Why is Sirius called "The Dog star"? Maybe because during Bronze age and Iron Age, the heliacal (before dawn) rising of Sirius coincided with the mating season of the ancient, semi-wild "pariah" dog breads? Period known as Dog days...
I talked about this in my post "Dog days"
Now interestingly, in Zoroastrianism, the Dog Star or Sirius, which is known as "Tishtrya", is also the Yazata (Divinity) of rainfall/fertility...
In one myth, he appears as a mighty white horse with golden ears/tail, and he faces off against the div Apaosha (who represents "drought") who takes the form of a black horse. They fight for 3 days + nights until Apaosha drives Tishtrya away. Tishtrya then complains to Ahura Mazda that he was weakened because humankind did not give him his due of proper prayers and sacrifices. Ahura Mazda then himself offers sacrifice to Tishtrya. Strengthened by this, Tishtrya again takes on Apaosha and ultimately defeats him, and finally rains start falling on Earth and nourishing it.
Very very interesting. And very very strange, as in Persia, dog days, are the hottest and driest part of the year
Yet the above myth clearly identifies Tishtrya, Sirius and rainy season, as the old summer, hot, bright half of the year (white horse with golden ears and tail) and Apaosha, drought season, as the old winter, cold, dark half of the year (black horse)...
Which fits the climate in India...Where the maximum rainfall is during dog days, Jul/Aug, when Sirius, The Dog Star, rises with the sun, the white horse with golden ears, tail...
So, I believe that this legend originates in India, where it perfectly describes the local Indian climate. It is in India where we find the white horse being an avatar of the sun god Suria...I will write more about this soon...
Also, in Indian mythology we find Sarama (सरमा), the "dog of the gods" or "the bitch of the gods", who first appears in the Rig Veda, where she helps the king of the gods Indra (the rain god) to recover divine cows (common euphemism for rain clouds)...
Oh by the way, Indra rides on a white elephant...
Why? Cause the peak of the Elephant mating season coincides with the peak of the monsoon season (Jul/Aug)...
I talked about this in my post "Musth"...Oh did I mention that this is also the beginning of the natural dog mating season, the dog days, when Sirius rises with the sun, the white horse?
Oh guess what. Sarama (the bitch of the gods, Sirius, The Dog Star) is related to Sarasvati, The Great Flood, and Saranyu, the wet monsoon and the wife of the Sun God Surya....
Tripple goddess...Of prosperity...
By the way, horse is a solar symbol, because the fertility of horses is governed by the sunlight. So the natural mating season of horses starts in Apr, peaks on Summer Solstice and ends in September...
So Tishtrya, the dog and white horse, perfectly describes hot, sunny part of the year...And in India, rains arrive when Sirius rises in the morning, with the sun (white horse) and drought arrives when Sirius rises in the evening, with the moon (black horse)...
I believe that this legend was then brought to Persia, where it had to be adjusted to suite the opposite Persian climate.
That this indeed could be the case, can be seen from the most commonly accepted etymology of the name Apaoša. In 1960's it was proposed that this name was annually an antonym of an unattested derivative of *pauša- "thriving". This explanation, which is also supported by Old Indic póṣa with the same meaning, is today well accepted. Avestan apaoša- thus originally meant "not thriving"...
And this is how the story was adjusted for Persian climate:
Apparently, this legend has been interpreted to be a mythological conflation of a seasonal and astronomical event:
Tishtrya (Sirius) decides to battle with Apaosha (drought) - Sirius rises with the sun in Jul/Aug, during the hottest and driest time of the year.
Tishtrya is battling with Apaosha - For the next few days, Sirius is visible at dawn as a glimmering star.
Tishtrya loses the battle with Apaosha - Sirius disappears from the sky as it is now rising after the sun.
Tishtria goes and complains to Ahura Mazda. Ahura Mazda offers sacrifice to Tishtrya - Ahura Mazda is another name for Ninurta, The God of Rain, The Archer...Who rains in Oct/Nov...I will write more about this soon...
Tishtrya again confronts Apaosha, and this time wins - The winter has arrived. Sirius is now visible in the night sky. Rain season starts in Persia...
This now fits the Persian climate. Except they forgot to change the colors of the horses. The rains arrive when Sirius rises in the evening, with the moon (black horse), not in the morning with the sun (white horse)...
This is one of the important bits about animal calendar markers. It allows us to determine origins of the myths like these...
PS: In Canaanite religion, we find goddess Ishat, whose name means "fire", and who was the goddess of fire and drought...So obviously the goddess of sun's fire...She was also known as "The bitch of the gods"...
Ishat is a servant of Yam/Mot, the gods of summer, hot dry half of the year, and she is the enemy of Ba'al, the storm God, the god of winter, cool, wet half of the year. This is climatic year in Levant...
And the middle of the hot dry half of the year, Jul/Aug, is the hottest and driest part of the year...When the fire, flame (heat) of the sun scorches the land and turns it into this: Mot's hell, the seat of Mot, the god of death, the burning summer sun...
I love the fact that Ishat (fire), the goddess of fire and drought, is known as "the bitch of the gods"...In Slavic folklore, the hottest part of the year, end of Jul beginning of Aug, is knows as "kresovi" (fires)...This is also the mating season of the old Canaan dogs...The dog days...
Interesting, right?
The bitch of the gods gets around...
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