1.) Noah sent me some beautiful passages from a book by Walter Otto on the Greek Gods, and so I will return to Hermes and give him here much more of a devotional prose.

The night is a world in itself. Only through it can we fully understand the realm whose divine figure is Hermes...A man who is awake in the open field at night or who wanders over silent paths experiences the world differently than by day. Nighness vanishes, and with it distance; everything is equally far and near, close by us and yet mysteriously remote. Space loses its measures. There are whispers and sounds, and we do not know where or what they are. Our feelings too are peculiarly ambiguous. There is a strangeness about what is intimate and dear, and a seductive charm about the frightening. There is no longer a distinction between the lifeless and the living, everything is animate and soulless, vigilant and asleep at once. What the day brings on and makes recognizable gradually, emerges out of the dark with no intermediary stage. The encounter suddenly confronts us, as if by a miracle: What is the thing we suddenly see – an enchanted bride, a monster, or merely a log?...Who can protect him, guide him aright, give him good counsel? The spirit of Night itself, the genius of its kindliness, its enchantment, its resourcefulness, and its profound wisdom. She is indeed the mother of all mystery...Music is the true language of her mystery – the enchanting voice which sounds for eyes that are closed and in which heaven and earth, the near and the far, man and nature, present and past, appear to make themselves understood. (118-9)

Danger and protection, terror and reassurance, certainty and straying – all of these night conceals within herself. Her domain is the rare and unexpected, the sudden presentiment, unfettered by place and time. She guides and prospers the recipient of her favour, and enables him, without his expecting it, to come upon some great windfall. To all who require her protection she is evenhanded; she offers herself to all, and permits all to savor her benevolence. Such too is the world of Hermes. Like every world it has its lofty and its humble sphere. Both depend on good opportunity, ingenuity, briskness are the highest virtues, and the goal is its treasure that suddenly bursts into light.

Broad indeed was the view that surveyed this world, lively indeed the eye that perceived its configuration to be that of a god and was able to recognize the profundity of the divine even in roguery and irresponsibility. It is in the full sense a world, that is to say, a whole world, not a fraction of the total sum of existence, which Hermes inspirits and rules...Whatever happens comes as on wings from heaven, and entails no obligation; whatever is done is a master stroke, and its enjoyment involves no responsibility. A man who chooses this world of gain and the favor of its god Hermes must accept loss also, for there cannot be the one without the other. (120)

Hermes protects highwaymen and thieves, and even though he conducts pious wayfarers safely past them, it is the thieves who seem particularly close to his nature and heart. This signifies a huge expansion of the divine sphere of operation. Its compass is no longer delimited by human wishes but rather by the totality of existence. (121)

Thus Hermes is not a power who provides assistance in specific needs of life; he is the spirit of a constellation which recurs in most diverse conditions and which embraces loss as well as gain, mischief as well as kindliness. Though much of this must seem questionable from a moral point of view, nevertheless it is a configuration which belongs to the fundamental aspects of living reality, and hence, according to Greek feeling, demands reverence, if not for all its individual expressions, at least for the totality of its meaning and being. (122)

But though the world of Hermes is not dignified, and indeed in its characteristic manifestations produces a definitely undignified and often enough dubious impression...it is remote from vulgarity and repulsiveness. A spirit of gaiety, a superior smile, hovers over and illuminates it, and absolves even its boldest knaveries...Every man has something of the soldier of fortune and freebooter and is more bounded to this aspect than he can himself possibly be aware. To that same degree Hermes must be his god. Nor is his realm lacking in the sublime. The victory of success of whatever sort stands under the banner of his luck and his love of booty. (123)

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2.) James Hoffmann, the winner of the 2007 World Barista Champion held most recently in Tokyo. He also won the best signature drink of the 2007 WBC: a biscotti flavoured foam and a tobacco infused ganache mixed with espresso.

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3.) I shall have to add a few movies to my "to see" list:

- The Hudsucker Proxy, a Coen Brothers movie about the hula hoop.
- Georgia, a movie featuring Jennifer Jason Leigh whom I recently saw in eXistenZ: in Georgia she belts out an 8.5 minute version of a Van Morrion song
- The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, a Terry Gilliam movie
- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, the new Terry Gilliam movie being shot (at least partially?) in Vancouver and starring Tom Waits as the devil and Heath Ledger (who died: his different realm characters include Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell): supposed to be out in 2009?

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1.) I had intended to post about Artemis but hadn't gotten around to it until now.

She was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. [see March 12 #4 re: twins] She was the goddess of forests and hills and was often depicted as carrying a bow and arrows. The deer and the cypress [see below: March 25 re: cypress trees] were sacred to her.



She became partially associated with the moon in later Greek culture (post-Classical). (One thing that leapt out at me is how much the moon on her head resembles the Taurus astrological sign.)



(This of course brought Campbell to mind, but that's all we'll say of this now.)
Her temple at Ephesus was one of the ancient world's seven wonders: I definitely did not know this before reading about her; I didn't even know what all seven the seven wonders were: did you?

Pre-pubescent Athenian girls and young Athenian girls approaching marriageable age were sent to the sanctuary of Artemis at Brauron to serve the Goddess for one year. During this time the girls were known as arktoi, or little she-bears. A myth explaining this servitude relates that a bear had formed the habit of regularly visiting the town of Brauron, and the people there fed it, so that over time the bear became tame. A young girl teased the bear, and, in some versions of the myth it killed her, while in other versions it clawed her eyes out. Either way, the girl's brothers killed the bear, and Artemis was enraged. She demanded that young girls "act the bear" at her sanctuary in atonement for the bear's death.

Artemis was worshipped as a fertility/childbirth goddess in some places. Her realm also includes the hunt and 'spots' in nature. She seems serene and gentle but will show an indomitable wrath at times. Who then shall say she is not like the forest itself?

...she is usually portrayed as a maiden huntress clothed in a girl's short skirt, with hunting boots, a quiver, a bow and arrows. Often she is shown in the shooting pose, and is accompanied by a hunting dog or stag. Her darker side is revealed in some vase paintings, where she is shown as the death-bringing goddess whose arrows fell young maidens and women...

