The Little Bear

 

The Little Bear like its Universal Prototype, the Great Bear,of which it is
a lesser reflection and a corollary, is not a constellation itself, but an
asterism, which is a distinctive group of stars. Please note this distinction.
For the purpose of this short letter I wish to reassure some of you, with a
smile, as to the following. I will not be discussing three inter-related solar
systems or constllations but discussing two inter-related asterisms and an
open star cluster, M45. So much for the relative occult relevence of exoteric
definitions and words, exoteric or esoteric.

Regardless of what terms you prefer the important point to keep in
mind is that the Seven Rishi/Stars of the Great Bear and the seven
Rishi/Stars of the Lesser Bear and the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades
form the Absolute Monadic Triangle of the OAWNMBS.

One of the mysteries of modern exoteric astronomy as to how the name "bear"
came to be associated with either the great bear or the Little Bear. In the
ancient Chaldean, Persian, Indian and Egyptian zodiacs, no bear is found.

AAB, writes, "The names most commonly use are those of "the sheepfold",
or "the flock of sheep," and an analysis of the Hebrew and Arabic names
for the stars found in these two inter-related constellations will be found
to prove the fact that the ancient names signify "the lesser flock", "the
sheepfold", "the sheep", and "the ship". In the thirty-fourth chapter of
Ezekiel and in the tenth chapter of St. John, is much that has reference to
these constellations." (LOH91]

The Tibetan teaches:

"....the Little Bear which is a reflection of or a corollary to the major
energies of its greater prototype, Ursa Major, the Great Bear. These facts
contain a great mystery connected with the interrelation of Ursa Major, Ursa
Minor and the Pleiades; they constitute one of the greatest and more
important of the triplicities to be found in the heavens as far as we have
astronomically ascertained the nature of our immediate universe. This is
a perfectly unimportant piece of information as far as you are concerned
and is only of significance to initiates of the fourth degree. It serves,
nevertheless, to add its evidence to the essential integrity and interlocking
dependencies of the universe."

He also states:

"The seven stars of the Great Bear or Ursa Major are involved in an
intricate relation with Ursa Minor and the Pleiades. With this we shall not
deal. This major [EA608] triplicity of constellations has a peculiar
relation to that Great Being to Whom I have at times referred as the One
About Whom Naught Can Be Said. All that can be hinted at is that these three
galaxies of stars are the three aspects of that Indescribable, Absolute
Monad, the Ineffable Cause of the seven solar systems - of which ours is
one." [EA607]

 

THE ABSOLUTE MONADIC TRIANGLE OF THE OAWNMBS: (postulated)

1ST ASPECT.....WILL......................GREAT BEAR.......POSITIVELY POLARIZED.

2ND ASPECT.....LOVE.....................LITTLE BEAR......POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE.

3RD ASPECT.....INTELLIGENCE..PLEIADES........... NEGATIVELY POLARIZED

RAY .....GREAT BEAR ... LITTLE BEAR .... PLEIADES

RAY I......ALKAID..........POLARIS..............ALCYONE
RAY II.....MIZAR...........YILDUN.................ASTEROPE
RAYIII.....ALIOTH..........EPSILON..............ELECTRA
RAY IV.....MEGREZ..........ALIFA.................MAIA
RAY V......DUBHE...........KOCHAB.............TAYGETA
RAY VI.....MERAK...........PHERKAD...........CELAENO
RAY VII....PHECDA..........ANWAR.............MEROPE

 

and in a continuing paper ...

Dear Brothers,

It would not be appropriate of me not to complete my initial presentation of
the 1st ray Great Bear cosmic Head Center correlatins of the OAWNMBS without
discussing the sevenfold Little Bear which is a reflection of or a corollary
to the major energies of its greater prototype, Ursa Major, the Great Bear.
[EA202]

Much fainter than its "Big" counterpart, the Great Bear, the Little Bear is hard
to find in a bright sky. Ursa Minor is almost entirely represented by its major
asterism, the "Little Dipper", which starts at Polaris (the North Star) and then
swings down and to the right. Polaris is very close to the North Celestial Pole,
around which the stars of the northern hemisphere appear to circulate as a
result of the rotation of the Earth.

