If you love star gazing, make sure to look out for the Orion constellation this winter. In fact, all of us have seen it without realizing we are looking at the Orion. When I was a little girl, I was always fascinated with the three particular stars that form a perfect line in the sky.
Like all stars, they too have a story behind them or rather, a myth. A part of the world’s community believes that the three stars represent the Three Kings who brought invaluable gifts to Jesus when he was born. As Jesus was born on the 25th of December, these stars appear only during winter and hence the connection.
In another myth, the three stars represent the belt of the most powerful hunter ever, Orion. Being the son of Jupiter, strength was his innate quality. The death and resurrection of Orion is an interesting story. It happened that Orion was very proud of his power and boasted to kill all the beasts on Earth. This angered the Goddess of Earth (Gaia) and so she sent a scorpion to kill Orion.
Meanwhile, Ophiuchus was a healer who had the ability to resurrect those dead by cause of serpent bites. He desired to test his skills on Orion and succeeded in doing so. Ophiuchus was later killed by Jupiter for practising resurrection and for bringing back Orion from the dead.
How to recognize the hunter in the sky: Once you have made out the belt, you can easily make out the sword. It is a grouping of stars right under the belt. The armpit of the hunter is represented by Betelgeuse, a bright star on the top left to the belt.
I really hope you would watch out for Orion this winter!
