Orion: Not Hunter, But Thunder God

Deciphering the hidden history of a mythic archetype

Orion and Taurus, as depicted on the “celestial ceiling” of New York City’s Grand Central Station

The history of religion is beginning to seem to be a history of the stars.

For the last few decades now, but especially after the ascent of the Internet, a plethora of theories have popped up on the origin and evolution of religion. It’s an expansive and important topic, obviously, with innumerable secrets awaiting our uncovering. Most of these newfound theories don’t aim to seriously explain anything, though. Instead, they try to twist the ancient Mesopotamian Anunnaki gods into ancient aliens and the Egyptian Great Sphinx into a 10,000-year-old impossibility of a statue. In light of all this, then, let me be exceedingly clear; I’m not interested in any kind of wild, Zeitgeist-like mytho-historical speculation. Nonetheless, in scales of time this gargantuan speculation is a very necessary evil. Therefore, we will use what evidence we have and what speculation seems reasonable. And, in this case, the evidence seems clear.

Seven sisters standing together for eternity. A crown in the north. A cross in the south. And, echoing louder than maybe any other throughout the millennia, a starry giant staring down a cosmic bull.

Such archetypes have, as archaeology is starting to show, been passed down since the Stone Age. Painted…