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The Mongol cosmological system is mainly based on the positions, relationships and movements of the sun, the moon, the five major planets in the solar system and the various constellations in the sky. This system of belief is centered around local wild fauna and oral transmission, with few written sources. Mongol cosmology was largely influenced by Chinese civilisation and Buddhism. [1]
Generally, stars represent animals turning around the Polar Star which is symbolized by the Altan Gadas (Mongolian : Алтан Гадас, lit. "Golden Spike"). Constellations include Num Sum (Mongolian : Нум сум, lit. "Bow and Arrow") for the Swan, Doloon Burkhan (Mongolian : Долоон бурхан, lit. Seven Gods) for the seven stars of the Big Dipper, Gurvan Maral Od (Mongolian : Гурван марал од, lit. Three Deer Stars) for Orion's Belt, and Hun Tavan Od (Mongolian : Хүн таван од, lit. Five Man Stars) is Cassiopeia.
Mongolian astrology calculates the positions of each of the planets visible with the naked eye: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
The names of the celestial and the days they are associated with are:
The noun van at the end of the name of the final three indicates royal status. Therefore a possible translation of Pluto is "the Earth king"; Uranus as "the sky king", and Neptune as "the ocean king." The names of the celestial bodies come from Sanskrit and are largely used in Mongolian, but in an unofficial way.
The star located above Mizar in the Big Bear constellation is prominent in Mongolian astrology. It symbolises the recovery and protection star. According to legend, it was placed there by Tengeriin, the god of heaven, to protect Mizar. In the thirteenth century, to become an archer for Genghis Khan one had to be able to identify these two stars with the naked eye.
Mongolian expertise in astrology and astronomy goes back to the fourteenth and fifteenth century astronomer, mathematician and viceroy in Samarkand, Taraghay, known as Ulug Beg, whose empire spread to Central Asia. Turning away from his royal obligations, he examined celestial bodies and astronomical questions. He was the first to precisely measure Saturn's revolution period (Sanchir) with a sextant of 40 meters radius.
Mongolians are particularly attached to the Great Bear. This constellation is limited for them to the seven Dipper stars making the bear's tail and body, but the legend concerning it is probably the most famous in Mongolia.
Once upon a time, there were eight orphan brothers gifted with outstanding capabilities living within a kingdom. The king and the queen lived within it peacefully. One day, a monster came and kidnapped the queen. The king asked the eight brothers to bring her back and said: "If one of you succeeds to rescue my beloved, I will give to him a golden arrow". The orphans went together to assist their queen. They searched the monster during two days and three nights, when in the middle of the third night, they found and killed the monster. They brought back the queen in the castle. The king did not cut out the arrow in eight parts, he decided to threw it in the sky. The first to catch it could keep it. The younger brother succeeded the test and changed immediately into the North Star (Polar Star). The seven others changed into the seven gods, the seven Gods visiting their younger brother every night. The name Doloon burkhan (the Seven Gods) come from this legend to appoint the Great Bear and the Golden Stick, Altan Hadaas, the Polar Star.
One tradition, based on the birth years in the Chinese calendar, concerns the link between Mongolian people and the Great Bear as one star of this constellation is attributed to each of them. Chinese and Mongolian calendars have some similarities (the Mongolian calendar is a lunar calendar). Each year is symbolized by an animal, itself associated to a star of the constellation Great Bear. The first, Dubhe, corresponds to the Rat's year, the second, Merak, corresponds to the Ox and so on until the end of the Great Bear's tail where Alkaid symbolizes the year of the Horse. Then we come back to the first, the Goat year and we repeat the same way until the twelfth and latest year of the Chinese calendar, the one of the Pig. Therefore, the two stars at the end of the tail are assigned one time only.
