Role Of Astronomy In Modern Paganism Essay

, Research Paper

Myths Concerning the Creation of Constellations and the Universe

?Long, long ago, the world slept in the arms of a dark void. From this

place of nothingness, Spirit drew together and created our Lady of infinite

love. The Lady danced among the heavens, her feet beating out the rhyth,

of all creation. Sparks of light catapulted from her hair, giving birth to the

stars and plantes. As she twirled, these heavenly bodies began to move with

her in the divine symphony of the universe… when thunder roars in the

heavens and lightning cracks from the ground, the Lord and Lady dance the

divine myth of creation so that we may remember them and know that we

are never alone. When the sun rises each morning, we bask in the joy of his

love for us, and when the moon moves through her phases, we understand

the cycle of birth, growth, death, and rebirth, as is the nature of our kind.?

-written by Silver RavenWolf

Paganism today is rife with astrological references. These references

are most apparent in the calendar of holidays- the wheel of the year. The

winter and summer solstices, the longest and shortest days of the year, are

celebrated- as are the fall and spring equinoxes, when day and night are of

equal duration. The full and new moon phases are honored as sacred times.

Each constellation has many myths surrounding its creation, as well.

The Greek bear myth involves the Big and Little Dippers, Ursa major and

Ursa minor. It is said that the Greek god Zeus fell in love with Callisto, a

beautiful mortal. When Zeus? wife, Hera, learned of this, she became

intensely jealous and changed Callisto into a bear! Callisto retained her

humanemotions, though, and when she saw her son, Arcas, she reached

out to greet him. The son thought he was being attacked and started to kill

the bear. At that moment, Zeus intervened and placed Callisto in the sky as

the Great Bear, Ursa major. He later placed her son, Arcas, near her as the

Little Bear, Ursa minor. Zeus? jealous wife, Hera, was not done with her

mischief yet! She made sure that Poseidon, the god of the sea, would never

allow bears into his realm, which is why the two constellations never set.

They were destined to remain high in the sky forever.

Some say Stonehenge, Europe?s great stone monument, may have

been created for early astronomers to track the movement of the moon and

stars.