The two brightest stars at lower right represent the front of the bowl of the
Little Dipper, and are sometimes called the "Guardians of the Pole." The
upper one is Kochab, the lower one Pherkad. Most of the Little Dipper
(including Yildun, the second star in from the end of the handle, Alifa al
Farkadain, where the bowl joins the handle, and Anwar al Farkadain,
below Alifa)

WE HAVE THEREFORE DIRECTLY RELATED THE SEVEN
STARS OF URSA MAJOR WITH THE SEVEN STARS OF
URSA MINOR:

STAR I...... RAY I........ALKAID............POLARIS
STAR II.....RAY II.......MIZAR..............YILDUN
STAR III....RAY III.....ALIOTH............EPSILON
STAR IV....RAY IV......MEGREZ........ALIFA
STAR V.....RAY V........DUBHE...........KOCHAB
STAR VI....RAY VI......MERAK...........PHERKAD
STAR VII.. RAY VII....PHECDA..........ANWAR

 

I. POLARIS. Alpha UMi (Pole Star) is a cepheid varying from 1.92 to 2.07
every 3d 23h 16m 28.8s. Class F yellow supergiant.

II. YILDUN. (Yildun delta). mag. 4.44. spectral class: A0. Greenish star.
White class A star (A1) 183 light years away with a temperature of 9000
Kelvin, a luminosity 47 times that of the Sun, and a diameter of 2.8 solar.
It has a high rotation speed of 174 kilometers per second that makes its
spectrum lines fuzzy. The star spins 87 times faster than the Sun, and makes
a full rotation in just 19 hours.

III. EPSILON. (Epsilon UMi) is an EA type variable: 4.19 - 4.23, period
39.48d

IV. ALIFA. (Alifa al Farkadain), where the bowl joins the handle
corresponds to Star IV of the Great Bear, Rishi ATREYA or the Arabic Megrez
- the "intersection point".

V. KOCHAB. (Kochab beta) mag. 2.24. K4. An orange giant star. So is Star V,
of the Great Bwar, Dubhe. The name Kochab means "bright one", or "the
lights". Again, keep in mind; the 5th ray Lord is known as one of the most
intense beings of spiritual light".

VI. PHERKAD. A radius "15" times solar. From a distance of 480 light years,
we calculate a high luminosity 1100 times that of the Sun, double that of
Kochab, yielding a radius 15 times solar. As a warm giant, and a bright one
at that, the star is evolving, probably with a for-now quiet helium core
surrounded by a ring of fusing hydrogen, its current temperature and
luminosity suggesting a mass of around five times solar. herkad is still
spinning rapidly, over 170 kilometers per second at the equator, 85 times
solar, which keeps things stirred up and the composition "normal." The star
nevertheless exudes mystery. It is of interest for its subtle and confusing
variability, changing over less than a tenth of a magnitude with a period of
only a couple hours.

VII. ANWAR. A class F (in the middle of the range, F5) dwarf with an
estimated temperature of 6400 Kelvin, right at the point at which we do not
have to correct for infrared or ultraviolet radiation. The star's luminosity
of only 7.4 times that of the Sun leads to a radius twice solar and a mass
1.4 solar.

THE TRIAD

RAY I. HEAD CENTER. POLARIS.
Cepheids are paramount distance indicators in astronomy, as their true
brightnesses are revealed by their periods of oscillation. Polaris is particularly
interesting as the pulsations have nearly, but not quite, ceased. Just as a violin
string has a "fundamental" tone that gives its pitch, it also vibrates in higher-
frequency overtones. Comparison with other Cepheids shows that Polaris is
pulsating not with its natural fundamental period, but in its first overtone.

The star is actually an evolved class F yellow supergiant 2200 times more
luminous than our Sun. Hydrogen fusion has stopped in the star's core, and
it is now passing through a phase of instability wherein it pulsates over a
period of about four days, almost invisibly changing its brightness as the
brightest "Cepheid" variable star in the sky.

RAY II. YILDUN. Spectral class: A0. Magnitude: 4.4. A greenish star in the
middle of the tail of the Small Bear Ursa Minor. Yildun is generally given
to this, probably from the Turkish Yilduz. Vildiur, Gildun, were variations
of this name. This "dancing" of the stars generally, as well as of the
planets, was a favorite simile, and in classical days specially gave name to
delta (Yildun) and epsilon of this constellation, as well as in Hindu
astronomy. The Greeks had for delta, "First Dancer" and for the adjoining
epsilon, the "Second Dancer", there were also general designations in which
alpha, beta, and the two stars gamma were included.

RAY III...EPSILON. var. G5.

