‘Vega’ is the fifth-brightest star in the night sky and the second-brightest star in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere (after Arcturus). ‘Vega’ is also known as Alpha Lyrae (α Lyrae, Alpha Lyr, a Lyr), as it is the Principal star in the constellation Lyra, the lyre. ‘Vega’ has been one of ...
‘Vega’ is the fifth-brightest star in the night sky and the second-brightest star in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere (after Arcturus). ‘Vega’ is also known as Alpha Lyrae (α Lyrae, Alpha Lyr, a Lyr), as it is the Principal star in the constellation Lyra, the lyre. ‘Vega’ has been one of the most important stars to humanity since ancient times because it is very bright and easily recognized by its blue color.
The Earth's axis of rotation precesses, like a wobbling toy top, which means "north" changes over a period of around 25,600 years. Right now, the North Star is ‘Polaris’, but ‘Vega’ was the northern pole star around 12,000 BC and will the pole star again about the 13,600 A.D.. If you took a long exposure photograph of the northern sky today, the stars would appear as trails around ‘Polaris’. When ‘Vega’ is the pole star, a long exposure photograph would show stars circling it.
‘Vega’ is seen in the summer sky in the Northern Hemisphere, where it is part of the constellation ‘Lyra’. The ‘Summer Triangle’ consists of the bright stars ‘Vega’, ‘Deneb’, and ‘Altair’. ‘Vega’ is at the top of the triangle, with ‘Deneb’ below it and to the left and ‘Altair’ below both stars and to the right. ‘Vega’ forms a right angle between the two other stars. All three stars are extremely bright in a region with few other bright stars.
The star ‘Vega’ means: ‘He shall be exalted’. It is part of the summer triangle and, with fellow stars ‘Deneb’ (The Lord Comes), and ‘Altair (The Wounding); it tells of the ‘Seed of Woman’ who will come, be wounded, and be exalted. The constellation ‘Lyre’ (the Harp), which holds the star ‘Vega’, was represented as a vulture in ancient Egypt and as an eagle or vulture in ancient India. It is sometimes pictured as a harp with wings of an eagle. The English meaning of ‘Vega’ is: ‘an open tract of moist and fertile land’. The name ‘Wega’ (later ‘Vega’) comes from a loose transliteration of the Arabic word ‘wagi’ meaning ‘falling’ or ‘landing’ – via the phrase ‘an-nasr al-wagi’ (the falling eagle/vulture). The Assyrians named this brightest of northern pole stars - ‘Dayan-same’ or the ‘Judge of Heaven’, as having the highest seat therein. In Akkadian it was ‘Tir-anna’ or ‘Life of Heaven’. In Babylonian astronomy, ‘Vega’ may have been one of the stars named ‘Dilgan’ or the ‘Messanger of Light’. Medieval charts list it as ‘Wagi’ or ‘Vagieh’ or ‘Veka’. The Chinese called it ‘Zhi Nu’, and the Japanese ‘Orihime’. The Hindus called ‘Vega’ – ‘Abhijit’, which means ‘Victorious’. The Arabs call ‘Vega’ – ‘Wagi’, ‘Vuega’, ‘Vagieh’, or ‘Veka’. Northern Polynesians call it ‘whetu o tau’. Greeks of the 16th century called it ‘Lura’, ‘Allore’, or ‘Alohore’. Columella and Pliny called ‘Vega’ – ‘Fides and ‘Fidicula’. In Latin, Cicero used the term ‘Fidis’.
In Egypt ‘Vega’ is called ‘Ma’at’ meaning ‘vulture star’. In Ancient Egypt it was ‘Wadjet’ or ‘Ujat’, which means ‘Whole One’. It was then worshipped as one of the eyes of ‘Horus’ or ‘Ra’. ‘Horus’, the son of ‘Ra’, was a solar god of Memphis which bore a falcon head. His one eye was a symbol of the sun and the other a symbol of the moon. The father of ‘Horus’ was ‘Osiris’, whos wife was ‘Isis’. The eye of ‘Horus’ was ‘Wadjet’ or ‘Ujat’ of ancient Egypt. It was often used to symbolize sacrifice, healing, restoration, and protection. The eye was also personified as Goddess ‘Wadjet’ and associated with a number of other gods and goddesses: ‘Hathor’, ‘Bast’, ‘Sekhmet’, ‘Tefut’, ‘Nekhbet’, and ‘Mut’. ‘Hathor’ was at times the primordial Mother Goddess of Kindness and Love. She has many temples in Dendra. The Greeks call her ‘Aphrodite’ and the Romans call her ‘Venus’. ‘Thoth’, who was the father of ‘Ra’, was said to be the creator. ‘Ma’at’ or ‘Mayet’ was the ancient Egyptian concept of truth, balance, order, law, morality, and justice which is sometimes personified as a Goddess regulating the stars, seasons, and the actions of both mortals and deities. She is the one who set the order of the Universe from chaos at the moment of creation. Her male counterpart is ‘Thoth’ and their abilities are the same. After her role in creation and continuing to prevent the Universe from returning to chaos, her primary role in Egyptian mythology dealt with the weighing of souls that took place in the underworld. Her feather was the measure that determined whether the souls of the departed would reach the paradise of afterlife successfully.
