Starlore
Castor and Pollux
Castor -
Arabic name, Al Awwal al Dhira the "first in the
Paw or Forearm" and Pollux - Al Thani
al Dhira, or the "second in the Paw or Forearm."
- The Hebrews identified this star with Simeon (hearing) and Levi (adhesion) Teomim - the brethren Gen49:5 Simeon and Levi are brothers, tools of violence their weapons.
- In India the two stars were called Aswins the twin horseman associated with the dawn.
- The Babylonians called them Mastabbagalgal - the Great Twins.
- Today they are known by their Greek names. As twin sons of immortal Zeus and the mortal woman Leda, one was mortal - Pollux, and the other immortal - Castor. The Gemini, generally regarded as beneficent, are mentioned in Acts28:11: And after three months we departed * in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux. (A reference to Saint Elmo's fire, an electrical phenomenon common in heavy weather).
- In China they are called Yin Yang - the Two Principles - representing eternal dualism, the two halves of a circle, and contrasting principles of existence.
- In ancient Rome, Tertullian observes in The
Shows, or De Spectaculis (trans Rev. S. Thelwall):
"Now as to the kind of performances peculiar to the circus exhibitions. In former days equestrianism was practised in a simple way on horseback, and certainly its ordinary use had nothing sinful in it; but when it was dragged into the games, it passed from the service of God into the employment of demons. Accordingly this kind of circus performances is regarded as sacred to Castor and Pollux, to whom, Stesichorus tells us, horses were given by Mercury." CHAP. IX.
- The Kiowa of North America and other
Indians of the Plains group Castor and Pollux along with
eight other stars into Mato Tipila - "Bear's
Lodge." The earth and the sky are comogonic mirrors.
Seven Kiowa girls afraid of abandonment and being eaten by bears, sang to the stars. The stars were happy to hear their song, and the stars came down and took the seven girls into the sky, the Seven Sisters (Pleides), and each night they pass over Bears' Lodge and smile in gratitude to the rock spirit. The Tale of Bears' Lodge.
Long Planetariums SkyGuide, January, 1999. - From the Earth , Castor shines at magnitude +1.6. Pollux is the 17th brightest star in the heavens with a magnitude of +1.2. Ancient astronomers listed Castor as the brighter, leading modern day astronomers to conclude that either Castor has dimmed over 300 years or that Pollux has brightened.
- Castor, when viewed with an ordinary telescope, can be resolved into two stars, Castor A and B which revolve around their common centre of gravity every 400 years, and a much fainter red dwarf star which shines dimly at magnitude 9.1, called Castor C. A more powerful telescope reveals that Castor A, B and C are each double stars, making 6 stars.
- Pollux is 35 times brighter than our sun. Its surface temperature is 4250°C and it emits a yellow light, although to the naked-eye it appears white.
