... Skanda (literally 'the jumping one' or 'the hopping one') is the planet Mars, also called Kartikeya, inasmuch as he was borne by the Krittika, the Pleiades. Mbh. 9.44-46 (Roy trans. vol. 7, pp. 130-43). It should be emphasized, aloud and strongly, that in Babylonian astronomy Mars is the only planetary representative of the Pleiades. See P. F. Gössmann. Planetarium Babylonicum (1950), p. 279: 'In der Planetenvertretung kommt für die Plejaden nur Mars in Frage.'

... The star cluster Krittika ... sometimes known as Kārtikā, corresponds to the open star cluster Pleiades in Indian astronomy and Jyotisa (Hindu astrology). The name literally translates to 'the cutters' ...

In Hindu mythology, the god Murugan (Skanda / Subrahmanya / Kartikeya) was raised by the six sisters known as the Krttikā and thus came to be known as Kārtikeya (literally 'Him of the Krttikā'). According to the Mahābhārata, Murugan was born to Agni and Svāhā, after the latter impersonated six of the seven wives of the Saptarsi and made love to him. The Saptarshi, hearing of this incident and doubting their wives' chastity, divorced them. These wives then became the Krttikā ...

If you are running quickly ahead you surely will have your face oriented in the forward direction. Presumably the many faces of Murugan (alias the planet Mars) were visualizing how his direction ahead was turning around.

We ought to investigate how - according to Cartes du Ciel - the oribit of Mars close to the Pleiades currently is being developed. Is the current view similar to that in the diagram above? It covers the nights from August 23 (235) up to and including April 19 (109), i.e. 240 days:

Aug 23

(235)

Nov 6

(310)

Jan 20

(20)

April 19

108

240

Maybe in April 19 of this year the planet Mars will be at the star Mekbuda (Contracted), given that he will be at Mebsuta (Outstretched) 5 days earlier as has been projected:


