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In June,
Sagittarius, yet another centaur, a being with two natures, begins its
rise in the East. This sign brings to mind the description of Christ in
the Apocalypse of St. Johh 6:1-2 --
And I saw that
the Lamb had opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four
living creatures, as it were the voice of thunder, saying: Come, and
see. And I saw: and behold a white horse, and He that sat on him had a
bow, and there was a crown given Him, and He went forth conquering that
He might conquer.
-- and in Psalm 44:3-6:
Thou art
beautiful above the sons of men: grace is poured abroad in Thy lips;
therefore hath God blessed Thee for ever. Gird Thy sword upon thy
Thigh, O Thou most mighty. With Thy comeliness and Thy beauty set out,
proceed prosperously, and reign. Because of truth and meekness and
justice: and Thy right hand shall conduct Thee wonderfully. Thy arrows
are sharp: under Thee shall people fall, into the hearts of the king' s
enemies.
Can you guess at what this archer's arrow is aimed? At
Antares -- the star that makes up the very heart of Scorpius, the
symbol of the Evil One. And between Sagittarius and Scorpius is the
very center, the very heart, of our home: the Milky Way Galaxy.
With this sign,
we are reminded that the Evil One, struggling with Christ for our
hearts, has already been defeated! The Evil
One who's been tormenting the Virgin and the Church she symbolizes, as
we see in the stars as Scorpius chases Virgo,
with Libra -- the work of
the Cross -- between them, has already lost!
We're reminded of something else, too, something very important: the
first centaur we've seen in our skies was, to the Greeks, the sweet and
gentle Cheiron, the second decan of Virgo. The centaur that rises now,
though, is after Justice.
Both of these centaurs can be seen as symbolizing Christ. Both are
visible in the night
sky in early Summer. And both reflect something important about
Christ's nature, with this centaur bringing to mind something many
would like to forget: His terrible Justice. Christ is both
infintely merciful and
infintely just. Neither of these aspects of Our God can be downplayed
or denied without falling into great, tragic, error. Psalm 10:6-8
reminds us:
The Lord trieth
the just and the wicked: but he that loveth iniquity hateth his own
soul. He shall rain snares upon sinners: fire and brimstone and storms
of winds shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is just, and
hath loved justice: His countenance hath beheld righteousness.
As a side note, just above Sagittarius -- between it, Serpens
(the first decan of Scorpius), and Aquila (the second decan of
Capricornus) -- is a very small constellation known as Scutum, which
means "shield." This is a relatively new constellation, outlined only
in 1684, and named in honor of King John III Sobieski who, with the
Holy Roman Empire, defeated the Ottomans at the Battle of Vienna in
1683, thereby ending their threat to the Christian West. It contains
the largest known star -- a red supergiant that is 1,700 times larger
than our Sun and known as UY Scuti. How nice to have a symbol of
Christian victory over evil right between the constellations of
Sagittarius and Serpens!
First Decan: Lyra
Lyra, or Harp, can symbolize the rejoicing of the angels and the Church
at our Savior's conquering of evil. Psalm 97 comes to mind, my emphasis:
A psalm for
David himself. Sing ye to the Lord anew canticle: because he hath done
wonderful things. His right hand hath wrought for him salvation, and
his arm is holy. The Lord hath made
known his salvation: he hath revealed his justice in the sight of the
Gentiles. He hath remembered his mercy his truth toward the
house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of
our God. Sing joyfully to God, all the earth; make melody, rejoice and
sing. Sing praise to the Lord on the
harp, on the harp, and with the voice of a psalm:
With long trumpets, and sound of comet. Make a joyful noise
before the Lord our king: Let the sea be moved and the fulness thereof:
the world and they that dwell therein. The rivers shall clap their
hands, the mountains shall rejoice together At the presence of the
Lord: because he cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge the world
with justice, and the people with equity.
The second brightest star of the North is found in Lyra: the
bluish-white Vega, known to the Babylonians as Dilgan, "the Messenger
of Light," which carries on our angelic theme beautifully.
Second Decan: Ara
"Ara" means
"altar," and this constellation is traditionally seen as the altar upon
which Lupus, the second decan of Libra, was offered by the two-natured
Centaurus, a symbol of Christ as depicted by the second decan of Virgo.
It is this offering that makes up "the arrow" that the Archer
Sagittarius fires at Scorpius. It is by Christ's Offering of Himself
that He defeated Satan.
Third Decan: Draco
Draco means "Dragon," and Scripture is clear about who "the
dragon" is (see the page on Scorpius). The
foot of Hercules, the third decan of Scorpius and a symbol of Christ,
rests on the head of Draco as yet another symbol of Lord Christ's
victory over Evil. Psalm 90:6-13, my emphasis:
Of the arrow
that flieth in the day, of the business that walketh about in the dark:
of invasion, or of the noonday devil. A thousand shall fall at thy
side, and ten thousand at thy right hand: but it shall not come nigh
thee. But thou shalt consider with thy eyes: and shalt see the reward
of the wicked. Because thou, O Lord, art my hope: thou hast made the
most High thy refuge. There shall no evil come to thee: nor shall the
scourge come near thy dwelling. For he hath
given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways. In
their hands they shall bear thee up: lest thou dash thy foot against a
stone. Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and thou shalt trample under foot the lion
and the dragon.
Sagittarius,
which contains an asterism that's shaped rather like a teapot, can be
seen in June, July, and
August.
Sagittarius
relative to other stars in the Summer sky:
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