Symbolics of the constellations of sagittarius and centaurus in russian traditional culture

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Centaurus, Zodiac, Sagittarius, Mythology, Symbols, Ancient Russia, Solomon, Adoniram-Hiram, Kitovras, Polcan, Architecture, Novgorod, Archaic Tradition, Magic

Scientific paper

Centaurus falls into the category of 'imaginary animals'. The Russian tradition used not only the symbol Sgr (a result of its acquaintance with the circle of Zodiac), but also the symbol Cen, which fact, as we shall demonstrate, is an evidence of certain mythological-astronomical conceptions. Both the constellations Sagittarius (Sgr) and Centaurus (Cen) are usually represented as versions of the picture of a fantastic being, a Centaur, shaped as man from head to waist, and as an animal, mostly, a horse, from waist down. 'Centaurus' (from the Greek word kev (or kevw)) for 'kill' and o, for 'bull') means 'bull killer', and is probably related to the opposition of the zodiacal constellations Taurus and Sagittarius. When the latter begins to rise on to the night sky, the former disappears completely from view. Sagittarius is represented at ancient monuments related to astronomy as a centaur holding a bow and pointing at certain stars. The constellation of Centaurus is also symbolised by a centaur, but holding not a bow, but a staff or a spear in one hand and an 'animal of sacrifice' in the other (Higinus, Astronomica, III, 37, 1; Chernetsov, 1975, Figure 1). The attributes stand for the Peliases Spear (The Mithological Dictionary, 1991), depicted in astrological maps as The Spear of Centaurus1, The Wolf (Lupus), the Panther or the Beast (Flammarion, 1994).

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Symbolics of the constellations of sagittarius and centaurus in russian traditional culture does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Symbolics of the constellations of sagittarius and centaurus in russian traditional culture, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Symbolics of the constellations of sagittarius and centaurus in russian traditional culture will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1228024

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.