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The Constellation
Sagittarius is the ‘heavenly Archer’. He stands with his bow drawn back, his arrow pointing directly at Antares, the bright red star we met in Scorpio, which is placed at the very heart of the Scorpion. Controversy and doubt have surrounded this constellation since antiquity and still remains. Is the Archer Crotus, the Horseman who lived on Mount Helicon, or Chiron, the Centaur, who was a philosopher, healer and teacher to many of the Heroes of ancient Greece?
There are in fact two constellations referred to as ‘the Archer’. They are Sagittarius and Centaurus. These two Archers have confused the stories about the celestial archer for thousands of years. The constellation of Centaurus can only be seen in its entirety in Southern Skies and not totally visible to Mediterranean sky gazers.
Whatever the true origins of Sagittarius, this sign has come to embody the attributes of both the ‘hunter’ and of Chiron, the Centaur.
It was the Romans who first named the constellation Sagittarius. ‘Sagitta’ is Latin for ‘arrow’.
A star map shows that Sagittarius lies for most part within the Milky Way, a place from which souls descended down to earth. Ancient Astrologers were aware that the Milky Way was in fact a collection of millions of stars spinning around a central point, like a giant disc. They proclaimed that the bow of the Archer pointed to its centre. It has taken until the 20th Century and the advent of modern science to verify what the ancients ‘knew’. Something that has been born out time and time again.
So who is the Archer personified in the constellation of Sagittarius?
The Archer of the heavens is seen as half man, half horse – a Centaur. In this case not just any Centaur, by Chiron.
Centaurs were typically a rowdy bunch, very much into heavy drinking, wild parties and fighting. They were also given to uncontrollable sexual urges. I guess you could call them the football hooligans of the ancient world. Chiron could not be classed in this mould. Chiron was a philosopher, teacher and healer. Chiron was also divine and as such was immortal. It is he who has been accredited with teaching many of the heroes the art of battle. Heroes like Hercules, Achilles and Jason. In fact, it was said that he invented the constellation of the Archer in order to guide the Argonauts on their journey in search for the Golden Fleece. Chiron was a gentle and wise teacher. He was also versed in the arts of medicine and healing and is said to have tutored Asclepius, the first doctor.
Chiron’s tale is one of the most powerful in Greek mythology and one of my personal favourites. It is said that Hercules visited his friend and mentor in his cave. They shared a drink while Hercules and told him of his adventures. The other Centaurs smelt the wine and gate crashed the party. Hercules picked up his bow and arrows, dipped in the poison from the Hydra he had just slain as one of his epic ‘labours’. He killed the Centaurs, but in the confusion Chiron was injured, some say in his knee others in his ankle. Being immortal he couldn’t die, but had to endure insufferable pain. Despite all his knowledge of medicines he could not cure himself. Thus, he was doomed to suffer for eternity, that is until he gave up his immortal life for Prometheus. He was allowed to die and as a reward was placed in the heavens as the ‘Archer’.
The second part of this wonderful story is that of Prometheus. Prometheus was a Titan, one of the race overthrown by Zeus. Prometheus (which means foresight) had the gift of prophecy and also a deep sympathy for mankind. He stole a flame from the heavenly forge of the gods, which represented enlightenment, hid it in a hollowed out funnel stalk and carried it down to earth.
Zeus was outraged by the theft, so set out to annihilate mankind by sending forth a flood (a great earth wide flood is depicted in the mythology of every nation on earth, even in the Bible). Just as the Bible has the story of an ‘Ark’ so to does Greek mythology. Prometheus warned his son, who built an ark and went on board with his wife. The flood lasted for 9 days and nights, but on the tenth day the rain ceased and Deucalion (Prometheus’ son) made a sacrifice to Zeus. Zeus was touched by his piety and granted his request to renew the human race. This is part of the great ‘Deucalion Flood’ story of Greek mythology.
