Saturday, January 9, 2010

Cancer (The Crab)

  


 



Cancer:

Messiah's redeemed possessions:

Eternal Security


    

  



  • The eleventh and next to last zodiac constellation is Cancer, the crab, best viewed during the month of March.

  • Between Leo the Lion and Gemini the Twins lies the faint zodiac constellation Cancer the Crab. Cancer looks a bit like the inner spokes in a wheel. A central star or cluster usually is the midpoint from which the lines radiate outward to the few bright stars in this constellation.

  • In the Egyptian zodiacs:

    • One depicts it as a dung beetle (Scarabæus) shown holding the ball in which it has deposited its eggs. So, the grub which spent its past living in literal dung, metamorphosized into an iridescent creature of flight — soiled only in its care of its own young.

    • Another shows it with a hawk's head.

    • Another, as a crab.




Names:



  • Hebrew, Sartan, means "who holds" or "who binds".

  • Arabic, Al Sartan, also means "who holds" or "who binds".

  • Syrian, Sartano, means "The One Who Holds".

  • Coptic, Klaria, means "cattle-folds" or "the Resting Places".

  • Greek, Karkinos, means "holding or encircling" - hence "the crab", from Arabic Khan an Inn, and Ker, or Cer = encircling.

  • Latin, Cancer, means the same as the Greek.

  • The ancient Accadian is Su-kul-na ( the seizer, or possessor of seed).

  • Egypt, a “Sacred” (scarabæus – or Scarab). Emblem of immortality in the form of a dung beetle.

  • In the zodiac of Dendereh, it was called Klaria (Cattlefolds).


Main Stars:



  • Tegmine in the tail is Cancer's brightest star and means "The Sheltering" or "Hiding Place" or "Holding".

  • Præsepe: Contained within the ‘cattle fold’ is a bright nebula now called "the Beehive", whose ancient name was Præsepe, "a multitude" or "off­spring" or "manger". The Romans saw it as a manger within a camp, recalling back to the identification of Cancer as a Cattle-fold. Præsepe means "The Multitude" or "The Innumerable Seed".

  • Al Himerein means "the kids" or "lambs".

  • Acubene in the lower large claw means both in Hebrew and Arabic "the sheltering" or "hiding place".

  • Ma'alaph means "Assembled Thousands" and is also called Al Himarein ("the lambs").

  • Let's put this all together: Cattle-folds, including kids and lambs, binding together and encircling, sheltering, one who possesses them, and a multitude.


Verses:



  • John 10:28: I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me,

  • Romans 8:38-39: And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

  • Isaiah 4:5-6: Then the Lord will provide shade for Mount Zion and all who assemble there. He will provide a canopy of cloud during the day and smoke and flaming fire at night, covering the glorious land. It will be a shelter from daytime heat and a hiding place from storms and rain.


Mythology:



  • Ancient Egyptians called this part of the sky the Scarab, in reference to their concept that an invisible celestial scarab beetle pushed the Sun across the heavens, just as the scarab beetle rolls a dung ball along.

  • Another ancient Egyptian image of this sign was of Hermanubis (Hermes) with the head of an ibis or hawk.

  • The Beehive Cluster in Cancer is also known as the Praesepe, which means "manger". This manger is where the two donkeys, Asellus Australis and Asellus Borealis, ate from. The gods Dionysus and Silenus rode these two donkeys into battle against the Titans.

  • The Greek mythology of Cancer the Crab begins with Zeus having an affair with Alcmene, the queen of Tiryns. The result of this union was the Heracles (the Romans named him our familiar Hercules). Of course, this union and offspring did not go over too well with Hera (the Roman Juno), the wife of Zeus. Hera, in her jealous state, swore to kill Hercules. Hera attempted to have Hercules killed many times but his imposing strength allowed him to overcome. Cancer comes into this ‘beloved’ scene when Hercules is fighting the terrible water-serpent, Hydra. During the battle between Heracles and Hydra, Hera sent Cancer, the giant crab, to aid the serpent. As the violent fight took place, Cancer was nipping at Hercules feet. But Heracles, being so mighty in strength, killed the crab by smashing its shell with his foot. Hera then placed the crab's image in the night sky as a reward for it’s service. Once again, we have a picture of a "hero" being bitten in the foot by an evil creature, but crushing its head with his foot! How many times have we seen this story from Genesis so far?!



The three decans are Ursa Major, Ursa Minor and Argo


 


I. Ursa Minor - The lesser sheepfold, close to and including the Pole.





  • Ursa Minor, often called the Little Dipper or "the Little Bear", is a constellation in the northern sky.

  • Like the Big Dipper, the handle of the Little Dipper is the tail of the "little bear".

  • Ursa Minor is the location of the north celestial pole, although this will change after some centuries due to the precession of the equinoxes.

  • In the oldest zodiacs of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Indians, it is not a bear, but a sheepfold.

