My Love Affair with Orion….

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“You can always find Orion by the three stars in a row”.  These were the words that started my love affair with the constellation Orion, the instruction to look at the three stars in the sky that formed his belt.  From spotting his belt, the majestic form of the constellation appeared before my eyes like magic, and I saw Orion – and from that day on, I kept on looking for him.  I may have watched the movie, “Secret of Nimh” once too many times as a child, but the idea that there is something “static” in the sky that I can recognize immediately, no matter where I am is extremely comforting to me – and no the moon and the sun just don’t “do” it for me.  For some reason, after I saw Orion that first time, I always look for Orion when I can see the stars…and wherever I can see the stars.  Yes, partially because it’s the only constellation I can recognize (trust me the big and little dippers are harder to find than you may think – there are many saucepans in the sky!), but also because when I see Orion, I automatically become grounded and calm and comfort infuses my body and my psyche.  Somehow, Orion, and the fact that he is everywhere, is a comfort to me – and I since I first got addicted to the sight of the constellation and the feelings I get when I spot it, I’ve had a love affair with Orion.

Today I was walking back from church and noticed that I could actually see the stars (I know right?  In London in January #weird) and I immediately looked for Orion – and there he was hovering over my apartment building…and I felt safe.  I’m not saying Orion watches over me or that the constellation is some sort of God in heaven blessing me and looking down – I’m just saying that the sight of Orion, from the day my Mother taught me how to recognize it, is a source of comfort for me.

I cannot explain my “fetish” about Orion, but the constellation truly encourages me to go on, especially on tough days when I’m exhausted and in pain – yes it is a little weird, but I never claimed to be normal.  Anyway, out of interest, I thought I’d look a little into what the constellation Orion actually represents and what it represented in the past (of course relying on the all-knowing Wikipedia…)….

Orion has played a big part in ancient and traditional cultures…Ancient Babylonians named Orion the “Heavenly Shepherd”, a minor god and the ancient Egyptians believed Orion to be “Sah”, one of the many gods that pharoahs took the form of in the afterlife.  Armenians believed that Orion was their patriarch, Hayk and even the bible mentions Orion three times!  Job 9:9, Job 38:31 and Amos 5:8

The name “Orion” was derived from Greek Mythology where Orion was a huge supernaturally-strong hunter of ancient times (son of a gorgon and Poseidon).  Orion has been mentioned by Horace, Homer and Vergil in their anthologies.  Orion has even been recognised in Chinese culture as a Chinese constellation (one of the 28 lunar mansions Sieu (Xiu)) named Shen – meaning “three” for the stars of Orion’s belt.  Hungarian tradition calls Orion the magic archer/reaper and the Chukchi people of Siberia recognize Orion as a hunter and believe that his arrow is represented by Alpha Tauri (Aldebaran).

On the other side of the world, the Seri people of NW Mexico call the three stars of Orion’s belt “Hapj” meaning hunter.  The stars are individually named “hap” (mule deer), “haamoja” (pronghorn) and mojet (bighorn sheep), with “Hap” being injured from the hunt.  Th Ojibwa (Chippewa) Native Americans call Orion the Winter Maker or Kabibina’kan since he appears just before winter.  The Lakota Native Americans believe Orion’s belt, Tayamnicankhu, is the spine of a bison with the rectangle of Orion as the ribs – helping to create an entire heavenly bison with surrounding constellations.  In Spain Latin America, the three stars are known as “Las tres Marias” (the Three Marys), but in Puerto Rico they are known as “Los tres reyes magos” (the Three Wise Men).

Orion still plays a significant part even in our world today…The 27th Infantry Division of the United States Army adopted the belt and sword images of Orion in the form of a shoulder insignia during both World Wars.  It is postulated that this was to honor the division’s first commander, Major General John F. O’Ryan, rather than to honor the constellation!  You may also remember the now-closed-down film distribution company Orion pictures which distributed films such as Arthur, Mississippi Burning, Married to the Mob, Dances with Wolves, Silence of the Lambs, Desperately Seeking Susan, The Terminator, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey and many more….

Orion has also been mentioned frequently in fiction and in media – In JRR Tolkien’s well known Middle-earth fiction, Orion is known as Menelvagor (The Swordsman in the Sky).  In the movie Blade Runner, Orion is mentioned in the “Tears in Rain” soliloquy by Roy Batty and in the movie Men in Black, you may remember the dying alien saying: “To prevent war, the Galaxy is on Orion’s belt”….of course, this was later revealed in the movie to be the collar of a cat “Orion”, not the constellation – ah well, whatcha gonna do?

And if we want to get scientific, Orion is supposed to direct you to recognize other constellations – but I suck at those things…..but here’s how it is supposed to help. Extend the line of the belt southeastward to find Sirius, northwestward to find Aldebaran.  Draw a line eastward across the two shoulders to find Procyon.  I am apparently not nerdy enough to have the ability to do this.  Is that enough nerdiness for you tonight?

What always brings you a sense of comfort (no matter how weird or random)?

- ...just trying to navigate through this obstacle course called life...