Jan 30, 20 cygnus swan also modern northern cross the story. Although it is more often linked with other ancient myths about swans for instance. Here andrew shows that gobekli tepe and the pyramids of giza were the products of ancient technologies and a belief in the importance in the constellation of cygnus, the celestial swan, deriving from a previously unknown human population called the denisovans. This lesson will engage children and firsttime night sky viewers in observations of the night sky. 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. Bible, where it is referred to in the book of job, thus giving it the name jobs star. Cygnus is latin for swan think of cygnets, which are young swans, but you can also. On mount olympus, ganymede served the gods by bringing them water whenever they. According to pseudo eratosthenes and hyginus poetical astronomy, the constellation cygnus was the stellar image of the swan zeus had transformed into in order to seduce leda 7 or nemesis. Cygnus is a northern constellation lying on the plane of the milky way, deriving its name from the latinized greek word for swan.
This brilliant book is the sign ive been waiting for. The constellation, cygnus, is called the swan but is also known as the northern cross due to its shape. Ovid gives an account of this tale in his metamorphoses, book xii. This beautiful blue supergiant also forms part of the summer triangle, together with aquila in altair, and lyra in vega. 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. The words cygnus and cygnet, a young swan, are from latin cygnus, swan, greek kuknos. It was named for several swans which appear in greek mythology, including the one zeus transformed into to seduce leda, the form orpheus took after his death, and a son of the god apollo who was turned into a. As with most mythology there are different stories about the cygnus constellation. The truth is that we, too, are changed into a beautiful new creature at. Cygnus is a familiar northern constellation with its brightest star, deneb, marking the tail of the swan it depicts. One story involves the greek mythological character of leda who was the queen of sparta.
Jan 23, 2012 god, indeed, hath already sent messengers which should testify his will, to wit some new stars which have appeared in serpentarius and cygnus, the which powerful signs of a great council shew forth how for all things which human ingenuity discovers, god calls upon his hidden knowledge, as likewise the book of nature, though it stands open truly. July, 2001 this is without a doubt my favorite constellation, for a number of reasons, but the most important one is probably. Nov 09, 2006 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. Cygnus, the swan young stargazers society for popular astronomy.
He was mourning the death of a close friend and therefore incurred the pity of apollo who changed him into a swan and put him in the heavens. In classic mythology it represents the seduction of queen leda by the all powerful zeus jupiter, who had his way with her in the form of a swan, their union leading to the birth of helen of troy, and pollux of the gemini twins. Cygnus is one of the 42 constellations that represents an animal. Cycnus, a blunder for guneus in the manuscript of hyginus fab. Nov 10, 2017 the cygnus constellation welcome to another edition of constellation friday. Today, in honor of the late and great tammy plotner, we take a look at the swan the cygnus constellation. In one myth, cygnus is a friend of phaethon, the son of apollo, the sun god.
Its name means the swan in latin, and it is also known as the swan constellation. In irish mythology, swans are usually depicted as shapeshifters, capable of transforming into human and bird form at will. It was first seen as a bird or a hen, but became associated with several greek myths involving swans. The constellation of the swan, or cygnus, has a special place in the heavens, as it is lying on the plane of the milky way. Barbara hand clow, author of awakening the planetary mind the cygnus key is a monumental work bringing numerous ancient mysteries into focus. Andrew collins takes readers into deepest, darkest caves in search of the sound of the universe, making a. Little wonder then that these birds of the family anatidae within the genus cygnus are associated with the gods and goddesses of the prechristian celtic peoples.
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. With information on constellations from cygnus the swan to orion the hunter, its an. The greek myth says that the chief god, zeus, was a crusty old gent who. In greek mythology, multiple characters were known as cycnus ancient greek. Cygnus, the swan, is also known as the northern cross because of its shape. Cygnus the swan cygnus celestial atlas by alexander jamieson 1822. Ancient origins articles related to cygnus in the sections of history, archaeology, human origins, unexplained, artifacts, ancient places and myths and legends. They are the swan, which is called eala in scots gaelic, eala in irish, alarch in welsh, alarch in breton, olla in manx and alargh cornish, is known for its majestic grace and gliding mystical.