  • In the Arab world, it was a small flock and to the Persians it was a woman.

  • As indicated by similar constellation names and pictures, the "Little Dipper" and "Big Dipper" go together. They even look alike. Since ancient times, they were seen as a pair.


Names:



  • Ursa Minor is Latin for "little bear".

  • Ursa Minor is more commonly called the Little Dipper because its seven brightest stars seem to form the shape of a dipper (ladle or scoop).

  • As can be seen by some of the star names below, the original meaning had nothing to do with bears. The confusion with a bear arose from the similarity between the Hebrew words for "fold" (dohver) and "bear" (dohv) — a similarity retained in both Arabic and Persian. Thus, the Greeks replaced "the fold" with "the bear" — an obvious corruption, as one glance at the smaller Bear's freakishly long tail proves, ridiculously extended to end at the Pole Star.

  • The original meaning of this constellation was "a sheepfold" or "the Lesser Fold".

  • Another Latin name for Ursa Minor was Septentriones, the "seven which revolve" — from which the Romans arrived at their word for ‘north’; the Arabs noted its rotation in the name Ogilah, "going round".

    • Revelation 1:16,20: He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance. This is the meaning of the mystery of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.




Stars:



  • Polaris: The star at the end of the dipper handle is Polaris, the North Star.

    • Polaris can also be found by following a line through the two stars which form the end of the "bowl" of the Big Dipper, a nearby asterism found in the constellation Ursa Major.

    • Polaris is the brightest of the constellation's stars, called Al Ruccaba (Arabic), which means "turned" or "ridden on".

    • It is Cynosure in Greek, after which the entire constellation was called (the Greeks took the name from Mesopotamia, Annassurra, meaning something like "on high").

    • It marks the point vertically above our earth’s north pole in the celestial sphere. In actual fact it is slightly off center and we need star tables to be able to locate true north. When these constellations were first drawn up over 4000 years ago, the star Thuban, in the constellation Draco was the Pole star!

    • To find Polaris is simple - on a reasonably clear night, look due north and it will be there at an elevation about equal to your latitude. It always stays there since the Earth's pole points to it (within less than a degree).

    • The Pole or North Star is the hub in which everything circles, including the sun and planets.



  • Kochab (Hebrew): Next in brightness is Kochab ("awaiting Him who cometh").

  • Arctos means "the stronghold of the saved", from which we get the word ‘arctic’.

  • Al Pherkadain (Hebrew) means "redeemed assembly", "the calves" or "the redeemed".

  • Al Kaid means "the assembled".

  • Arcas or Arctos means "the traveling company". Another interpretation is rendered "the stronghold of the saved".

  • Al Gedi (Arabic) means "the kid".


Verses:



  • Ezekiel 34:12: I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day.

  • John 10:16: I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.



II. Ursa Major - The fold and the flock, anciently the Greater Sheepfold, in connection with Arcturus, the guardian and keeper of the flock





  • The first and second decans are Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the Greater and Lesser Bears. Originally Dubheh or Dubah, not meaning bear but a collection of domesticated animals. So we don't have two long-tailed bears, we have two sheepfolds or flocks. Now, where else have we seen pairs in the stars - Gemini and Pisces.

  • In the Arab world, it was a small flock, and to the Persians it was also a woman, and all with the same symbolism as the Little Bear.

  • Both of these bears or flocks were guarded in the myths by the Herdsman, who is nearby.


Names:



  • Al Naish: The Arabic name of this constellation is Al Naish or Annaish meaning, "the assembled together" as sheep in a fold.

  • The Hebrew word means "To Hasten or Assemble Together".

  • As with Ursa Minor, it is felt that the Greeks may have mistakenly thought the constellation was called by the Persian word Dob (Bear) rather than the Hebrew word Dowb (Sheepfold).


The Big Dipper asterism:




  • The seven stars in the upper-left corner of Ursa Major form an asterism called the Big Dipper. This group has been recognized by almost all groups of people who live in places where it can be seen in the sky and it is one of the best-known star patterns.

  • The Big Dipper is helpful in finding the north star because an imaginary line drawn through the two stars on the right side will point directly at the north star.

  • In the 19th century, runaway slaves would "follow the Drinking Gourd" to the north and freedom.

  • These seven stars were called by the rabbis Ash, which in Job 9:9 is translated as "the Bear and her train".


Stars:



  • Dubhe, the brightest star on the ‘lip’ of the Dipper, means a "herd of animals" or "a flock", "a herd of cattle" (akin to "security" and to the Akkadian word for "wealth"). Its Arabic name is Dubhe ("flock" — another name for the entire constellation). This star name that gives a clue to the intended meaning of both decans.

  • Merach (Hebrew "the flock", Arabic "purchased") is directly below.

    • By visually tracing a line from Merak through Dubhe and continuing, one's eye will land on Polaris, accurately indicating true north.



