Round the year with the stars: The chief beauties of the starry heavens as seen with the naked eyeServiss, Garrett Putman
Science
Round the year with the stars: The chief beauties of the starry heavens as seen with the naked eye
Serviss, Garrett Putman
Astronomy -- Popular works
Many readers may be interested in seeing a list of the names given to
the constellations when, as mentioned in the Introduction, the starry
sky was “Christianized.” In the seventeenth century Julius Schillerius
put forth his _Cœlum Stellatum Christianum_, and Jacobus Bartschius a
celestial globe, in which all of the well-known constellations received
new and strictly orthodox names. Unfortunately the sponsors for these
names did not always agree in their choice, and a certain Harsdorfius
(who may have been the poet Philip Harsdoerfer, born at Nuremberg in
1607) added to the confusion by further varying the selection. Wilhelm
Schickard also introduced variations. In the following list the first
of the “Christian” names given is that chosen by Schillerius, while
their variants are due to either Harsdorfius, Schickard, or Bartschius:
ARIES--St. Peter--Abraham’s Ram.
TAURUS--St. Andrew--The Burnt Sacrifice.
GEMINI--St. James the Elder--Jacob and Esau.
CANCER--St. John the Evangelist.
LEO--St. Thomas--The Lion of Judah. (Observe that the variants are
generally more imaginative.)
VIRGO--St. James the Younger--The Virgin Mary.
LIBRA--St. Philip--Belshazzar’s Balances.
SCORPIO--St. Bartholomew.
SAGITTARIUS--St. Matthew--Ishmael.
CAPRICORNUS--St. Simon.
AQUARIUS--St. Jude--Naaman.
PISCES--St. Mathias--The Gospel Fishes.
URSA MINOR--St. Michael--One of Elisha’s Bears--The Wagon of Joseph.
URSA MAJOR--St. Peter’s Fishing-boat--Elisha’s other Bear--The Chariot
of Elias.
DRACO--The Innocents--The Dragon Infernal. (Quite a difference of
opinion.)
BOÖTES--St. Sylvester--Nimrod.
COMA BERENICES--The Scourge of Christ--Absalom’s Hair--Samson’s Hair.
CORONA BOREALIS--The Crown of Thorns--Queen Esther’s Crown.
HERCULES--The Three Wise Men of the East--Samson.
LYRA--The Saviour’s Manger--David’s Harp.
CYGNUS--The Cross of Calvary.
CASSIOPEIA--St. Mary Magdalen--Bathsheba.
CEPHEUS--St. Stephen--Solomon. (Solomon seems a better choice.)
PERSEUS WITH MEDUSA’S HEAD--David with the Head of Goliath--St. Paul.
ANDROMEDA--The Holy Sepulchre--Abigail. (The last reverses Andromeda’s
romance with a vengeance.)
AURIGA--Jacob--St. Jerome.
OPHIUCHUS ET SERPENS--St. Benedict--St. Paul and the Viper. (The
latter very pat.)
SAGITTA--The Lance of Calvary--Jonathan’s Arrow.
AQUILA--St. Katharine--The Standard of Rome.
DELPHINUS--The Canaanitish Woman’s Pitcher--Leviathan.
EQUULEUS--The Mystic Rose.
PEGASUS--St. Gabriel--Jeremiah’s King of Babylon.
TRIANGULUM--St. Peter’s Mitre--Emblem of the Trinity.
CETUS--Sts. Joachim and Anna--Jonah’s Whale.
ERIDANUS--The Red Sea with Moses Crossing It--The Brook of Cedron.
ORION--St. Joseph--Joshua. (The last a good choice.)
LEPUS--Gideon’s Fleece.
CANIS MAJOR--Tobias’s Dog--St. David.
CANIS MINOR--The Paschal Lamb.
ARGO NAVIS--Noah’s Ark. (Inevitable!)
HYDRA--The River Jordan.
CRATER (together with Corvus)--The Ark of the Covenant.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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