In classic mythology it represents the seduction of queen leda by the all powerful zeus jupiter, who had his way with her in the form of a swan, their union leading to the birth of helen of troy, and pollux of. We are recovering from our species trauma from the great cataclysms 12,000 years ago. May 14, 20 andrew collins discusses his book the cygnus mystery unlocking the ancient secret of lifes origins in the cosmos. 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. Cygnus is associated with the myth of zeus and leda in greek mythology. Zeus took pity and turned cygnus into a swan in the skies. The cygnus key is a mustread for all students of ancient timelines, star alignments, and cosmology.
The swan in celtic mythology transceltic home of the. 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. Review of the cygnus key by andrew collins part 1 jason. Cygnuss brightest star, deneb, marks the tail of the swan.
Cygnus, the swan constellation facts, mythology and how to. One of the most striking swan myths associated with newgrange is the. When she changed into a goose, zeus immediately transformed himself into a wonderful swan and won the love of nemesis. Zeus knew that as himself he would not be able to win the love. She was a queen of sparta and mother of beautiful helen who sparked the trojan war, and the dioscuri twins. She was the wife of king tyndareus of sparta when zeus saw her, he fell in love with her. Grade 14this slim book tells the mythology behind 19 constellations. Leda the wife of the spartan king, tyndareus, and the mother of the gemini and helen of troy had unrivaled beauty.
Andrew collins takes readers into deepest, darkest caves in search of the sound of the universe, making a compelling case for palaeolithic cerns. The cygnus mystery is an intellectual adventure that considers shamanism and the influence of the cygnus constellation on the minds of our neolithic ancestors. In addition, it is about the very probable link between these traditions and a fixation with the constellation cygnus the swan, made apparent in the mythology of ancient peoples, as well as the alignments of numerous ancient megalith. Other versions state that the swan was cionus, son of neptune, who was wrestled to the ground and. What do swans symbolize swan is a symbol of grace, beauty, devotion, love, fidelity, purity, peace, partnership, elegance, energy, protection, calmness, creativity, and transformation. As a result, she became impregnated by both zeus and tyndareus. Cygnus has been known by many different cultures and represents many different things for these cultures throughout history. Leda and the swan is a story and subject in art from greek mythology in which the god zeus, in the form of a swan, seduces or in some versions, rapes leda. With 5 stars brighter than 3rd magnitude this constellation is visible even in some city lighting. The mythology of cygnus is not quite as exciting as that of other constellations. Interestingly, cygnus is not the only invulnerable. The 3rd subconstellation of aquarius is cygnus the swan. Cygnus swan also modern northern cross the story behind the.
Nov 12, 2007 cygnus contains some rather more interesting nebulae, including a number in a tight area about three degrees south of epsilon cygni also known as gienah in the eastern wing of the swan. For 17,000 years the constellation of cygnus, the celestial swan, otherwise. Cygnus is one of the older constellations recognized by early civilizations. According to another version of the myth, zeus transformed himself into a swan to court leda, the queen of sparta. The cygnus enigma examines the link between megalithic passagemound of newgrange, the myths which relate to that eminent monument, and other interesting factors which together form a fascinating ancient mystery.
In greek mythology, cygnus has been identified with several different legendary swans. Sethian architects of the egyptian pyramids from cygnus. Like many other members of the house of black, cygnus is named after a constellation. Cygnus dove repeatedly into the water to search for phaethon.