An account by Callimachus has it that Hera forbade Leto to give birth on either terra firma (the mainland) or on an island. Hera was angry with Zeus, her husband, because he had impregnated Leto. But the island of Delos (or possibly Ortygia) disobeyed Hera, and Leto gave birth there. ...At three years old, Artemis asked her father, Zeus, while sitting on his knee, to grant her six wishes. Her first wish was to remain chaste for eternity, and never to be confined by marriage. She then asked for lop-eared hounds, stags to lead her chariot, and nymphs to be her hunting companions, 60 from the river and 20 from the ocean. Also, she asked for a silver bow like her brother Apollo. He granted her wishes. All of her companions remained virgins, and Artemis guarded her own chastity closely. Her symbol was the silver bow and arrow.

Artemis, it seems, is not one to let men too closely: Actaeon saw her bathing and spied on her. Artemis was furious and changed him into a stag who was then hunted and killed by his own hounds. In another version, Actaeon boasts he is the better hunter and the transformation then occurs. Adonis also boasted of being a better hunter and Artemis then sent a wild boar to kill him. Another person, Siproites, also saw Artemis and was changed by her into a woman.

You may recall in my post about Orion, there were connections with Artemis. Orion was either killed by Artemis or by a scorpion (Scorpio) sent by Gaea. Either way, it seems Orion was, like the above characters, overly boastful. Niobe boasted of her superiority to Leto because she had fourteen children whereas Leto had only had two (Apollo and Artemis). For this, Artemis and Apollo used poisonous arrows to fell all fourteen. Niobe turned to stone from weeping for her children.

Agamemnon, the famous king, also got on Artemis' bad side: he killed a sacred deer in a sacred grove and boasted of his great hunting prowess. In one version of the story, Artemis calms the winds as he is trying to leave to go to Troy for the Trojan War. To appease Artemis, he must sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia. Agamemnon, for sacrificing his daughter and appeasing Artemis, dies at the hands of his wife Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus (this trickles down into the Electra story I mentioned a while back: Electra seeks revenge and must kill her mother, Clytemnestra). (In the Trojan War, Artemis favours the Trojans and comes to blows with Hera who supports the Greeks: Artemis runs crying to Zeus; Homer portrays Artemis as something of a child.)

[Callisto] was one of Artemis's hunting attendants. As a companion of Artemis, Callisto took a vow of chastity. Zeus appeared to her disguised as Artemis, or in some stories Apollo, gained her confidence, then took advantage of her (or raped her, according to Ovid). As a result of this encounter she conceived a son, Arcas. Enraged, Hera or Artemis changed her into a bear. Arcas almost killed the bear, but Zeus stopped him just in time. Out of pity, Zeus placed Callisto the bear into the heavens, thus the origin of Callisto the Bear as a constellation. Some stories say that he placed both Arcas and Callisto into the heavens as bears, forming the Ursa Minor and Ursa Major constellations.

Artemis saved the infant Atalanta from dying of exposure after her father abandoned her. She sent a female bear to suckle the baby, who was then raised by hunters.but she later sent a bear to hurt Atalanta because people said Atalanta was a better hunter. This is in some stories. Among other adventures, Atalanta participated in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar, which Artemis had sent to destroy Calydon because King Oeneus had forgotten her at the harvest sacrifices. In the hunt, Atalanta drew the first blood, and was awarded the prize of the skin. She hung it in a sacred grove at Tegea as a dedication to Artemis.

The Gigantes Otus and Ephialtes were sons of Poseidon. They were so strong that nothing could harm them. One night, as they slept, Gaea whispered to them, that since they were so strong, they should be the rulers of Olympus. They built a mountain as tall as Mt. Olympus, and then demanded that the gods surrender, and that Artemis and Hera become their wives. The gods fought back, but couldn't harm them. The sons even managed to kidnap Ares and hold him in a jar for thirteen months. Artemis later changed herself into a deer and ran between them. The Aloadae, not wanting her to get away because they were eager huntsmen, each threw their javelin and simultaneously killed each other.

Interesting how most of these stories, from Wikipedia, show Artemis' vengeful side.
(How quiet is her love? (the wrong word, I'm sure))

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis

p.s. Please let me know if you come across examples of what ancient greek cypress trees might have been.

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2.) The twelve Olympians, the principal deities residing atop Mount Olympus, called the Dodekatheon, as per here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Olympians These are where my interest currently lies.

(Hades is not included in the classical scheme of the twelve and the article even says: Hades, the god of the Underworld, is always confused as not being part of the 12. He has earned the right to be part of the 12 since his big contribution to the war with the Titans. However, this seems to forget the earlier mention that the twelve are the principal deities residing atop Mount Olympus and I do not believe that Hades resides there, but this is only a conjecture of mine.)

(Interesting too: twelve Olympians to 'match' the twelve of the zodiac, recently 'investigated' (with a quick eye, of course) on this blog.)

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3.) Poor Hermes didn't get a picture, so here he is:

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1.) One needs to be careful...news stories can get progressively sillier, but here's one: http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=238252a5-2fb3-47ed-9d93-543625fd1d83&k=77256
and here's a scarier one: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/28/idiot.baggie/index.html

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1.) Although the drug opium is produced by "milking" latex from the unripe fruits ("seed pods") rather than from the seeds, all parts of the plant can contain or carry the opium alkaloids, especially morphine and codeine. This means that eating foods (e.g., muffins) that contain poppy seeds can result in a false positive for opiates in a drug test.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poppyseed#False_positive_drug_tests

(The prickly poppy.)
(The blue poppy -- she has my heart, she does!)


Click me

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1.) As a strange sidenote which may or may not mean anything, both Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen will be in the maritimes at the same time:

Leonard Cohen:
5/18 Charlottetown, PEI
5/20-21 Glace Bay, Nova Scotia
5/23 Moncton, New Brunswich
5/26-28 St. John's, Newfoundland

Bob Dylan:
5/19 Saint John, New Brunswick
5/20 Moncton, New Brunswick
5/21 Halifax, Nova Scotia
5/24 St. John's, Newfoundland

Both in Nova Scotia on May 21st.

from http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/tour2008-1.html
and http://www.boblinks.com/dates.html#0318

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(I'm never going to remember the difference. Apparently Dylan was wrong and it should be "Lie Lady lie, lie across my big brass bed", which is hilarious.)

from http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/lay-versus-lie.aspx

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1.) I've begun reading about a second 'major' Olympian god (the first being Hermes, see below). Artemis is a goddess who holds the deer and the cypress tree dear. Not knowing what a cypress is, I looked it up and came to this point:

There are three trees classified as redwoods, all of them under the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae: yes, the three redwoods are Sequoiadendron giganteum (Giant Sequoia, Sierra Redwood, Wellingtonia or Big Tree), Sequoia sempervirens (Coast Redwood), and Metasequoia glyptostroboides (Dawn Redwood). The sequoia! This is Artemis/Diana's sacred tree!