Prometheus didn’t get off so lightly though. Zeus seized Prometheus and bound him in chains that were ‘unbreakable’, to a large rock. Zeus sent down his eagle each day to peck out Prometheus’ liver, but each day it renewed itself. This torture went on for 30 years.
It is at this point that the story of Chiron and Prometheus intersect. Chiron was immortal, so therefore couldn’t be spared his suffering. He went to Zeus and offered his immortality (and therefore his status as a god) on condition that it was given to Prometheus. Zeus sent Hercules to unchain Prometheus, who was then made an immortal god and Chiron was released from his eternal suffering. Mankind forever was the benefactor of the wisdom and enlightenment Prometheus suffered so much to bring to us all.
Therefore, Sagittarian energy is one of knowledge, wisdom and learning at the expense of all else. Chiron gave his life to spare Prometheus. Prometheus endured 30 years of torture, in order that mankind could be more than ‘beasts’. Sagittarian energy is one of sacrifice to acquire something of greater value.
The Planet
Jupiter is the 5th planet of the Zodiac and by far the largest. It is colossal, 318 times bigger than earth, in fact, Jupiter is twice as large as all the rest of the planets put together.
None other than Zeus, king of the Olympian Gods, has since antiquity, given this celestial giant ruler ship. There is no more fitting deity. When you look into the night sky, Jupiter is the 4th brightest light you see (after the Sun, Moon and Venus) and has been observed since prehistoric times.
Jupiter is a gas planet and as such doesn’t have a solid surface. When we look up at Jupiter, we aren’t seeing the light reflected from the planet itself, rather the clouds that cover it. Jupiter is made up of 90% hydrogen and 10% helium. Its make up (methane, water, ammonia and ‘rock’) are almost identical in composition to the primordial ‘Solar Nebula’, thought to be origins of the entire solar system. The only other planet that has this composition is Saturn – and these two planets ‘rule’ our very lives.
Jupiter’s ‘Great Red Spot’ has only been visible to man for 300 years, with the advent of the telescope. This ‘Great Red Spot’ is big enough to hold two earths. This is in fact an area of ‘High Pressure’ cloud formation. Scientists still don’t know why it’s existed for so long or what is causing it. It’s not a physical landmark, rather a meteorological one.
Jupiter expends more energy out, than it receives in from the Sun. In fact, Jupiter itself has the characteristics of a Sun, however, the heat and energy it expends isn’t from nuclear fusion like the Sun, rather from something that is called the ‘Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism’, which is the slow gravitational compression of the planet. Therefore, it never gets hot enough to cause nuclear reactions.
Jupiter is as large as a gas planet can ‘possibly’ get. If any more matter were added, it would simply be compressed by gravity. It would get more ‘dense’, but not bigger. To become a star from its internal heat source, Jupiter would have to be 80 times larger than it is now to produce enough heat to manifest the nuclear heat needed to become a star. As this isn’t possible, then it will always remain a planet, even though it has the potential to be a ‘star’ in its own right. You may as well be talking about Zeus himself.
Jupiter’s magnetic field is much stronger than Earth’s, with a magnetosphere that extends more than 650 million kilometres (further than Saturn), yet its field is oblong in shape and although it extends so far out towards the other planets, the field towards the Sun only extends a few million kilometres. Jupiter, mighty as it is, still concedes authority to the Sun. This magnetic field makes human journeys to Jupiter dangerous. They contain high levels of energetic particles (radiation), far higher than those in the ‘Van Allen’ belts around earth. It would be instantly fatal to an unprotected human being.
Jupiter also has rings, like Saturn, but these are so much fainter that they were only discovered by ‘determination’. When the Voyager 1 scientists insisted, after travelling 1 billion kilometres that it was at least worth a nosey to see if they could see if any rings existed. Everyone thought this was impossible, in fact the chances for finding anything were given as ‘nil’. But find them they did. It was a major scientific coup.
