Christopher Straughn wrote
> It surprises me that thus far nobody has mentioned the name of
the
river
> constellation Eridanus. Can anyone tell me the etymology of that
word?
Piotr replied
> Objection, I have (Cybalist #2235). The earthly Eridanus was the
river on the banks of which Phaeton crashed to earth and was buried.
It has most commonly been associated with the River Po, but also with
other big rivers at the end of the Greeks' world, even the Rhein.
It is interesting that Eridanus is shown as a serpent. I did a
posting early on concerning the place of serpents in early neolithic
cultures, and the fact that we seem to have moved at the dawn of
history from a 13 month calendar (13 months of 28 days each) to a 12
month calendar (12 months of 30 days each). The 13th sign of the
Zodiac was the serpent, and was in the position of Eridanus. The
story of the sun, driven by Phaeton, fell into Eridanus, is thus a
reverse astrological explanation of the calendrical reform.
The situation of the constellation Eridanus is very close to the
zodiac, and in fact the year used to be divided into three between
Leo-Capricorn-Eridanus. This three-headed year, is of course the
Chimera - the beast slain by Belerophon as having the head of a
lion, a goat, and a serpent. It seems the shift from the 28 day
month
(4 weeks of 7 days each) to a 30 day month could have been associated
with the kurgan waves upon Gambutas's "Old Europe".
The other meaning of Eridanus is also the Milky Way, and shows one of
the two points in which the circle of the Milky Way intersects the
plane of the eclyptic (the Zodiac).
Thus the rivers ran into the heavens, and heaven and earth were
interconnected.
Regards
John