The layout of the SEVEN SISTERS - PLEIADS

The Pleiades is an open cluster in the constellation Taurus, the astronomical designation is M45. It is perfectly visible to the naked eye, since this cluster of stars is one of the closest to the Earth. And that celestial object has been known since antiquity to many cultures, including the Australian Aborigines, the Japanese and the Indians of North America. Some ancient Greek astronomers even considered it as a separate constellation. The Pleiades are mentioned by Hesiod and in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, as well as three times in the Bible (Job 9:9, 38:31; Amos 5:8). Interestingly, one of the names of the Pleiades is the Seven Sisters, although there are much more stars in them. The fact is that the nine brightest stars of the cluster got their names in honor of the seven sisters of the Pleiades from ancient Greek mythology: Alcyone, Keleno, Maya, Merope, Sterope, Taygeta and Electra, as well as their parents - Atlanta and Pleione. And in Russia, the Pleiades were called no less poetically - Stozhary or Volosozhary (although I like the second option much less).

The Pleiades played a huge role in the life and development of ancient civilizations. In Russia, they believed that the Stozhary were an exclusively female amulet, because they were girls who, during their lifetime, glorified the gods so that they took the girls to heaven after their death and turned them into stars in gratitude. Since then, the Stozhars have been guarding the female lot from adversity and every night the star-virgins start their beautiful round dance, so that earthly time does not stop.
And among the Celts, the Pleiades were associated with burial rituals and grief, since during that period of history between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice (Samain), when the ancestral commemoration festivities were held, the Pleiades appeared above the eastern horizon immediately after sunset. But in Beltane you can see them before sunrise!

We offer you a alignment, the creator of which was inspired by the beauty and symbolism of the Pleiades, and perhaps it's time to get acquainted with it Beltane, because right now the sad stars are rising above the horizon!
So, the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades, what is special about them? In fact, there are several myths describing family tragedies in the life of sisters, but I would like to focus on only two of the most common. The first story is this - Atlanta, who held the sky on his shoulders, had seven beautiful daughters. Not only did the gods deceitfully force the good-natured giant to hold the sky, they also took his daughters to their beds. All but one - Merope, although the girl and her husband were also unlucky, she chose a hero named .... Sisyphus. At the very least, everyone endured until the appearance of Perseus, who showed the head of the Gorgon Medusa to Atlanta and the giant, of course, turned to stone and turned into a mountain. The Pleiades sisters committed suicide in group from grief, and Zeus, taking pity on them, placed them in the sky - everything will come in handy in the household.

But according to Musaeus, Atlanta had 15 daughters, five of them died of anguish and are called Hyades, of the remaining 10, seven committed suicide and are called Pleiades.
After Atlant was doomed to hold the vault of heaven as punishment for participating in the battle of the titans against the gods, the hunter Orion began to pursue the Pleiades. The Pleiades, fleeing from his persecution, appealed to the gods for protection. Zeus, in order to calm Atlas and protect his daughters, turned them into doves, who were obliged to carry ambrosia to Zeus. However, Orion did not stop his persecution. Then Zeus turned the Pleiades into stars and placed them in the sky, and Orion, as a punishment for his insolence, was turned into the constellation Orion, doomed to unsuccessfully pursue the Pleiades across the sky until the end of time.
Now that we know the background, we can move on to the alignment, the positions in which are named after the Seven Sisters.

Layout scheme

1. Alcyone(Ancient Greek Ἁλκυών - kingfisher - beloved of Poseidon, according to legend, she threw herself into the sea) - What does your soul want to cleanse itself of? What needs to be washed away?

2.Asteropa(Steropa) - beloved Ares, her name means Lightning - What needs to be overcome?

3. Keleno, Kelaino (ancient Greek Κελαινό - darkness, blackness, gloom) - she was often called the "Lost Pleiades" because she was struck by lightning according to mythology, beloved of Poseidon - What do you consider "lost", but in reality, it is all still present in your life or destiny?*

4. Elektra(ancient Greek Ηλέκτρα, sometimes Electrion "amber", "bright") - the beloved of Zeus, although according to one of the myths, the latter simply raped her. - What needs to be illuminated?

5. Maya(ancient Greek Μαϊα - mother, nurse) - the eldest and most beautiful of the seven Pleiades sisters, the nymph of the mountains. In the grotto of the Arcadian mountain Kyllene, Maya met Zeus, from him she gave birth to Hermes, who is often called the Killenian. - Wisdom, knowledge to be taken into account.

6. Merope(ancient Greek Μερόπη) - The only one of the Pleiades who married a mortal - King Sisyphus and herself became mortal. After the Pleiades were placed in the sky, Merope became the dimmest and most inconspicuous star, for she is ashamed that she had a mortal husband, according to another version, Merope descended with Sisyphus to Hades. - What lies behind one of the thinnest veils of the year?**

7. Taygeta(ancient Greek Ταϋγέτη) - also the beloved of Zeus, the mother of Lacedaemon, the founder of Sparta, therefore she was considered the patroness of the warrior state. - What is in the process of awareness and understanding? Understanding what will come to you?

