The skies are full of ancient apocryphal stories. There are no new stories under the sun. Only retellings. But that is just fine. And that is the task of a writer. New and unique retellings. But the stories in the skies are a fantastic library of resources for today's storytellers.
Orion The Hunter tells an archetypal story of the dawn of Humanity, when we were hunters. Gatherers too. But never only gatherers.
Orion tells an archetypal story of passion. The passion of Artemis, the goddess of the Moon for her handsome hunting companion. A passion never realized. She had taken an oath of chastity.
Orion tells an archetypal story about respect...and lack of respect. The crime of hubris. The hubris was Orion's and he paid for it with his life.
Orion is a story about ecology and conservation,
So now, Orion The Hunter is returning, and in the northern hemisphere can once again be seen in the east at sunrise. So when we say return, where has he been? The answer is, he has been invisible, hidden in the glare of the sun since May. But now he’s back and will rise earlier each day, until he is visible all evening during the winter months.
Orion is only the 26th largest constellation, sitting on the celestial equator, facing the constellation next door, the oncoming, charging, Taurus the Bull. The biggest constellation of all is Hydra, and the biggest constellation of the twelve included in the Zodiac is Virgo. But the brilliance of the stars of Orion pack one almighty cosmic punch, going above the size of this most visually impressive constellation.
Orion’s two brightest stars are the blue-white star Rigel, representing the Hunter’s left foot, and that brilliant red star you can see in the photo, the red supergiant Betelgeuse, Orion’s right shoulder. Rigel and Betelgeuse are thought to be to be about ten million years old. Betelgeuse is young to be a red supergiant, but then, it’s evolved -and aged- faster on account of its enormous mass. It is expected to go supernova in the next million years, and when it does, it will be brighter than the Moon, the brightest supernova ever to have been visible from Earth. It is speculated that the supernova could happen in the next tens of years. But not to worry (!)….
Whenever Betelgeuse does blow up, our planet Earth is too far away for this explosion to harm, much less destroy, life on Earth. Anyone alive on Earth when Betelgeuse does finally explode will see an amazingly beautiful sight in the night sky – a very, very, very bright star.
Orion’s third brightest star is Bellatrix, his left shoulder, while Orion’s Belt is one of the most easily recognized asterisms with its three stars. We can read them east to west or left to right; Alnitak (girdle), Alnilam (string of pearls) and Mintaka (area)
They have many other names across the world; The Magi, the Three Mary’s, and the Mayans called them The Fire Drill, invoking them in an annual fire ceremony to delay the onset of the end of the world.
‘No other constellation more accurately represents the figure of a man,’ said Germanicus Caesar
Orion is identified as a human figure in every culture at every latitude, with countless variations of different names and legends. Orion, also called Nimrod, was the son of Poseidon, and was the most handsome man ever to walk the earth. He was a great hunting buddy and friend of Artemis, huntress goddess of the Moon. Her twin brother, Apollo glowered, seeing that Artemis fancied Orion something rotten, although she had taken a vow of perpetual chastity. Orion behaved himself around Artemis, but he was otherwise a bit of a sex pest, chasing nymphs, and chasing the Seven Sisters, The Pleiades
So much so, Zeus posted them to the skies at their own request, turning them into stars for their peace and quiet. And a fat lot of good it did them, because when Orion was killed by a scorpion (aka Scorpio, yes, THE Scorpion) Artemis in her grief, asked Zeus to post Orion upstairs to the heavens, which he did, right next door to the Pleiades, who create the celestial bull pen of Taurus. “Good one, Zeus,” said the Seven Sisters. “Thanks a bunch. You didn’t think that one through, did you?”
Should they fail to contain The Bull, and should he break free of his celestial pen, says an ancient Arabic legend, he will stampede the Universe to pieces, and it will be the end of all things. For all time.
Let’s hope he’s happy up there, with cows, and plenty of buttercups, and no gnats or mosquitoes to bother him. And let’s pray that Orion doesn’t chase away the Pleiades, guarding the gates of his starry enclosure.
Meanwhile The Bull glares down at Orion with his brilliant red eye, the giant red star Aldebaran, in Arabic meaning The Follower.
But Zeus put the Scorpion in the skies too, and why? At the request of Gaia. Goddess of the Earth. It was Gaia who sent the Scorpion to kill Orion after she heard him boasting to Artemis that he could kill any animal on Earth if he wanted too. Gaia did not like that one bit. Artemis killed too, sure enough. But Artemis did not kill for the sake of killing. Artemis was the goddess of conservation, as well as the hunt. So Gaia sent the giant scorpion, and it stung Orion, and he died.
But Orion killed the scorpion too.
Photo by Molly Blackbird on Unsplash
Zeus did his best to dry the tears of Artemis. And so Orion became immortal, forever hunting the celestial hare, the constellation of Lepus, bravely striding out as Taurus the Bull paws the starry turf, glaring down with his angry red eye. But though Orion killed the scorpion that also killed him, Orion still fears it, and dreads its appearance, fleeing west as the autumn wears on, and now Scorpius rises once again (Scorpio.)
I can't see Orion as yet, rising in the east at dawn. My place faces north-south.
But maybe you can.
Orion The Hunter tells an archetypal story of the dawn of Humanity, when we were hunters. Gatherers too. But never only gatherers.
Orion tells an archetypal story of passion. The passion of Artemis, the goddess of the Moon for her handsome hunting companion. A passion never realized. She had taken an oath of chastity.
Orion tells an archetypal story about respect...and lack of respect. The crime of hubris. The hubris was Orion's and he paid for it with his life.
Orion is a story about ecology and conservation,
So now, Orion The Hunter is returning, and in the northern hemisphere can once again be seen in the east at sunrise. So when we say return, where has he been? The answer is, he has been invisible, hidden in the glare of the sun since May. But now he’s back and will rise earlier each day, until he is visible all evening during the winter months.
Orion is only the 26th largest constellation, sitting on the celestial equator, facing the constellation next door, the oncoming, charging, Taurus the Bull. The biggest constellation of all is Hydra, and the biggest constellation of the twelve included in the Zodiac is Virgo. But the brilliance of the stars of Orion pack one almighty cosmic punch, going above the size of this most visually impressive constellation.
Orion’s two brightest stars are the blue-white star Rigel, representing the Hunter’s left foot, and that brilliant red star you can see in the photo, the red supergiant Betelgeuse, Orion’s right shoulder. Rigel and Betelgeuse are thought to be to be about ten million years old. Betelgeuse is young to be a red supergiant, but then, it’s evolved -and aged- faster on account of its enormous mass. It is expected to go supernova in the next million years, and when it does, it will be brighter than the Moon, the brightest supernova ever to have been visible from Earth. It is speculated that the supernova could happen in the next tens of years. But not to worry (!)….
Whenever Betelgeuse does blow up, our planet Earth is too far away for this explosion to harm, much less destroy, life on Earth. Anyone alive on Earth when Betelgeuse does finally explode will see an amazingly beautiful sight in the night sky – a very, very, very bright star.
Orion’s third brightest star is Bellatrix, his left shoulder, while Orion’s Belt is one of the most easily recognized asterisms with its three stars. We can read them east to west or left to right; Alnitak (girdle), Alnilam (string of pearls) and Mintaka (area)
They have many other names across the world; The Magi, the Three Mary’s, and the Mayans called them The Fire Drill, invoking them in an annual fire ceremony to delay the onset of the end of the world.
The Heart of The Hunter and the Soul of Humanity
‘No other constellation more accurately represents the figure of a man,’ said Germanicus Caesar
Orion is identified as a human figure in every culture at every latitude, with countless variations of different names and legends. Orion, also called Nimrod, was the son of Poseidon, and was the most handsome man ever to walk the earth. He was a great hunting buddy and friend of Artemis, huntress goddess of the Moon. Her twin brother, Apollo glowered, seeing that Artemis fancied Orion something rotten, although she had taken a vow of perpetual chastity. Orion behaved himself around Artemis, but he was otherwise a bit of a sex pest, chasing nymphs, and chasing the Seven Sisters, The Pleiades
So much so, Zeus posted them to the skies at their own request, turning them into stars for their peace and quiet. And a fat lot of good it did them, because when Orion was killed by a scorpion (aka Scorpio, yes, THE Scorpion) Artemis in her grief, asked Zeus to post Orion upstairs to the heavens, which he did, right next door to the Pleiades, who create the celestial bull pen of Taurus. “Good one, Zeus,” said the Seven Sisters. “Thanks a bunch. You didn’t think that one through, did you?”
Should they fail to contain The Bull, and should he break free of his celestial pen, says an ancient Arabic legend, he will stampede the Universe to pieces, and it will be the end of all things. For all time.
Let’s hope he’s happy up there, with cows, and plenty of buttercups, and no gnats or mosquitoes to bother him. And let’s pray that Orion doesn’t chase away the Pleiades, guarding the gates of his starry enclosure.
Meanwhile The Bull glares down at Orion with his brilliant red eye, the giant red star Aldebaran, in Arabic meaning The Follower.
But Zeus put the Scorpion in the skies too, and why? At the request of Gaia. Goddess of the Earth. It was Gaia who sent the Scorpion to kill Orion after she heard him boasting to Artemis that he could kill any animal on Earth if he wanted too. Gaia did not like that one bit. Artemis killed too, sure enough. But Artemis did not kill for the sake of killing. Artemis was the goddess of conservation, as well as the hunt. So Gaia sent the giant scorpion, and it stung Orion, and he died.
But Orion killed the scorpion too.
Photo by Molly Blackbird on Unsplash
Zeus did his best to dry the tears of Artemis. And so Orion became immortal, forever hunting the celestial hare, the constellation of Lepus, bravely striding out as Taurus the Bull paws the starry turf, glaring down with his angry red eye. But though Orion killed the scorpion that also killed him, Orion still fears it, and dreads its appearance, fleeing west as the autumn wears on, and now Scorpius rises once again (Scorpio.)
I can't see Orion as yet, rising in the east at dawn. My place faces north-south.
But maybe you can.
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