Introduction



The stars are interesting things. They are used to navigate, predict, and other useful things. The moon is used for brewing potions. The sun is used for daylight. There are many other things out there. There, being endless, and still expanding. In this book I'm going to tell you about constellations; when they come, what they mean, and other sorts of useful items. Yet, I'm keeping it to a beginner's level, only 5 constellations.



Cancer (The Crab)
Cancer, the Crab is visible in the Northern Hemisphere in the spring, and visible in the Southern Hemisphere in autumn.

There are several stories of this most inconspicuous constellation. In early times, it was the crab crushed by Hercules when it pinched his toes in during a contest with Hydra.

The Other story is from the Chaldaean and Platonist philosophy, who thought that Cancer was The Gate of Man through which souls passed from heaven to earth and into human bodies.



Cassiopeia (The Queen)

Cassiopeia, the Queen, is visible in the Northern Hemisphere all year long.

Cassiopeia is known as the Celestial W when below the pole and the Celestial M when above it.

Cassiopeia is bound to her chair and forever circles the pole with her head downward, a fitting punishment by the Nereids (Sea Nymphs) for her boast of being more beautiful than all the Nereids.



Centaurus (The Centaur)

Centaurus, the Centaur is one of the largest constellations in the sky covering some 60 degrees.

There are several stories of centaurs in Greek mythology and it is generally thought that the constellation refers to Chiron, the king of the centaurs. Chiron was the son of Chronos and Philyra, the sea nymph; she was turned into a Linden tree shortly after Chirons birth. Philyra was sometimes drawn with Chrion on early maps of the cestial sphere. Chiron is credited for first leading the mortals to righteousness, by teaching them to tell the truth.

In early drawings of this constellation, two centaurs are shown; the other one is thought to be Pholos. Chiron was the inventor of the constellations, he was proficient in music, botany, astronomy, divination and medicine and the teacher of Archillies. Pholos was the teacher of Hercules. Hercules accidentally killed his friend Pholos with one of his poisoned tipped arrows, and during the melee, he accidentally wounded Chiron, since Chiron was immortal, he could not die from his wounds, and was in such pain and agony that Prometheus offered to exchange his immortality so that Chiron could find peace. Zeus transferred Chiron to the constellations.

From this, Prometheus inherited Chirons astronomical abilities and his immortality.



Draco (The Dragon)

Draco, the Dragon, used to hold special significance as the location of the pole star, but due to the Earth's precession, the pole has shifted to Polaris in Ursa Minor. The Dragon is usually associated with guardians of the temples and treasures. Draco was important, as it was the guardian of the star that never moves, the celestial pole. The celestial pole in ancient times was the doorway between the mortal world and the eternity.

In Greek mythology the dragon is Ladon, the guardian of the 'golden apples' of immortality, which grew in the garden of Hesperides, beyond the River of Time, in the land of death. It is Ladon that Hercules kills in his 11th labor to get the golden apples.



Hercules (The Son of Zeus)

Hercules, the Son of Zeus, is best seen in the summer in the Northern Hemisphere. You can find him by looking between Draco and Ophiuchus. Hercules is visible in the Southern Hemisphere from May until August.

Hercules is another of the oldest constellations, but the first Greek astronomers did not know him by that name (early Greeks called him the Kneeling One). Hercules is best known for his twelve labors, because he killed his children in a fit of anger. The twelve labors are thought to represent the Sun's passing through the twelve zodiacal constellations.