#28 A Hero Flies in on a White Horse to Save the Day

Hello Everyone!

Bet you want to know what happened to Andromeda, huh?  Well, she was left last chained to the side of the sea cliff, with a tsunami heading towards the coast.  Well, the tsunami was actually being created by Cretes the Sea Monster.

Cretes was a deep sea monster sent by Poseidon to destroy the coast town.  This is one of the oldest constellations, as it was known as a crocodile by the ancient Egyptians.  As the creature came upon Andromeda, a hero on a white horse flew in to save the day.

This Hero was Perseus, and his white horse Pegasus.  He had just come from slaying Medusa, the Gorgon that was fabled to petrify with a gaze.  Her blood fell into the sea below as he headed back with Medusa's head and mixed with the sea foam, giving birth to Pegasus.  He corralled and calmed Pegasus to use as a flying mount, until time that Zeus claimed the steed as a carrier of his lightning bolts.

The constellation Pegasus is actually called the "Great Table" in the night sky, as it sits above in the Winter night sky as a large square in the sky.  You will see the chains hanging to the lower left of the Great Table, with a large "lobster claw" with a triangle at the top to mark Perseus' part in the fable.

Perseus swooped down with Medusa's head and petrified the sea monster, unchained Andromeda, and returned her to her parents.  In return for his heroic service, they granted him marriage to their daughter.  And so ends the tale of Andromeda.

I cannot believe this is the last of the Star Stories!  Just yesterday I was starting this journey into the blogging world, and now here I am wrapping up the year 2011.  I am glad to see that over 20 followers enjoyed the year's review of the night sky, and that I reached 400 views.  Perhaps this blog will turn into a small little reader, or perhaps not, but I am proud to say I followed through and shared these stories with you.  Thank you for coming along on the journey through the night sky with me.

Sure, my Spirit Stories will still continue on, but not as frequently as the Star Stories blog did.  I am sure that my spiritual growth will continue to multiply, especially with the birth of my child next year.  As I take a moment to really remember what started my interest in stargazing, it would have to be moving to Arizona and looking up.  If I made you look up just at least once this year at the universe, I am truly happy that these stories did their job.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!