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Sagittarius is the ‘heavenly Archer’. He stands with his bow drawn back, his arrow pointing directly at Antares, the bright red star we met in Scorpio, which is placed at the very heart of the Scorpion. Controversy and doubt have surrounded this constellation since antiquity and still remains. Is the Archer Crotus, the Horseman who lived on Mount Helicon, or Chiron, the Centaur, who was a philosopher, healer and teacher to many of the Heroes of ancient Greece?
There are in fact two constellations referred to as ‘the Archer’. They are Sagittarius and Centaurus. These two Archers have confused the stories about the celestial archer for thousands of years. The constellation of Centaurus can only be seen in its entirety in Southern Skies and not totally visible to Mediterranean sky gazers.
Whatever the true origins of Sagittarius, this sign has come to embody the attributes of both the ‘hunter’ and of Chiron, the Centaur.
It was the Romans who first named the constellation Sagittarius. ‘Sagitta’ is Latin for ‘arrow’.
A star map shows that Sagittarius lies for most part within the Milky Way, a place from which souls descended down to earth. Ancient Astrologers were aware that the Milky Way was in fact a collection of millions of stars spinning around a central point, like a giant disc. They proclaimed that the bow of the Archer pointed to its centre. It has taken until the 20th Century and the advent of modern science to verify what the ancients ‘knew’. Something that has been born out time and time again.
So who is the Archer personified in the constellation of Sagittarius?
The Archer of the heavens is seen as half man, half horse – a Centaur. In this case not just any Centaur, by Chiron.
Centaurs were typically a rowdy bunch, very much into heavy drinking, wild parties and fighting. They were also given to uncontrollable sexual urges. I guess you could call them the football hooligans of the ancient world. Chiron could not be classed in this mould. Chiron was a philosopher, teacher and healer. Chiron was also divine and as such was immortal. It is he who has been accredited with teaching many of the heroes the art of battle. Heroes like Hercules, Achilles and Jason. In fact, it was said that he invented the constellation of the Archer in order to guide the Argonauts on their journey in search for the Golden Fleece. Chiron was a gentle and wise teacher. He was also versed in the arts of medicine and healing and is said to have tutored Asclepius, the first doctor.
Chiron’s tale is one of the most powerful in Greek mythology and one of my personal favourites. It is said that Hercules visited his friend and mentor in his cave. They shared a drink while Hercules and told him of his adventures. The other Centaurs smelt the wine and gate crashed the party. Hercules picked up his bow and arrows, dipped in the poison from the Hydra he had just slain as one of his epic ‘labours’. He killed the Centaurs, but in the confusion Chiron was injured, some say in his knee others in his ankle. Being immortal he couldn’t die, but had to endure insufferable pain. Despite all his knowledge of medicines he could not cure himself. Thus, he was doomed to suffer for eternity, that is until he gave up his immortal life for Prometheus. He was allowed to die and as a reward was placed in the heavens as the ‘Archer’.
The second part of this wonderful story is that of Prometheus. Prometheus was a Titan, one of the race overthrown by Zeus. Prometheus (which means foresight) had the gift of prophecy and also a deep sympathy for mankind. He stole a flame from the heavenly forge of the gods, which represented enlightenment, hid it in a hollowed out funnel stalk and carried it down to earth.
Zeus was outraged by the theft, so set out to annihilate mankind by sending forth a flood (a great earth wide flood is depicted in the mythology of every nation on earth, even in the Bible). Just as the Bible has the story of an ‘Ark’ so to does Greek mythology. Prometheus warned his son, who built an ark and went on board with his wife. The flood lasted for 9 days and nights, but on the tenth day the rain ceased and Deucalion (Prometheus’ son) made a sacrifice to Zeus. Zeus was touched by his piety and granted his request to renew the human race. This is part of the great ‘Deucalion Flood’ story of Greek mythology.