Summing Map- The path to be taken.
It is calculated by adding the numerical values ​​​​of all cards (Court cards are not counted). We transform the resulting number until it falls into the numerical range from 1 to 22 - i.e. will not become the number of the key Major Arcana.
For example: the sum of all cards is 95, 9 + 5 \u003d 14, the desired Key Arcana is Moderation!
* Of course, I’m here, I don’t dare to argue with the author of the alignment, but not only Keleno was called the “Lost Pleiades”. Merope and Electra have the same title. Each, however, has its own reason for being so called.
** here, IMHO, it refers to the fact that it is in Beltane and Samhain that the line between the worlds becomes thin and almost invisible. Maybe magic will happen and you will discover the unknown?

WhiteRaven Spread
Translation of the layout and article Bassarida

Sisters Geass and Hyades. They were named after their father Atlantis, among the Romans they were called Virgil(lat. "Declining"). They are the companions of Artemis, the nymphs in her escort.

In the seven-star, six of them are visible, the seventh is not clear (in ancient times, the latter was given a different mythological explanation, below). Astronomically, it is a star cluster in the constellation Taurus, originally a separate constellation.

According to one of the myths, the Pleiades, overwhelmed by grief over the death of their brother Geas and sisters Hyades, committed suicide, were taken to heaven and turned into a constellation. The bright stars in the Pleiades cluster are named after the seven sisters: Alcyone, Celeno, Maya, Merope, Asterope, Taygeta and Electra .

According to another myth, they committed suicide, upset by the fate of their father, who was doomed to prop up the vault of heaven. Or they turned into doves, pitying their father, and ascended to heaven.

There is another myth, according to which, after Atlant, as a punishment for participating in the battle of the titans against the gods, was doomed to hold the vault of heaven, the hunter Orion began to pursue the Pleiades. The Pleiades, fleeing from his persecution, appealed to the gods for protection. Zeus, in order to calm Atlas and protect his daughters, turned them into doves, who were obliged to wear ambrosia to Zeus (Dodona legend). When the pigeons flew past the colliding floating cliffs of the Plankts, one of the pigeons died, and Zeus revived him (option - replaced with a new one). However, Orion did not stop his persecution. Then Zeus turned the Pleiades into stars, and placed them in the sky in the form of the asterism of the same name in the constellation Taurus, and Orion, as a punishment for his audacity, was turned into the constellation Orion, doomed to unsuccessfully pursue the Pleiades across the sky until the end of time.

There are several different versions of the origin of the name Pleiades. According to one of them, it comes from the name of their mother, Pleione. According to ESBE, it comes from πελειάδες - doves, sometimes reproduced from πλεϊ - sail, as related to nautical navigation: The Pleiades, as Lubker notes, are the stars of navigators. According to Lamprier's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, it comes from the Greek word πλέω - "to sail on the sea, to sail" . Origin from Greek πλεîν (navigation, travel) is explained by the fact that the stars of the Pleiades are observed at night in the Mediterranean Sea from mid-May to early November - a period of active trade travel in ancient times. They were considered the patronesses of sailors, and their ascent in the spring was considered the beginning of the most favorable period for sailing navigation.

“Joyfully, Odysseus strained the sail and, trusting in a fair wind, swam. Sitting in the stern, turning the rudder with a mighty hand, he was awake; sleep did not descend on his Eyes, and he did not bring them down from the Pleiades, from the descending late in the sea of ​​Voot "

Their place of origin is Arcadia, on Mount Killena, they lived on Miracle Mountain. (In connection with the birth on the mountain, their epithet is "mountainous").

Sources

1. Hygin. Myths 192
2. Hesiod. List of women, fr.169 M.-U.; Arat. Phenomena 262-263
3. // Modern explanatory dictionary
4. // Myths of Ancient Greece. Dictionary reference. Edwart, 2009.
5. Hesiod. Works and days 383; Virgil. Georgiki I 221
6. greece-roman-books.narod.ru/dissertation.doc
7. // Encyclopedia Around the World
8. Pseudo-Eratosthenes. Catasterisms 23
12. Mark Tullius Cicero.
13. Aeschylus, fr.312 Radt from an unknown play
14. Pleiades // Real Dictionary of Classical Antiquities German ] / auto-stat. F. Lubker.
15. Pleiades // Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / ch. ed. A. M. Prokhorov. - 3rd ed. - M. : Soviet encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
16. // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
17. // Mythological Dictionary, 2006 / Shcheglov G., Archer V.
18. V. D. Smooth.// Ancient world. Encyclopedic dictionary in 2 volumes
19. Scholia to Theocritus. Idylls XIII 25 // Commentary by D. O. Torshilov in the book. Hygin. Myths. St. Petersburg, 2000. P.6

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Literature

• Myths of the peoples of the world: Encyclopedia. in 2 volumes / ch. ed. S. A. Tokarev. - 2nd ed. - M. : Soviet Encyclopedia, 1988. - V. 2: K-Ya. - S. 317.
• Pleiades // Real Dictionary of Classical Antiquities = Reallexikon des klassischen Altertums: Leipzig: BG Teubner Verlag, 1855: [transl. with German ] : in 3 tons / ed. F. Lubker. - M. : Olma-Press, 2001. - V. 3. - S. 104. - ISBN 5-224-01511-1.
• 10, 1

Initial deities Titans Titanides Children of the Titans Olympic gods Other Olympians Gods water element Main Chthonic deities Main

An excerpt characterizing the Pleiades (mythology)

Princess Mary, sitting in the drawing room and listening to these talk and gossip of the old people, did not understand anything from what she heard; she only thought about whether all the guests noticed her father's hostile attitude towards her. She did not even notice the special attention and courtesies that Drubetskoy, who had been in their house for the third time, had shown her throughout this dinner.
Princess Mary with an absent-minded, questioning look turned to Pierre, who, the last of the guests, with a hat in his hand and with a smile on his face, approached her after the prince had left, and they were left alone in the living room.
- Can I sit still? - he said, with his thick body falling into an armchair near Princess Marya.
“Oh yes,” she said. "Didn't you notice anything?" said her look.
Pierre was in a pleasant state of mind after dinner. He looked ahead of him and smiled softly.
“How long have you known this young man, Princess?” - he said.
- What?
- Drubetskoy?
No, recently...
- What do you like about him?
- Yes, he is a pleasant young man ... Why are you asking me this? - said Princess Mary, continuing to think about her morning conversation with her father.
- Because I made an observation - a young man usually comes from St. Petersburg to Moscow on vacation only with the aim of marrying a rich bride.
You have made this observation! - said Princess Mary.
“Yes,” Pierre continued with a smile, “and this young man now keeps himself in such a way that where there are rich brides, there he is.” I read it like a book. He is now undecided whom he should attack: you or Mademoiselle Julie Karagin. Il est tres assidu aupres d "elle. [He is very attentive to her.]
Does he visit them?
- Very often. And do you know a new way of courting? - Pierre said with a cheerful smile, apparently being in that cheerful spirit of good-natured mockery, for which he so often reproached himself in his diary.
“No,” said Princess Mary.
- Now, to please the Moscow girls - il faut etre melancolique. Et il est tres melancolique aupres de m lle Karagin, [one must be melancholic. And he is very melancholy with m elle Karagin,] - said Pierre.
– Vrayment? [Right?] - said Princess Mary, looking into Pierre's kind face and not ceasing to think about her grief. “It would be easier for me,” she thought, if I decided to believe to someone everything that I feel. And I would like to tell Pierre everything. He is so kind and noble. It would be easier for me. He would give me advice!”
- Would you marry him? Pierre asked.
“Ah, my God, Count, there are such moments when I would go for anyone,” Princess Mary suddenly said, unexpectedly for herself, with tears in her voice. “Ah, how hard it is to love a loved one and feel that ... nothing (she continued in a trembling voice) you can do for him except grief, when you know that you cannot change this. Then one thing - to leave, but where should I go? ...
- What are you, what is the matter with you, princess?
But the princess, without finishing, began to cry.
“I don't know what's wrong with me today. Don't listen to me, forget what I told you.
All Pierre's gaiety vanished. He anxiously questioned the princess, asked her to express everything, to confide her grief to him; but she only repeated that she asked him to forget what she had said, that she did not remember what she had said, and that she had no grief, except for what he knew - grief that the marriage of Prince Andrei threatened to quarrel her father with son.
Have you heard about the Rostovs? she asked to change the conversation. “I was told that they would be coming soon. I also wait for Andre every day. I would like them to meet here.
How does he look at the matter now? asked Pierre, by which he meant the old prince. Princess Mary shook her head.
– But what to do? The year is only a few months away. And it can't be. I would only wish to spare my brother the first few minutes. I wish they would come sooner. I hope to get along with her. You have known them for a long time, - said Princess Marya, - tell me, hand on heart, the whole true truth, what kind of girl is this and how do you find her? But the whole truth; because, you understand, Andrei risks so much by doing this against the will of his father that I would like to know ...
An obscure instinct told Pierre that in these reservations and repeated requests to tell the whole truth, Princess Mary's hostility towards her future daughter-in-law was expressed, that she wanted Pierre not to approve of Prince Andrei's choice; but Pierre said what he felt rather than thought.
"I don't know how to answer your question," he said, blushing, not knowing why. “I definitely don’t know what kind of girl this is; I can't analyze it at all. She is charming. And why, I do not know: that's all that can be said about her. - Princess Mary sighed and the expression on her face said: "Yes, I expected this and was afraid."
- Is she smart? asked Princess Mary. Pierre considered.
“I think not,” he said, “but yes. She does not deign to be smart ... No, she is charming, and nothing more. Princess Mary again shook her head disapprovingly.
“Oh, I so desire to love her!” Tell her that if you see her before me.
“I heard that they will be in the next few days,” said Pierre.
Princess Marya told Pierre her plan of how, as soon as the Rostovs arrived, she would get close to her future daughter-in-law and try to accustom the old prince to her.

Marrying a rich bride in St. Petersburg did not work out for Boris and he came to Moscow for the same purpose. In Moscow, Boris was in indecision between the two richest brides - Julie and Princess Mary. Although Princess Mary, despite her ugliness, seemed to him more attractive than Julie, for some reason he was embarrassed to look after Bolkonskaya. On her last meeting with her, on the old prince's name day, to all his attempts to talk to her about feelings, she answered him inappropriately and obviously did not listen to him.
Julie, on the contrary, although in a special way, peculiar to her alone, but willingly accepted his courtship.
Julie was 27 years old. After the death of her brothers, she became very rich. She was now completely ugly; but I thought that she was not only just as good, but much more attractive than she had been before. She was supported in this delusion by the fact that, firstly, she became a very rich bride, and, secondly, that the older she became, the safer she was for men, the freer it was for men to treat her and, without assuming any obligations, enjoy her dinners, evenings and lively society, gathering with her. A man who ten years ago would have been afraid to go every day to the house where there was a 17-year-old young lady, so as not to compromise her and not to tie himself up, now went to her boldly every day and treated her not as a young lady, but as a a friend who has no gender.

Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine

Zaporozhye National University

Economics and Law College

Department of Physics and methods of its teaching

ESSAY

« CONSTELLATION PLEIADE»

Completed by: 1st year student

Gr. "K 14-10"

Panfilova Anastasia

Checked by: Tkachenko S.P.

Zaporozhye 2010

1. General information about the constellation Pleiades

2. History of discovery

3. Interesting properties

4. Age and future development

5 Reflection Nebula

7. Neighbors in the sky from the Messier catalog

8. Pleiades in different cultures

10. Pleiades constellation in barrow ritual architecture

11. Myths about the origin of the name Pleiades in Slavic culture

12. Conclusion

13. List of used sites

1. OGeneral information about the constellation Pleiades

The Pleiades constellation is the closest star cluster to Earth.

Open cluster in the constellation Taurus

Right ascension: 3h 47m

Declension: 24° 07`

Apparent magnitude: 1.6

Distance from Earth: About 410 light years / 135 ps

Cluster size: about 5 light years

The Pleiades constellation (astronomical designation - M45) is an open cluster in the constellation Taurus; one of the closest to the Earth and one of the most visible to the naked eye open clusters.

The people often call him Stozhary, his old Russian name is Volosazhary, the own name of the Seven Sisters is also used due to the fact that the brightest and most distinguishable stars are 7, they make up a small "ladle" with a handle. With binoculars, you can see about 500 stars in the cluster, and in total it consists of approximately 3,000 stars. 9 of its brightest stars were named after the seven sisters (Alcyone, Asterope, Maya, Merop, Tayget, Celeno, Electra), as well as their parents - the ancient Greek titan Atlas and the oceanid Pleione.

The Pleiades constellation has a diameter of 12 light years. It contains both bright hot blue stars, brown dwarfs, which make up one-fourth of all stars, and white dwarfs, which could form in a fairly short time due to the emission of matter to their companions in binary star systems. It is estimated that the total mass of the Pleiades stars is about 800 solar masses.

The Pleiades are 410 light years away from us. An interesting fact is that the main method for determining the size of our Universe is to calculate the distance at which the Pleiades Constellation is located from us. Until the moment the Hipparcos satellite was launched by the European Space Agency, it was believed that the distance between the Earth and the Pleiades cluster was about 135 parsecs. When Hipparcos determined it to be only 118 parsecs, real panic began among astronomers. Such measurements are by far one of the most accurate tools for calculating distances in space. Further studies, however, showed that the satellite measurements had an error, the cause of which has not yet been established. It is currently accepted that the distance to the Pleiades is more than 135 parsecs.

The Pleiades constellation is considered a relatively young cluster of stars, its age is not exactly determined, but is in the range of 75-100 million years. And after 250 million years, the Pleiades will cease to exist, because over time they will cease to exist as a gravitationally bound structure. Such a fate awaits any open cluster of stars, since the speed of the stars in them is greater than the escape velocity of the entire cluster.

The Pleiades and Hyades, now part of the constellation Taurus, were originally considered two separate, independent constellations.

2. Discovery history

The Pleiades are clearly visible in winter in the northern hemisphere and in summer in the southern hemisphere (except for Antarctica and its environs). The site has been known since antiquity to many cultures around the world, including the Maori and Australian Aborigines, the Japanese and the Sioux of North America. Some ancient Greek astronomers considered it as a separate constellation. They are mentioned by Hesiod, and in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. The Pleiades are mentioned three times in the Bible (Job 9:9, 38:31; Amos 5:8).

The Pleiades have long been known as a physically connected group of stars, and not the result of a random projection of unequally distant stars. The priest John Mitchell calculated in 1767 the probability of a random projection of this number of bright stars, which turned out to be 1:500,000, and correctly suggested that the Pleiades and many other star clusters must be physically connected. When the first measurements of the relative speeds of the stars were made, their own motions were found to be very close, indicating that they were physically related.

Charles Messier determined the position of the cluster and included it as M45 (the letter M in front of the number is a sign of belonging to the Messier catalog) in his catalog of comet-like objects, published in 1771. Along with the Orion Nebula and the Manger Cluster, the inclusion of the Pleiades in Messier's catalog has been noted as a curiosity, as most of the Messier objects were much fainter and could more easily be classified as comets, which is unlikely for the Pleiades. One suggestion is that Messier simply wanted a more complete catalog than his scientific rival Lacaille, whose 1755 catalog contained 42 objects. To increase the size of the list, he added some bright, well-known objects.

Based on observations, Johann Maedler suggested “that the Pleiades group is the central group of all the fixed stars within the Milky Way; and that Alcyone in this group most likely constitutes the central sun. He calculated that the sun makes one revolution around Alcyone in 18.2 million years.

3. Interesting properties

Measuring the distance to the Pleiades cluster is the fundamental method for calculating the scale of the universe as a whole. The exact value of this distance makes it possible to build a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram for the indicated cluster, which, in turn, in comparison with unknown distances to other clusters, allows us to give them some estimate. With the help of other methods, it is possible to extrapolate the indicated evaluation scale from open star clusters to galaxies and galaxy clusters, constructing a scale of cosmic distances. Ultimately, astronomers' knowledge of the age and development of the universe depends to a large extent on knowing the distance to the Pleiades star cluster.

The Pleiades star cluster is about 12 light-years across and contains approximately 1,000 recorded stars, many of which are multiples. The total number of stars in the cluster is estimated to be around 3,000. The members of the cluster are dominated by hot blue stars, 14 of which are visible to the naked eye (depending on viewing conditions from Earth). The arrangement of the brightest stars is somewhat similar to the arrangement of stars in Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. The total mass of the stars in the cluster is estimated to be equivalent to 800 solar masses.

The cluster contains a large number of brown dwarfs - stellar bodies with a mass of less than 8% of the solar mass, which is not enough for a nuclear chain reaction to occur. Brown dwarfs make up about a quarter of the number of stars that form the Pleiades cluster, and about 2% of the total mass of the cluster. Brown dwarfs from young star clusters (such as the Pleiades) are of constant interest to astronomers, as they are still bright enough to make observations.

In addition, there are several white dwarfs in the cluster. In view of the relatively young age of the cluster, the stars were unlikely to have had the opportunity to evolve into white dwarfs in the "usual way", since such a process usually takes several billion years. It is believed that high-mass stars in binary star systems, due to the emission of matter to their companions, turned into white dwarfs within a short time.

Recent observations (1995) made it possible to find several exotic brown dwarfs in the Pleiades, which may turn out to be planets like Jupiter. Similar observations are made in the infrared region of radiation, and they continue. The detected brown dwarfs have masses of 60-70 Jupiter masses, but their diameter is somewhat smaller than the diameter of our giant. Apparently, the compression process in these dwarfs continues.

4. Age and future development

constellation pleiades myth nebula

The probable age of star clusters is approximately determined by comparing the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram for these clusters with a theoretical model of stellar evolution. Based on this methodology, the age of the Pleiades ranges from 75 to 150 million years. This spread is caused by a large number of inaccuracies in the theory of stellar evolution. In particular, the calculation for a model in which there is a phenomenon of convection overlap, in which the convection zone of a star penetrates into its stable zone, gives a larger value for the age of the system.

Another method for estimating the age of a star cluster is based on the study of cluster objects with the smallest masses. In "ordinary" stars, lithium rapidly decays in nuclear fusion reactions, but brown dwarfs can retain lithium in their mass. Due to their low ignition temperature (2.5 million K), massive brown dwarfs will use up lithium over time. By calculating the mass of the heaviest brown dwarfs containing lithium, one can get an idea of ​​the age of the star cluster in which they are included. Based on a similar technique, the age of the Pleiades is estimated at approximately 115 million years.

Continuation of the previous text. Published in Capital Education. I planned to add it, but, I'm afraid, the hands will not reach soon, so let it hang in this form.

Continuing the conversation about the popular names of the objects of the starry sky, we turn to the Pleiades star cluster, located in the constellation Taurus. These stars are clearly visible to the naked eye, so they very often attracted the attention of different peoples. In "folk astronomy" they usually distinguish six or seven of the brightest stars in this cluster, astronomers count about 1000 stars in it, nine of which have their own names.

Name Pleiades, which is used in astronomy, dates back to antiquity. Greek myths say that the Pleiades ( Πλειάδες ) are the daughters of the titan Atlanta and the oceanid Pleione ( Πληιόνη or Πλειόνη ). Seven stars in ancient times received the names of these daughters: Alcyone (Ἁλκυών), Keleno (Κελαινό), Maya (Μαϊα), Merope (Μερόπη), Asterope or Sterope (Αστερόπή, Στερόπή), Taygeta (Ταϋγέτη), Electra (Ηλα). Two more stars of this cluster were named by astronomers of the new time in honor of the parents of the Pleiades: Atlanta and Pleione.