The one we have the most of in Victoria would seem to be the Giant Sequoia, the Sequoiadendron giganteum. I had asked Jarrad about a tree that looked like a sequoia but was different: must have been the Coast Redwood?

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And next I discovered that what I've thought are cedars, which are in the family Pinaceae, along with pines, spruces, larches, douglas-firs, firs, golden larches, and hemlocks, are actually cypresses! Yes, what we call cedar here is a cypress and not a cedar at all. The Western Red Cedar and the Eastern White Cedar are two examples of cypress trees. (The Eastern Red Cedar's a juniper for goodness sake!) I feel so cheated.

This means that what we call cedars are also sacred to Artemis. (Also, just for kicks, the juniper is also a cypress.) (Also, I don't know if Artemis likes cypresses as they are categorized by science, or...?) (whoa.)

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1.) Returning to the post from December 17, item #3, on Franz Mesmer, I have discovered some interesting additions.

Firstly, the hypochondrium seems to be somewhere inbetween these two diagrams, but I cannot figure out exactly where (the article on Mesmer said it was below the diaphragm, hence my confusion): diagram 1 and diagram 2. See also here.

Secondly, after looking the patient in the eyes, making "passes" from the shoulder down the arms with his hands, and then pressing the hypochondrium for hours, sometimes the patients would convulse and this was a sign that the cure was on the way. He would then play on his armonica. Now somehow I passed that one by.

Go here for an interesting history video from youtube on the glass armonica (I recommend the video). You can read about the instrument ('invented' perhaps around 1740 but modified substantially by Ben Franklin in 1761) here and I recommend listening to the song "The Fixed Stars, the Frontier to the Beyond" on that page. Mozart and Beethoven both composed for this instrument. It was then rumoured that it caused insanity and eventually lost public interest, also in part that the piano proved to be a more useful instrument for projection in a larger venue. (Watch that video for more info!)

A modern 'virtuoso' of the glass armonica is Thomas Bloch. He also specializes in the ondes Martenot and the Cristal Baschet.



On different occasions, he has played with Radiohead, John Cage, and Tom Waits (on the Black Rider tour). You can watch all sorts of videos of Thomas Bloch here.
(I didn't expect to discover three new instruments in one night!)

The ondes Martenot...is an early electronic musical instrument with a keyboard and slide, invented in 1928 by Maurice Martenot and originally very similar in sound to the Theremin. The sonic capabilities of the instrument were subsequently expanded by the addition of filter banks and switchable loudspeakers. The instrument is especially known for its eerie wavering notes produced by the thermionic valves that produce oscillating frequencies.

The Cristal Baschet is a musical instrument that produces sound from oscillating glass cylinders. The Cristal Baschet is also known as the Crystal Organ and the Crystal Baschet, and composed of 54 chromatically-tuned glass rods. The glass rods are rubbed with moistened fingers to produce vibrations. The sound of the Cristal Baschet is similar to that of the glass harmonica. The vibration of the glass rods in the Cristal Baschet is passed to a heavy block of metal by a metal stem whose variable length determines the frequency produced (i.e., the note). Amplification is the result of fiberglass cones fixed in a wood frame and a tall cut out metal part, in the shape of a flame. "Whiskers", placed under the instrument to one side, amplify high-pitched sounds. The Cristal Baschet was created in 1952 by the French instrument makers and artists Bernard and Francois Baschet.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristal_Baschet,
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ondes_Martenot,
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Bloch

(This is also the third post in one day!: the other two below are on Hermes and the Prisoner's Dilemma, respectively.)

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1.) I've climbed up from the zodiac to Mount Olympus to visit with Hermes. Or perhaps Hermes came down as he is of course the messenger god, a link between the gods and humans.

Hermes is at first glance a strange god: his domain includes boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of thieves and road travellers, of orators and wit, of literature and poets, of athletics, of weights and measures, of invention, of commerce in general, and of the cunning of thieves and liars. At first this seems a hodgepodge but here's some insight: He was seen to be manifest in any kind of interchange, transfer, transgressions, transcendence, transition, transit or traversal, all of which involve some form of crossing in some sense. This explains his connection with transitions in one’s fortune -- with the interchanges of goods, words and information involved in trade, interpretation, oration, writing -- with the way in which the wind may transfer objects from one place to another, and with the transition to the afterlife.

The poet, the artist, then, is something of a thief. (Interesting to note later though his interactions with Prometheus.)

Hermes gives us our word "hermeneutics" for the art of interpreting hidden meaning. He is viewed by some as a type of trickster god. Additionally, he is one of the few gods who can visit the Underworld: he escorts the new dead down to the realm of Hades.

In very ancient Greece, Hermes was a phallic god of boundaries. His name, in the form herma, was applied to a wayside marker pile of stones; each traveller added a stone to the pile. In the 6th century BCE, Hipparchos, the son of Pisistratus, replaced the cairns that marked the midway point between each village deme at the central agora of Athens with a square or rectangular pillar of stone or bronze topped by a bust of Hermes with a beard. An erect phallus rose from the base. In the more primitive Mount Kyllini or Cyllenian herms, the standing stone or wooden pillar was simply a carved phallus. These were called hermai (singular herma). (I wonder what if any connections existed between Hermes and Shiva...I'm thinking specifically of lingams.) (In February of 2007, a group of University of Chicago students fashioned a set of life-size hermai out of ice and placed them around their campus in the middle of the night as a prank.) The genitals of these hermai markers might have been rubbed for good luck.