Eb8-6 (268)	Eb8-7	Eb8-8	Eb8-9	Eb8-10	Eb8-11	Eb8-12 (600)
te kahi	kua oho ku tutu		koia - e ua	huki ma te papamea	hoko huki erua
Kahi. Tuna; two sorts: kahi aveave, kahi matamata. Vanaga. Mgv.: kahi, to run, to flow. Mq.: kahi, id. Churchill. Rangitokona, prop up the heaven! // Rangitokona, prop up the morning! // The pillar stands in the empty space. The thought [memea] stands in the earth-world - // Thought stands also in the sky. The kahi stands in the earth-world - // Kahi stands also in the sky. The pillar stands, the pillar - // It ever stands, the pillar of the sky. (Morriori creation myth according to Legends of the South Seas.) Tutu. 1. Circle of fishing nets arranged in the shape of a funnels or baskets. 2. To light a fire; he-tutu i te ahi: to burn something. 3. To hit, to strike, to beat. Tûtú, to shake (something) clean of dust or dirt; he-tûtú te oone o te nua, to shake the dirt off a nua cape. Tutuhi, to reject the responsibility for a mistake onto one another, to blame one another for a mistake (see tuhi). Tutuki, to stumble, to trip. O tutuki te va'e, in order not to trip. Tutuma, firebrand, partly burnt stick. Tuturi, to kneel. Vanaga. 1. To beat bark for cloth. PS Pau., Mgv., Mq., Ta.: tutu, id. Sa., To., Fu.: tutu, id. 2. A broom, to sweep, to clean. Mq.: tutu, to beat out the dust. 3. To shake, to winnow. Mgv.: tutu, to tremble, to leap. Mq.: tutu, to shake. 4. To kindle, to light, to ignite, to set fire, to burn. Mq.: tutu, to burn, to set fire. 5. To stand; hakatutu, to set joists. P Mgv., Mq.: tutu, to stand upright. Ta.: tu, id. Tutua (tutu 1): board on which bark is beaten into cloth. PS Mgv.: tutua, a cloth beater. Mq., Ta.: tutua, wood on which cloth is beaten. Sa., Fu.: tutua, id. Tutui: tutui ohio, chain, tutui kura, shawl. Mq.: tuitui kioé, chain. Tutuki: shock, contusion, to run against, to collide; tukukia, to run foul of. P Pau.: tukituki, to strike, to pound, to grind. Mgv.: tukia, to strike against, shock, concussion. Mq.: tutuki, id. Ta.: tui, id. Tutuma: 1. (tutu - ma) a live coal. 2. Tree trunk T (? tumu). Tutumata, ligament of the eye, orbit, eyelid. T (tutumate, eyelid G). Tutuu, bristling. Churchill. Papa. 1. Underground rock; motionless; rocky sea bottom; large flat stone; figuratively: tagata papa important man, author of great works. 2. Wooden plank currently used much like a surf-board in the sport called garu; it was formerly called papa gaatu mo te garu, because it was made from dry totora leaves woven into the shape of a plank. 3. To line up things side by side on a flat surface, for instance, to line up fish on top of a flat stone. Vanaga. Shoulderblade. Papapapa, a chill, to shiver, to tremble, to shudder. Churchill.
July 1	2	3	4 (185)	5	6	7 (188)
τ Puppis (102.2), ψ7 Aurigae (102.4) 61.0 = 102.4 - *41.4	*Mash-mashu-sha-Risū-9 (Twins of the Shepherd)* θ Gemini (103.0), ψ8 Aurigae (103.2), ALHENA = γ Gemini (103.8), ψ9 Aurigae (103.9)	ADARA (Virgins) = ε Canis Majoris (104.8)	ω Gemini (105.4), ALZIRR (Button) = ξ Gemini (105.7), MULIPHEIN (Oaths) = γ Canis Majoris (105.8), MEKBUDA (Contracted) = ζ Gemini (105.9) 64.0 = 105.4 - *41.4	7h (106.5) No star listed (106)	WEZEN (Weight) = δ Canis Majoris (107.1), τ Gemini (107.7), δ Monocerotis (107.9)	No star listed (108)
→ VISIBLE CLOSE TO THE FULL MOON:
*South Dipper-8 (Unicorn)* Φ Sagittarii (284.0), μ Cor. Austr. (284.6), η Cor. Austr., θ Pavonis (284.8)	SHELIAK (Tortoise) = β Lyrae, ν Lyrae (285.1), ο Draconis (285.5). λ Pavonis (285.7) ~~ATLAS (27 Tauri)~~	χ Oct. (286.0), AIN AL RAMI (Eye of the Archer) = ν Sagittarii (286.2), υ Draconis (286.4), δ Lyrae (286.3), κ Pavonis (286.5), ALYA (Fat Tail) = θ Serpentis (286.6) 245.0 = 286.4 - *41.4	ξ Sagittarii (287.1), ω Pavonis (287.3), ε Aquilae, ε Cor. Austr., SULAPHAT (Little Tortoise Shell) = γ Lyrae (287.4), λ Lyrae (287.7), ASCELLA (Armpit) = ζ Sagittarii, BERED = i Aquilae (Ant.) (287.9) 246.0 = 287.4 - *41.4	*Al Na'ām-18 (Ostriches) / Uttara Ashadha-21 (Elephant tusk, small bed)* NUNKI = σ Sagittarii (288.4), ζ Cor. Austr. (288.5), MANUBRIUM = ο Sagittarii (288.8), ζ Aquilae (288.9) 247.0 = 288.4 - *41.4	19h (289.2) λ Aquilae (Ant.) (289.1), γ Cor. Austr (289.3), τ Sagittarii (289.4), ι Lyrae (289.5), δ Cor. Austr. (289.8) 248.0 = 289.4 - *41.4	*Al Baldah-19 (City)* AL BALDAH = π Sagittarii, ALPHEKKA (Dish) MERIDIANA = α Cor. Austr. (290.1), β Cor. Austr. (290.2)

Dec 30 (364)	31	Jan 1	2	3	4	*5 (370. 290)**
Dec 31	Jan 1	2	3	4	5 (107 + 182)	6 (107 + 183)

I checked this idea with Cartes du Ciel. However Mars will not have arrived so far:

Trying with April 4 (10 days before 4-14 and 15 days before April 19) I could not find any star close to Mars there either. Instead Mars should be looked for around halfway on his way from M35 to Mebsuta. But 20 days before Mebsuta the planet Mars would significantly be at March 25 (3-25, 84 = the Julian equinox), i.e. at M35, - and interestingly the star 136 Tauri close by suggests day 136 (May 16) when the Sun later would rise with Alcyone in the Pleiades.