Prometheus didn’t get off so lightly though. Zeus seized Prometheus and bound him in chains that were ‘unbreakable’, to a large rock. Zeus sent down his eagle each day to peck out Prometheus’ liver, but each day it renewed itself. This torture went on for 30 years.
It is at this point that the story of Chiron and Prometheus intersect. Chiron was immortal, so therefore couldn’t be spared his suffering. He went to Zeus and offered his immortality (and therefore his status as a god) on condition that it was given to Prometheus. Zeus sent Hercules to unchain Prometheus, who was then made an immortal god and Chiron was released from his eternal suffering. Mankind forever was the benefactor of the wisdom and enlightenment Prometheus suffered so much to bring to us all.
Therefore, Sagittarian energy is one of knowledge, wisdom and learning at the expense of all else. Chiron gave his life to spare Prometheus. Prometheus endured 30 years of torture, in order that mankind could be more than ‘beasts’. Sagittarian energy is one of sacrifice to acquire something of greater value.
The Planet
Jupiter is the 5th planet of the Zodiac and by far the largest. It is colossal, 318 times bigger than earth, in fact, Jupiter is twice as large as all the rest of the planets put together.
None other than Zeus, king of the Olympian Gods, has since antiquity, given this celestial giant ruler ship. There is no more fitting deity. When you look into the night sky, Jupiter is the 4th brightest light you see (after the Sun, Moon and Venus) and has been observed since prehistoric times.
Jupiter is a gas planet and as such doesn’t have a solid surface. When we look up at Jupiter, we aren’t seeing the light reflected from the planet itself, rather the clouds that cover it. Jupiter is made up of 90% hydrogen and 10% helium. Its make up (methane, water, ammonia and ‘rock’) are almost identical in composition to the primordial ‘Solar Nebula’, thought to be origins of the entire solar system. The only other planet that has this composition is Saturn – and these two planets ‘rule’ our very lives.
Jupiter’s ‘Great Red Spot’ has only been visible to man for 300 years, with the advent of the telescope. This ‘Great Red Spot’ is big enough to hold two earths. This is in fact an area of ‘High Pressure’ cloud formation. Scientists still don’t know why it’s existed for so long or what is causing it. It’s not a physical landmark, rather a meteorological one.
Jupiter expends more energy out, than it receives in from the Sun. In fact, Jupiter itself has the characteristics of a Sun, however, the heat and energy it expends isn’t from nuclear fusion like the Sun, rather from something that is called the ‘Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism’, which is the slow gravitational compression of the planet. Therefore, it never gets hot enough to cause nuclear reactions.
Jupiter is as large as a gas planet can ‘possibly’ get. If any more matter were added, it would simply be compressed by gravity. It would get more ‘dense’, but not bigger. To become a star from its internal heat source, Jupiter would have to be 80 times larger than it is now to produce enough heat to manifest the nuclear heat needed to become a star. As this isn’t possible, then it will always remain a planet, even though it has the potential to be a ‘star’ in its own right. You may as well be talking about Zeus himself.
Jupiter’s magnetic field is much stronger than Earth’s, with a magnetosphere that extends more than 650 million kilometres (further than Saturn), yet its field is oblong in shape and although it extends so far out towards the other planets, the field towards the Sun only extends a few million kilometres. Jupiter, mighty as it is, still concedes authority to the Sun. This magnetic field makes human journeys to Jupiter dangerous. They contain high levels of energetic particles (radiation), far higher than those in the ‘Van Allen’ belts around earth. It would be instantly fatal to an unprotected human being.
Jupiter also has rings, like Saturn, but these are so much fainter that they were only discovered by ‘determination’. When the Voyager 1 scientists insisted, after travelling 1 billion kilometres that it was at least worth a nosey to see if they could see if any rings existed. Everyone thought this was impossible, in fact the chances for finding anything were given as ‘nil’. But find them they did. It was a major scientific coup.