Hermes was usually portrayed wearing a broad-brimmed traveler's hat or a winged cap (petasus), wearing winged sandals (talaria), and carrying his Near Eastern herald's staff -- either a caduceus entwined by serpents, or a kerykeion topped with a symbol similar to the astrological symbol of Taurus the bull. I can't help but have Campbell rise to mind when I see that Taurus the bull has connections with Hermes: i.e. the bull has having connections with dying and rebirth, and Hermes as the crosser, the bringer from this realm to that of Hades. He is specifically associated with roosters and tortoises, oddly?

Hermes was born of the Pleiade Maia by Zeus. In his first night alive, Hermes invented the lyre and stole away Apollo's immortal cattle. He eloquently defended himself and in the course of arguing with the gods, began playing the lyre. Apollo gave Hermes the cattle in exchange for the lyre. (wow!)

He helps King Priam sneak into the Greek camp to confront Achilles and to get him to release Hector's body, and he oversees Hypnos and Thanatos (sleep and death) on the battlefield of Troy, both in the Illiad. In the Odyssey, he advises and protects Odysseus from Circe by advising he carry with him the plant moly (which can only be picked by celestial hands and is, incidentally, likely where we obtain the expression Holy moly!). (Odysseus is related to Hermes by matrilineal descent.)

In addition, Hermes helps Io from the many-eyed giant Argus Panoptes sent by Hera (as Io was a consort of Zeus and Hera was jealous). Hermes, loyal to his father Zeus, killed the giant. Perseus is aided by Hermes, who gives him his winged sandals, Zeus' sickle, and Hades' helmet of invincibility to fight Medusa. (Athena also provides Perseus with her shield.) Later, Hermes escorts Perseus to the Underworld. Hermes is sent by Zeus to try to get the prophecy out of Prometheus (bound) but Prometheus refuses to relinquish. Interesting, because Prometheus here is a type of trickster and Hermes is portrayed as much more of a solar law-orderer. Hermes bestowed Pandora with the gift of curiosity and then brought her to the mortals.

Diogenes, speaking in jest, related the myth of Hermes taking pity on his son Pan, who was pining for Echo but unable to get a hold of her, and teaching him the trick of masturbation to relieve his suffering. Pan later taught the habit to the young shepherds.

The offspring of Hermes include Pan, Hermaphroditus, Autolycus (the Prince of Thieves and the grandfather of Odysseus), and Crocus(, among many others). According to some traditions, he also fathered Orion (his urine, with Zeus' and Poseidon's), Eros, Tyche (or Fortuna), and Priapus.

(Phew! let's rest here.)

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermes,
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herma,
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moly

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1.) It's four in the morning and who cares about the Prisoner's Dilemma?

Advertising is sometimes cited as a real life example of the prisoner’s dilemma. When cigarette advertising was legal in the United States, competing cigarette manufacturers had to decide how much money to spend on advertising. The effectiveness of Firm A’s advertising was partially determined by the advertising conducted by Firm B. Likewise, the profit derived from advertising for Firm B is affected by the advertising conducted by Firm A. If both Firm A and Firm B chose to advertise during a given period the advertising cancels out, receipts remain constant, and expenses increase due to the cost of advertising. Both firms would benefit from a reduction in advertising. However, should Firm B choose not to advertise, Firm A could benefit greatly by advertising. Nevertheless, the optimal amount of advertising by one firm depends on how much advertising the other undertakes. As the best strategy is dependent on what the other firm chooses there is no dominant strategy and this is not a prisoner's dilemma but rather is an example of a stag hunt. The outcome is similar, though, in that both firms would be better off were they to advertise less than in the equilibrium. Sometimes cooperative behaviors do emerge in business situations. For instance, cigarette manufacturers endorsed the creation of laws banning cigarette advertising, understanding that this would reduce costs and increase profits across the industry. This analysis is likely to be pertinent in many other business situations involving advertising.

This is an example of game theory, of which you may have gotten a taste from the movie A Beautiful Mind about John Nash. (You can look up stag theory if you want.) I mainly took this for the cigarette company and how they endorsed the creation of laws banning their advertising.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner%27s_dilemma#Real-life_examples

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2.) Wow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_years_in_literature

(To be cheeky: it's too bad 2008 has Stephen King's book as a notable work and 1952, for example, had Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, Charlotte's Web by E. B. White, and The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.)

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3.) I've just learned that in 2006 Ridley Scott did a movie of Tristan and Iseult, and I would like to see it.

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1.) Orion.

In the Works and Days of Hesiod, Orion is also a constellation, one whose rising and setting with the sun is used to reckon the year.

There are various stories pertaining to him:

According to this version, Orion was the son of the sea-god Poseidon and Euryale, daughter of Minos, King of Crete. Orion could walk on the waves because of his father; he walked to the island of Chios where he got drunk and attacked Merope [see March 18 #1: Pleiades], daughter of Oenopion, the ruler there. In vengeance, Oenopion blinded Orion and drove him away. Orion stumbled to Lemnos where Hephaestus — the lame smith-god — had his forge. Hephaestus told his servant, Cedalion, to guide Orion to the uttermost East where Helios, the Sun, healed him; Orion carried Cedalion around on his shoulders. Orion returned to Chios to punish Oenopion, but the king hid away underground and escaped Orion's wrath. Orion's next journey took him to Crete where he hunted with the goddess Artemis and her mother Leto, and in the course of the hunt, threatened to kill every beast on Earth. Mother Earth objected and sent a giant scorpion to kill Orion. The creature succeeded, and after his death, the goddesses asked Zeus to place Orion among the constellations. Zeus consented and, as a memorial to the hero's death, added the Scorpion to the heavens as well.

...the gods Zeus, Hermes and Poseidon come to visit Hyrieus of Tanagra, who roasts a whole bull for them. When they offer him a favor, he asks for the birth of sons. The gods take the bull's hide and ejaculate or urinate into it and bury it in the earth, then tell him to dig it up ten months later. When he does, he finds Orion. This explains why Orion is earthborn.