At the origin of the world, there were vast dry meadows, burned by the seven suns which lit the world. Erkhii Mergen, a very good archer, promise the people that he would shoot all the suns without missing once. If he should fail, he would cut off his thumbs and live in a hole and never drink pure water. He shot six of the seven suns, but at his seventh shot a swallow flew in between and was hit in its tail--this became the swallow. The man kept his promise, cut his thumbs off, and turned into a marmot. [2]
At that time lived a monster named Raah which frightened the entire world. He devoured all who were in its way. The god Orchiwaani owned a magic spring: whoever drank from it became immortal. One day, Raah stole the spring and drunk. The Moon and the Sun caught the monster in the act and reported to Orchiwaani. Seething with rage to hear about this piece of news he went to fight the monster. He cut its head many times but it grew again immediately because Raah had become immortal. He thought then to cut its tail in order to allow all that it ate to leave again directly. Just as Orchiwaani would seize the monster to finish it off, it escaped and disappeared between the Moon and the Sun. Then Orchiwaani asked the Moon, who recaptured Raah and cut its rump and its tail. In revenge, the monster comes back sometimes to eat the Moon or the Sun which exit immediately, giving rise to moon and solar eclipses.[ citation needed ]
When there is an eclipse, some Mongolians believe it to mean that Raah devours the Moon or the Sun and they make a lot of noise so that the monster liberates the eclipsed star. In the 13th century, Guillaume de Rubruck wrote: "Some [Mongolian people] have knowledge in astronomy and predict them [to other Mongolian people] the Lunar and Solar eclipses and, when it is about to produce one, everybody stocks up on food because they do not pass the door of their habitation. And while the eclipse happened, they play the drum and instruments and do big noise and clamors. When the eclipse is finished, they devote themselves to beverage and festivity and do big party." [3]
According to a Mongolian legend, a woman devoting herself to count one hundred stars in the sky will dream about her future husband. Sometimes, Mongolians honor the Great Bear (Doloon Burkhan) by throwing milk in its direction. Milk, of white color, symbolizes purity in Mongolia. They pray so that something may be fulfilled, but for several persons, not for just one person, because this would bring bad luck. Milk can be replaced by vodka which, even if it is colorless, symbolizes the dark color and the strength for Mongolians. By doing this, it avoids bad luck, quarrels, fear and fends off evil spirits.[ citation needed ]
The history of astronomy focuses on the contributions civilizations have made to further their understanding of the universe beyond earth's atmosphere. Astronomy is one of the oldest natural sciences, achieving a high level of success in the second half of the first millennium. Astronomy has origins in the religious, mythological, cosmological, calendrical, and astrological beliefs and practices of prehistory. Early astronomical records date back to the Babylonians around 1000 BCE. There is also astronomical evidence of interest from early Chinese, Central American and North European cultures.
Taurus is one of the constellations of the zodiac and is located in the northern celestial hemisphere. Taurus is a large and prominent constellation in the Northern Hemisphere's winter sky. It is one of the oldest constellations, dating back to the Early Bronze Age at least, when it marked the location of the Sun during the spring equinox. Its importance to the agricultural calendar influenced various bull figures in the mythologies of Ancient Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Its old astronomical symbol is (♉︎), which resembles a bull's head.
The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Also within this zodiac belt appear the Moon and the brightest planets, along their orbital planes. The zodiac is divided along the ecliptic into 12 equal parts ("signs"), each occupying 30° of celestial longitude. These signs roughly correspond to the astronomical constellations with the following modern names: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.
Chandra, also known as Soma, is the Hindu god of the Moon, and is associated with the night, plants and vegetation. He is one of the Navagraha and Dikpala.
Chinese astrology is based on traditional Chinese astronomy and the Chinese calendar. Chinese astrology flourished during the Han dynasty.
A panchāngam is a Hindu calendar and almanac, which follows traditional units of Hindu timekeeping, and presents important dates and their calculations in a tabulated form. It is sometimes spelled Panchāngamu, Pancanga, Panchanga, Panchaanga, or Panchānga, and is often pronounced Panchāng. Panchangas are used in Jyotisha.
Astrological belief in relation between celestial observations and terrestrial events have influenced various aspects of human history, including world-views, language and many elements of culture. It has been argued that astrology began as a study as soon as human beings made conscious attempts to measure, record, and predict seasonal changes by reference to astronomical cycles.
Astronomy in China has a long history stretching from the Shang dynasty, being refined over a period of more than 3,000 years. The ancient Chinese people have identified stars from 1300 BCE, as Chinese star names later categorized in the twenty-eight mansions have been found on oracle bones unearthed at Anyang, dating back to the mid-Shang dynasty. The core of the "mansion" system also took shape around this period, by the time of King Wu Ding.
Mazzalot is a Biblical Hebrew word found in the Book of Job whose precise meaning is uncertain. Its context is that of astronomical constellations, and some judge it to mean a specific constellation, while it is often interpreted as a term for the zodiac or the constellations thereof. The similar word mazalot (מַּזָּלוֹת) in 2 Kings 23:3–5 may be related.