The myth of the origin of these stars is connected with the myth of Orion. Hyginus, in his Astronomy, describes this myth as follows: “When Pleione and her daughters were passing through Boeotia, Orion, inflamed with desire, wanted to meet with her against her will. She fled, and Orion pursued them unsuccessfully for seven years. But Jupiter took pity on the virgins and placed them among the constellations, and subsequently some astronomers called them the tail of Taurus. Therefore, it seems to the eye that Orion is still pursuing them, fleeing to the west. Ancient authors offered other versions of how the Pleiades arose. After their brother Gias died, he was killed by a lion on a hunt, five of his sisters died of grief and became the Hyades star cluster, seven more committed suicide and turned into the Pleiades. According to another version, the seven daughters of Atlanta committed suicide out of compassion for their father, who was condemned to support the vault of heaven.

Of the seven Pleiades stars, one is inferior to its neighbors in brightness. Ancient authors offered their explanations for this as well. According to one version, the dim star is Merope, who is ashamed of having married a mortal. According to another, this is Electra, who mourns after the destruction of Troy, because her son Dardanus was the founder of the Trojan kingdom. Here is how Ovid sets out both versions in Fasti:

Seven of them are considered, but usually they see six of them.
Or because only six ascended to the gods on the bed -
For Steropa was the wife of Mars, they say,
Maya, Electra, Taygeta were carried away by the almighty Jupiter,
Neptune came as a husband to Celene and came to Alcyone;
Well, the seventh Merope met with the mortal Sisyphus,
She is ashamed, and therefore she hides forever;
Or because it is so. that Trojan devastation Elektra
He is unable to see and covers his face with his hand.

Let us now turn to the stories about the Pleiades of other peoples. Often the Pleiades are perceived as a group, a bunch of any objects. This is evidenced, for example, by their Slavic folk names: heaps, breasts, club(Russian), viper, kipka, bulky(white), gromadki, kupka, kupki(floor.), shards of a star(Bulg.). The common Turkic name Pleiades (Karakhanid ulkar, tour. ulker, head. ulkar, Tatars. olkar, Tuvin. üger) comes from the Proto-Turkic verb *ürk- / *ülk- ‘to huddle in fear, to flee in fear’. This verb is usually used in relation to the herd, so this name is also associated with the idea of ​​the Pleiades as a group of animals.

Many peoples sometimes considered the Pleiades a nest or a hen with chicks. This is evidenced by such names: Ukr. kvochka, quoksha, triggers, white trigger, hen, hen, floor. kura, kurki, kwozcka, kokoszki, kurchęta, bulg. quack from captive, kokoshka. The Bulgarians said that God warned a widow with many children about the flood, so that she would be saved with her children and the only wealth - a hen with chickens. But leaving the city, the widow, like Lot's wife, violated the ban, looked around and turned to stone with her children. Only the hen and chickens survived and became stars. There is a similar idea outside the Slavic peoples. The names of the Pleiades such as "chicken", "hens" or "chickens" are widespread in Europe, North Africa, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, for example, Italian. Gallinelle'hen', Le sette galline‘seven hens’, Chioccia‘hen’, French Poussiniere‘chicken cage’, La poulerie Saint Jacque‘chicken brood of St. James’. The Pleiades can also be considered a group of other animals. Russian dialects have names hive and duck nest. Finno-Ugric and Samoyedic peoples considered this star cluster to be ducks or their nest.

The Pleiades as animals often appear in myths about hunting. The Khakass told how a hunter chased seven gray ducks for seven years. Ducks turned into stars, that's why the Pleiades are called Hus uzi‘Duck nest’. And the hunter himself became the star of Aldebaran. The Koryaks believed that the Pleiades were a group of deer in which the shooter (Orion) was aiming. The North American Kwakiutl Indians said that the Pleiades is a sea otter pursued by hunters (Orion). Sometimes the Pleiades themselves are the hunters (for example, in the myths of the South American Indians). The Hottentots said that the Pleiades were the wives of Orion, who put him out because he missed and did not get the game.

The Pleiades are often compared to a sieve. The Slavs speak of this by such names: Rus. lattice, white sieve, sitka, chintz, reshata, reshatni, floor. sito, sitko. A similar name is reflected in the poem "Pan Tadeusz" by Adam Mickiewicz:

Na północ świeci okrąg gwiaździstego Sita, Circle in the north - luminous Sieve
Przez które Bóg (jak mówią) przesiał ziarnka żyta, It used to be that the creator sowed wheat through it,
Kiedy je z nieba zrucał dla Adama ojca, Which he threw to Adam with compassion
Wygnanego za grzechy z rozkoszy ogrojca. In those days when he punished him with exile.

In northern Italy the Pleiades were called Crivello‘sieve, sieve’. The peoples of the North Caucasus, Iran, the Finns also called them Sith ( seula'sieve', Seulaset‘Pleiades’), Lithuanians ( sitas'sieve', sietynas‘Pleiades’), Latvians, Turkic peoples, Chukchi and Koryaks.

