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Aug 30, 2007

Auriga, the Charioteer cometh

Space Weather News for Aug. 30, 2007


WEEKEND METEORS: On Saturday morning, September 1st, a flurry of bright and colorful meteors might come streaming out of the constellation Auriga. The source of the shower is ancient Comet Kiess, which has laid down a trail of debris that Earth will cross this weekend.

But will a shower really materialize? Forecasters are divided. Some expect a brief but beautiful display rivaling the Perseids. Others say the debris stream is too empty for significant fireworks. Either way, the peak is due around 4:30 a.m. PDT (11:30 UT) on Saturday morning. This timing strongly favors sky watchers in Hawaii and western parts of North America all the way from Mexico to California to Alaska.

Spaceweather's full coverage of the Aurigid meteor shower begins Friday, Aug. 31, with links to live audio from a meteor radar, which will monitor activity throughout the weekend.

Sky maps and more information are available now at SpaceWeather.com#


The constellation Auriga, the Charioteer, is the harnesser of the horse (Sagittarius.) It is the next cluster out from the North Pole and is associated with the beginning of cultivation and the domestication of plants and animals.

Various images have been used in different cultures for this constellation from a man holding a whip and reins to a man riding in a chariot with a goat slung over his left shoulder. This image is believed to have originated in the Euphrates River region centuries ago.

Some myths have crippled Hephaestus as the chariot-maker and the rider being his deformed son, Attica, whose coils-of-snakes-for-legs were hidden within the chariot.

In Biblical times it is linked to a shephard watching over his flocks and so is linked to Christ, the Good Shephard.

Macha, the great Celtic goddess, is referred to as the Charioteer and brings a nurturing flavor to the Auriga myth for she is nursing twins. Another Celtic figure is Arianhrod, the goddess of the star-wheel, the wheel or chariot in the sky who gave birth to twins as well.

Macha has always resonated with me personally because the myth addresses the line between the patriarchal and matriarchal in Celtic society. Whether or not this meteor shower amounts to much visually, the archetype has been brought into the collective's consciousness, hasn't it? Macha's pregnant condition was disrespected when she was ordered to race in spite of her condition--she won, but with great pain and difficulty, giving birth in the middle of the road.

I don't know too many women who can't identify with Macha in some way!

Auriga symbolizes the fertile horse goddess who, as Macha, cursed the men of Ulster because of their lack of respect for her. She is still honored in Ireland today as a living memorial existing in the history of Ulster and Northern Ireland.

The brightest star in Auriga is Capella which may bring honors, wealth, and renown. There is a love of learning, curiosity, and ambition if this star is linked to your natal chart, yet others may consider you 'odd.'

Capella gives a nurturing but free-spirited quality and the horse embodies a love of movement and of action. Amelia Earhart has this star connected to her natal Venus...her airplane was a modern-day chariot. Her love of speed and flight is shown with Capella.

Freedom and independence tend to be expressed in a non-threatening way with Capella and one may have reason to wonder if the myth's above-mentioned association with patriarchal-matriarchal themes will express in US society bwo a woman being installed in the Oval Office--and supported by the US natal Mars gone retrograde by progression!

But hey--it's only a possible meteor shower...right? ;p



star lore: The Book of Fixed Stars, Bernadette Brady

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