THE QUATERNARY:

RAY IV....ALIFA

RAY V.....KOCHAB. "Guradian of the Pole".

RAY VI....PHERKAD "Guardina of the Pole".

RAY VII...ANWAR. the 7th Ray star Anwar, rotating at least 76 kilometers
per second (with a period under 1.4 days). Like the Sun, the rotation (and
convection in its outer layers) give Anwar an X-ray-emitting hot corona. We
do not have to correct for infrared or ultraviolet radiation. The star's
luminosity of only 7.4 times that of the Sun leads to a radius twice solar
and a mass 1.4 solar.

Note: KOCHAB and PHERKAD are the "Guardians of the Pole" corresponding
to ray and star FIVE and SIX in the Great Bear, I.E., famed stars Dubhe and
Merak, the "pointers to the Pole".

 

Star I. 1st Ray.
POLARIS (Alpha Ursae Minoris) (sk) DHRUVA. A fundamental
period of 5.7 days. THE FIRST STAR star in the Triad of handle stars of the
tail of the Little Bear Ursa Minor. Its name comes to us from the Latin,
Stella Polaris, meaning "Pole Star". Polaris has long been an important star
to sailors, caravans of old winding their way over the desert by night and
others who navigated their way by the stars. Located almost directly
overhead as seen from the North Pole.

Perhaps more than any star other than the Sun; Polaris has been regarded as
the most important star in the heavens. It has been known by many names in
the past; "the Pathway"; "the Pointer" - indicating the way; "Navel of the World",
"Gate of Heaven", "Hub of the Cosmos", "the Highest Peak of the World
Mountain", "Lodestar"; "the Steering Star"; "the Ship Star"; and Stella Maris
"Star of the Sea".

True to its first ray archetype, to our eyes 1st Ray Rishi Dhruva Who
expresses Himself through Polaris appears to be motionless at the center of
the field of circumpolar stars, a "still point in the turning world". All
the other stars appear to circle around Polaris. Not seasonal, always there
in the nighttime sky, Polaris, the North Star, marks the unchanging North
Celestial Pole, for most of us about halfway up the sky to the north, the
elevation above the horizon equal to the observer's latitude. Actually,
Polaris is slightly off the pole and has a tiny circle around it about 1.5
degrees across. The pole itself, about which Polaris goes, marks true north,
the fundamental direction for us in the northern hemisphere that defines the
others, east, west, and south. Because of a 26,000 year wobble in the
Earth's axis, the pole of the sky is slowly moving closer to Polaris, and
then, around the year 2100, will start to pull away. Thousands of years from
now, Polaris will be well off the pole, other stars someday taking its
place.

Polaris also marks the end of the handle of the Little Dipper, the prominent
figure of Ursa Minor, the Smaller Bear. Polaris has the common reputation
of being the brightest star in the sky, whereas near dead-on second
magnitude (2.02) it comes in at about number 40. Its lower rank,
however, is largely determined by its great distance of 430 light years. The
prototype of this kind of star, Delta Cephei, though fainter, is a much more
obvious variable, its changes easily seen with the naked eye. Comparison
with other Cepheids shows that Polaris is pulsating not with its natural
fundamental period, but in its first overtone. The star may be in the
process of evolving into its fundamental period of 5.7 days to become a
more-normal Cepheid with a greater variation.

 

STAR II.
YILDUN (Delta Ursae Minoris). Yildun has two chief distinctions, neither of
them involving the star itself. At faint fourth magnitude, almost fifth, it
is certainly not very bright for a named star. One of the faint stars of the
Little Dipper's handle (the Dipper the major figure of Ursa Minor, the
Smaller Bear), it cannot be seen with the naked eye from a modestly lit
town. Ursa Minor is one of the few constellations in which the Greek letters
actually do progress from brightest to faintest. Polaris tops the list as
Alpha, after which follow Kochab (Beta) and Pherkad (Gamma). The next three
are all about the same, so while Yildun is technically number 6 in
brightness, (slightly beat out by Epsilon and Zeta), its designation as
Delta is certainly forgivable. Eta and Theta follow. The first distinction
is the name. While most stars carry Arabic names, and the ones that do not
are mostly of Greek or Latin extraction, "Yildun" is taken from a Turkish
word for "star." Why such a faint star was given such a singular proper name
is not known. But it may have to do with the second distinction.

