Cygnus the swan mythology books

Cygnus and aquila in the milky way star myths of the world. In greek mythology, cygnus has been identified with several different legendary swans. Surprisingly, the greeks had no name for this prominent star. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading path of souls. The legend goes that the two friends were racing each other in the skies. It is not so much the swan itself that is important, but the symbolism of the bird, regardless the species. Now, going back even further to 45,000 years ago, he explores how our ancestors first discovered the cygnus connection, the pathway of souls through the constellation of the swan. Cygnus is a northern constellation lying on the plane of the milky way, deriving its name from. Andrew collinss new book the cygnus mystery available here. Trumpeter swan, cygnus buccinator is the largest north american swan. Cygnus dove repeatedly into the water to search for phaethon. He transformed into a swan and appeared in front of her. In greek mythology there are four characters known as cycnus or cygnus, listed on this wikipedia webpage. Cultures that didnt know the swan, had another bird representing this constellation, such as the vulture.

The cygnus key is a mustread for all students of ancient timelines, star alignments, and cosmology. Cygnus and the swan has often been associated with the figure of the goddess, not least in celtic mythology as the research of writers such as andrew collins makes apparent. Review of the cygnus key by andrew collins part 1 jason. Other versions state that the swan was cionus, son of neptune, who was wrestled to the ground and. Because the pattern of stars so easily resembles a bird in flight, cygnus the swan has a long and rich mythological history. Today, in honor of the late and great tammy plotner, we take a look at the swan the cygnus constellation.

The swan in celtic mythology transceltic home of the. Cygnus is a northern constellation lying on the plane of the milky way, deriving its name from the latinized greek word for swan. This book starts off about the dogon people in mali who since ancient times and as part of their beliefs claim people came from the star we call sirius in the cygnus of which the sun is part of. Dear friends, amanda painting 1, a cygnus reader, suggested that it would be a lovely idea to describe to you all how cygnus started, and how it evolved. The most notable of which is the legend of cycnus and phaetons mortal sun of helios god of sun friendship. There are several stories in greek mythology that involve the constellation cygnus. This myth covers it all the swan and the milky way analogy, as well as the behavior of the swan. Rey, which include the fainter stars of the feet, as well as fainter stars which extend the wings of the swan to a wider and even more majestic wingspan, but it is perhaps the easiest way to spot cygnus if youre not familiar with the constellation, and it is quite magnificent and large in. The constellation is easy to find in the sky as it features a wellknown asterism known as the northern cross. Cygnus was then placed into the night sky, in the middle of the fiery trail of smoke created by his friends flight, the milky way. The myth is that the god zeus turned himself into a swan to pursue queen leda. The literal meaning of the name is swan, and accordingly most of them ended up being transformed into swans. When she changed into a goose, zeus immediately transformed himself into a wonderful swan and won the love of nemesis.

In our investigation, we examined the relationship between the astronomical alignments of newgrange and fourknocks, the whooper swans which winter at newgrange in large numbers, the. Is there anything of interest to observe within the confines of cygnus. The swan constellation that we know today as cygnus is also crossshaped. Zeus took pity and turned cygnus into a swan in the skies. Cygnus was the brother of phaethon who when the latter fell into eridanus, cygnus turned into a swan to search for the body. The words cygnus and cygnet, a young swan, are from latin cygnus, swan. As with many ancient greek myths the amorous advances of the king of gods zeus plays a major part in the story. In the northern sky, you can easily find a swan constellation which is known as cygnus.

Some myths, for instance, state the swan was once the pet of the queen cassiopeia. There are several different stories associated with the cygnus constellation. The constellations and greek mythology page 6 greek. Weve never told the first part of the story to anyone except a few very close friends, but my sons tell me it would be good to tell all.

Barbara hand clow, author of awakening the planetary mind the cygnus key is a monumental work bringing numerous ancient mysteries into focus. In greek mythology, multiple characters were known as cycnus ancient greek. Deneb is a highly luminous supergiant about 1400 light years away, the most distant of all firstmagnitude stars. As is the case with so many of the constellations, there are a number of possible explanations for the presence of the swan in the heavens. This beautiful blue supergiant also forms part of the summer triangle, together with aquila in altair, and lyra in vega. Its name means the swan in latin, and it is also known as the swan constellation. The identity of cygnus in greek mythology is uncertain. Snorri sturluson, who set out to explain norse mythology in his prose edda, explains eir in two different ways in the two main books, gylfaginning and skaldskaparmal. Very similar to the whooper swan and sometimes treated as a subspecies of it, it was hunted almost to extinction but has since recovered. Cygnus, the swan constellation facts, mythology and how to. The story of cygnus the swan constellation, from greek mythology. In greek mythology there are four characters known as cycnus or cygnus, listed on. Collins also tries to make the case that pillar 43, which depicts a menagerie of animals, including several birds and a scorpion, is actually a diagram of cygnus and scorpius.

Cygnus was first catalogued the by greek astronomer ptolemy in the 2nd century. Sensing that this annual spectacle might have influenced the mythology and practices of those who built the newgrange monument, they wondered whether the passage grave reflected the influence not just of the sun, but also that of cygnus, the celestial swan. One story involves the greek mythological character of leda who was the queen of sparta. Cygnus is a familiar northern constellation with its brightest star, deneb, marking the tail of the swan it depicts. The constellation, cygnus, is called the swan but is also known as the northern cross due to its shape. The god zeus strikes the impetuous charioteer with a bolt of lightning, causing him to fall headlong into the river. Although this constellation is not very famous for its starseeds, it has been renowned since old times as zeus and leda are associated with it. The brightest star in cygnus is deneb, the 19th brightest star in the sky.