...[a] source tells two stories of the death of Orion. The first says that because of his "living joined in too great a friendship" with Oenopion, he boasted to Artemis and Leto that he could kill anything which came from Earth. Earth objected and created the Scorpion. In the second story, Apollo objected to his sister Artemis's love for Orion, and, seeing Orion swimming with just his head visible, challenged her to shoot at that mark, which she hit, killing him. He connects Orion with several constellations, not just Scorpio. Orion chased Pleione, the mother of the Pleiades, for seven years, until Zeus intervened and raised all of them to the stars. In Works and Days, Orion chases the Pleiades themselves. Canis Minor and Canis Major are his dogs, the one in front is called Procyon. They chase Lepus, the hare, although Hyginus says some critics thought this too base a prey for the noble Orion and have him pursuing Taurus, the bull, instead.

And then there are many other variants I choose not to include here.

There is also the madness of interpretations!:

The 16th-century Italian mythographer Natalis Comes interpreted the whole story of Orion as an allegory of the evolution of a storm cloud: Begotten by air (Zeus), water (Poseidon), and the sun (Apollo), a storm cloud is diffused (Chios, which Comes derives from χέω, "pour out"), rises though the upper air (Aërope, as Comes spells Merope), chills (is blinded), and is turned into rain by the moon (Artemis).

The 19th-century German classical scholar Erwin Rohde viewed Orion as an example of the Greeks erasing the line between the gods and mankind. That is, if Orion was in the heavens, other mortals could hope to be also.

The Hungarian mythographer Karl Kerényi, one of the founders of the modern study of Greek mythology, wrote about Orion in Gods of the Greeks (1951). Kerényi portrays Orion as a giant of Titanic vigor and criminality, born outside his mother as were Tityos or Dionysus. Kerényi places great stress on the variant in which Merope is the wife of Oenopion. He sees this as the remnant of a lost form of the myth in which Merope was Orion's mother (converted by later generations to his stepmother and then to the present forms). Orion's blinding is therefore parallel to that of Aegypius and Oedipus.

In Dionysus (1976), Kerényi portrays Orion as a shamanic hunting hero, surviving from Minoan times (hence his association with Crete). ...he turns Orion into a representative of the old mead-drinking cultures, overcome by the wine masters Oenopion and Oeneus. (The Greek for "wine" is oinos.)

The 2002 opera Galileo Galilei by American composer Philip Glass includes an opera within an opera piece between Orion and Merope. The sunlight, which heals Orion's blindness, is an allegory of modern science.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_%28mythology%29

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2.) Et maintenant un peu sur le mention de Philip Glass:

As Galileo marches backward from old age to childhood - portrayed in turn by tenor John Duykers, baritone Eugene Perry and (in a non-singing role) young Zach Gray - he traverses a spectrum of emotional lights from grim resignation to bright confidence to the thrill of the dawning of intellectual curiosity.

Imagine the life of a flower filmed in fast motion, to show in minutes the cycle of bud, bloom, closing and decay - run backward. By reversing the timeline, Glass and Zimmerman create not only a happy ending for the opera, they also show that whatever the disappointments of Galileo's life, his vision and work made his life an exemplar of the purpose of humanity. The thesis of the opera is: Our job as a species is to understand the universe.

The concept forms fully in the gorgeous, closing set piece. The conceit is that the child Galileo and the child version of his future patroness, Duchess Christina, are attending a court opera by his father, Vincenzio Galileo. The subject of the opera-in-opera is the love of the hunter Orion for Merope, who represents the moon. Her enraged father, played by Andrew Funk - who, tellingly, also plays the scheming Pope Urban VIII - blinds Orion.

Zimmerman captures exactly the gem-like miniature pageantry of early Baroque opera, with Orion, the moon goddess Merope (radiant dancer Tess Given) and the sun goddess Eos (Berneche, again [who plays Galileo's daughter, Maria Celeste, in a 'touching scene' earlier]), elaborately costumed as celestial bodies. Blind Orion makes his way across the sky from beloved moon to healing sun, whose warming grace restores his sight.

Orion, of course, is an allegory for both Galileo and humanity, whose blindness will eventually be cured by the sunlight of science. As Galileo takes his place beside his dear Maria Celeste - who preceded him in death and who is now an angel - his sight is restored. The entire company ends the opera with a minimalist chorale that is a paean to both clarity of thought and wonder at the miracle of the universe. The text is from an old English hymn Galileo once quoted in a letter:

Forever and forever, our Lord has set the ways

Of the moon, the sun, the stars, in their ever-winding maze.

from http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=55190

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What they seek to capture, which only becomes clear in the second half of this 100-minute one-act opera, is the grandeur of Galileo's vision of the heavens. That was no mere matter of lifting a telescope to his eye, but of scales falling from his eyes.

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3.) The humanism of the Glass opera interpretation is too simple. I haven't seen the opera, but based on what the article is saying, either it or the opera is, to me, shall we say, too simple. I wouldn't doubt it's in the opera: I can begin to sense where Philip and I differ.

Basically what's on my mind is an objection to the movement towards sun as progressive. Sun and moon continually cycle. It's beautiful that Orion's blinded by the moon, whose father resonates (resonates because the same actor plays both parts) with the steadfast pope who condemns Galileo as a type of Orion. (Orion's actually blinded by the moon's father in this opera; the previous sentence relects my curiosity.) Orion's a lover of the moon. (As Kinski says in Nosferatu to Jonathan: you are like the villagers, you cannot place yourself in the soul of the hunter...Orion, the Hunter.)

Orion stumbles towards the sun, the cyclical weeping of motion, resonating (same actor in these two parts - as the sun and Maria - as well) with his daughter Maria. I don't agree that "Orion, of course, is an allegory for both Galileo and humanity, whose blindness will eventually be cured by the sunlight of science." Orion clearly resonates with Galileo, and "humanity", if you want to put it that way, but I don't see his blindness as being cured by the sunlight of science. Maybe this article writer (artician?) does. Maybe Philip does. I see it as desperate hunching from one to the next: I imagine the sun blinding and clawing at the eyes, like Nosferatu, like Tristan (of Wagner's persuasion). I imagine a vulture of a sun, not in the ways of Prometheus, not in the ways we speak of it.

Do I smell Campbell?

I had something but I lost it. And so I am proud to say that this is not complete.