As the second star in from the Little Dipper's handle, Yildun is very close to
the North Celestial Pole, the sky's point of zero rotation. Only 3.5 degrees
away from the Pole, if not for Polaris, Yildun would make a reasonably
acceptable Pole star and probably would have been called Polaris! Aside from
Polaris itself, it is the closest star to the Pole with a proper name and
Greek letter. It is circumpolar -- perpetually visible -- from the entire
northern hemisphere down to a latitude of only 3 degrees north. Moreover, it
is about as close to the Pole as it can be, as precession, the 26,000-year
wobble of the Earth's axis, is now carrying the Pole away from it.
Physically, Yildun is a quite ordinary white class A star (A1) 183 light
years away with a temperature of 9000 Kelvin, a luminosity 47 times that of
the Sun, and a diameter of 2.8 solar. Its only real, and not all that
unusual, physical distinction is a high rotation speed of 174 kilometers per
second that makes its spectrum lines fuzzy. The star spins 87 times faster
than the Sun, and makes a full rotation in just 19 hours.

STAR III. EPILSON. var. G5.

STAR IV. ALIFA.

STAR V. KOCHAB
Kochab, an obscure Arabic name that might simply mean "star," is just barely
the second brightest, and appropriately the Beta, star in Ursa Minor, and
represents the top front bowl star of the Little Dipper. Only 15 degrees
from the north celestial pole, middle northerners can see it every night as
it plies its small circular path. Together with the other bowl star
(Pherkad, the Gamma star), it makes a small asterism called the "Guardians
of the Pole," the two seeming in myth to "protect" the pole star. Unlike the
Sun, Kochab has run out of internal hydrogen fuel, and is an evolving orange
giant star that is now running for awhile on the fusion of helium deep in
its core. At a distance of 126 light years, we calculate that it is almost
500 times more luminous (and about 50 times bigger) than our Sun. It appears
about the same brightness as much more luminous Polaris because it is much
closer and because, at a temperature of 4000 degrees Kelvin, it radiates a
fair amount of its light in the infrared where we cannot see it. It has a
reputation as a marginal "barium star," the element only a small bit
enhanced relative to what is found in the Sun.

STAR VI. PHERKAD.
(Pherkad gamma). Spectral class: A2. Glows at mid-third magnitude in the
bowl of the Little Dipper and is circumpolar from anywhere north of 20 degrees
north latitude along with its mate Kochab. Third brightest within the Little Dipper,
the major figure of Ursa Minor Pherkad received Bayer's Gamma designation,
its superiors being second magnitude Kochab (Beta) and famed Polaris (Alpha),
which lies just short of the north celestial pole. (The other stars in the Dipper are
fourth and fifth magnitude and hard to see with any kind of lighting). The name
derives from the Arabic for "the two calves," which originally referred to both
Kochab and Pherkad.

Together, the two stars are also called "the Guardians of the Pole," as they nightly
draw a close circle around one of the sky's most significant stars, Polaris. Like its
bowl-mate Kochab, Pherkad is a giant star, but one considerably hotter, at the
warm side of class A with a temperature of 8600 Kelvin. From its distance of
480 light years, we calculate a high luminosity 1100 times that of the Sun, double
that of Kochab, yielding a radius 15 times solar. As a warm giant, and a bright
one at that, the star is evolving, probably with a for-now quiet helium core
surrounded by a ring of fusing hydrogen, its current temperature and
luminosity suggesting a mass of around five times solar. If that is the case, it
left the "main sequence," where it once (like the Sun) fused core hydrogen,
only about 100 million years ago, and will, by odd coincidence, before long
turn into a star much like Kochab is today. Many class A stars have odd
chemical compositions resulting from selective settling and lofting of atoms in
quiet atmospheres.

 

STAR VII. ANWAR AL FARKADAIN (Eta Ursae Minoris).
At the bottom of the Little Dipper, we find dim fifth magnitude (4.95)
"Anwar," the faintest star of the Dipper's seven. Physically, the star is
nearly (but not quite) sunlike, a class F (in the middle of the range, F5)
dwarf with an estimated temperature of 6400 Kelvin, right at the point at
which we do not have to correct for infrared or ultraviolet radiation. The
star's luminosity of only 7.4 times that of the Sun leads to a radius twice
solar and a mass 1.4 solar. Rather well along in its hydrogen-fusing
lifetime, Anwar is a bit brighter than normal for its temperature, and seems
close to becoming a "subdwarf," a star that has shut down hydrogen fusion,
if it has not already done so.

 

S.D.P.