Myths and Constellations

So at least one of my daughters loves the imaginary patterns of stars in the skies. Enough so that she can spend an evening gazing through her telescope, purring away like a cream-fat kitten. 

My favorite constellation is Orion, so one evening as we talked, she asked me to make up a new story about the constellations and the following is the result. Sit back and enjoy, all you stargazers, as I tell you an untold tale of Orion.

The mighty hunter Orion is looking for some help. He has come up against an enemy that he cannot conquer. This creature is one of the evils unleashed when Pandora opened the forbidden pithos (jar). It is an ancient evil that the universe was better off without. It is a nameless, thinking piece of pure chaos. 

With no name, it cannot be compelled or commanded. 

With no name, it cannot be bound by magic or divine power. 

It can change shape at will into anything it wishes to and thus slip out of any confinements. IT prefers shapes with horns but is most comfy constantly changing shape from one THING to another. 

Orion has been tasked with returning it to the forbidden box. The mighty hunter battles the nameless thing for forty days and forty nights without success. Every time he gets a hold of it the nameless thing changes shape and slips away. Every time he swings his sword at it, the nameless thing shifts out of the way. He tries fighting it with all the weapons at his command, the club, spear, axe, and bow with no success. What is he to do?

Zeus, the king of the gods, gives him some advice. "Strength is not what you need. This formless thing is stronger than you. No matter how keen the edge of your sword, it matters not to a changing monstrosity such as your prey." Zeus tells Orion he needs something to counter the creature's strengths. "A weapon that is not a weapon."

Orion ponders Zeus' advice. A weapon that is not a weapon? He tries to solve this riddle but comes up empty. 

Orion visits Zeus' daughter Athena for additional wisdom. 

The Goddess of Wisdom loans him the eye of Fate, the one eye that all three Fates share and allows them to see through time and space as well as the true form of anything living or dead. 

Athena cautions Orion about looking directly at the Nameless Thing with it. "Madness is hidden behind the true face of chaos." 

He scanned the skies with the Eye of Fate, and looked for the Nameless Thing. I must know it's true form, surely that is how I will win this battle!

The power of the Eye fell upon the Nameless thing. Orion glimpsed the true face of the creature and his mind snapped at the churning image. Luckily for him the sight lasted but a moment as the Nameless Thing felt the power of the eye and fled, hiding in the Coalsack. 

Orion fell to the ground, senseless.

The Licking of Orion's beloved hunting dogs brought him back to his senses. Orion picked up Fate's Eye and dared to gaze through it once more. He turned it toward the Coalsack, that dark blot hiding place of the Nameless Thing. But Canis Major senses the danger and barked, nipping with his teeth before Orion got a good look. Orion scowled at the intervention, but then Orion saw something that caught his attention: he saw the true form of the nearby Southern Cross. It was a shield!

The Coalsack Nebula, a Dark patch in the sky

Orion picks up the shield of the cross, just in time as the Nameless Thing came out of the Coalsack and attacked him! Orion blocked the creature's horns with the shield and the shield held! The Hunter used the shield as a battering force, beating the creature back with this weapon that was not a weapon. Zeus was right!

Every bash with the shield freezes the form of the Nameless Thing. IT hates this! It drove the thing mad being locked, even temporarily, into any one shape. It shifted crazily, every second changing shape with the flesh that it can. It tried to flee from this horrid power. Orion lets slip his dog and the two give chase. 

The game is on.

Orion grabbed the forbidden box and continued the chase. The Nameless Thing knew fear. It does not want to return to captivity. IT gibbered and wailed, but Orion has found the weapon that is not a weapon. 

He chased the creature in every direction, passing the four corners of the earth before finally trapping IT in Jerusalem, the last corner. and although they shake the earth to its very foundation, Orion uses the shield to scoop the nameless thing back into the forbidden box.

Exhausted, Orion hung the northern cross back in the sky near the dark Coalsack, where it waits for the next hero that may need its powers.

Orion returned to Zeus with the closed box, triumphant.

And that, my lovely youngest child, is the tale of how Orion Captured the Nameless Thing.

As an added bonus, here is another story, inspired again by my children. This one is dedicated to my youngest son. May he find a place for his many talents.

nce upon a time there was a young man, an only child, who came from a long line of warriors. He was built from the best warrior stock. Tall, strong, and lean. 

When he turned fifteen, his father, his uncles from his father's side, his grandfather, and even his great grandfather all came out to see him off to war in defense of the dukedom. 

They gifted him, the only son, the family sword and armor, both used for seven generations by the men in his family. He waved the heavy blade in the air and listened to all his family cheer him on as he left down the dirt road toward the castle. 

But once out of sight, he stripped off the armor and hid it in a hollow tree along with the sword. He had no intention of fighting for the duke. He couldn't tell his family though. They would be so disappointed! If he only had a brother who could carry on the family tradition! 

All he wanted to do, all he ever wanted to do, was build stuff. Barns, houses, rocking horses, anything made of wood. His favorite pastime was carving, but it was always done hidden away. Especially from his father. But as the story goes on it turns out his talents are what turns the tide in the battles to come… 

This is the bridge he designs and builds that wins the battle. He returns home with many accolades from the duke and his family honor intact. His relatives are none the wiser, they only know he returned victorious. Until one day a visitor comes from the castle… 

"I'm looking for Jacob the Carver"

“The Carver! Now that’s a battle name.”