The
return of
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Ophiuchus
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approximately 247 to 266 degrees of the Ecliptic (the center of the plane of the Zodiac
Belt) measured from the current point of the vernal equinox (as of 2000 A.D.) and clearly
in that space of it popularly thought to be occupied by Scorpio the Scorpion is a newcomer
to the Belt of the Zodiac, but only inasmuch as it has lain all this time unempowered and
unknown as a zodiac constellation. Taking up approximately 19 degrees worth of the
Ecliptic is Ophiuchus, The Serpent Holder (from the
Greek ofis "snake," and echein "have hold"). Ophiuchus the Serpent Holder is and always has been the 13th constellation on the zodiac belt, but apparently nobody has ever initiated his sign as a member of the Zodiac, possibly because then there wouldn't have been a convenient one constellation for each of the twelve months of the calendar year. |
Personally,
I think that's a pretty poor reason for leaving someone standing on the
outside looking in -- especially in light of the mythology surrounding Ophiuchus. Ophiuchus,
in Greek mythology, was Aesclepius, Master Architect,
Healer, and God of Wisdom. Earth is a planet in trouble. Ophiuchus is the only constellation in the sky which is patterned after a real person in human history, tracing back through time and space for its roots to an Ancient Egyptian mortal-made-god named Imhotep, whose life and times in or about the 27th Century B.C. were honored by both the Egyptians and Greeks some 2500 years after his death as not only a great man, but as a god who owed his great powers to the knowledge of medicine which he possessed, and who brought the art of healing to mankind. |
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Asklepius
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| The constellation Ophiuchus the Serpent Holder takes its storyline directly from the Greek God of Medicine Aesclepius who, while in the process of bringing Orion The Hunter back to life following an accident, was struck and killed by a thunderbolt hurled at him by Zeus, God of the Sky and Earth. It seems Zeus' brother Hades, God of the Dead, was alarmed at the prospect that Aesclepius' abilities might soon put him out of work. So he prevailed upon his brother Zeus to intervene in the matter. Blood of the Black Brotherhood being thicker than water (Politics vs. Morality), Zeus complied with the dark brother's request and dealt the death blow. | To honor Asklepius (so
the story goes), Zeus set him in the sky and gave him the Greek name
"Ophiuchus." This type of story, based in fact and handed down from generation to generation, is responsible for seeding and perpetuating seriously negative psychological messages in the human consciousness, setting us up from infancy to expect injustice to prevail, and forcing us subliminally to live with it. The question on my mind is, how long are we going to sit here and let these outrageous stories continue to take their toll on our children? |
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