Again, we have importance of ‘Vega’ in Old Persia, as it is called ‘Mithra’ or ‘Mitra’. ‘Mica’ is the Zorastrian angelic Divinity (yazata) of Covenant and Oath. ‘Mithra’ is also a judicial figure, an ‘All Seeing’ protector of Truth, and Guardian of cattle, the harvest, and the waters. ‘Mithra’ is an exalted figure. The word ‘mitra’ means ‘that which causes binding’ and is preserved from the Arestan word for ‘Covenant, Contract, and Oath’. In middle Iranian languages it becomes ‘mihr’, and in Armenian ‘mihr’ or ‘mher’ from which it ultimately derives. The name of the star ‘Vega’ means ‘Flood’ in Sanskrit and ‘Pole Star’ or ‘Morning Star’ in Dravida. These being the holiest languages of India. It is also identified with ‘Urvashi’, the ‘Great Mother’ of the Gandharvas, who is a personification of ‘Dawn’ and the ‘Great Pole Star’.
I have discovered through much research the importance of the star ‘Vega’ as a source of reverence and worship from ancient times, as it was our brightest northern pole star on the ‘Precession of the Equinoxes’ circle of time. This star is linked to the beginning of the ancient Egyptian calendar during the age of ‘Virgo’.
The idea of ‘Precession’ was thought to be first discovered around 128 B.C. by Hipparchus of Rhodes; although it has been found, as was stated in an authorative way by Ugo de Santillana and Ertha Von Dechend (1983) in their famous book Hamlet’s Mill, that all archaic civilizations discovered ‘Precession’ very much earlier.
The start of the Egyptian calendar, is also an event ruled by ‘Hathor’, the Goddess of ‘Vega’, as the Pole Star that heralded the Great Flood and the start of the calendar and New Year in Egypt. The Egyptians must have known of the ‘Precession of the Equinoxes’ cycle (path of the Polar Axis in the skies) to correctly link this event with the Great Flood and the era of ‘Virgo’ and ‘Leo’.
Hathor’s temple of Dendera was one of the most beautiful in all of Egypt and is famous for its planisphere, which was stolen and taken to Paris by the French. ‘Dendera’ derives its name from the Egyptian ‘Taynt-nethert’ (the Goddess of the Pillar), which later became ‘Tentyra’ and then ‘Dendera’. The name seems to imply that the ancient Egyptians somehow knew that ‘Vega’ – now far from the Celestial Pole – was once the Pole Star as the words “Pole” and “Pillar” were synonymous in antiquity.
This planisphere of Dendera also shows ‘Hathor’ as the Cow-Mother, with the Pole Star ‘Vega’ between its horns at the head of the zodiacal procession. Another zodiac, which is engraved at the door of Dendera’s temple, also starts with the signs of ‘Virgo’ and ‘Leo’ and has a Sphinx placed at its start between the descending and ascending portions. The Sphinx is a figuration of ‘Hathor’ – the Goddess who could assume the shapes of a Lioness (‘Sekhmet’), of a Cow (‘Nut’), of a Woman (‘Isis’), and an Eagle or Vulture (‘Nekhbet’). This zodiac is similar to the one found in Eshneh (Upper Egypt), which also has a Sphinx at its start, between ‘Virgo’ and ‘Leo’.
The Goddess ‘Hathor’ and her star ‘Vega’ were connected with the Egyptian New Year just as was ‘Isis-Sothis’, her later Avatar, was connected to the star ‘Sirius’. As ‘Vega’ fell away in the skies, the role of ‘Hathor’ and her personification was gradually superseded by ‘Sirius’ and its goddess ‘Isis’. In brief, it can be said that ‘Isis-Sothis’ represented Egypt, whereas ‘Hathor-Vega’ symbolizes the ancestral Egypt, the same as the mythical ‘Punt’. The Egyptian New Year was considered the anniversary of ‘Hathor’ and was commemorated with great feasts in her temple in Dendera. At dawn, the priestesses of the temple exposed her image to the worship of the faithful and to the rays of the rising sun. Her appearance was commemorated with shouts of joy and a veritable carnival ensued, which lasted for the whole day being marked by wild dances, revelry, and heavy drinking.
There is a myriad of legends linking ‘Hathor’ to ‘Vega’ and to the constellation of ‘Lyre’. Her connections with this Pole Star show that the ancients knew not only of the ‘Precession of the Equinoxes’, but also the precise path of the Polar Axis on the Celestial sphere. Of course, this knowledge was reserved to the initiates, and its divulgation to the profanes was strictly forbidden. These secret doings have Masonic origin, of which their members also have a connection with ancient traditions of Egypt and elsewhere. The connection with the ‘All-Seeing-Eye’ and the ‘Pyramid’ on many of the seals of the United States can be no coincidence. In Masonic symbolism, the ‘Flaming Star’ represents the ‘Pole Star Vega’ as well as the ‘All-Seeing-Eye of GOD’. This ‘Eye of GOD’ inside a triangle is represented in all Masonic lodges. It was also the emblem of ‘Osiris’ in Egypt, of ‘Brahma’ in India, and of GOD in early Christianism. The ‘Eye’ is also the favorite symbol of Occultists both of the Orient and of the Occident. In Muslim (Sufi) esoterism, it is the “Eye of the Heart” (aynul-galb) and in the Hebrew Cabala it is the ‘iod’ (“eye” or “goad”) that figures inside the triangle representing the divine presence of ‘Jahveh’, the avenging deity of the Great Flood.
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