I was born on the 25th morning of some November month. As per western astrology, the sun was in the constellation Sagittarius during that time of the year. Therefore I became a Sagittarian from that
moment. I became one of ‘God’s lucky children’, I became a centaur. No, the
purpose of this post is not to debate on whether the theory of ancient
astrology is full-proof or not. I hardly have any knowledge on this topic to
start a debate. Nor am I an advocate of superstition. People, who know me
closely, are well aware of the fact that I rebuff to follow any sort of rituals,
norms or customs. I was born to Hindu parents. I am officially a Hindu till
date, but my view on religion or god matches more with that of Buddhism. I am basically agnostic and I don’t
believe in many popular Hindu customs.
The logical side of me does not want to believe that a person’s fate is written on the
stars. Life is an unpredictable journey itself. But as I have said, I am a centaur. There is hardly one single person living deep down the flesh and blood body of one human being. There is also another side of me that likes to let its imagination run wild. The side that believes in stars and fate and destiny and universe’s grand schemes. The side that feels fascinated by the unknown and all the unsolved mysteries in the world. The side that likes to ponder on the magical nature of the big, vast universe and beyond and believes in an unknown supreme power that makes everything be. The side that believes in Magic. The side that also believes in true love and fairy tale and the
impossible transformation of an asshole into a human being someday. So it was no wonder that Linda Goodman would be a love at first sight for me. During my
adolescent years one of my favourite books was Linda Goodman’s Sun Sign. Till date no
one has written a book better than Linda Goodman on character analysis based on
sun sign. No fortune telling, no Indian bullshit of mixing deities and gods
with astrology, just a simple compilation of a few analytical observations in a
most delightful and literary manner. It’s a fun read, trust me.
What I find the most interesting thing about my sign is its
symbol. Sagittarius means ‘archer’ in Latin. The symbol of Sagittarius is a
centaur drawing an arrow. A centaur is a mythological creature that is half
human, half horse. Astrologers say that Sagittarius is the most interesting
among all signs. If one looks back to origin of the symbol, one might
understand the rationale behind such assumption. Coincidentally the centaur is
the only mythological character that is used to represent one of the signs. Rest
of the symbols are made of pretty mundane stuff like weighing machine, goat, humans etc.
Centaurs are Greek mythological characters that were
considered as a savage race living in the mountains and forest of Magnesia in
Thessaly. Centaurs were the offspring of King Ixion and nymph Nephele. Although
the birth history of the centaurs was not exactly the lovey-dovey kind, rather
the opposite. King Ixion was the king of of the Lapiths who were the most
ancient tribes of Thessaly. Having killed his own father-in-law, king Ixion was
the first character of Greek mythology who was guilty of the heinous crime of
kin-slaughtering. But Zeus took pity on him and invited him to some godly party
arranged by him. But Ixion was basically the shameless asshole kind that is
very common nowadays. He started hitting on Hera who happened to be the sister
AND the wife of Zeus. (The entire Greek mythology could have been a great source for adult moviemakers, had they been the educated, intellectual kind.) You don’t go to a party and start
hitting on the host’s wife, whether you are a god or a human. Zeus got pretty
pissed off at the tomfoolery of the ungrateful bastard Ixion. But the king of
the Gods was a patient man. Had he been the god of some Middle Eastern
religious community, he would have cut Ixion’s balls and raped every woman of
his family. Instead he thought of playing a little game with Ixion and his
aching balls. Zeus was a pretty bored man. And constantly having to mate with siblings
and a bunch of other semi goddesses was not a matter of joke after all. In those
days mating was an unprotected affair that often ended up with giving birth to
a bunch of unwanted kids. Although once Zeus tried to stop an unwanted birth by
swallowing up the woman after sleeping with her. This whole swallowing up
business was pretty common among the dudes of Greek mythology. I am grateful to
the man whoever invented condom. However Zeus ended up looking like an asshole
when he got a terrible headache as Athena was born from his head.
