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In another thread Yuri made an association between the triplicity and the three belt stars of the constellation Orion, to my mind one of the most striking patterns in the sky. This started me wondering whether Orion might be seen as an archetypal human being.
I understand that there is a bit of a debate about whether Orion was identified by the Egyptians as Osiris or Horus (Plutarch wrote that Canopus – not visible in North European latitudes – was Osiris, Orion was Horus and Sirius was Isis). However, whether Horus or Osiris, the pharaohs were explicitly identified with both these gods. Kings represent (in mythology, though not in practice) ideal human figures, divine or semi-divine beings, which is why I was thinking of Orion as an archetype.
As I was looking at Orion I was struck for the first time by the similarity of the pattern made by the brightest stars of Orion’s body to the kabbalistic Tree of Life diagram. I did a quick search and found that others have had the same idea, see for example [url:37b7nw90]http://www.aiwaz.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=20[/url]. The diagram below is from that page:
The top three stars correspond pretty well to the three supernals Kether (1), Chokmah (2) and Binah (3); the belt stars to the triad of Chesed (4), Geburah (5) and Tiphareth (6); the bottom three to the triad of Netzach (7), Hod (
and Yesod (9). As Yesod corresponds to the generative organs, it is interesting to see that the star that seems best placed for Yesod is in the genital position of Orion, which is also a nebula region where stars are born. Malkuth, the tenth sephira, could be represented by Sirius. This would seem to fit rather nicely as Sirius is Isis to the Egyptians, and Malkuth is the Bride of Microprosopus and the feminine Shekina. As the three belt stars are the most distinctive feature of Orion, it is appropriate that they correspond to the important triad of Chesed, Geburah and Tiphareth, which lend their properties to the naming of the three pillars of the tree of life; Chesed (Love, Mercy) to the Pillar of Mercy, Geburah (Power, Justice, Fear) to the Pillar of Severity, with Tiphareth (Beauty, Compassion) as the balancing Pillar of Mildness.This brought me back to my initial musings on Orion as the archetypal human being. The sephiroth on the tree of life are also seen as composing the body of Adam Kadmon, the Primeval Man, who is the archetype of the cosmos and of humanity. What does anybody else think?
Michael
I think that ORION is a great topic for a thread.
This constellation really does appear to of been significant to early cultures. What with Giza mimicking Orions Belt and in Britain, the Thornbury (borough? cant remember) Rings in Yorkshire, archaeologists have agreed are representative of the three stars upon the ‘belt’.
My own project at the moment (putting together a booklet about Gwyn ap Nudd; – the ancient British god of ‘Ynys Witrin’ (Glastonbury)) He, I belive is represented by the constellation of Orion ‘The Hunter’.
Gwyn, is a hunting god. He is a lord of the otherworld, he goes out on wild nights, and is celebrated every May 1st as the ‘Winter King’ who battles and loses against the ‘Summer King’, but then returns to repeat his cycle.
Orion is the hunter. he is very much lord of the otherworld (the night sky) and he is very much the ‘winter king’ as he is only visible in the night sky (in Britain) during the cold months… dipping below the horizon around May and returning in the Autumn…
…Glastonbury Tor, Gwyn’s home, is located upon the large ‘Michael Line’ alignment which runs on the May Day alignment (this is when Gwyn fights the summer king.) The Welsh Triads say of Gwyn that he is one of the top three astrologers in the isle of britain (he is situated upon Aquarius of the Glastonbury Zodiac)… also, the tales of him going hunting in his ‘Wild Hunt’; every winter night, as you stand at the old Lake Village of Glastonbury, Orion the constellation is seen to rise out of Glastonbury Tore and hunt across the night sky!!!
This fascinates me… I am putting a booklet together because, if you pick up most Glastonbury guide books all you’ll read about Gwyn is ‘Gwynn ap Nudd, king of the Faeries’ being banished from the Tor by a christian hermit…. I dont think so.
Watching Orion rising over the Tor like that must be something; one of those things that you see and suddenly you aren’t just a witness but a participant, experiencing a connection to something powerful and profound. I can’t wait for you to finish your book Yuri (btw, how is the Dryad?).
As lord of the night sky, in winter I think there is no doubt about that; Orion is easily the most striking constellation, and easy to make out even in areas suffering lots of light pollution.
I wonder if Orion has always been seen as a human figure? To me it seems obviously humanoid, but I may be conditioned to see it that way. Greg Taylor of The Daily Grail wrote an interesting article on The God With Upraised Arm in 1999. There are similarities in the iconography of various Near Eastern deities with the constellation of Orion. For example, the ubiquitous ‘smiting pose’ of Horus and the pharaoh in Egyptian art is very reminiscent of the pose of Orion (using the full constellation of Orion, with arms waving and everything).
In terms of the Egyptian smiting pose, there is an idea of defeating chaos to establish order (Maat), and conquest could be seen as an extension of hunting. But thinking of Orion as the hunter, what is the significance of the hunt? This isn’t something I’ve ever thought about. To me the idea of a hunt carries an element of wildness. This being PsychicQuesting.com you could see the hunt in terms of a quest (and a certain acceptance of unpredictable wildness would seem a must for questing).
Michael
I think that the Hunt works on many levels… a common belief is the ‘gathering of souls’ to take to the other world, but i tend to agree with the notion of adventuring into the otherworld to bring back treasures… this would even tie in with orions re-appearance in the Autumn with all the fruits of the Autumn festival… the winter king bringing the neccesary treasures to help the people last until May.
Celtic myth is full of hero’s going to the otherworld to bring back treasures, in comparison, there are not a lot of stories of ‘soul gathering’, so i would lean to the ‘treasure’ hunting opinion.
The Dryad? she’s packing her bag and getting ready to fly (on Friday)
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