Aquarius – Mental – Throat: CYGNUS

There are three stars that preside over the early hours of summer nights, Vega, Deneb, and Altair, and that form a large triangle right at the zenith, and that astronomers know them as «The Summer Triangle».

The second star of this great triangle is Cygnus or Deneb, its name means «tail» in Arabic, and it is precisely the tail of the Great Swan or Northern Cross that dominates the starry nights of the summer. This constellation represents the swan that Zeus (Jupiter) metamorphosed into to seduce Leda. There are several versions of these encounters between Leda and Zeus and their results, the most widespread is that Leda gave birth to two eggs, one of which gave birth to Helen and Clytemnestra and the other to Castor and Polideuces (Pollux).

According to Eratosthenes the constellation of the Swan comes from the form that Zeus took to get the goddess Nemesis, with whom he was in love and who had the ability to transform into different animals, Zeus finally reached her when she was transformed into a goose and he into a swan, and in this form then flew into the sky, placing the figure of the swan in flight.

The last vertex of this great summer triangle is Aquilae or Altair, a bluish-white star of magnitude 0.8. It is the eighth brightest star in our sky and is accompanied by two stars called by some «the Watchers», beta and gamma ( , ). Mythological tradition identifies this constellation with the form of an eagle that Zeus adopted to abduct the beautiful young Phrygian Ganymede, son of Tros, king who gave his name to the city of Troy.

 This boy, considered the most beautiful of men, used to escape to the vicinity of Mount Ida to escape from the frivolous life of the court and there he was surprised by Zeus. Eratosthenes tells that when the gods divided up the winged beings Zeus chose the eagle because it is the only one that can fly facing the sun, without being blinded by its brightness; also, because this bird appeared at his side when he launched his fight against the Titans. This constellation represents the eagle with wings outstretched and in full flight, as if swooping down on a prey.

I invite you all to read Matias’ post with the theme of the day.

Cygnus

Finally, I encourage everyone to reflect on the concept of the day. No one else but us can re-signify our own being