Happy Birthday ...

[Dave Monroe]

The constellation, which had originally formed part of
the claws of the scorpion (Scorpio), is the youngest
of the Zodiac and the only one not to represent a
living creature. In later Greek mythology, the
constellation, which when considered on its own looks
vaguely like a set of scales, was considered to depict
the scales held by Astraea (identified as Virgo), the
goddess of justice.

Since Libra was originally part of Virgo (as scales),
and before that part of Scorpio, it was not a distinct
entity for which a zodiac sign was named. Its place
may have been taken by Boötes, which is the nearest to
the ecliptic. Since the place Boötes should have held
on the ecliptic is vacant, it may have, together with
Ursa Major, Draco, and Ursa Minor, also in Libra, led
to the myth of the apples of the Hesperides, one of
The Twelve Labours of Herakles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libra

"Those stars at the points of the claws of Scorpio
operate like Jupiter and Mercury; those in the middle
of the claws like Saturn and to some degree like
Mars".
-- Ptolemy

Libra was not considered a separate constellation by
the ancient Greeks and was called Chelae, or the Claws
of Scorpio, which sign was made to consist of 60
degrees.

Libra, the Balance, is a member of zodiac next to
Virgo. It is the constellation located at right
ascension 15 hours and declination -13 degrees. The
name of this constellation means Scales.

Three stars with the third magnitudes characterize the
constellation. The principal star of this
constellation is Zuben el Genubi.

It's considered that the constellation of Libra was
invented to symbolize the equinox that divides day and
night equally. Now, the autumnal equinox has moved to
Virgo because of the precession of Earth.

http://home.online.no/~stebi/libra.htm

--- Henry Musikar <hmusikar at speakeasy.net> wrote:

> I hope that the P-List will recognize this inquiry
> as not wholly without Pynchon relevance, but in any
> case: does anyone out there know the genesis of
> Libra's uniquely inanimate symbol?


		
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