Epsilon Eridani: the Zalos?
Giorgio Santillana and Hertha Von Dechend in their classic book Hamlet's Mill describe a "whirlpool in the sky" near the constellation Eridanus (or Eridani).
“That there is a whirlpool in the sky is well known; it is most probably the essential one, and it is precisely placed. It is a group of stars so named (zalos) at the foot of Orion, close to Rigel (beta Orionis, Rigel being the Arabic word for ‘foot’), the degree of which was called ‘death,’ according to Hermes Trismegistos, whereas the Maori claim outright that Rigel marked the way to Hades (Castor indicating the primordial homeland). Antiochus the astrologer enumerates the whirl among the stars as Taurus. Franz Boll takes sharp exception to the adequacy of his description, but he concludes that the zalos must, indeed, be Eridanus ‘which flows from the foot of Orion.’” (Giorgio Santillana and Hertha Von Dechend, Hamlet’s Mill: An Essay Investigating the Origins of Human Knowledge and Its Transmission Through Myth (Boston: David R. Godine, Publisher, Inc., 1998, 1969), p. 210)
The whirlpool is an icon used in cultures around the world to signify an interdimensional portal, the transition between worlds, or a gateway between one reality and another. It is the doorway through which the shaman begins his or her ecstatic quest from the physical to the spiritual plane.
Recent news focuses on a particular star in Eridanus.
More Epsilon Eridani
"In the lore of Star Trek, the planet Vulcan orbits the nearby star Epsilon Eridani. And in fact, the star really does have planets. Logically, though, we probably won't find any Vulcans there, because the system is too young for the development of such advanced lifeforms.
"Epsilon Eridani is just 10 light-years away. It's a little smaller, cooler, and less massive than the Sun -- not bad specs if you're looking for a good home for life. But it's only about a fifth of the Sun's age, so there probably hasn't been enough time for complex life to have developed.
"The ingredients are there, though. About a decade ago, astronomers at McDonald Observatory discovered a planet orbiting the star. It's half again as massive as Jupiter, the giant of our own solar system. If it's like Jupiter, it's a big ball of gas with no solid surface -- not an inviting home for life.
"But the planet may come close to the distance where temperatures are right for liquid water. So if the planet has big moons, they could be more comfortable places for life to develop.
"At least one other planet orbits the star. So do two asteroid belts. The position of one of the belts hints at a third planet. And there's a broad disk of comets beyond the planets -- possible sources of water and the chemistry of life.
"So while we probably won't find an advanced civilization there, Epsilon Eridani might be a good place for future starships to visit."
Script by Damond Benningfield, Copyright 2008
Many examples of the painted spiral exist in ancestral puebloan pottery from the American Southwest, and the carved spiral also is found in rock art. In particular, the whirlpool or double-spiral motif represents the "gate of Masau's house." Masau'u is the Hopi god of death, the underworld, fire, and the earth plane.
As you can see, this artistic rendition of the ancient Hopi god looks very much like modern depictions of a Grey alien. As my book The Orion Zone argues, Masau'u is the terrestrial equivalent of Orion, ritually the most important constellation in Hopi cosmology. Eridanus, also called the River, starts at the left foot of Orion.
Scientists have discovered planets revolving around a star just 10 light-years away, a star not unlike our sun in size and temperature. This suggests that the ancients somehow obtained knowledge that this region of the sky, this "whirlpool in the sky," may harbor life.
Epsilon Eridanus is relatively young. Perhaps intelligent entities migrated to this hospitable planet from elsewhere in the cosmos. Then, using SOL (speed-of-light) technology, they traveled over to our Earth, looking very much like the grey creature of the Hopi named Mausau'u, the god of the underworld. It should be stated that in many cultures the subterranean realm of the underworld, or Hades, also includes the celestial realm of stars and planets.