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4.) Arrowroot flower
Prayer-plant flower

Now for something completely different. My mom gave me a prayer-plant a while ago, so called because it's leaves fold up as if in prayer at night. Apparently, it's in the Marantaceae family, also known as the Prayer-Plant Family or the Arrowroot family. Yes, it seems related to arrowroot. More specifically, the one I've got seems to be a Maranta leuconeura kerchoviana.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marantaceae

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1.) http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrcrash/213745683/in/pool-security_theater

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1.) Today is the vernal equinox (the first day of spring). (Someday I will understand/remember what an equinox is.) The equinox is when the elliptic (the apparent path of the sun) crosses the celestial equator (the earth's equator extended up to the sky). Days with an equinox have nearly an equal length for both night and day; however, this is not entirely accurate because commonly the day is defined as the period that sunlight reaches the ground in the absence of local obstacles. From Earth, the Sun appears as a disc and not a single point of light; so, when the centre of the Sun is below the horizon, the upper edge is visible. Furthermore, the atmosphere refracts light; so, even when the upper limb of the Sun is below the horizon, its rays reach over the horizon to the ground. ... These effects together make the day about 14 minutes longer than the night at the equator, and longer still at sites toward the poles.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox

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1.) Orion, The Hunter.
(also known as the Saucepan or the Three Kings in various parts of the world.)


click me

Orion has been identified by numerous cultures. For example, the Egyptians saw it as linked with Osiris. The Sumerians saw a shepherd.


how to find other stars using Orion as a starting point


This is fascinating (click it). It also seems to be flipped from the above photos I have posted.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_%28constellation%29

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2.) You could spend a while here:
outtheway.blogspot.com
How about October 2007 randomly?:
http://outtheway.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html

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3.) Well I've never been to Mayne Island, but I may have to change that this Good Friday. Look at this: Goldberg Variations in a church to be performed by a string trio! Violin, viola, and cello. Hard to imagine how that would sound, as I'm only familiar with Glenn Gould's solo piano versions.

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1.) I have paused in the constellation of Taurus to read a bit about a famous star cluster in that region: Pleiades.

The Pleiades' high visibility in the night sky has guaranteed it a special place in many cultures, both ancient and modern. In Greek mythology, they represented the Seven Sisters, while to the Vikings, they were Freyja's hens, and their name in many old European languages compares them to a hen with chicks.

To the Bronze Age people of Europe, such as the Celts (and probably considerably earlier), the Pleiades were associated with mourning and with funerals, since at that time in history, on the cross-quarter day between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice (see Samhain, also Halloween or All Souls Day), which was a festival devoted to the remembrance of the dead, the cluster rose in the eastern sky as the sun's light faded in the evening. It was from this acronychal rising that the Pleiades became associated with tears and mourning. As a result of precession over the centuries, the Pleiades no longer marked the festival, but the association has nevertheless persisted, and accounts for the significance of the Pleiades astrologically.

The ancient Aztecs of Mexico and Central America based their calendar upon the Pleiades. Their calendric year began when priests first remarked the asterism rising heliacally in the east, immediately before the sun's dawn light obliterated the view of the stars.

The American Hopi Indians built their underground Kivas for multiple utilitarian uses. The most important of which was their ceremonial meeting place. The access was a ladder through a small hole in the roof of the round hole in the ground. During certain ceremonies, the night passage of the Pleiades over the center of the opening of the entrance hole was a direct signal to begin a certain ceremony. Most of the cultures used the angle of the Pleiades in the night sky as a time telling device.

In Japan, the Pleiades are known as 昴 Subaru, and have given their name to the car manufacturer whose logo incorporates six stars to represent the five smaller companies that merged into one.

...methods can then extend the distance scale from open clusters to galaxies and clusters of galaxies, and a cosmic distance ladder can be constructed. Ultimately astronomers' understanding of the age and future evolution of the universe is influenced by their knowledge of the distance to the Pleiades.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades
and it goes on and on with various cultures...

To look a bit at the Greeks:

The Pleiades, companions of Artemis, were the seven daughters of the titan Atlas and the sea-nymph Pleione born on Mount Cyllene. They are the sisters of Calypso, Hyas, the Hyades, and the Hesperides. The Pleiades were nymphs in the train of Artemis, and together with the seven Hyades were called the Atlantides, Dodonides, or Nysiades, nursemaids and teachers to the infant [Dionysus].

Several of the most prominent male Olympian gods (including Zeus, Poseidon, and Ares) engaged in affairs with the seven heavenly sisters. These relationships resulted in the birth of children.

1. Maia, eldest of the seven Pleiades, was mother of Hermes by Zeus.
...
7. Merope, youngest of the seven Pleiades, was wooed by Orion. In other mythic contexts she married Sisyphus and, becoming mortal, faded away. She bore to Sisyphus several sons.

All of the Pleiades except Merope consorted with gods.

After Atlas was forced to carry the heavens on his shoulders, Orion began to pursue all of the Pleiades, and Zeus transformed them first into doves, and then into stars to comfort their father. The constellation of Orion is said to still pursue them across the night sky.

In the Pleiades star cluster only six of the stars shine brightly, the seventh, Merope, shines dully because she is shamed for eternity for having an affair with a mortal. Some myths also say that the star that doesn't shine is Electra, mourning the death of Dardanus, though a few myths say it is Sterope.

One of the most memorable myths involving the Pleiades is the story of how these sisters literally became stars, their catasterism. According to some versions of the tale, all seven sisters committed suicide because they were so saddened by either the fate of their father, Atlas, or the loss of their siblings, the Hyades. In turn Zeus, the ruler of the Greek gods, immortalized the sisters by placing them in the sky. There these seven stars formed the constellation known thereafter as the Pleiades.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades_%28mythology%29

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2.) From Gemini to Cancer (for Ayla, for Aetan):

Cancer, the Crab, plays a minor role in the Twelve Labors of Hercules. While Hercules was busy fighting the multi-headed monster, Hydra, the goddess Hera, who did not like Hercules, sent the Crab to distract him. Cancer grabbed onto the hero's toe with its claws, but barely breaking the rhythm of his great battle with Hydra, Hercules crushed the crab with his foot. Hera, grateful for the little crustacean's heroic but pitiful effort, gave it a place in the sky.

The modern symbol for Cancer is the crab, but it has been represented with various types of creatures, usually those live in the water, and always those with an exoskeleton.

It is the domicile of the Moon or "House of the Moon", and this concept might originate from an ancient belief that Moon was located here at the creation of the world.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer_%28constellation%29

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3.) And from Cancer to Leo (for Rhea) brings us full circle, the end of the zodiac, as started spontaneously with Virgo.