... When the Pope Gregory XIII updated the Julian calendar he did not revise what had gone wrong before 325 AD (when the Council of Nicaea was held). Thus the stars were still 3-4 days 'out of tune' compared to the calendar ... the Gregorian 'canoe' was 'crooked'. His calendar was not in perfect alignment with the ancient star structure. Because he had avoided to adjust with the effects of the precession between the creation of the Julian calendar and the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. [The Julian equinox was in the 3rd month of the year and in its 25th day; 3-25.] ...

M45, the Pleiades group, would rise and go down earlier:

When was Mars at or close to M45? After repeated trials I think we can fairly say that his closest approach was in the nights around January 20. It looks as if Mars in this day was at the right angle (90º) formed between the directions to M45 and Hyadum I:

Aug 23 (235)	74	Nov 6 (310)	55	19	Jan 20 (20)	83	April 14 (20 + 84 = 104)
75		56 + 19 = 75			84
150					85
235 = 160 + 75

We have now verified that Mars also in AD 2023 would have been close to the Pleiades in the period from about January 5 (370) to February 4 (35, 400), where he had completed his retrograde circuit beginning in November 6 (310):

... The Sacred Book of the ancient Maya Quiche, the famous Popol Vuh (the Book of Counsel) tells of Zipacna, son of Vucub-Caquix (= Seven Arata). He sees 400 youths dragging a huge log that they want as a ridgepole for their house. Zipacna alone carries the tree without effort to the spot where a hole has been dug for the post to support the ridgepole. The youths, jealous and afraid, try to kill Zipacna by crushing him in the hole, but he escapes and brings down the house on their heads. They are removed to the sky, in a 'group', and the Pleiades are called after them ...

This was the place where in the Golden Age of the Bull the Sun would have risen together with Hyadum I:

MARCH 20 (*364)

MARCH 21 (80)

May 23

May 24 (144 = 80 + 64 = 84 + 3 * 20 = 12 * 12)

Al Dabarān-2 (The Follower)

HYADUM I = γ Tauri (63.4)

*22.0 = *63.4 - *41.4

"April 12 (102 = 80 + 22)

HYADUM II = δ¹ Tauri (64.2)

"April 13 (144 - 41 = 103 = 80 + 23)

Ea1-8

Ea1-9

rere te toki

rere ki hau tea - eko te toki

Toki. Small basalt axe. Vanaga. Stone adze. Van Tilburg. Ha'amoe ra'a toki = 'Put the adze to sleep' (i.e. hide it in the temple during the night). Barthel. Month of the ancient Rapanui calendar. Fedorova according to Fischer. To'i. T. Stone adze (e to'i purepure = with the wounderful adze). Henry. The Araukan Indians in the coastal area of northern Chile, have customs similar to those on the Marquesas and in both areas toki means adze according to José Imbelloni. The Araukans also called their chief of war toki and the ceremonial adze symbolized his function and was exhibited at the outbreak of war. In Polynesia Toki was the name of a chief elevated by the Gods and his sign was the blade of a toki. Fraser. Axe, stone hatchet, stone tool ...; maea toki, hard slates, black, red, and gray, used for axes T. P Pau.: toki, to strike, the edge of tools, an iron hatchet. Mgv.: toki, an adze. Mq.: toki, axe, hatchet. Ta.: toi, axe. Churchill. A Maori saying: he iti toki, e rite ana ki te tangata = though the adze be small, yet does it equal a man. (Starzecka)

Atea. The name of the district or section of country over which Olopana is to have ruled in Kahiki was in Hawaiian Moa-ula-nui-akea. Analyzing this word, it consists of one appellative, Moa, and three adjectives or epithets, ula, nui, akea, 'red, great, open, or wide-spreading' ... (Fornander) Pau.: fakaatea, to remove, to put away. Ta.: atea, clear. Mq.: atea, id. Sa.: ateatea, wide, spacious. Ma.: atea, clear. Churchill.

