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Orion and the pearly gates

The first week of November is the halfway point in the season, which is technically called “cross quarter”.  It means that we are now closer to the onset of Winter than we are to the onset of Autumn. 

In many cultural traditions, this particular cross quarter signals the time for celebrating the lives of loved ones who have died. In different traditions, these celebrations occur either over a few days or a few weeks, as in the Mexican ‘fiesta’ known as the “Day of the Dead”, or the Native American tradition of “Ghost Suppers”.

In November, one of the world’s most well-known constellations rises up over the eastern edge of the northern hemisphere: the constellation Orion. Looking back into ancient Egyptian culture, we find that the region of Orion in the sky was linked to their god of the dead, Osiris.

One of the easiest ways to identify the constellation Orion is by his tell-tale belt of three stars.  The central star in Orion’s belt is named “Alnilam”, which means ‘string of pearls’.  Ancient Egyptians believed Alnilam portended fleeting public honors to those born under its influence, but we may also find here the source for references to the “pearly gates” that the dead pass through from this life into the next. It was as though the dead traveled into the afterlife through the region of the Orion constellation, where they met the god of the dead, Osiris, and passed through the string of pearls at the center of his belt.

One of the few specific references to known constellations that occurs in the Bible appears in the Old Testament Book of Job, in which God admonishes Job with the question: “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?” Job is being asked whether he has the power loose the bands of death.

The presence of Orion was a comfort to ancient cultures, and the association of its rising with remembrances of the dead continue into our own time. Watch for Orion and his tell-tale belt of three stars rising in the East after 9 pm.