Ancient Eygpt and Fixed Stars

 

I don't know anyone who isn't interested in Ancient Egypt - the pyramids, the Pharoahs, the whole mystery of why they were built. Much has been written and said about them, and most people I know have heard about 'The Orion Mystery' a book written a wee while back by . What compelled me to write a blog post about them was the fact that driving home from work yesterday, was a van whose company name was 'Orion' something. Yes, I do smile when things like this happen. 

What Gilbert and Bauvall suggest (well, a bit more strongly than that) is that the three pyramids on the Giza Plateau were built to mirror the stars in the belt of Orion. Not being archeologists in the academic sense, they were not taken seriously, though their work has been followed up. Whatever the case, the stories that the ancient temples continue to give us certainly captures our imaginations. 

What we do know is that the ancient Egyptians were certainly besotted by fixed stars. Did they practise astrology? Well, if you look at this picture of the Denderah Zodiac, found in the portico of a chapel dedicated to Osiris, at Denderah, you would be right to think that they did.  According to one website, the positions of the stars as shown in this relief date it to around 51BC, when Cleopatra became the last Pharoah of Egypt. Given that even the Bible mentions magi following a star to Bethlehem tells us that since antiquity, people have been fascinated by the movement of stars and planets, and sought to derive meaning from their movement. 

So which fixed stars are important to us at the moment? The Sun, today the 25th February 2023, is travelling through the sign of the fish - Pisces - astrologically, that is. What this means is this: due to precession there is a difference of 23 degrees between what astrologers calculate (without precessional differences) and what you see in the sky (precessed positions). So today, for astrologers, the Sun is at 6 degrees of Pisces, but when looking at the position of the Sun against the constellations, it is 23 degrees behind - at 12 degrees Aquarius. Indian astrologers use the visual approach, what they see in the sky, for example. It is a matter of preference. 

Anyone who watched the night sky a few nights ago would have certainly noticed two bright stars aligned with the Moon: Jupiter and Venus are getting closer together in the sky at the moment. These two will reach conjunction on the 1st March,  visible low in the sky to the west just after sunset (picture taken from www.skyandtelescope.org). If you look at the picture below, you can see how these two should become visible once the Sun sets below the western horizon. 

So what should this conjunction bring us? How would the ancient Egyptians have see this? First of all, the overarching bit of information is they would have seen which fixed star governed the period. When a star rises with the sun in the morning after a period of being hidden, then that star has an influence because of its heliacal rising. On the 17th February, the fixed star Deneb Algedi arose with the Sun after a period of being hidden. The name, for those who know Maltese, is easily translated - the tail of the goat. This is a fixed star in Capricornus. It is quite a bright star and according to Bernadette Brady, it "carries the concept" of the law, justice and seeking the physical and metaphysical laws which govern the world. Check out this very interesting article on Prince William and his fixed stars at https://zyntara.com/born-under-an-eclipse-the-man-who-would-be-king/ 

In the chart of the 1st of March, Venus and Jupiter are conjunct in the sign of Aries. Aries is the sign of the warrior or the initiator. Venus is in fall in Aries (not a strong position), whilst Jupiter is peregrine (a visitor). Perhaps issues will arise on the national/international stage concerning wishing to being something involving networking. With Jupiter in Aries, this may take on the shape of a person who, for the good of others, wishes to bring knowledge in order to change a chaotic situation. Then remember that the fixed star Deneb Algedi is in play, wishing to bring about a state of justice, civilisation and the law. 

Just for your information, the next heliacal rising star with be Fomalhaut (again, if you read that in Maltese, you see 'Fomm il-Ħut' - the mouth of the fish), but not before April is well set in. More about that later :) 

I hope you enjoyed this article. 

Blessings, 

Cindy