Tea. 1. Light, fair, whitish. 2. To rise (of the moon, the stars); ku-tea-á te hetu'u ahiahi, the evening star has risen. Vanaga. 1. To shine, be bright, brilliant, white; tea niho, enamel of the teeth; ata tea, dawn; teatea, white, blond, pale, colorless, invalid; rauoho teatea, red hair; hakateatea, to blanch, to bleach. P Pau.: faatea, to clear, to brighten. Mgv.: tea, white, blanched, pale. Mq.: tea, white, clear, pure, limpid. Ta.: tea, white, brilliant. 2. Proud, vain, haughty, arrogance, to boast; tae tea, humble; teatea, arrogant, bragging, pompous, ostentatious, to boast, to show off, haughty; hakateatea, to show off. Mgv.: akateatea, pride, vanity, ostentatious, to be puffed up. Ta.: teoteo, boastful, proud, haughty. 3. Mgv.: teatea, heavy rain. Ha.: kea, the rain at Hana and Koolau. Churchill. 1. White, clear; fair-complexioned person, often favorites at court; shiny, white mother-of-pearl shell, cfr. keakea, kekea, Mauna Kea. Po'o kea, towhead, gray-haired person. One kea, white sand (this is shortened to ōkea or kea, as in the expression kea pili mai, drift gravel - vagabond). (PPN tea). 2. Breast milk. See Nu'a-kea. 3. A variety of sugar cane, among Hawaiians one of the best-known and most-used canes, especially in medicine: clumps erect, dense, of medium height; pith white. Ua ola ā 'ō kō kea, living until kea cane tassels (until the hair turns gray). 4. Name listed by Hillebrand for kolomona (Mezoneuron kavaiense); see uhiuhi. Wehewehe.


hau tea	HYADUM II	toki

Ko. 1. Article (ko te); preposition: with (see grammar); prefix of personal pronouns: koau, I; kokoe, you (singular); koîa, he, she, it; kokorua, you (plural); ko tagi, koîa, he with his weeping. 2. Article which precedes proper nouns, often also used with place names: Ko Tori, Ko Hotu Matu'a, Ko Pú. Koîa, exact: tita'a koîa, exact demarcation. Seems to be the personal pronoun koîa - applied in the meaning of: thus it is, here it is precisely. Vanaga. 1. Negative; e ko, not, except; e ko ora, incurable; ina ko, not; ina ko tikea, unseen; ina e ko, not; ina e ko mou, incessant. 2. A particle used before nouns and pronouns; ko vau, I; ko te, this; ko mea tera, this; ati ko peka, to avenge, ko mua, first, at first, formerly. 3. There, yonder. P Mgv.: ko, over there, yonder. Ta.: ó, there, here. Churchill.

Anciently numbers were never chosen haphazardly, it was a serious business, and close to Mars in the night of November 6 AD 2022 we can find 121 Tauri (→ Beltaine):

However, for modern scientific minds numbers should have no character at all, they must be arbitrary in order to avoid preconceptions. Therefore, it would seem, Cartes du Ciel has omitted to visualize the place of the Crab Nebula (M 1):


Dec 11 (345)	12 (122 + 183 + 41)	Lucia (121 + 226)

Cb3-7 (448)	Cb3-8 (57)	*Cb3-9 (2 29, 350 + 100)**
ko te maro - ko te tagata	kua hua te tagata	ko te tagata
*KHUFU* MINTAKA (Belt) = δ Orionis, υ Orionis (82.4), χ Aurigae (82.5), ε Columbae (82.6) 41.0 = 82.4 - 41.4 → 41 Arietis* (Bharani)**	*KHAFRE* Al Hak'ah-3 (White Spot) / Mrigashīrsha-5 (Stag's Head) / Turtle Head-20 (Monkey) / Mas-tab-ba-tur-tur (Little Twins) ARNEB = α Leporis, CRAB NEBULA = M1 Tauri (83.0), φ¹ Orionis (83.1), HEKA = λ Orionis, ORION NEBULA = M42 (83.2), φ² Orionis (83.6), ALNILAM (String of Pearls) = ε Orionis (83.7)	*MENKAURE* Three Stars-21 (Gibbon) / Shur-narkabti-sha-shūtū-6 (Star in the Bull towards the south) / ANA-IVA-9 (Pillar of exit) HEAVENLY GATE = ζ Tauri, ν Columbae (84.0), ω Orionis (84.2), ALNITAK (Girdle) = ζ Orionis, PHAKT (Phaet) = α Columbae (84.7)
"May 1 (121)	2	3 (347 - 183 - 41)