Orion and the Orionids

Having the constellation Orion at natal MC, I always feel pleased when it's Orionid Meteor Time...peaking Oct 21, so get your peepers on!

Space Weather News for Oct 15, 2007

In recent nights, sky watchers have noticed meteors shooting out of the constellation Orion. This signals the beginning of the annual Orionid meteor shower caused by space dust from Halley's Comet.

The shower is feeble now, producing only a few bright meteors per hour, but the show will improve as we approach the shower's peak on Oct 21st. Last year, observers counted as many as 50 Orionids per hour when Earth passed through the thick of Halley's dust trail and another good display may be in the offing.

You sleep that you may wake You die that you may live.

--Egyptian pyramid text

Do you know that there are those who believe that Christ's Second Coming will be from the direction of the Belt of Orion?

This easy-to-spot constellation contains Betelgeuse (Alpha Orion--mentioned in Scripture), keywords: success which is unhindered.

As you know, Orion also contains Rigel (Beta Orion), keywords: to bring knowledge to others; the educator.

Rigel is actually the brightest star in Orion, while Betelgeuse (in Orion's armpit) is second brightest, and Bellatrix (the left shoulder) is third.

Keywords for Bellatrix: success through the shadow.

Other stars: Mintaka = the belt; Alnilam = the middle star in the belt; Alnitak = the last star in the belt; Saiph = the right thigh; Thabit = the sword.

So there we have Orion, the hunter, the immortal god, the giant. He is linked with everlasting fame, success, martial honor, changeability, and sometimes rashness. In a natal chart, much depends on what planets and angles a star is linked with--parans, etc, and their expressions in the life may be either positive or negative.

Greek stories about Orion echo Egyptian mythology for their tales of him have the common flavor of Orion going blind or dying and then being reborn through association of some kind with the Sun.

Here's another snippet from an Egyptian pyramid text, gleaned for you from Brady's Book of Fixed Stars (#ad):

I fly from you, oh men, I am not for the earth I am for the sky. I have soared to the sky as a heaven. I have kissed the sky as a falcon. I am the essence of a god, the son of a god. Behold the faithful and loving Osiris has come as the stars of Orion, the Beautiful One. I have come that I may glorify Orion. My soul is a star of gold and with him I will traverse the sky forever.

So the figure of Orion (Osiris) is an archetype of God and of the hero's journey we each are responsible for taking on the earth. Hope yours is going well...for guidance and be sure to look up!

This post edited for clarity June 3, 2022 jc

Space Weather News for May 3, 2007 SpaceWeather.com

HALLEY'S METEORS: Earth is entering a stream of dust from Halley's Comet,
and this will produce a meteor shower (the "eta Aquarids") peaking on
May 6th. Unfortunately, moonlight will interfere with the display, wiping out all
but the brightest meteors. People who wake up before dawn on Sunday and look east
might nevertheless catch a few specks of Halley's Comet disintegrating in Earth's
atmosphere.

SPARKLING SUNSPOT: Sunspot 953, which emerged one week ago, has proven to be one
of the most photogenic sunspots in years. For one thing, it is crackling with micro
solar flares (sometimes called "Ellerman Bombs"); this makes the sunspot
appear to sparkle when viewed through the eye piece of a backyard solar telescope.
There's also an active magnetic filament winding outward from the sunspot's
dark core. So far, no major solar flares have issued from this active region, but
it's still a great show. Check SpaceWeather.com for the latest pictures
and movies.