Among the most diverse peoples of the world, the Pleiades are perceived as a group of people, and among some peoples they are women (like the ancient Greeks), while others are men. Known such Slavic names as baby, grandma, women. In legends, they are explained by the fact that Jesus Christ placed women in heaven who refused to show him the way. Or vice versa, as a reward for a treat with bread, he placed a woman and her six daughters in the starry sky (the Germans also told a similar story). And the Bulgarians had the name Haiduti and a legend that the Pleiades were robbers who attacked the traveler, pursued by his fellow tribesmen (the constellation Taurus). The Poles met the name siedem braci‘seven brothers’, the Pleiades and the Serbs considered the seven brothers. But the Ossetians told the following story: the young men asked the seven Pleiades sisters to do the work in order to find out which of them was better; they finished sewing at the same time; they said that only God knows which of them is better and worse, let him place them in heaven. The Pleiades were also considered women by many peoples of Africa, Indians, Chinese, Turks, peoples of the Far East, North American Indians.

The French had a legend about kings who wanted to bow to the baby Christ. The three kings walked quickly and reached Bethlehem (they became the three stars of Orion's Belt), while the other seven fell behind on the road and turned into the Pleiades.

One of the most popular names among the Slavic peoples comes from the word stozhar‘stick, post in the middle of a haystack’. Most likely, this name reflects the idea of ​​the Pleiades as the center of the sky. Among the examples of Russian stozhary, Belarusian trainees, Ukrainian stozhary, bulg. stozhari, swallowers, lastijari, Slovenian stožercici, Croatian strazenjcici. The Eastern Slavs have a name Stozhary refers not only to the Pleiades, but also to the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

The names Pleiades are also common among the Slavs, derived from the root vlas-, vlashk- or hair-: st.-slav. wetlands, rus. hair, vysozhary, hair-burners, white valasazar, hairy dawn, Ukrainian volosozar, valasajar, visajars, Slovenian vlastovice. The origin of these names is unclear. They are associated either with the word hair, or with the name of the people Vlachs, or with the name of the pagan god Veles.

Seasonal changes are often associated with the appearance of the Pleiades in the sky. About their Latin name Gigin writes: “These stars were called by our compatriots Vergiliae, because they rise with the onset of spring. They actually enjoy great respect compared to other stars, because their rising marks the onset of summer, while the setting is winter, which is not given to other constellations. The Greeks associated their name with the verb πλεîν ‘to sail on the sea’, since the Pleiades are visible from May to early November - during the sailing season. But in the legends of some Turkic peoples, the Pleiades bring cold to the earth. Usually the hero of such legends breaks or steals several stars, leaving only six in the sky so that the cold is not so strong.

In Japanese, the Pleiades are called subaru(昴). This word is known as the brand name of vehicles manufactured by Fuji Heavy Industries. It was chosen due to the fact that this company arose after the merger of six smaller firms.

Pleiades star cluster

Pleiades (Greek Pleiades"Daughters of Pleione") - a star cluster in the constellation Taurus, in which seven stars are visible to the naked eye, the position is about 0 ° Gemini.

The Pleiades are a small cluster of stars occupying less than one degree in the sky, about the width of one finger. However, it claims more poetic and scientific works, records and myths than any other constellation. The themes expressed by the Pleiades range from the "Narrow Misty Procession of Women Stars" as described by Manilius, to the children of Atlas, the seven doves bringing ambrosia to the infant Zeus, the seven daughters of Pleione, or even the hen and chickens. The Pleiades were also a pivotal calendar point, their heliacal rising and setting being the official start and late end of the season. In Babylon, their heliacal rising heralded the beginning of a new year. This group of stars seems to have also been associated by the Celts with the Parkas, as an old oral custom forbade women to sew when the Pleiades were heliacal or acronic (the first star to rise in the east after sunset) rising stars - in which case they could break their thread and accidentally cut the thread of human life.

The Celts also used the Pleiadian Acronis Rising to mark the month of mourning for dead friends. Prayers for the dead were heard on the first day of the month we now know as November. We still see an echo of this custom in the celebration of Halloween (October 31) and All Saints' Day (November 1), it also finds its reflection in Memorial Day (November 11), the day of war veterans in the United States.

In pre-Vedic India, the Pleiades were the seven mothers who judged people and sometimes wounded them with crescent-shaped blades. Among the Egyptians, they were seven goddesses who met and judged the dead. Among the Greeks, the Pleiades were part of the ancient cult of Aphrodite, who gave birth to seven daughters and turned them into a flock of doves, which became the seven stars of the Pleiades. This flock was led by the dove goddess Alcyone, who was believed to bring good weather for the planting season. The seven visible stars of the Pleiades were also seen as a smaller version of the great bear goddess, Ursa Major, with her seven stars. (Brady.B)

Legend: The Pleiades or Atlantis are the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione, of which six were visible and one was invisible or "lost". They accompanied the young Artemis, and one fine day the gods transferred them to heaven in order to hide them from the persistent Orion. According to other versions, the reason was their sadness because of their father, who had to support heaven with his head and hands. The names of the sisters and the numbers of the corresponding stars in the catalog are as follows: Alcyone (eta), Maya (20), Electra (17), Merope (23), Taygeta (19), Celeno (16) and Steropa (21, 22). The group also includes their parents: Atlas (27) and Playona (28).

