Among those shining stars

Depending on how you look at it, humanity's records of itself have either been kept a long time or they are a recent development of the our race.  Somewhere between 3500 BCE and 2800 BCE records began being kept.  The records of Sumer are the earliest records found (although the Chinese say differently, they are not forthcoming with their earliest records).

These early records record a god named Enki.  He later was more famous under the name Ea, but he was the keeper of life because he was in charge of life-giving water.  Also, in the ancient world, celestial observers tended to let things on Earth become reflected in the skies.  So, in ancient astrology, there is a portion or field of the sky known as a water area.  In this area, Ea's area, there is a faint constellation. Stars in the galaxies of this field of the sky range from 39 to 340 light years from Earth.  It is the second faintest constellation from old, but it is one of the original constellations, one mentioned in the ancient Babylonian astrological records.

Ea had a number of different symbols for himself but two of the most enduring ones were the sign of the fish because it was a sign of water which symbolized life and the other was the sign of life on Earth, fertility. The symbol for this was the goat.  Goats sustained the people and multiplied easily.  The two signs combined to represent him.

The constellation now is represented, after all these years, still by the mountain goat and the fish, the head of the goat, the body of the fish.  It is best seen in the sky from December 22-January 21.  It made its way into the zodiac under the sign name of Capricorn (Latin for goat horn).  The people born under this sign are said to be some of the best, brightest, most surefooted, regal, brilliant, ambitious, discrete, and dependable people on the planet.

So, I look to the skies every single night of this Capricorn cycle, and I see the stars of Capricorn in the sky, think of the ancient meanings and signs, try to see the star that is 340 light years away, and then change my thoughts to one who was brilliant in every way, whom I enjoyed more than anyone else in my life, who was truly regal, dependable, and ambitious.  I say, "Shine brightly" aloud to myself as I stare upward.  And each night among those shining stars, I see face and a person's unforgettable form, I hear a laugh and the sound of a voice, and I bring to mind the happiest scenes of my life.  My next 30 nights give me pleasant, peaceful rest.