Achernar is the last brightest star on the River of Eridanus. Its name comes from the Arabic Al Ahir al Nahr, which means “the End of the River.” It is located at 14.57 degree Pisces – The bright star at the mouth of the river, Achernar is the Alpha Eridanus.
The Star Achernar
Achernar is a powerful star, and some historians believe that it symbolizes the Cherub and the Sword from Paradise and that it can bring success and authority in public matters, in beneficence and in Religion. The keywords would be Prominence, Transcendence, Faith, Occultism.
Achernar influence may bring multiple trips or long-distance traveling during one’s lifetime. The great risk of challenging trials on the road. Risk of accident. The native who has this star in his birth chart will have a very strong Stellar influence in his life, both physically and mystically. This person may face many risks and uncertainties during his life and, thus, will know how to move well from one situation to another, from one difficulty to another.
It will undoubtedly be a life very rich in events that can favor transcendence, as well as vision, and give a very extraordinary capacity for rebirth, renewal, and regeneration.
On the negative side, especially with bad aspects concerning the angular houses and the luminaries, this star often gives difficulties to those under their influence, especially while visiting places that are not their birthplace.
Achernar is a flat star known to be one of the Dante Alighieri’s Tre Facelle or one the four stars and three facets of Dante’s Purgatory.: “Tre Facelle of Dante’s Purgatorio,” symbolizing Faith, Hope, and Charity – “these three torches, with which this hither pole is all on fire.'”
Eridanus, the River of Stars and Light
Torrent of light and river of air,
Along whose bed the glimmering stars are seen,
Like gold and silver sands in some ravine
Where mountain streams have left their channels bare!
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The River of Stars, Eridanus, runs through times and spaces that the human mind cannot even imagine.
Eridanus is the sixth largest constellation of the 88 modern constellations. It is also one of the 48 constellations of Ptolemy.
While some constellations are distinguished by their extent, this one’s peculiarity resides on its length. The constellation starts on the west of Rigel, in the Orion constellation, and it continues its course towards the south until it reaches its Alpha Eridani- Achernar, a bright star rarely observed by people. In the southern hemisphere, it is possible but rather trying to follow the course of this river of light, because of its other ineffectual stars.
Origins and Myths for Erídanus Constellation
Its origin is ancient, inspired by an ancestral celestial representation from Astrologers from the Babylonian culture, so it natural to think it has several legends associated with it.
Since ancient times, this gathering of Stars has been compared to the flow of a river. In one of the primordial stories from Greek mythology, Erídanus was a divine river, born from the union of Oceanus and Tethys, not being identified with any real earthly river.
Erídanus was, however, associated with some famous rivers: the Nile, the river Po (in Italy) – known by the ancient Greeks as “Erídanus” – or even the Euphrates, among others. Another Greek legend says that Erídanus would be the river where Cetus lived (The Whale Constellation).
For early observers from southwest Asia, the river extended as far south as Acamar (Teta Eridani) because they could not see the other stars beyond that point.
Regarding this constellation, Ovid says in his Book of Metamorphoses that Phaethon, son of Helios, was thrown from the chariot of the Sun, after having seized it, and drowned in the waters of the Erídanus.
At its southern end, we can point its star of the first magnitude, Achernar (α Eri). Achernar is a very peculiar star because it is one of the flattest stars known. Indian astronomical observations say that the radius of this star is 50% broader in the Equator than in the poles. That may be because of the star Achernar vibrates at high speed.
The neighboring constellations, according to modern astrophysics, are the Whale, the Hydra, the Orion, the Bull, the Furnace, the Clock, the Phoenix, the Chisel, and the Hare.
You will also enjoy Fixed Stars: What Are They? and Constellations and The Celestial Animals
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