Zeus came up with an ingenious idea to deceive the man who
wanted to screw his wife and he called up a nymph named Nephele. Nymphs were a
bunch of independent semi goddess chicks who were free to mate with any god or
mortal. Besides, nymphs were ageless beauties. Well, some people are just damn
lucky. Nymphs used to possess another special skill; they could change their
forms into any element of nature. Our Nephele was a cloud nymph. Zeus transformed
her in the image of Hera in order to test the character of Ixion. Now test
shmest, Ixion was a horny dude. He knew what to do when he saw Nephele who
looked like Hera. Forbidden fruit always tastes sweeter. Ixion raped Nephele. This
dude was reckless. Nephele gave birth to Centaurus who later became the father
of the centaur race. Needless to say that Zeus got pretty mad at Ixion and
banished him from Olympus and punished him for all eternity.
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Roman mosaic, 2nd century A.D. Altes Museum, Berlin |
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Pallas and the centaur. By Sandro Botticelli. |
Centaur symbolizes dual persona. Having the upper body of a
man and the lower body of a horse, they have always been associated with having
a conflicting set of traits. The tale of centaurs does not tell the otherwise
anyway. In general they are depicted as a savage and lustful race, which is not
surprising given their family history. Horny, murderer father on one side and promiscuous,
beautiful but trickster mother on the other side; quite a deadly combination
for a bloodline. But on the other hand, there was also the tale of Chiron, the
most famous centaur who happened to be the teacher of great hero Achilles. Chiron
was famous for his knowledge and his nobility. He happened to sacrifice his
immortality willingly and got a place forever in the sky which is known as the
constellation Centaurus. Although Centaurus constellation does not represent
the constellation associated with Sagittarius. Sagittarius is different constellation
that is also depicted as a centaur shooting an arrow. Some myths say that
Sagittarius was the constellation invented by Chiron himself. In the
constellation, the archer’s arrow is said to have pointed towards the star
Antares or the ‘heart of the Scorpion’ which happens to be a part of the
neighbouring constellation Scorpius. As per the astronomical position, the
Centaur and the Scorpius are always at war. Sounds familiar?
Centaurs play a small but regular and significant role in Harry Potter series. Rowling has depicted them as a proud and wise race that lives in the forbidden forest. They can foretell the future by the positions of stars and planets. Although they hate to get involved in anything as mundane and as unimaginative as fortune telling. They are far more interested in the mysterious movements of the universe. Also, they hate and avoid humans. Quite legitimately though.
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The education of Achilles. By Louis Jean Francois Lagrenee |
Sagittarius is among the fire signs of the zodiac. Being born
under a fire sign does not mean that one must possess a fiery rage. Although Sagittarian
rage is very quick and unpredictable and it does not linger for very long. The centaurs
are not the brooding type. They can get mad in one moment and calm down in the
next. They are also very blunt with their choice of words. I have scared away
many people by this very nature of me. My quick temper and blunt words can
be quite frightening at times; but at the end of the day I consider it as a
very handy tool to filter assholes and opportunists from true companions. This brings
us to another most important trait of the Archer. The Archers are said to
possess the terminal case of optimism. No matter how depressed they are, they
always tend to look at the big picture and the positive side of everything. Life
is one big ‘everything happens for a reason’ circus to them. They hate to
remain sad for very long. It is said that sadness and gloom can make a Sagittarius
physically ill. And I am a firsthand proof of that conjecture. Did I ever
mention how much I hate pessimists? The Archers love to explore the unknown, visit new
places, meet new people. They are very adaptable in nature.
I have seen narrow minded, vile, selfish Sagittarius with very low IQ as well. They are neither noble nor gregorious. They are more interested in petty gossips than exploring the mystery of universe. So in a way, they are very down to earth. I presume they are just a bit more like their father, that's all. The Archers are
also said to possess a certain prophetic skill. They are good with intuitions
and all. So next time if a Sagittarius tells you about their hunch, don’t
underestimate or ignore them. They might turn out to be right.
Image courtesy: Google image
Very very interesting
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