Orion
Orion And Scorpio
We have now seen the archer character as Zeus, Poseidon, Pan and Heracles. Illustration 41 shows him as Orion, the boastful huntsman. (49) Orion, who believes he can kill any creature, is brought down to earth by the sting of a scorpion, Scorpio in the zodiac. (50) The video shows the scorpion emerging from the fist. It is suggested that the child might be invited to examine the tail of the scorpion only to “feel its sting” in the form of a flick on the nose.
Illustration 41: Orion and the scorpion
Rest Of The Zodiac
We have seen seven of the 12 characters of the zodiac: Leo The Lion, Cancer The Crab, Taurus The Bull, Aries The Ram, Pisces The Fish, Capricorn The Sea Goat and Scorpio The Scorpion. Can the other five be seen in the hand?
Gemini The Twins
One of twins was said to be immortal and the other mortal. The mortal twin, Castor, fathered by a mortal, carried a club for a weapon. His brother Pollux, fathered by Zeus, carried an arrow. (51, 52 and 53)
This picture from an 18th Century atlas of the stars shows the twins as they are usually seen, with one holding a club and the other a spear. The club was the weapon of the mortal twin and the arrow his immortal brother, fathered by Zeus.
Illustration 42: The twins in astronomer John Flamsteed’s Atlas Coelestis 1729
Illustration 43 : Immortal twin with arrow
Illustration 44: Mortal twin with club
Let’s assume the archer character shows the immortal twin, fathered by Zeus. Could this second character represent his brother? This character is created using the second thumb crease for a head.
When you create a character using this head, the uppermost crease of the arrow tail disappears. The lower creases curves downwards. Is this the club of the mortal twin?
Aquarius The Water Bearer
Aquarius The Water Bearer was abducted by Zeus in the form of an eagle and taken to Mount Olympus to serve as a cupbearer to the gods. (54 and 55)
Illustration 45: Mortal twin carrying pot
Form the character of the mortal Gemini twin and then move the tip of your thumb to create another line next to the character’s head. Could this be Aquarius carrying a jug?
It makes sense that the Aquarius figure would be formed from the mortal twin. In the zodiac, Aquarius is linked with Saturn, the father of time and death. (56-58)
Sagittarius The Archer
We’ve seen that by lifting the thumb to create the shape of a horse’s head, the bull character can be turned into a horse. Can the archer be merged with the legs of the horse to create Sagittarius, half-man, half horse? If so, we have another of the storyteller’s trademark mythical hybrids.
Illustration 46: Half man, half horse archer
Illustration 47: Half man, half horse
The fascinating thing to note here is that the horse part of Sagittarius is the same horse from which we get Pegasus with his fiery mane and wing. (Poseidon, Illustration 21) Which means that the characters for each of the fire signs in the zodiac - Leo, Aries and Sagittarius - are all created using fire as part of the character.
Libra The Scales
The Scales, the only inanimate zodiac character, were a Roman invention. Before that this sign was referred to as the Scorpion’s claw. Both the scales and the claws represent balance. In astrology, the Autumn Equinox falls in this part of the zodiac, when there is, almost, an equal 12 hours of light and darkness at every place on earth. (59)
Illustration 48: The scorpion’s claw
There’s a good reason why this picture may represent balance. The claw and the Zeus finger sit side by side. The ruler of the heavens - the mightiest creature - lying alongside the scorpion, the smallest. The mightiest balanced by the smallest. Look at the tip of the Zeus finger. His thunderbolt can no longer be seen. Is that because balance has been achieved? The two lines that form the scorpion’s claws are the same two lines that form the heads of the male and female characters. When the characters are seen, they have different size heads. The female character has a much smaller head than the male. But in this symbol both heads are the same size. Balance again? The Romans replaced the scorpions’s claw with a set of weighing scales.
Illustration 49: Claw and scales
Are the lines in the centre of the palm the scales they were referring to? It may be interesting to note that if they are scales, they are made of two "fish." Could that be a visual pun?
Virgo The Virgin
The Scales were said to be held by Astraea, the goddess of justice, who is associated with Virgo in the Greek mythology. (60) We have seen the female symbol representing Aphrodite and other maiden goddesses. Could she also be Virgo The Virgin? Compare the symbol for the virgin in the hand and the glyph for the star sign Virgo.
Illustration 50: Virgo glyph
Illustration 51: Create the goddess symbol, then lift your fingers
Create the goddess symbol in the palm and then lift your fingers. Look at the Virgo glyph. It's basically an M shape with a hook to the left of the M, as we look at it. To the right of the M there is an oval shape and a cross. When you squeeze your hand together like this to form the goddess, a curved line appears from the right edge of the M, to the index finger. This curved line suggests the oval shape to the right of the M in the glyph. And another crease appears below the little finger which suggests the cross.
