‘Draco’ Constellation in Folklore

How much do you know about Dragons or constellations? Here is my bit of ‘Dragon Dribble.’

Above Illustration: Draco coils around the north celestial pole, as depicted in Urania’s Mirror, a set of constellation cards published in London c.1825 (Public domain)

‘Draco,’ Is a magical, mysterious Constellation in the heavens.
Draco, is located above the North Pole. It has fifteen stars in its’ system.
It protects the ‘Little Dipper,’ and embraces the ‘Big Dipper.’
Draco in Greek legend is noted fighting against Zeus in the great,Titan War.
Draco attacks Athena, she rails back grabs him by the tail and flings him into the night sky. Draco, perplexed finds himself wrapped around the North Pole as a decorative, constellation in the sky.

Another Greek legend surrounding Draco represents Ladon, the dragon entrusted by Hera with guarding the golden apples in the Garden of the Hesperides. Gaia the Greek goddess bestowed a bountiful apple orchard as a wedding gift to Hera and Zeus. These golden apples were very magical and bestowed immortality upon any person that ate them.The Eleventh Labor of Hercules had him steal three of these golden apples that were protected from Ladon a hundred headed dragon that was the guardian of this unique apple orchard.

Draco is best seen in July’s night sky. Dragons and Serpents displayed in ancient statues and paintings have been found in temples and places of star worship, maybe representing the Draco constellation? Many represent ancient deities of wisdom.

Dragon Queens also known as Dragon Ladies were revered long before Dragon Kings they represent the primordial divine essence.

According to ancient East Asian Folklore, these sacred Dragon Queens ruled over the winds and rain they represented the yang energy, aid in healing and boost fertility. The Dragon Kings managed the dark moist caverns representing the water element of yin energy and they were known for ruling over dark elves.

Above photo: An ancient statue of Queen of Heaven Dragon Queen. (Public domain)

Dragons are still revered in China and they represent the ancient emperors and majesty. Every Chinese New Year the people celebrate with their Chinese Dragon dance as shown in photo below. (Public domain)

Draco Malfoy, an antagonist in the Harry Potter Book series, written by J.K. Rowling is named after the constellation as well.

So grab your telescope and keep an eye on Draco’s constellation in the Northern starry sky.

Above photo: The constellation Draco as it can be seen by the naked eye (Public domain)

Sources and Reference:

Hornung, Erik (2001), The Secret Lore of Egypt: Its Impact on the West, Ithaca, New York and London, England: Cornell University Press, ISBN 0-8014-3847-0

Black, Jeremy; Green, Anthony (1992), Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary, The British Museum Press, ISBN 0-7141-1705-6

Hamilton, Edith; Mythology Copyright© 1942 Back Bay Books/Little Brown & Company, Hachette Book Group 1290 Ave. of Americas, NY,NY 10104 ISBN 978-0-316-22333-1

French, Sue (July 2012). “By Draco’s Scaly Folds”. Sky & Telescope.