brown.thalia
Heavenly swan
Water droplets on a swan's feather. The quality of light reflections reminds me of ancient tales of the heavenly swan.
We would be even smaller than a water droplet on the feather of Cygnus the heavenly swan of as it flies along the Milky Way.
One of my favourite modern stories is in the" Island of the Setting Sun" by Anthony Murphy which is the study of Ireland's megalithic monuments through local folklore and astronomical observation.
There is an ancient tale " the vision of Angus" that links to New Grange which is built on the flood plain of the river Boyne. Every winter it is home to thousands of Bewick and Whooper swans. The floor plan of the passage at of New grange famously lit by the mid winter sun is very similar to the shape of the constellation of Cygnus.
At the time New Grange was built the entrance in the neck of the swan points to Four Knocks., whose passageway points to Cygnus at Mid winter the starry wings of the celestial swan appear to touch the earth.
This was the time when the North star was in the constellation of Cygnus (Deneb I think,) as such New Grange, Avebury and Waylands Smithy have all been shown in recent studies to be aligned to Cygnus at the time of building.
These are controversial studies but I can't help feeling that in our modern age of artificial light something wonderful has been lost when we forget how to navigate by the stars.
Heavenly swan
Water droplets on a swan's feather. The quality of light reflections reminds me of ancient tales of the heavenly swan.
We would be even smaller than a water droplet on the feather of Cygnus the heavenly swan of as it flies along the Milky Way.
One of my favourite modern stories is in the" Island of the Setting Sun" by Anthony Murphy which is the study of Ireland's megalithic monuments through local folklore and astronomical observation.
There is an ancient tale " the vision of Angus" that links to New Grange which is built on the flood plain of the river Boyne. Every winter it is home to thousands of Bewick and Whooper swans. The floor plan of the passage at of New grange famously lit by the mid winter sun is very similar to the shape of the constellation of Cygnus.
At the time New Grange was built the entrance in the neck of the swan points to Four Knocks., whose passageway points to Cygnus at Mid winter the starry wings of the celestial swan appear to touch the earth.
This was the time when the North star was in the constellation of Cygnus (Deneb I think,) as such New Grange, Avebury and Waylands Smithy have all been shown in recent studies to be aligned to Cygnus at the time of building.
These are controversial studies but I can't help feeling that in our modern age of artificial light something wonderful has been lost when we forget how to navigate by the stars.