Leda and the constellation cygnus windows to the universe. Much of our understanding of the star appears to come from roman mythology where it is identified with the figure of a swan placed in the sky by jupiter, in gratitude for its form which he took to seduce the unsuspecting leda. Zeus knew that as himself he would not be able to win the love of leda. This is not the full outline shown in the books by h. The constellation was also a key to the beliefs of the early german rosicrucians, for whom it symbolised a dove descending into the holy grail. The book i read to research this post was the cygnus mystery by andrew collins which is an excellent book which i bought from kindle. We are star stuff a blog about mythology, the stars, and. The cygnus mystery is a real arm chair science trip. In order to escape from zeus, nemesis changed herself into many different animals.

The constellation cygnus facts, location, photos and. Bible, where it is referred to in the book of job, thus giving it the name jobs. Cygnus is one of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn, and it features a prominent asterism known as the northern cross in contrast to the southern cross. Leda the wife of the spartan king, tyndareus, and the mother of the gemini and helen of troy had unrivaled beauty. Ovid gives an account of this tale in his metamorphoses, book xii. Cygnus discovered his friends body, trapped underwater, and begged zeus to transform him into a swan so that he could retrieve phaethon and give him a proper burial. In addition, it is about the very probable link between these traditions and a fixation with the constellation cygnus the swan, made apparent in the mythology of ancient peoples, as well as the alignments of numerous ancient this book was mostly brilliant, but ive had to shave a star off my rating due to the ending. The words cygnus and cygnet, a young swan, are from latin cygnus, swan, greek kuknos. Cygnus wide field astrophotography of the northern cross.

In order to escape from zeus, nemesis changed herself. The butterfly genus cycnus is now synonymized with panthiades. Leda was so beautiful that zeus could not resist her. Cygnus s brightest star, deneb, marks the tail of the swan. In ancient times cygnus was known less specifically as the bird and variously associated with hens, pigeons and eagles. A beautiful young man, he was accompanied by an equally beautiful male swan and the bird came to represent the powers of poetry and the divinely inspired poet himself. Another story had zeus disguised as a swan so that he could travel down to see leda, the wife of a spartan king. Kyknos cycnus was a king of liguria in northern italy who, after the death of his dear friend phaethon, leapt into the river eridanos and was transformed into a swan. Cygnus, the swan, is an ancient constellation, one of ptomelys original 48, included in his almagest of 149 ad. Apollo riding hyperborean swan, athenian redfigure bell krater c4th b. Although it comes to rather controversial conclusions, to put it mildly, the book does bring together some thoughtprovoking bits of swan lore from all over the world. Leda was a princess in greek mythology, daughter of the king of aetolia, thestius. Cygnus, the celestial swan of classical mythology, is perhaps the oldest constellation in the world.

Cygnus the swan greek mythology and the constellation cygnus the constellation cygnus was, according to the ancient greeks, a representation of the swan, a bird which appeared in greek mythology almost as often as the eagle. Cygnus is associated with the myth of zeus and leda in greek mythology. Along with vega and altair, deneb is one of the stars of the prominent asterism, the summer triangle. Cygnus, the swan, is one of the more obvious asterisms in the summer skies, which because of its shape is sometimes called the northern cross swans occur throughout the greek myths. Constellation of cygnus swan with the music of petr tchaikovsky, swan lake everyday life is a life of tortured people, who ruled by only goal to. The author explains how the stars of cygnus coincided with the turning point of the heavens at the moment the denisovan legacy was handed to the first human societies in southern siberia 45,000 years ago, catalyzing beliefs in swan ancestry and an understanding of cygnus as the source of cosmic creation. It provides a lucid and wellreasoned understanding for readers who make the effort to digest it all. The constellation is a mythological representation of the swan. For the ancient greeks, the constellation cygnus, which means swan, was related. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.

The swan in celtic mythology submitted by alastair kneale on february 3, 2016 9. For the ancient greeks, the constellation cygnus, which means swan, was related to the myth of zeuscalled jupiter by romans and the goddess nemesis. The mystery of constellation of cygnus swan youtube. Cygnus can also be referred to as the northern cross because of the shape of the constellation in the northern sky. Phaeton, unable to control the chariot of the sun, careens wildly though the heavens, scorching the earth. Sethian architects of the egyptian pyramids from cygnus.

Andrew collins wrote about it in his book the cygnus mystery, that you can read on his website. For the ancient greeks, the constellation cygnus, which means swan, was related to the myth of zeus and the goddess nemesis. The cygnus enigma examines the link between megalithic passagemound of newgrange, the myths which relate to that eminent monument, and other interesting factors which together form a fascinating ancient mystery. It combines terms like microblazar, cosmic ray bursts, the dmt molecule and radon health mines with astronomy, anthropology and mythology and finds their common elements from many ancient cultures around the world. The author explains how the stars of cygnus coincided with the turning point of the heavens at the moment the denisovan legacy was handed to the first human societies in southern siberia 45,000 years ago, catalyzing beliefs in swan ancestry and an understanding of cygnus. Which is why today the swan pensively paddles about the water, frequently thrusting its head beneath the surface. Cygnus is a prominent constellation in the northern sky. He claims that hellenic mythology identified cygnus the swan with a vulture, but i can find no evidence of this outside of collinss own books. In classic mythology it represents the seduction of queen leda by the all powerful zeus jupiter, who had his way with her in the form of a swan, their union leading to the birth of helen of troy, and pollux of the gemini twins. One of the most striking swan myths associated with newgrange is the. Continue reading this entry was posted in goddesses, norse and tagged frigg, healing, obscure deities, odin, valkyries on march 21, 2020 by solsdottir. Tundra swan, cygnus columbianus is a small swan that breeds on the arctic tundra. The english word swan comes from the indoeuropean root swento sound. The cygnus constellation is associated with several myths.