanding of the star appears to come from roman mythology where it is identified with the figure of a swan placed in the sky by jupiter, in gratitude for its form which he took to seduce the unsuspecting leda. Lyrae the secondbrightest star in the constellation is a binary star with two members that orbit so closely that occasionally material from one star spills over to other. May 19, 2018 built at the end of the last ice age around 9600 bce, gobekli tepe in southeast turkey was designed to align with the constellation of the celestial swan, cygnus a fact confirmed by the discovery at the site of a tiny bone plaque carved with the three key stars of cygnus. Cygnus is one of the 42 constellations that represents an animal. It could be the swan into which the lecherous zeus transformed himself to seduce leda, or possibly the swan into which zeus, out of pity, transformed the friend of phaeton, apollos son. The book i read to research this post was the cygnus mystery by andrew collins which is an excellent book which i bought from kindle.
Leda, in greek legend, usually believed to be the daughter of thestius, king of aetolia, and wife of tyndareus, king of lacedaemon. In classical tradition the swan of cygnus was originally said to have been. Cygnuss brightest star, deneb, marks the tail of the swan. Now, going back even further to 45,000 years ago, he explores how our ancestors first discovered the cygnus connection, the pathway of souls through the constellation of the swan.
Cygnus is one of the older constellations recognized by early civilizations. The swan theme runs through almost every country in the world. Some ancient writers thought she was the mother by tyndareus of clytemnestra, wife of king agamemnon, and of castor, one of the heavenly twins. In order to escape from zeus, nemesis changed herself into many different animals. In its right wing is the small yellow star that the arabs the only people to have named it as far as i know call gienah. As with many ancient greek myths the amorous advances of the. Leonardo da vinci undertook a painting now lost of the theme, and correggios leda c. Although it lies about 1,500 lightyears from earth, deneb shines brightly. Deneb represents the tail of the swan but the top of the cross. Zeus knew that as himself he would not be able to win the love. This fearsome beast terrorized the land, killing all who ventured near it.
Dec, 2019 cygnus is a northern constellation lying on the plane of the milky way, deriving its name from the latinized greek word for swan. Cygnus dove repeatedly into the water to search for phaethon. Surprisingly, the greeks had no name for this prominent star. As with most mythology there are different stories about the cygnus constellation. Andrew collins, ronald wells, and the cygnus rift alignment. The swan in celtic mythology transceltic home of the. We also have access to a further 550,000 titles already on the warehouse shelves as well over a million or more t. Constellation creations, create a myth, im getting. The swans outstretched wings form the horizontal bar of the cross, while the head of the swan, a double star called albireo, is at the bottom of the cross. She was also believed to have been the mother by zeus, who had approached and seduced her in the form of a swan of the. Leda was so beautiful that zeus could not resist her. Phaeton, unable to control the chariot of the sun, careens wildly though the heavens, scorching the earth. When she changed into a goose, zeus immediately transformed himself into a wonderful swan and won the love of nemesis.
Bible, where it is referred to in the book of job, thus giving it the name jobs. The crux of collinss ideas revolves around his adaptation of ronald wellss essays on egyptian skygoddess symbolism and the role of. In one myth, cygnus is a friend of phaethon, the son of apollo, the sun god. The swan may also bear messages of love and relationships. The myths of the constellations the main sources for. This site explores the symbolisms in astrotheology such as the mythology of christ as a sun god, the association of the garden of eden myth with celestial polar symbolism, and the secret origins of judaism. Lyrae, which is a doubledouble star, meaning that each of its two stars is a double star, as well. The first is the nemean lion which hercules had to kill as the first of his 12 labors. In greek mythology, apollo was the son of jupiterin greek zeus and leto letona. The swan in celtic mythology submitted by alastair kneale on february 3, 2016 9. The shape of the constellation with a short tail and long neck stretching out suggests a flying swan more than the other birds. In the fall sky, not long after sundown, you may see cygnus the swan, which the greeks called ornis. When the swan glides upon the waters of our awareness, it might be a symbol of love, and a reminder of the blessings fou nd in our relationships. The constellation crux constellation has a pattern of stars that is called the southern cross.
Phaethon fell into the river eridanus, trying to drive the sungods chariot. Cygnus the swan, in a late roman version of ciceros. Review of the cygnus key by andrew collins part 1 jason. The god zeus strikes the impetuous charioteer with a bolt of lightning, causing him to fall headlong into the river. He transformed into a swan and appeared in front of her. It isnt as famous as its counterpart, the southern cross. Collins also tries to make the case that pillar 43, which depicts a menagerie of animals, including several birds and a scorpion, is actually a diagram of cygnus and scorpius. His contemporary gerald hawkins, author of the bestselling book stonehenge. Leda and the constellation cygnus windows to the universe. The literal meaning of the name is swan, and accordingly most of them ended up being transformed into swans. Isidore of seville 7th century ce etymologies, book 12, 7. Gary p caton the full moon which occurs saturday august th in aquarius is a very potent one, as it slices right down the middle of the uranuspluto squares.
Isis, the sisterwife of osiris in egyptian mythology, was the inventor of wine. In september of 2014, daniel giamario asked me what i thought of andrew collins new book on gobekli tepi and cygnus. With 5 stars brighter than 3rd magnitude this constellation is visible even in some city lighting. Cygnus from greek mythology cygnus constellation latin cygnus. She was the wife of king tyndareus of sparta when zeus saw her, he fell in love with her. One story involves the greek mythological character of leda who was the queen of sparta. In 1676 moxon printed a manual to accompany the cards. The divine swans encounter with leda was a subject depicted by both ancient greek and italian renaissance artists.
