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  Raw material for the creative mind












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Imagination is a living thing. Nourish it or it will die. Serpentaire-Serpentarius will feed yours: Music, art, literature, multimedia... an ecclectic blend of the fantastic, ethereal and surreal.

Legends, myths and science fiction all have a place here; everything that is best seen through the mist, beyond the horizon, or perceived in those brief moments just before falling off to sleep.

Suggestions and comments are welcome
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Were did the name come from?

Serpentaire is the name of a large, serpent eating African bird. In English, he is known as the Secretary Bird.

But there is a story that is much older. This is the history of The Forgotten Constellation.

Most people are familiar with the twelve constellations assigned to the zodiac. But the sun actually travels through thirteen each year. The forgotten constellation is Ophiuchus vel Serpentarius (Latin for Ophiuchus the Serpent Holder), known also as Serpentaire in French. He fills most of the large void between Antares and Vega.

Ophiuchus holds a serpent named Serpens, divided into two parts. Its head, shown on the map as Serpens Caput, extends to the west of Ophiuchus, while its tail, Serpens Cauda, lies to the east.

 

Ophiuchus vel Serpentarius, the Serpent Holder, is generally identified with an ancient Greek physician, Aesculapius. Serpents were always associated with physicians as symbols of prudence, renovation, wisdom, and the power of discovering healing herbs.

Aesculapius was so skilled that he could bring the dead back to life. Pluto, god of the underworld, was fearful that his dominion would vanish and so convinced Zeus to strike Aesculapius with a thunderbolt and transfer him to the stars. And that is where he is to this day.

Ophiuchus is best seen in summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern Hemisphere.

Ophiuchus vel Serpentarius

 

© Sara Dellinger-Farault 2001-2002