References
49. Orion and Scorpius, Stony Brook University, New York https://www.astro.sunysb.edu/fwalter/AST101/pdf/orion.pdf
Orion was a skilled hunter. He was also boastful, asserting that no animal alive couldharm him. Juno, wife of Jupiter, disliked mortal men, especially boastful men, so shedecided to teach Orion a lesson. She placed a scorpion on the path that Orion took daily tohis hunting grounds. As you might expect, Orion trod upon the scorpion, which stung himand killed him.
50. Orion, Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpius
In Greek mythology, several myths associated with Scorpius attribute it to Orion. According to one version, Orion boasted to the goddess Artemis and her mother, Leto, that he would kill every animal on Earth. Artemis and Leto sent a scorpion to kill Orion.
51. Apollodorus. 3.10.7 Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Perseus Digital Library https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D3%3Achapter%3D10%3Asection%3D7#:~:text=%5B7%5D%20But%20Zeus%20in%20the,Castor%20and%20Clytaemnestra%20to%20Tyndareus.
7] But Zeus in the form of a swan consorted with Leda, and on the same night Tyndareus cohabited with her; and she bore Pollux and Helen to Zeus, and Castor and Clytaemnestra to Tyndareus.
52. Mythworld Website https://mythworld.fandom.com/wiki/Castor_and_Pollux
In the myth the twins shared the same mother but had different fathers which meant that Pollux was immortal and Castor was mortal. When Castor died, Pollux asked Zeus to let him share his own immortality with his twin to keep them together and they were transformed into the Gemini constellation. The pair were regarded as the patrons of sailors, to whom they appeared as St. Elmo's fire.
53. Castor&Pollux, Airship Online https://airshipsonline.com/airships/r101/Nonclamenture/Castor&Pollux.html
The Sign of GEMINI. Gemini is the picture of two youthful twins seated side by side and at rest, with their feet placed upon the Milky Way. Their heads lean against each other. The one on the left has a club in his hand, but even the club is at repose, leaning against his shoulder. The other twin, on the right, has a harp in one hand and a bow and arrow in the other.
54. Graves, Robert (1955, 1960) The Greek Myths, London, Penguin. Chapter 29
It is said that Zeus, desiring Ganymedes also as his bedfellow, disguised himself in eagle’s feathers and abducted him from the Trojan plain.
55. Greek Myths Website https://www.greeklegendsandmyths.com/signs-of-the-zodiac.html
More obvious is the mythological tale behind the eleventh sign of the Zodiac Aquarius, the Water-bearer, for it is said by most that Aquarius is Ganymede.
56. Bustle website https://www.bustle.com/life/what-planet-rules-aquarius-uranus-saturn-astrologer
In traditional astrology, Aquarius is ruled by Saturn
57. Wikipedia, Saturn mythology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_(mythology)#:~:text=He%20was%20described%20as%20a,with%20the%20Greek%20Titan%20Cronus
He was described as a god of time, generation, dissolution, abundance, wealth, agriculture, periodic renewal and liberation. Saturn's mythological reign was depicted as a Golden Age of abundance and peace. After the Roman conquest of Greece, he was conflated with the Greek Titan Cronus.
58. Wikipedia, Maraka (Hindu astrology) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maraka_(Hindu_astrology)#:~:text=Saturn%20and%20Rahu%20are%20the%20Mrityu%2Dkarakas%20or%20significators%20of%20death.
Saturn and Rahu are the Mrityu-karakas or significators of death.
59. Libra, Space.com https://www.space.com/26088-libra-constellation-scales-origins.html
When the Romans invented the Libra constellation, approximately 3,500 years ago, it contained the Autumnal Equinox — the point in the sky where the sun crossed the equator on its way from the Northern Hemisphere to the south. That's the time of the year when days and nights were equal. It was likely because of Libra's location at this particular spot on the night sky that scales were chosen for the symbol for this constellation. They were thought to represent the scales in which night and day were weighed which on the date of the equinox were perfectly balanced.The Romans made the two claws of the constellation Scorpius (the Scorpion) into the arms of Libra. Originally, Libra was known as "the Claws" of Scorpius the Scorpion to the poet Aratus and others of classical times.
60. Virgo, Theoi Project https://www.theoi.com/Titan/Astraia.html#:~:text=ASTRAIA%20(Astraea)%20was%20the%20virgin,stars%20as%20the%20constellation%20Virgo.
ASTRAIA (Astraea) was the virgin-goddess of justice. During the Golden Age she dwelt upon the earth with mankind but was driven away by the increasing lawlessness of the subsequent Bronze Age. Zeus then set her amongst the stars as the constellation Virgo.