"Lost" is Merope. Having married the mortal Sisyphus, she hid her face, for she became the only Pleiades who did not unite her fate with God. There is another opinion: Electra is “lost” - she was so saddened by the death of Troy, founded by her son Dardanus, that she went out. Theon the Younger claims that we are talking about Keleno, who was struck by lightning. It is also said about the Pleiades in the Old Testament: “Can you tie the knot of the Pleiades and resolve the knot of Orion?” (Job 38/31).

Reference: The Pleiades are a star cluster with a main star. It is located on the shoulders of Gemini; in practice, you can take the longitude of Alcyone for the longitude of the entire group, since the cluster fits in one degree of the arc.

Influence: According to Ptolemy, the Pleiades have the nature of the Moon and Mars; Al-Vidas characterizes them by the opposition of Mars and the Moon with the Sun. It is believed that under the influence of the Pleiades, unbridled, ambitious people are born; rebels; peaceful optimists. They are waiting for wanderings, more often by sea, success in agriculture and intellectual work. Blindness, shame and violent death are possible. The influence of the Pleiades as a whole is emphatically harmful.

If ascending: blindness, inflammation of the eyes, other damage to the eyes or face, wounds from bladed weapons, exile, arrest, illness, dangerous fevers, quarrels, exorbitant greed, success on the battlefield. If the Sun is in opposition to Mars or the ascendant - violent death.

At the climax: shame, ruin, violent death. If they culminate at the same time as the Sun or Moon: the person becomes a military commander, commander of a cavalry or a king.

Compound:

With Sun: sore throats, chronic colds, blindness, or at least poor eyesight - illnesses in general, loss of good name, bad temper, murderer or victim of murderer, arrest; death from a blow - it is possible that with a cold weapon - or from an infection, a bullet, in a shipwreck, and perhaps they will cut off their heads.

With Moon: facial injuries, other injuries, illnesses, blindness or some kind of visual impairment, especially if in the corner of the horoscope; color blindness, strabismus, growths in the eye area; misfortune, shame, arrest. Complete blindness occurs if the conjunction is in the seventh house, and even more so if the Sun and Mars are in conjunction with, and the Moon is in the last quarter.

With Mercury: many disappointments, loss of property, many losses in one way or another connected with legal affairs; unsuccessful business; trouble with children.

With Venus: depravity, violent passions, loss of a good name because of women, illness; unhappy life.

With Mars: the head suffers greatly, sorrows and losses due to the fire. If Saturn is in conjunction with Regulus - a violent death during the ongoing rebellion.

With Jupiter: deceit, duplicity; disagreement with the church and the law; losses due to a relative; exile or arrest.

With Saturn: foresight, many ailments: tumors, and possibly a hereditary chronic disease; a lot of losses.

With Uranus: productive mind, congenital or acquired deformity in childhood; many sorrows, troubles, unexpected losses - often due to fire or intrigues of enemies; the marriage partner turns out to be unsuitable in one way or another - especially if a female horoscope is considered; troubles associated with women; occupations in the occult; unfavorable for children: troubles - if they are born at all; heavy loss towards the end of life, violent death.

With Neptune: fearlessness, military successes, honor, wealth, help from friends, many troubles, frequent travels; sometimes an unpopular occupation shrouded in mystery; marriage partner is in poor health; strange facts about relationships with parents; bad for children; at the end of life a person can lose everything; violent death, often away from home.

The magical influence of the talisman:

Image: young girl or lamp. Strengthens eyesight, brings peace of mind, raises the wind, brings secrets to light, helps to find hidden things. (A.Aich)

Character type Moon-Mars; in astrology were considered harbingers of all sorts of troubles. This very remarkable celestial object (along with Sirius, Ursa Major and Orion) is among the first people highlighted in the sky. In ancient Babylon, this cluster was called "Stars" and was revered as the seven great heavenly gods. It got its modern name in Ancient Greece. In Greek mythology (the Pleiades are the seven daughters of Pleione (Plione) and Atlanta (Atlas) - Alcyone, Celeno, Electra, Taygeta, Maya, Sterope and Merope. A slightly different pronunciation of some names has been fixed in astronomy: Alcyone instead of Alcyone, Celene (or Celeno ) instead of Celeno, Asterope instead of Steropes, and sometimes Miropes instead of Merop. According to one version of the myth, Orion pursued the Pleiades until they turned into doves (Greek Peleia "dove"), and Zeus took them to heaven and turned them into a constellation. However and there they are pursued by Orion, because in the daily rotation of the sky, Orion follows the Pleiades.According to another version of this myth, the Pleiades died of grief after the death of their brother Hyas and sisters Hyades.In pre-Islamic Arabic astronomy, this cluster was called as-suraiya(the meaning of this name by the 10th century was not clear to the Arabs themselves) and served as the basis of a large constellation, which was the torso of a man with an outstretched arm, which was formed by the stars of the Perseus Segment and the constellation Cassiopeia (associated with the hand). In astrological use is the star Alcyone, which belongs to this cluster. (A.Yu.Saplin)