Thrones, Kings, Queens and the Story of Andromeda
Introduction
A throne is a symbol of status or rank.
Those who were lesser mortals
stood or bowed down before the enthroned one.
Thus, for example, in the Tarot, the King
and Queen are seated,
as are the Emperor
and Empress.
In contrast, Princesses and
Princes [Pages], must stand upright
It is thus principally a symbol of power and authority.
However, the word 'dharma' is related to the word throne.
So the name was intended to be applied to ‘the gods’
[Intelligences] NOT human beings.
And the Intelligences are more correctly the Thrones or Powers.
The Constellation of Cassiopeia
One of the Constellations in the sky is that of Cassiopeia,
‘the Enthroned Queen’.
Greeks knew it as Kassiepeia E tou thronou,
'Cassiopeia, She of the Throne';
and Hyde gave it the title Inthronata.
The constellation revolves around the pole star, Polaris,
[hence the expression in Pole position!]
and being so close to the pole, the constellation’s position
appears to change dramatically throughout the night.
The constellation is often referred to as just Cassiopeia's throne
because the stars more clearly outline the chair, or throne,
upon which the queen sits.
The Egyptian word for 'throne' or 'seat' is 'KXA' ('kazhaa')
which looks like it could be pronounced 'cassa',
resembling Cassiopeia's name.
The Constellation of Cepheus
The Constellation of Cepheus is depicted
as a crowned king in royal robes,
whose foot is actually planted on the Pole star (Polaris).
Cepheus is the ‘husband’ of Cassiopeia,
and in myth and legend their daughter is Andromeda
- another constellation.
And thus the stage is set
for one of the great mythical archetypal stories of all time.
It tells how excess power, pride and arrogance corrupts
and can end up causing the potential downfall
of entire kingdoms.
And how, a sacrifice was demanded
to save the kingdom and all its people.
And the sacrifice was Andromeda herself
- his daughter.
As a consequence we can see the myth fits into the general
Mother, Father, Son symbolism [see video],
but it is most unusual in replacing the Son with the Daughter.
And the story introduces the Concept of the Hero,
Perseus, who rides on a white horse
- the same white winged horse - Pegasus
- whose story was described in our Horses video.
So, not only are Cepheus and Cassiopeia constellations,
but as we have seen, so is Pegasus,
Andromeda and Perseus the hero who saved the day -
all visible together in the night sky.
The Story of Andromeda
Andromeda, was the daughter of King Cepheus,
and his wife Queen Cassiopeia.
But Queen Cassiopeia was both beautiful and vain,
and she committed hubris by saying that she
and her daughter Andromeda
were more beautiful than the Sea Nymphs,
the Nereids, who were daughters of Poseidon (Neptune).
The Nereids complained to Poseidon who was furious
and sent a sea monster (Cetus) to ravage the coast.
And ravage it did, sending “a hostile sea
in all its strength to burst upon every shore”
whereupon “the land was consumed by the flood,
and what had been a king's domain became an ocean”.
Cepheus realised his wife’s pompous actions
had resulted in almost destroying his entire kingdom and its people,
so he consulted the oracle for advice.
And the oracle said that the only way to save his kingdom
was to sacrifice his virgin daughter,
Andromeda, to the sea monster.
from Manilius, Astronomica, 1st century A.D., Book 5, p.344-351
"So this was to be her fate;
relieving the people's hurt by submitting to her own ...
"... as soon as the procession reached the shore of the tumultuous sea,
her soft arms were stretched out on the hard rocks;
they bound her feet to crags and cast chains upon her;
there to die on her virgin cross ...
And they left her to die naked and alone. But all was not lost ...
from Manilius, Astronomica
"At length a happy day brought to those shores Perseus
returning from his triumph over the monstrous Gorgon.
On seeing the girl fastened to the rock, he froze in his tracks:
the vanquisher of Medusa was vanquished
at the sight of Andromeda.
On learning from the maiden's lips the cause of her punishment,
he quickly flew to her parents;
and with the pledge of a bride he hastened back to the shore.
Now had a heavy surge begun to rise
and long lines of breakers were fleeing
before the thrust of this massive monster.
As its head emerged, the waters smashed loudly
about its teeth and huge coils rose like rings.
What terror was expressed
on the unhappy maiden’s countenance,
how helpless a victim!
Whereupon with a flutter of winged sandals
Perseus hurled himself at the foe, and drove home
the weapon stained with the Gorgon's blood.
The beast rose to meet him,
and leapt aloft upon its support of winding coils,
towering high in the air.
But as it rose, so did Perseus,
flying higher and striking its head as it attacked.
Though its teeth snapped vainly and inflicted no wounds;
it drenched its winged assailant with a blood-stained deluge.
The princess watched the duel of which she was the prize
and sighed with fear for her gallant champion.
At last, its frame riddled with stabs, the beast sank,
covering the mighty ocean with its massive corpse.
Perseus released Andromeda from the chains
which bound her to the rock - the girl whose betrothal
was sealed by his readiness to fight,
and who could now become a bride
thanks to the bridegroom's dowry of her life.
So the moral of that story is - don’t mess with the gods.
There may not always be a Perseus to save you,
or an Andromeda willing to be ‘sacrificed’.
Although it may not be the sort of sacrifice you think it is,
she was, after all, a virgin ...