  • Phaeda ("guarded" or "numbered") is directly to the left.

  • El Kaphrah (Arabic "protected", Hebrew "ransomed") is the star above, completing the square.

  • Alioth is just to the left along the ‘handle’ of the Dipper. Alioth means "she-goat", as that held by the Shepherd, third decan of Taurus.

  • Mizar ("separate" or "small") is half-way down the handle.

  • Al Cor ("lamb") is immediately next.

  • Benet Naish (Arabic "daughters of the assembly") is at the tip.

  • Other stars include Megrez ("separated") and Alcaid ("the assembled").

  • Other, unidentified stars had names meaning "the latter flock", "the appointed sheepfold", "multitude", "assembled", "separated", and "band of travelers".


Verses:



  • Jeremiah 31:10: The divine message here is best summed up by Jeremiah 31:10: “Listen to this message from the Lord, you nations of the world; proclaim it in distant coastlands: The Lord, who scattered his people, will gather them and watch over them as a shepherd does his flock.

  • Job 9:9 (New International Version): He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.


Greek Mythology: Zeus lusts after a young woman named Callisto, a nymph of Artemis. Hera (Juno), Zeus's wife, turns Callisto into a bear because of her jealousy. Callisto, while in bear form later encounters her son Arcas. Arcas almost shoots the bear, but to avert the tragedy, Zeus sweeps them both into the sky, forming Ursa Major.



III. Argo - The pilgrim's arrival at home, the Ship, the company of travelers under the bright Canopus, their Prince, the Argonauts returned with the Golden Fleece.


 



  • The final decan of Cancer is called Argo, a ship with sails rolled up - safely in home port after a long voyage. (Note head of Lion on prow). Argo means "A Company of Travelers".

  • The picture shows a ship located just below the celestial equator beside Canis Major and beneath the head of Hydra.

  • Argo was a large constellation in the southern sky that has since been divided into separate constellations - Puppis (the stern), Carina (the keel) and Vela (the sails).

  • The Egyptian image preserved from Dendera is called Shes-en-Fent ("rejoicing upon the serpent"): a mighty corralled ox, wearing around its neck the Egyptian cross of life - the ankh.


Stars:



  • Canopus means "the possession of Him who comes". Canopus is the next brightest star in the heavens next to Sirius in Canis Major.

  • Sephina, means "the multitude" or "abundance".

  • Tureis, means the "firm possession in hand".

  • Asmidiska means "the released who travel".

  • Soheil (Arabic) means "the desired".

  • Subilon means "the branch".


Greek Mythology:



  • The Greek mythology is that Jason led the expedition of the Argonauts on a quest to get the golden fleece of the Ram from the coveting serpent. He had some illustrious passengers aboard including Hercules. Argo was the name of the ship used by Jason and the Argonauts. They finally succeeded in their quest.

  • In the Persian tradition, this constellation also is a woman, and the three decans are considered a group of three women.

  • This myth was imposed upon the original sign which told a similar story of Him who defeated the dragon, dried the seas and made a way of crossing for the redeemed (Isaiah 51:9-11).


   So what do all of these decans have in common, and how do they help explain the meaning of the crab? In Cancer, the true picture is of the safety of the Shepherd's Fold which hides the multitude of lambs. We have the Lesser Fold, the assembly of the redeemed, harboring those who partook in the heavenly calling, who awaited a heavenly city ("Ursa Minor"); it circles round the heavens' center, which is no longer the hold of the Dragon but now the stronghold of the little flock. Again, we find the Seven Stars (cf. Revelation 1:16,20), the appointed sheepfold of the latter flock, purchased, separated out, numbered and guarded ("Ursa Major"). Finally, we find the two folds again represented in the two decks of that Ark which plows the seas, filled with riches and freemen (Argo). It seems reasonable to identify the Little Flock with redeemed Israel, and the Greater Fold with the Church and its redeemed Gentiles.



Here is the story the Mazzaroth has presented to us so far:



  1. The seed of the woman shall come.

  2. There shall be a price paid by Him for a purchased possession.

  3. The price shall be a conflict with the serpent-foe, and a wound in the conqueror's heel.

  4. He shall be sent forth swiftly, surely, as an arrow from a bow.

  5. He shall be slain as a sacrifice.

  6. He shall rise again and pour out blessings on His people.

  7. His people shall be multitudes, and held in union with each other and Himself

  8. He who was slain, whose heel was bruised, shall rule, and shall tread His enemy under foot.

  9. He shall come in power, triumphant, and have dominion.

  10. He shall be the Son of God and the son of man, the victim and the ruler.

  11. He shall hold fast His purchased possession, the reward of His work.

  12. He shall finally put all enemies under His feet, coming with ten thousand of His saints to execute judgment upon all, separating the evil from the good



   Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation of the Bible.



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