Bacchi Sidus (Star of Bacchus) was another of its titles, the god always being identified with this animal, and its shape the one often adopted by him in his numerous transformations, while a lion's skin was his frequent dress. But Manilius had it Jovis et Junonis Sidus (Star of Jove and Juno), as being under the guardianship of these deities, perhaps appropriately considering its regal character, especially that of its lucida.

In Greek mythology, it was identified as the Nemean Lion (and may have been a source of the tale) which was killed by Hercules during one of his twelve labours, and subsequently put into the sky.

The first of Heracles' twelve labours, set by Eurystheus (his cousin) was to slay the Nemean Lion and bring back its skin.

Heracles wandered the areas until he came upon the town of Cleonae. There, he found a poor farm boy. This farm boy would sacrifice anything to get wealth. If Hercules slayed the Nemean Lion and returned alive within 30 days of leaving, they would sacrifice a lion to Zeus, the god of all gods. If he did not return within 30 days or he died, however, the boy would sacrifice himself to Zeus.

While he was looking for the lion, he made arrows to use against it, not knowing that it was immortal. When he finally arrived to where the lion was, he started throwing arrows at the lion, but nothing happened. So Heracles trapped the lion inside a room. He closed both doors and forced him into a corner. In the corner, Heracles choked him to death.

When he returned to the King, the king was shocked. So the king gave Hercules the skin to wear around. But he said "the tasks will be getting harder."

This task took the course of three months when he was eighteen years old.



from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_%28constellation%29
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemean_Lion

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1.) With the exception of a pair of Congoese gorillas caught in the act, Bonobos were thought to be the only non-human apes to have been observed engaging in all of the following sexual activities: face-to-face genital sex (most frequently female-female, then male-female and male-male), tongue kissing, and oral sex. However more recently Gorillas have been observed to engage in face-to-face sex.

Sexual activity happens within the immediate family as well as outside it, and often involves adults and children, even infants. Bonobos do not form permanent relationships with individual partners. They also do not seem to discriminate in their sexual behavior by gender or age, with the possible exception of sexual intercourse between mothers and their adult sons.... When Bonobos come upon a new food source or feeding ground, the increased excitement will usually lead to communal sexual activity...

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonobo#Sexual_social_behavior

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The Pleiades.

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1.) I find this story very interesting. ('Continued' from #2 yesterday.)
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=a52a3c8b-34ea-406c-b2c4-acbcfdd325ed&k=2241

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2.) I don't have much to add about Taurus (to yesterday's entry): I can however say that Europa (the Phoenician princess abducted by Zeus in that tale) gave name to the continent Europe, which means "wide-gazing".

In ancient Greek mythology, Europa was a Phoenician princess whom Zeus abducted after assuming the form of a dazzling white bull. He took to the island of Crete where she gave birth to Minos, Rhadamanthus and Sarpedon. For Homer, Europe (Greek: Εὐρώπη, Eurṓpē; see also List of traditional Greek place names) was a mythological queen of Crete, not a geographical designation. Later Europa stood for mainland Greece, and by 500 BC its meaning had been extended to lands to the north.

Etymologically, the dominant theory suggests the name Europe is derived from the Greek roots meaning broad (eur-) and eye (op-, opt-), hence Eurṓpē, "wide-gazing" (compare with glaukōpis (grey-eyed) Athena or boōpis (ox-eyed) Hera). Broad has been an epithet of Earth itself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe#Etymology

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3.) I can add this for Taurus:

The mythographers tell that Zeus was enamored of Europa and decided to seduce or ravish her, the two being near-equivalent in Greek myth. He transformed himself into a tame white bull and mixed in with her father's herds. While Europa and her female attendants were gathering flowers, she saw the bull, caressed his flanks, and eventually got onto his back. Zeus took that opportunity and ran to the sea and swam, with her on his back, to the island of Crete. He then revealed his true identity, and Europa became the first queen of Crete. Zeus gave her a necklace made by Hephaestus and three additional gifts: Talos, Laelaps and a javelin that never missed. Zeus later re-created the shape of the white bull in the stars, which is now known as the constellation Taurus. Some readers interpret as manifestations of this same bull the Cretan beast that was encountered by Hercules, the Marathonian Bull slain by Theseus (and that fathered the Minotaur).

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_%28mythology%29#Abduction

Whoa, ok, I found more.

Sources differ in details regarding Europa's family, but agree that she is Phoenician, and from a lineage that descended from Io, the mythical nymph beloved of Zeus, who was transformed into a heifer.

It is generally agreed that she had two brothers, Cadmus, who brought the alphabet to mainland Greece, and Cilix who gave his name to Cilicia in Asia Minor...

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_%28mythology%29#Family

(And, as a sidenote, since I wasn't entirely sure what Phoenicia was: Phoenicia was an ancient civilization centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coast of modern day Lebanon, Syria and the geographical area of Palestine with gods such as Baal, mentioned frequently in the Bible as a word meaning, I believe, false idols. See also the map here of Phoenicia's trade routes, including her relation-distance to Greece. From here.)

And so what? See February 24 #3-4. Cadmus was Harmonia's husband.
Io is a character in the Prometheus Unbound play I read by Aeschylus.

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4.) And if we now return to Gemini, there's interesting stuff to read about twins in mythology.

Twins in mythology are often cast as two halves of the same whole, sharing a bond deeper than that of ordinary siblings, or otherwise shown as fierce rivals.

In Greek mythology, twins were thought to be conceived when a woman slept with both a mortal and a god on the same day.

In Greek mythology, Apollo and Artemis are twins, and Apollo was adopted as the sun god with Artemis as the moon goddess. In Xingu mythology of Brazil, the twin brothers Kuat and Iae forced the evil king Urubutsin to give light to the world, and Kuat became the sun with Iae as the moon. In one version of the Egyptian creation myth, the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut were twins. In Persian mythology, the twins Ahriman and Ahura Mazda represent the spirits of good and evil respectively. Cultures with rival twin heroes often follow this pattern of split moral forces. In a myth of several northeastern Native American tribes, Gluskap, the creator god and cultural hero, has to defeat Malsum, his evil twin, who was the ruler of the demons.