The cygnus is named from its singing canendo because it pours out song with modulated sounds. Quiescent and outburst photometry of the dwarf nova ss cygni pdf. Cygnus began as a book club and is now based at angel, islington. There are several different stories associated with the cygnus constellation. It combines terms like microblazar, cosmic ray bursts, the dmt molecule and radon health mines with astronomy, anthropology and mythology and finds their common elements from many ancient cultures around the world. Zodiac art, zodiac signs, constellations, magick book, esoteric art, zodiac posts. The constellation is a mythological representation of the swan. There are two strong contenders as to which mythical lion is represented by the constellation leo. Swan meaning and swan symbolism the golden way of the. Constellation stories and stargazing activities for kids by fran lee ages 69. Ancient origins articles related to cygnus the swan in the sections of history, archaeology, human origins, unexplained, artifacts, ancient places and myths and legends. The constellations brightest star is deneb an arabic word that means the tail. July, 2001 this is without a doubt my favorite constellation, for a number of reasons, but the most important one is probably.
Cygnus is one of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn, and it features a prominent asterism. She was a queen of sparta and mother of beautiful helen who sparked the trojan war, and the dioscuri twins. A collection of curricula for the starlab native american mythology cylinder 2008 by science firststarlab, 95 botsford place, buffalo, ny 14216. Cygnus goes back to the middle east and arab travelers across the deserts in ancient times. Proctors excellent book, star myths and stories, from exposition. Leda the wife of the spartan king, tyndareus, and the mother of the gemini and helen of troy had unrivaled beauty. Cygnus, the swan cygnus was the best friend of phaeton, son of apollo. The astronomer ptolemy listed cygnus in the 2nd century when he made a list of constellations. In that sense it is a portent of the future, because these squares will be active for several years to come. Star chart showing location of the six stars that form the northern cross.
But the northern cross looks like a cross, and its pretty easy to spot. Leda and the constellation cygnus for the ancient greeks, the constellation cygnus, which means swan, was related to the myth of zeus and the goddess nemesis. For the ancient greeks, the constellation cygnus, which means swan, was related to the myth of zeus and the goddess nemesis. He claims that hellenic mythology identified cygnus the swan with a vulture, but i can find no evidence of this outside of collinss own books. Cygnus, the swan, is one of the more obvious asterisms in the summer skies, which because of its shape is sometimes called the northern cross swans occur throughout the greek myths. Andrew collins had already decoded the alignments to the cygnus star system at gobekli tepe and the giza pyramid complex in his book gobekli tepe. Its legend is ancient, having reached us at the speed of light. If you want a great read by all means find out how important the northern cross was to christianity. The bright star deneb, at the tail of the swan, forms a part of the summer triangle asterism along with vega from lyra and altair from aquila. As with many ancient greek myths the amorous advances of the king of gods zeus plays a major part in the story.
A collection of curricula for the starlab native american. Cygnus is a northern constellation lying on the plane of the milky way, deriving its name from the latinized greek word for swan. The shape of the constellation with a short tail and long neck stretching out suggests a. This book starts off about the dogon people in mali who since ancient times and as part of their beliefs claim people came from the star we call sirius in the cygnus of which the sun is part of. Cygnus is one of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn, and it features a prominent asterism known as the northern cross in contrast to the southern cross.
As is the case with so many of the constellations, there are a number of possible explanations for the presence of the swan in the heavens. Leda is a figure from greek mythology who was famously seduced by zeus when he took the form of a swan. One of these constellations, cygnus the swan also known as the northern cross, can be found in one of the richest star regions in the sky. Although most obviously a swan in europe, cygnus had, like lyra, once been seen as a vulture, making it an obvious destination for those human souls being accompanied into the afterlife by a psychopomp greek for soul carrier in the guise of the celestial vulture. Leda was a princess in greek mythology, daughter of the king of aetolia, thestius.
A collection of curricula for the starlab greek mythology. The butterfly genus cycnus is now synonymized with panthiades in greek mythology, multiple characters were known as cycnus ancient greek. It was first seen as a bird or a hen, but became associated with several greek myths involving swans. There is a pattern of stars in cygnus that is called the northern cross. All titles currently in stock at our warehouse in wales. In ancient times cygnus was known less specifically as the bird and variously associated with hens, pigeons and eagles. This is because the pattern of stars looks like a cross.
After wildly driving apollos chariot across the skies, phaeton was struck by lightning bolts and fell into the river eridanus. The author explains how the stars of cygnus coincided with the turning point of the heavens at the moment the denisovan legacy was handed to the first human societies in southern siberia 45,000 years ago, catalyzing beliefs in swan ancestry and an understanding of cygnus as the source of cosmic creation. A beautiful young man, he was accompanied by an equally beautiful male swan and the bird came to represent the powers of poetry and the divinely inspired poet himself. Cygnus constellation wikimili, the free encyclopedia. Leda and the swan was a popular subject for both greek and roman artists and is frequently seen in ancient sculpture, pottery, and mosaics genealogy. Deneb is a highly luminous supergiant about 1400 light years away, the most distant of all firstmagnitude stars. Other versions state that the swan was cionus, son of neptune, who was wrestled to the ground and. Download the cygnus mystery ebook free in pdf and epub format. They pair for years, sometimes malefemale unions are sustained for a lifetime. Some myths, for instance, state the swan was once the pet of the queen cassiopeia. The story of cygnus the swan constellation, from greek mythology. A collection of curricula for the starlab greek mythology cylinder.
831 784 389 3 1307 690 1064 1384 640 948 268 1103 1362 1356 1618 1624 431 147 1559 786 621 205 1431 530 1123 1071 1095 334 838 184 1125 847 1076 559 1061 1463 833