--- In cybalist@..., "Glen Gordon" <glengordon01@...> wrote:
>
> Cort:
> > According to good old Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of
> >Folklore Mythology and Legend, Greek and Egyptian temples were
> >oriented to their rising, and many cultures used the rising of the
> >Pleiades to mark the beginning of the new year.
>
> Yes, haven't we mentioned the "seven" = "Goddess" connection
already?
>
> - love gLeN
Yep, but I wasn't sure if we addressed the possibility that the
Pleiades themselves might have been at the core of this issue. As I
recall, in the last discussion we had, we connected the number 7 in
the Eurynome myth to the 7 planetary shperes. Someone mentioned that
some of the planets were not clearly visible to the naked eye, and
thus this might be a difficult association for very ancient cultures
to make.
However, the Pleiades are clearly visible to the naked eye, and
apparently were important to the Greeks and Egyptians, among others.
Oh yeah, the Pleiades were very useful in navigation as well. So,
perhaps the Pleiades are responisble for part of the mythic resonance
of 7.
Of course, the seven planetary spheres were in the Eurynome story
as well, so perhaps we have a multiplication of the astronomical
significance of 7.
The story of the Pleiades being chased by Orion also brings us back
into familiar ground. We talked about the connection of Orion to
Dumuzi and possibly the sacrificial axe, as well as how Orion is
right next to Taurus. The Pleiades are part of the Taurus
constellation, thus the Orion-Pleiades story. I just wonder if the
Orion constelationwasn't connected with Boreas/Ophion(I believe
Boreas was a hunting god), thus the small cluster of Pleiades could
be the egg coiled about seven times.
Cort Williams
>
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