Aries (♈︎) is the first astrological sign in the zodiac, spanning the first 30 degrees of celestial longitude, and originates from the Aries constellation. Under the tropical zodiac, the Sun transits this sign from approximately March 21 to April 19 each year. This time-duration is exactly the first month of the Solar Hijri calendar.
Pisces (♓︎) is the twelfth and final astrological sign in the zodiac. It is a mutable sign. It spans 330° to 360° of celestial longitude. Under the tropical zodiac, the sun transits this area between about February 19 and March 20. In classical interpretations, the symbol of the fish is derived from the ichthyocentaurs, who aided Aphrodite when she was born from the sea.
The Big Dipper or the Plough is a large asterism consisting of seven bright stars of the constellation Ursa Major; six of them are of second magnitude and one, Megrez (δ), of third magnitude. Four define a "bowl" or "body" and three define a "handle" or "head". It is recognized as a distinct grouping in many cultures. The North Star (Polaris), the current northern pole star and the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper, can be located by extending an imaginary line through the front two stars of the asterism, Merak (β) and Dubhe (α). This makes it useful in celestial navigation.
Often called lunar mansion, a lunar station or lunar house is a segment of the ecliptic through which the Moon passes in its orbit around the Earth. The concept was used by several ancient cultures as part of their calendrical system.
Babylonian astrology was the first known organized system of astrology, arising in the second millennium BC.
Australian Aboriginal astronomy has been passed down orally, through ceremonies, and in their artwork of many kinds. The astronomical systems passed down thus show a depth of understanding of the movement of celestial objects which allowed them to use them as a practical means for creating calendars and for navigating across the continent and waters of Australia. There is a diversity of astronomical traditions in Australia, each with its own particular expression of cosmology. However, there appear to be common themes and systems between the groups. Due to the long history of Australian Aboriginal astronomy, the Aboriginal peoples have been described as "world's first astronomers" on several occasions.
Enuma Anu Enlil (𒌓𒀭𒈾𒀭𒂗𒆤𒇲U4 AN.na dEN.LÍL.lá, lit.When [the gods] Anu and Enlil [...]), abbreviated EAE, is a major series of 68 or 70 tablets (depending on the recension) dealing with Babylonian astrology. The bulk of the work is a substantial collection of omens, estimated to number between 6500 and 7000, which interpret a wide variety of celestial and atmospheric phenomena in terms relevant to the king and state.
Egyptian astronomy started in prehistoric times, in the Predynastic Period. In the 5th millennium BCE, the stone circles at Nabta Playa may have made use of astronomical alignments. By the time the historical Dynastic Period began in the 3rd millennium BCE, the 365 day period of the Egyptian calendar was already in use, and the observation of stars was important in determining the annual flooding of the Nile.
The worship of heavenly bodies is the veneration of stars, the planets, or other astronomical objects as deities, or the association of deities with heavenly bodies. In anthropological literature these systems of practice may be referred to as astral cults.
The Melanau calendar is a calendar used by the Melanau people of Borneo. Its year consists of 12 months. The first month, Pengejin, signifies the celebration of the Kaul festival. Each month in the Melanau calendar consists of 30 days. It is guided by the constellations, natural phenomena and guardian spirits. Each month is named for occurrences during the month or events which are supposed to have occurred during that particular month, according to legend. The rise and fall of the Sun, the Moon and the stars determine the time for planting, harvesting, fishing, building, travel and marriage.
Astrology in Jewish antiquity is the belief that celestial bodies can influence the affairs of individuals and of entire nations upon the earth. This involves the study of the celestial bodies' respective energies based on recurring patterns that change by the hour, by the week, month, year or by several years. In each of these time categories one of the seven planetary spheres, or what are known as the seven classical planets: the Sun, Venus, Mercury, the Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, or Mars, along with the month's current Zodiac constellation, come into play and influence the sublunary world. At times, it involves a complex combination of several of these factors working together. In Judaism this belief is expressed by the biblical affirmation: "Do you know the laws of heaven / Or impose its authority on earth?" (Job 38:33), from which statement the Sages of Israel have inferred, "There is no single herb below without its corresponding star above, that beats upon it and commands it to grow."