Zodiac

The zodiac is believed to be a belt of the heavens with eight degrees either facet of the great circle, together with all apparent positions of the sun, moon, and most acquainted planets. Its divided into twelve equal divisions, every section with it's own sign, symbol, and a temperament kind. John Gardner uses this pseudoscience motif in his parallel novel, Grendel, through images of the zodiac in every chapter to reveal the progressive modification of Grendel’s temperament as associated with…

My favorite constellation is Andromeda for many reasons. One reason is, the meaning of Andromeda, being "the chained woman". When some see this, they think a woman that has been chained, but it is much more than that. A some kind of hidden meaning. A woman, chained from something that they believe in, chained from a thing that they would like to do. Even chained from the world. Trapped in someone else's beliefs. A second reason is, the name and how it is properly said just appeals to me. The way…

For my constellation I have chosen Pegasus. I have chosen this constellation because flying creatures have always interested me and I think it is one of the more beautiful constellations in the sky. The near perfect rectangle in the center of the constellation is also very interesting and makes the constellation even more beautiful. I also prefer constellations with several stars and Pegasus is made up of 18 different stars! The myth of this constellation I have chosen from Greek mythology.…

Initially I thought that picking my favorite constellation would be an easy and foregone conclusion, that being my birth constellation, however, I find myself drawn to all the water related constellations. After pondering the subject a bit I finally decided to go with my birth constellation of pieces. Pieces ended up being my favorite constellation because, first and foremost, it is the constellation I was born under and it is a water constellation. I have a very strong attraction to water in…

I have chosen the constellation Lyra. I have chosen this constellation because I have an interest in greek history where it came from. Lyra is a constellation in the Hercules family that resembles a harp. It has 5 main stars but 25 in total. It's brightest star is Vega and it is bordered by the constellations Draco, Hercules, Vulpecula and Cygnus. The constellation Lyra represent Orpheus' lyre. It was supposedly made by Hermes with a tortoise shell and it was, according to legend, the first…

The Big Dipper is the first constellation I learned to identify as a child. Though I made up stories and constellations as I stared into the velvety darkness, the Big Dipper was the only "real" one I knew. This constellation is one of the easiest to find, as well as being one of the few that can be spotted year-round in North America. It is also part of another constellation, Ursa Major. Another advantage to being able to point out is that it also becomes easy to find Polaris, the North Star. If…

The constellation I've picked is Virgo. I have chosen this constellation because it is the second largest. It takes four hours to clear the eastern horizon because it is so big. Virgo was associated with harvest as a harvest goddess or daughter of a goddess. It was associated with harvest because the Sun passed along the constellation during late summer or early autumn. This was when the farmers were gathering the crops they had planted. The brightest star in Virgo, Spica, is said to…

The constellation Capricornus appeals to me more then the other constellations as it is the depiction of the Capricorn birth sign, which is the sign I fall under. This constellation represents Oannes the sea-goat God of Wisdom in Assyro-Babylonian depictions. The Capricornus is located in the Southern Sky and its name translates to "the goat" in Latin. Delta Capricorni is the brightest star in this constellation and it is the second most faintest constellation in the sky making it very difficult…

My favorite constellation is Pegasus. In the second century, it was listed as a constellation along with forty-seven others by the astronomy Ptolemy. I choose Pegasus because of the mythological legends behind such a magnificent organization of stars. Also, Pegasus particularly interests me because of the near perfect arrangement of four stars in a square: Markab, Scheat, Algenib, and Alpheratz/Sirrah (to use their Arabic names) are the four corners of the square asterism. In Greek mythology,…

I choose the phoenix because first it sounds cool and it is easy to draw. It is located on the southern sky, based on the photo it looks like it has 6 stars. The phoenix is the 37th constellation in size. The constellation was named after the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes.The mythical bird phoenix is known as the sacred fire bird across many mythologies: Greek, Persian, Arabic, Egyptian, Roman, Turkish, Indian and Chinese among others. The phoenix was said to have resembled an…