In greek mythology there are four characters known as cycnus or cygnus, listed on this wikipedia webpage. 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. Cygnus, son of king of the liguarians, is one example. The constellation is easy to find in the sky as it features a wellknown asterism known as the northern cross. In order to escape from zeus, nemesis changed herself into many different animals. The identity of cygnus in greek mythology is uncertain. See more ideas about cygnus constellation, astronomy and constellations. The god zeus strikes the impetuous charioteer with a bolt of lightning, causing him to fall headlong into the river. Cygnus was the brother of phaethon who when the latter fell into eridanus, cygnus turned into a swan to search for the body. The swan constellation that we know today as cygnus is also crossshaped.
Cygnus is a northern constellation also known as the swan or the northern cross. Deneb is a highly luminous supergiant about 1400 light years away, the most distant of all firstmagnitude stars. To the east of the group lies the cirrus nebula ngc6992 and to the west the fainter and more diffuse veil nebula ngc 6992. Just west of deneb, its brightest star, begins the great rift, a long band of darkness that runs southwest towards the horizon and appears to split the milky way in two. Leda and the constellation cygnus windows to the universe. The constellation is a mythological representation of the swan.
Phaethon fell into the river eridanus, trying to drive the sungods chariot. Leda was a princess in greek mythology, daughter of the king of aetolia, thestius. Surprisingly, the greeks had no name for this prominent star. The constellation cygnus was formed to celebrate the lovely swan. May 2, 2020 explore sadlunes board leda and the swan. There are several different stories associated with the cygnus constellation. The irish call them eala, and associate them with spring, and the goddess, brigid. As with many ancient greek myths the amorous advances of the. In greek mythology there are four characters known as cycnus or cygnus, listed on this wikipedia webpage the words cygnus and cygnet, a young swan, are from latin cygnus, swan, greek kuknos the english word swan comes from the indoeuropean root swento sound. Leda was so beautiful that zeus could not resist her. The shape of the constellation with a short tail and long neck stretching out suggests a.
Zeus knew that as himself he would not be able to win the love of leda. 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. Symbolizes the protective power of romance, the joy and freedom felt in helping. The story of cygnus the swan constellation, from greek mythology. The english word swan comes from the indoeuropean root swento sound. In our investigation, we examined the relationship between the astronomical alignments of newgrange and fourknocks, the whooper swans which winter at newgrange in large numbers, the. Cygnus was among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer. 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. He transformed into a swan and appeared in front of her.
Jun 15, 2015 swans are seen as a symbol of love and fidelity around the world because of their custom of mating for life. Cygnus, the swan, is an ancient constellation, one of ptomelys original 48, included in his almagest of 149 ad. Because of its importance in ancient greek mythology and astrology, the sprawling constellation of cygnus was one of ptolemys original 48. Though all the myths try to describe how the star pattern ended up in the sky, none represents this pattern of stars any better than a story told by ovid. Cygnus is a prominent constellation in the northern sky. Combining the elements of air and water, they also embody eternal life. Another story had zeus disguised as a swan so that he could travel down to see leda, the wife of a spartan king. The english word swan, akin to the german schwan, dutch zwaan and swedish svan, is derived from indoeuropean root swen to sound, to sing.
For the ancient greeks, the constellation cygnus, which means swan, was related to the myth of zeus and the goddess nemesis. Leda is a figure from greek mythology who was famously seduced by zeus when he took the form of a swan. The swan, which is called eala in scots gaelic, eala in irish, alarch in welsh, alarch in breton, olla in manx and alargh cornish, is known for its majestic grace and gliding mystical beauty. Cygnus is a northern constellation lying on the plane of the milky way, deriving its name from. 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. Such stories are linked also with the european tradition of le chevalier du cygne knight of the swan, descended of a swanmaiden m, creating the archaic belief that certain families and individuals were descended from a mythical swanknight. The literal meaning of the name is swan, and accordingly most of them ended up being transformed into swans. He claims that hellenic mythology identified cygnus the swan with a vulture, but i can find no. Phaeton, unable to control the chariot of the sun, careens wildly though the heavens, scorching the earth. 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.
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