In Greek mythology, Castor and Pollux share a bond so strong that when Castor dies, Pollux gives up half of his immortality to be with his brother. This etiological explains why their constellation, the Discoursi or Gemeni, is only seen half the year, as the twins split their time between the underworld and Mount Olympus. In an aboriginal tale, the same constellation represents the twin lizards who created the plantes and animals and saved women from evil spirits.

In many Native American stories, twins are often partners on quests.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_%28mythology%29

Castor and Pollux are the Gemini twins, so let's look at them a bit more:

In Greek mythology the Dioskouroi (Διόσκουροι), Kastor and Polydeukes (Κάστωρ και Πολυδεύκης), in Roman mythology the Gemini (Latin, "twins") or Castores, Castor and Pollux are the twin sons of Leda and the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. According to Liddell and Scott's Lexicon, kastor is Greek for "he who excels", and poludeukeis means "very sweet".

These are the twins who are the result of Zeus's seduction of Leda: Leda and the swan. Leda produced an egg and the twins were conceived from the egg. There are varying accounts as to whether they are mortal or immortal.

Castor and Polydeuces abducted the Leucippides ("white horses") Phoebe and Hilaeira, the daughters of Leucippus. When they encountered their analogous twin brothers of Thebes, Idas and "lynx-eyed" Lynceus, bound for revenge, Castor, the mortal brother, fell, and Polydeuces, the immortal twin, survived, yet they were not separated. Polydeuces persuaded Zeus to share his gift with Castor. Accordingly, the two spend alternate days as gods on Olympus, worthy of burnt sacrifice, and as deceased mortals in Hades, whose spirits must be propitiated by libations.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castor_and_Pollux

It would be interesting to muse on how the zodiacs seem to interact based on the various myths...perhaps this will be done when I've finished posting about the last two: Cancer and Leo.

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5.) Jumping back up, I have decided to post something on Cadmus, to whom I alluded back in February but never actually posted anything.

Cadmus, or Kadmos (Greek: Κάδμος), in Greek mythology, was a Phoenician prince, son of Agenor and the brother of Phoenix, Cilix and Europa. Cadmus founded the city of Thebes, and its acropolis was originally named Cadmeia in his honor. Cadmus was credited by the Hellenes with the introduction of the Phoenician alphabet, phoinikeia grammata.

After his sister Europa had been carried off by Zeus, Cadmus was sent out to find her, enjoined not to return without her. Unsuccessful in his search, he came to Samothrace and met Elektra's daughter, Harmonia, whom [he] took away as a bride. (Interesting because the other account of which I had written put Harmonia as the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite. Oh wait, I did mention this on under #2 of February 24 as well.)

He came in the course of his wanderings to Delphi, where he consulted the oracle. He was ordered to give up his quest and follow a special cow, with a half moon on her flank, which would meet him, and to build a town on the spot where she should lie down exhausted. She lay down and there he founded Thebes.

Intending to sacrifice the cow to Athena, Cadmus sent some of his companions to the nearby Castalian Spring, for water. They were slain by the spring's guardian water-dragon (compare the Lernaean Hydra), which was in turn destroyed by Cadmus, the duty of a culture hero of the new order.

By the instructions of Athena, he sowed the Dragon's teeth in the ground, from which there sprang a race of fierce armed men, called Spartes ("sown"). By throwing a stone among them, Cadmus caused them to fall upon one another until only five survived, who assisted him to build the Cadmeia or citadel of Thebes, and became the founders of the noblest families of that city.

The dragon had been sacred to Ares, so the god made Cadmus to do penance for eight years by serving him. According to Theban tellings, it was at the expiration of this period that the gods gave him Harmonia as wife.

At the wedding...all the gods were present; Harmonia received as bridal gifts a peplos worked by Athena and a necklace made by Hephaestus. This necklace, commonly referred to as the Necklace of Harmonia, brought misfortune to all who possessed it. (see previous entry on February 24)

Cadmus was deeply troubled by the ill-fortune which clung to him as a result of his having killed the sacred dragon, and one day he remarked that if the gods were so enamoured of the life of a serpent, he might as well wish that life for himself. Immediately he began to grow scales and change in form. Harmonia, seeing the transformation, thereupon begged the gods to share her husband's fate, and she did.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadmus

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1.) http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/tour2008-1.html
Leonard Cohen's tour...the closest as of now are Montreal and Toronto. Hopefully there will be, as it says, more added!

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2.) http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=a4b037b3-604f-4046-9949-d1efd89f59f6&k=56077
Wow. I posted this one not because of the plea but the story.

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3.) On to Taurus (for Harmony):

In Greek mythology, Zeus assumes the form of a magnificent white bull to abduct Europa, a legendary Phoenician princess, and thus, fathers Minos. The tale informs the names of constellations since it is necessary to traverse the area of sky known as the Sea to reach it. When passing through the Zodiac, it forms the origin of the myth of the Cretan Bull, one of The Twelve Labors of Heracles.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurus_%28constellation%29#Mythology_for_the_term_Taurus

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4.) From Taurus to Gemini (for myself):

Since this constellation is easily viewable as two parallel stick figures, considering faint stars visible to the naked eye, it was associated with the myth of Castor and Polydeuces (also known as Pollux), collectively known as the Dioscuri. A myth of these twins heavily concerns cattle theft, and may be connected to early views of the Milky Way, as a herd of dairy cows or cattle, by which they are situated.

The fattness of the constellation can vary (since they readily form stick figures whether leaning right or left), though the twins are usually viewed as left leaning. However, when right leaning, one of the twins resides in the Milky Way, and the other outside it, a situation making it appear that one of the twins is stealing the cattle, and the other is observing. In this situation, together with the area of the sky that is deserted (now considered as the new and extremely faint constellations Camelopardalis and Lynx), and the other features of the area in the Zodiac sign of Gemini (i.e. Orion, Auriga, and Canis Major), this may be the origin of the myth of the cattle of Geryon, which forms one of The Twelve Labours of Heracles.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_%28constellation%29#Mythology

I intend on adding a little more for Taurus and Gemini when I'm less tired.

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1.) Yikes.
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=1273ba71-627a-42d9-ac7f-8087db3ad9a9&k=2465

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