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Re: VMs: Re: [VMS] Goat vs. sheep, Sagittarius
Hi, Rene
Here is some information about Capella from the "fixed
stars" site:
<<History of the star: Capella, "small goat" or the
"Little She-goat", is a white star in Auriga marking
the goat that the Charioteer is carrying on his left
shoulder.
There are many ancient stories relating to Capella,
the 6th largest star in the sky.
A previous name of this star was Amalthea, which
referred to the goat that suckled the baby Zeus
(Jove/Jupiter). Amalthea was mother of the Haedi (the
two stars depicted as kid goats - Zeta, Hoedus 1 and
Eta Auriga, Hoedus 11), which she put aside to
accommodate her foster-child, and with her sister
Melissa, she fed the infant god with goat's milk and
honey on Mount Ida and this star is appropriately
positioned in the Milky Way; and for which Manilius
wrote: The Nursing Goat's repaid with Heaven.
>From this came the occasional Jovis Nutrix.
Others said that the star represented the Goat's horn
broken off in play by the infant Zeus and transferred
to the heavens as Cornu-copia, the "Horn of Plenty", a
title recalled by the modern Lithuanian "Food-bearer".
The words Keren-happuch, the "Paint-horn", or the
"Horn of Antimony", of the Book of Job xlii, 14, ? the
Cornus tibii of the Vulgate are all said to be
connected.
"Capella's course admiring landsmen trace, but sailors
hate her inauspicious face". This star, along with the
Haedi, were known for their stormy character
throughout classical days and this was called the
"rainy Goat-star". The word "goat" was analogous to a
"Storm Wind".
Pliny and Manilius treated it as a constellation by
itself, also calling it Capra, Caper, Hircus, and by
other hircine titles. Our word is the diminutive of
Capra, sometimes turned into Crepa, but this star was
more definitely given as Olenia, Olenie, Capra Olenie,
and the Olenium Astrum of Ovid's Heroides. In the
present day it is Cabrilla with the Spaniards, and
Chevre with the French.
The Arabic had various names; Ayyuk, Alhajoc,
Alhajoth, Alathod, Alkatod, Alatudo, Atud, Alcahela.
Al 'Anz, "Goat". The early Arabs called it Al Rakib,
the Driver. The Tyrians called it 'Iyutha.
Capella's place on the Egyptian Denderah zodiac is
occupied by a mummied cat in the outstretched hand of
a male figure crowned with feathers; while, always an
important star in the temple worship of the great
Egyptian god Ptah, the Opener (of the year), it is
supposed to have borne the name of that divinity and
probably was observed at its setting 1700 BCE from his
temple, the noted edifice at Karnak near Thebes, the
No Amon of the books of the prophets Jeremiah and
Nahum. A sanctuary of Ptah at Memphis also was
oriented to it about 5200 BCE. There is believed to be
at least five temples oriented to its setting.
It served, too, the same purpose for worship in
Greece, where it may have been the orientation point
of a temple at Eleusis to the goddess Diana Propyla.
In India it also was sacred as Brahma Ridaya, the
"Heart of Brahma".
It was the Akkadian Dil-gan I-ku, the "Messenger of
Light", and Dil-gan Babill, the "Patron star of
Babylon",
One Akkadian cuneiform inscription, supposed to refer
to Capella, is rendered by Jensen Askar, the "Tempest
God"; and the Tablet of the Thirty Stars bears the
synonymous Ma-a-tu; all this well accounting for its
subsequent character in classical times.
The ancient Peruvians identifying this star with
Colca, the Shepherd's Star as was the title in
Mediterranean countries and with English poets.
In astrology Capella portended civic and military
honors and wealth. (Allen).
Influence of the constellation: According to Ptolemy
the bright stars are like Mars and Mercury.>>
Warmly,
Pam
--- Pamela Richards <spirlhelix@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi, Rene
>
> You asked about whether the illustrator had confused
> Aries with Capricornus. This raises as many
> problems
> than it sovles, because Capricornus is most often
> depicted with the back half of a fish.
>
> Did you know there was a star in the constellatin
> Auriga called Capella, which is traditionally known
> as
> "the Little Goat?". I believe it is the sixth
> brightest star in the heavens.
>
> This little article on hiking with pack animals has
> some good information about goats. Oh, and have we
> discussed the diet of the sheep/goat in the VMs
> illustration? Sheep eat grass; goats like to browse
> on shrubbery. Our VMs creature is nibbling on a
> bush.
>
>
>
> www.kaimin.org/viewarticle.php?id=1476
>
> <<Also, unlike horses or mules, goats hooves are
> cloven like elk, which does not impact the trail as
> much. They are also able to hike in steep regions
> because they have a dew claw. This claw gives them
> more agility in terrain that is difficult and almost
> impossible for llamas, horses or mules, Christensen
> said. The dew claw acts like a crampon, enabling the
> goat to be extremely sure-footed both on and off the
> trail. Goats can carry from one-quarter to one-third
> their body weight. Thus, a 225-pound goat can carry
> 65
> to 70 pounds, Christensen said. To Christensen,
> there
> are three main reasons to choose goats over other
> traditional pack animals. ?The cost, the goat?s
> diet,
> and their unique ability to go anywhere make them
> terrific pack animals,? she said. Goats have an
> extremely diverse diet. They eat brush, weeds, pine
> needles, pine cones, dead bark and twigs. Goats also
> munch on dandelions and spotted knap weed, a noxious
> plant. And to dispel a popular belief, they do not
> eat
> tin cans.>>
>
> Warmly,
>
> Pam
>
>
> --- Rene Zandbergen <r_zandbergen@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> >
> > --- Jorge Stolfi <stolfi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > > > Can we put our heads together and postulate
> a
> > > culture
> > > > where they never see scorpions (that's
> North),
> > > do know
> > > > what lions look like (that's South), and
> can't
> > > tell
> > > > the difference between goats and sheep
> (that's
> > > New
> > > > York City!)?
> >
> > I'm not very good at biblical quotes, but isn't
> > there
> > one about separating the goats from the sheep
> > or v.v.? It wouldn't be there if it was so
> easy....
> >
> > > The Lion doesn't count -- there were none in
> > Europe,
> > > yet every
> > > European child would know what they looked like.
> > > Besides, the VMS
> > > picture is not a very convincing /Felix leo/, is
> > it?
> >
> > It's kind of OK for a lioness. Its tail and front
> > claws are
> > drawn in rather a typical "zodiac emblem way".
> > Or perhaps they were just usually drawn that way.
> >
> > Perhaps when drawing Aries, the artist
> accidentally
> > copied a Capricornus?
> >
> > > The VMS scorpion is really amazing; it would
> seem
> > > that all the artist
> > > knew was that is was a scary animal with a long
> > > tail.
> >
> > Which correctly points up and forward. He had no
> > (good) example to work from.
> >
> > Cheers, Rene
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________
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>
>
> =====
> "I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing, than to
> teach ten thousand stars how not to dance."
>
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