Orion (also Osiris) holding Aldebaran, the eye of the bull in the palm of his hand. The hunter's dog, with the bright star Sirius, is at his right foot. The pyramid of Cheops is aligned with his belt, aka The Three Kings. The constellation of the hare is underneath Orion. (Willem Beekman)
Orion was born, fully formed, helmet on head, sword in hand, girded with a belt and three diamonds, out of the earth, as a gift from the gods to the barren king Hyrieus of Boeotia; or actually out of a urine-soaked skin of a white bull with golden horns. (Urine, or divine living water provided by three gods in disguise as humble guests, Zeus, Poseidon and Hermes.) There is a lot to get out of this myth once you colour it in with imagination.
Fundamentally, it's another creation myth, showing man to be an etheric being, with the potential to cut his soul into carat diamonds (manas, buddhi, atman); he cannot walk with the gods, but must be anchored in particles (physiacal body): this is to be a mortal creation, made up out of the four elements, earth (Gaia), water (Poseidon, the god of the Oceans), air (the winged Hermes) and fire (Zeus with bolt)
Orion goes out into the world and spreads high-culture (thanks to Hermes), creates harbours (thanks to Poseidon) but then love throws a spanner in his good works.... Or rather, he is no master of his sentiments yet, and lust roars like a wild beast in him. He becomes besotted for Artemis and in his delirium, he seizes her against her will. Daddy Zeus is furious and sends a killer scorpion to sting Orion in his heel. (This motif of trespassing and being poisoned for it, we have already seen in the myth of another hunter/warrior, Philoctetes. Also the helper-god Hephaestus/Vulcan plays a part in both stories.) After his swift demise, Zeus puts his sort-of-progeny up on the wall of fame and infamy in the heavenly skies as a cautionary tale, to warn mortals to mind their P's and Q's. Even heroes must know their place: there is no place for men amongst the gods.
Chiron, Sagittarius from Atlas Coelestis. Johannes Hevelius, 1690
As intelligent beings
we must cultivate ourselves and forge our souls into warrior-sages. For this we do not need the Centaur teacher (like Achilles still did). Enkidu and Orion both must yield to a more refined, sentient (Appolonian) soul which feels her way with poise and grace, and looks before she leaps.
Diana next to the corpse of Orion by Daniel Seiter, 1649-1705
The last holy day before epiphany closes a meditation on the 12 qualities that radiate from the fixed star constellations into the crown chakra. In this nativity period of a new year we lay the seeds for the coming months, with reflections we need to work out more, practices we need to stick to, ideas we need to nurture. This is how we purify our soul and charge our spirit to take responsibility over our destiny.
This twelth day stands under the mood of Saggitarius, the archer, or centaur, with its revelatory, penetrative force. This sign is about movement and countermovement, to and fro. Piercing substance to free its spirit. Gathering spirit to inseminate matter.
The arrow shoots in response to the target. The upward movement of growth in tender spikes of green meet the down coming rays of sunlight. When we see the exiled Philoctetes alone on his island, shooting birds out of the sky with his powerful, Herculean bow and arrow, we see how he brings down cosmic energies to earth for intuition: that he might do God's will. This is the old way of service and sacrifice. The Greeks adopt philosophy to find new, freer, self-determining ways to serve man first and foremost. The tone of Saggitarius for this last day is one of suspense: the bow is stretched, the arrow poised, the target in sight. Right timing, and con-centration, ringing the heart from where the power will be unleashed and the faculties found to discern between right and wrong, wants and needs.
Theseus defeats the Centaur (1805-19) Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria.