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http://www.pathguy.com/whatstar.htm
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http://www.constellationsofwords.com/stars/Elkophrah.html
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” Chi (χ) Ursa Major, El Kophrah, is a red star on the hind quarters of the Greater Bear.Chi (χ) is placed on the right foot by Burritt’s Atlas of 1856 as Al Kaphrah, is wrong, for Heis puts the letter at a star on the rear of the right hind quarter, and has no letter at Burritt’s Geography of 1856’s star; if entitled to a name at all, it should be Al Kafzah, as at iota (ι Talitha) and kappa (κ). Still the Standard Dictionary follows Burritt’s Atlas of 1856 in its El Kophrah.It was the Chinese Tae Yang Show, the Sun Governor, and Shaou We, of somewhat similar signification.[Star Names, Their Lore and Meaning, Richard Hinckley Allen, 1889]. The astrological influences of the constellation Ursa MajorLegend: Callisto, daughter of Lycaon, king of Arcadia, of whom Jupiter was enamored, became a follower of Diana on account of her love of hunting. Jupiter sought Callisto by assuming the form of Diana, and Juno (Jupiter’s wife) who discovered the intrigue turned Callisto into a bear. Angry that the bear was placed in heaven, Juno requested her brother Neptune never to let those stars set within his kingdom, and for this reason they are always above the horizon in Europe [never disappear below the horizon, it is always visible in the night sky, all night, every night, throughout the year]. To account for the length of the bear’s tail [because in reality bears don’t have tails], it is said that Jupiter, fearing her teeth, lifted her by the tail, which became stretched because of her weight and the distance from earth to heaven. [Robson*, p.65.]Influences: According to Ptolemy, Ursa Major is like Mars. It is said to give a quiet, prudent, suspicious, mistrustful, self-controlled, patient nature, but an uneasy spirit and great anger and revengefulness when roused. By the Kabalists it is associated with the Hebrew letter Zain and the 7[sup]th[/sup] Tarot Trump “The Chariot.” [Robson*, p.65.]The astrological influences of the constellationUrsa Major given by Manilius:”Now when, after completing a revolution round the pole, the Bear (Ursa Major) with muzzle foremost replaces her unceasing steps in her former tracks, never immersed in Ocean but ever turning in a circle, to those born at such a time wild creatures will show no hostile face, and in their dealings with animals these men will find them submissive to their rule. Such a one will be able to control huge lions with a gesture, to fondle wolves, and to play with captive panthers; so far from shunning the powerful bears that are the kin of the constellation, he will train them to human accomplishments and feats foreign to their nature; he will seat himself on the elephant’s back and with a goad will direct the movements of a beast which disgraces its massive weight by yielding to tiny jabs; he will dispel the fury of the tiger, training it to become a peaceful animal, whilst all the other beasts which molest the earth with their savageness he will join in friendship to himself; keen-scented whelps he will train…” [here the translator notes that eight pages have been lost] [Astronomica, Manilius, 1st century AD, book 5, p.357, 359]”Now where heaven reaches its culmination in the shining Bears, which from the summit of the sky look down on all the stars and know no setting and, shifting their opposed stations about the same high point, set sky and stars in rotation, from there an insubstantial axis runs down through the wintry air and controls the universe, keeping it pivoted at opposite poles: it forms the middle about which the starry sphere revolves and wheels its heavenly flight, but is itself without motion and, drawn straight through the empty spaces of the great sky to the two Bears and through the very globe of the Earth, stands fixed, since the entire atmosphere ever revolves in a circle, and every part of the whole rotates to the place from which it once began, that which is in the middle, about which all moves, so insubstantial that it cannot turn round upon itself or even submit to motion or spin in circular fashion, this men have called the axis, since, motionless itself, it yet sees everything spinning about it. The top of the axis is occupied by constellations well known to hapless mariners, guiding them over the measureless deep in their search for gain. Helice (Ursa Major), the greater, describes the greater arc; it is marked by seven stars which vie with each other under its guidance the ships of Greece set sail to cross the seas. Cynosura [Ursa Minor] is small and wheels round in a narrow circle, less in brightness as it is in size, but in the judgment of the Tyrians it excels the larger bear. Carthaginians count it the surer-guide when at sea they make for unseen shores. They are not set face to face: each with its muzzle points at the other’s tail and follows one that follows it. Sprawling between them and embracing each the Dragon separates and surrounds them with its glowing stars lest they ever meet or leave their stations.” [Astronomica, Manilius, 1st century AD, book 1, p.27, 29]. ”
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” 21. And I at once bade another demon to be led unto me; and instantly there approached me the demon Asmodeus[sup]23[/sup], bound, and I asked him: “Who art thou?” But he shot on me a glance of anger and rage, and said: “And who art thou?” And I said to him: “Thus punished as thou art, answerest thou me?” But he, with rage, said to me: “But how shall I answer thee, for thou art a son of man; whereas I was born an angel’s seed by a daughter of man, so that no word of our heavenly kind addressed to the earth-born can be overweening[sup]24[/sup]. Wherefore also my star is bright in heaven, and men call it, some the Wain[sup]25[/sup], and some the dragon’s child. I keep near unto this star. So ask me not many things; for thy kingdom also after a little time is to be disrupted, and thy glory is but for a season. And short will be thy tyranny over us; and then we shall again have free range over mankind, so as that they shall revere us as if we were gods, not knowing, men that they are, the names of the angels set over us.”23. [Asmodeus also appears inTobit 3:8, and is ultimately derived from theAvestan demonAeshma-daeva(“demon of wrath”). -JHP]24. [arrogant.]25. [D: Great Bear.]22. And I Solomon, on hearing this, bound him more carefully, and ordered him to be flogged with thongs of ox-hide[sup]26[/sup], and to tell me humbly what was his name and what his business. And he answered me thus: “I am called Asmodeus among mortals, and my business is to plot against the newly wedded, so that they may not know one another. And I sever them utterly by many calamities, and I waste away the beauty of virgin women, and estrange their hearts.”26. [D: flogged with a rod]23. And I said to him: “Is this thy only business?” And he answered me: “I transport men into fits of madness and desire, when they have wives of their own, so that they leave them, and go off by [font][21]night and day to others that belong to other men; with the result that they commit sin, and fall into murderous deeds.[sup]27[/sup]”27. [D: I spread (or, I *sting to ?) madness about women through the stars, and I have often committed a rash of murders.]24. And I adjured him by the name of the Lord Sabaôth, saying: “Fear God, Asmodeus, and tell me by what angel thou art frustrated.” But he said: “By Raphael, the archangel that stands before the throne of God. But the liver and gall of a fish put me to flight, when smoked over ashes of the tamarisk[sup]28[/sup].” I again asked him, and said: “Hide not aught from me. For I am Solomon, son of David, King of Israel. Tell me the name of the fish which thou reverest.” And he answered: “It is the Glanos[sup]29[/sup] by name, and is found in the rivers of Assyria; wherefore it is that I roam about in those parts.”28. [D: smoking on coals of charcoal. Compare Tobit, where Raphael instructs him in the use of the gall, heart, and liver for various cures.]29. [D: “sheatfish”, a large catfish. Gk. ho, hê glanis.]25. And I said to him: “Hast thou nothing else about thee, Asmodeus?” And he answered: “The power of God knoweth, which hath bound me with the indissoluble bonds of yonder one’s seal, that whatever I have told thee is true. I pray thee, King Solomon, condemn me not to [go into] water.” But I smiled, and said to him: “As the Lord God of my fathers liveth, I will lay iron on thee to wear. But thou shalt also make the clay for the entire construction of the Temple, treading it down with thy feet.” And I ordered them to give him ten water-jars to carry water in. And the demon groaned terribly, and did the work I ordered him to do. And this I did, because that fierce demon Asmodeus knew even the future. And I Solomon glorified God, who gave wisdom to me Solomon his servant. And the liver of the fish and its gall I hung on the spike of a reed[sup]30[/sup], and burned it over Asmodeus because of his being so strong, and his unbearable malice was thus frustrated.30. [D: liver and gall of the fish, along with a branch of storax.]26. And I summoned again to stand before me Beelzeboul, the prince of demons, and I sat him down on a raised seat of honour, and said to him: “Why art thou alone, prince of the demons?” ”
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursa_Major

 “Ursa Major occupies a large area in the northern celestial hemisphere. One of the largest constellations in the night sky, its 1279.66 square degrees of surface area being equivalent to 3.10% of the total sky. The official constellation boundaries, set byEugène Delporte in 1930, form a 28-sided irregular polygon which, according to theequatorial coordinate system, stretches between the right ascension coordinates of 08[sup]h[/sup] 08.3[sup]m[/sup] and 14[sup]h[/sup] 29.0[sup]m[/sup] and the declinationcoordinates of 28.30° and 73.14°.[sup][3][/sup] It is bordered by eight other constellations: Dracoto the north and northeast, Boötes to the east,Canes Venatici to the east and southeast,Coma Berenices to the southeast, Leo andLeo Minor to the south, Lynx to the southwest and Camelopardalis to the northwest. It’s also the namesake of its constellation family, which includes all the constellations it borders except for Leo (a member of theZodiac), and also Ursa Minor and Corona Borealis. The three-letter abbreviation for the constellation, as adopted by the IAU (International Astronomical Union) in 1922, is ‘UMa’. FeaturesEdit

The constellation Ursa Major as it can be seen by the unaided eye.StarsEditSee also: List of stars in Ursa MajorThe “Big Dipper”EditThe “Big Dipper” (a term mainly used in the United States and Canada; Plough and (historically) Charles’ Wain[sup][4][/sup] are used in the United Kingdom) is an asterism within Ursa Major composed of seven bright stars (six of them of second magnitude or higher) that together comprise one of the best-known patterns in the sky. Like many of its common names allude to, its shape is said to resemble either a ladle, an agricultural plough or wagon; in the context of Ursa Major, they are commonly drawn to represent the hindquarters and tail of the Great Bear. Starting with the “ladle” portion of the dipper and extending clockwise (eastward in the sky) through the handle, these stars are the following:
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[*]α Ursae Majoris, known by the Arabic nameDubhe (“the bear”), which at a magnitude of 1.79 is the 35th-brightest star in the sky and the second-brightest of Ursa Major.
[*]β Ursae Majoris, called Merak (“the loins of the bear”), with a magnitude of 2.37.
[*]γ Ursae Majoris, known as either Phecda orPhad (“thigh”), with a magnitude of 2.44.
[*]δ Ursae Majoris, or Megrez, meaning “root of the tail,” an appropriate name given its location as the intersection of the body and tail of the bear (or the ladle and handle of the dipper).
[*]ε Ursae Majoris, known as Alioth, a name which refers not to a bear but to a “black horse,” the name corrupted from the original and mis-assigned to the similarly namedAlcor, the naked-eye binary companion ofMizar.[sup][5][/sup] Alioth is the brightest star of Ursa Major and the 33rd-brightest in the sky, with a magnitude of 1.76. It is also the brightest of the “peculiar A (Ap) stars,” magnetic stars whose chemical elements are either depleted or enhanced, and appear to change as the star rotates.[sup][6][/sup]
[*]ζ Ursae Majoris, Mizar, the second star in from the end of the handle of the Big Dipper, and the constellation’s fourth-brightest star. Mizar, which means “girdle,” forms a famousdouble star, with its optical companion Alcor(80 Ursae Majoris), the two of which were termed the “horse and rider” by the Arabs. The ability to resolve the two stars with the naked eye is often quoted as a test of eyesight, although even people with quite poor eyesight can see the two stars.
[*]η Ursae Majoris, known as either Alkaid orBenetnash, both meaning the “end of the tail.” With a magnitude of 1.85, Alkaid is the third-brightest star of Ursa Major.[sup][7][/sup][sup][8][/sup]
[/list]
Except for Dubhe and Alkaid, the stars of the Big Dipper all have proper motions heading toward a common point in Sagittarius. A few other such stars have been identified, and together they are called the Ursa Major Moving Group.The stars Merak (β Ursae Majoris) and Dubhe(α Ursae Majoris) are known as the “pointer stars” because they are helpful for findingPolaris, also known as the North Star or Pole Star. By visually tracing a line from Merak through Dubhe and continuing, one’s eye will land on Polaris, accurately indicating true north.Other starsEditAnother asterism known as the “Three Leaps of the Gazelle“[sup][9][/sup] is recognized in Arab culture, a series of three pairs of stars found along the southern border of the constellation; From southeast to southwest, the “first leap”, comprising ν and ξ Ursae Majoris (Alula Borealis and Australis, respectively); the “second leap”, comprising λ and μ Ursae Majoris (Tania Borealis and Australis); and the “third leap”, comprising ι and κ Ursae Majoris, (Talitha Borealis and Australis).W Ursae Majoris is the prototype of a class ofcontact binary variable stars, and ranges between 7.75[sup]m[/sup] and 8.48[sup]m[/sup].47 Ursae Majoris is a Sun-like star with a three-planet system.[sup][10][/sup] 47 Ursae Majoris b, discovered in 1996, orbits every 1078 days and is 2.53 times the mass of Jupiter.[sup][11][/sup] 47 Ursae Majoris c, discovered in 2001, orbits every 2391 days and is 0.54 times the mass of Jupiter.[sup][12][/sup] 47 Ursae Majoris d, discovered in 2010, has an uncertain period, lying between 8907 and 19097 days; it is 1.64 times the mass of Jupiter.[sup][13][/sup] The star is of magnitude 5.0 and is approximately 46 light-years from Earth.[sup][10][/sup]The star TYC 3429-697-1 (9[sup]h[/sup] 40[sup]m[/sup] 44[sup]s[/sup]; 48°14′2″, located to the east of θ Ursae Majoris and to the southwest of the “Big Dipper”) has been recognized as the state starof Delaware, and is informally known as the Delaware Diamond.[sup][14][/sup]Deep-sky objectsEditSeveral bright galaxies are found in Ursa Major, including the pair Messier 81 (one of the brightest galaxies in the sky) and Messier 82 above the bear’s head, and Pinwheel Galaxy (M101), a spiral northeast of η Ursae Majoris. The spiral galaxies Messier 108 andMessier 109 are also found in this constellation. The bright planetary nebula Owl Nebula (M97) can be found along the bottom of the bowl of the Big Dipper.M81 is a nearly face-on spiral galaxy 11.8 million light-years from Earth. Like most spiral galaxies, it has a core made up of old stars, with arms filled with young stars and nebulae. Along with M82, it is a part of the galaxy cluster closest to the Local Group.M82 is a galaxy that is interacting gravitationally with M81. It is the brightestinfrared galaxy in the sky.[sup][15][/sup] SN 2014J, an apparent Type Ia supernova, was observed in M82 on 21 January 2014.[sup][16][/sup]M97, also called the Owl Nebula, is aplanetary nebula 1,630 light-years from Earth; it has a magnitude of approximately 10. It was discovered in 1781 by Pierre Méchain.[sup][17][/sup]M101, also called the Pinwheel Galaxy, is a face-on spiral galaxy located 25 million light-years from Earth. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781. Its spiral arms have regions with extensive star formation and have strongultraviolet emissions.[sup][15][/sup] It has an integrated magnitude of 7.5, making it visible in both binoculars and telescopes, but not to the naked eye.[sup][18][/sup]NGC 2787 is a lenticular galaxy at a distance of 24 million light-years. Unlike most lenticular galaxies, NGC 2787 has a bar at its center. It also has a halo of globular clusters, indicating its age and relative stability.[sup][15][/sup]NGC 3079 is a starburst spiral galaxy located 52 million light-years from Earth. It has a horseshoe-shaped structure at its center that indicates the presence of a supermassive black hole. The structure itself is formed bysuperwinds from the black hole.[sup][15][/sup]NGC 3310 is another starburst spiral galaxy located 50 million light-years from Earth. Its bright white color is caused by its higher than usual rate of star formation, which began 100 million years ago after a merger. Studies of this and other starburst galaxies have shown that their starburst phase can last for hundreds of millions of years, far longer than was previously assumed.[sup][15][/sup]NGC 4013 is an edge-on spiral galaxy located 55 million light-years from Earth. It has a prominent dust lane and has several visible star forming regions.[sup][15][/sup]I Zwicky 18 is a young dwarf galaxy at a distance of 45 million light-years. The youngest-known galaxy in the visible universe, I Zwicky 18 is about 4 million years old, about one-thousandth the age of the Solar System. It is filled with star forming regions which are creating many hot, young, blue stars at a very high rate.[sup][15][/sup]The Hubble Deep Field is located to the northeast of δ Ursae Majoris.Meteor showersEditThe Kappa Ursae Majorids are a newly discovered meteor shower, peaking between November 1 and November 10.[sup][19][/sup]Extrasolar planetsEditHD 80606, a sun-like star in a binary system, orbits a common center of gravity with its partner, HD 80607; the two are separated by 1,200 AU on average. Research conducted in 2003 indicates that its sole planet, HD 80606 b is a future hot Jupiter, modeled to have evolved in a perpendicular orbit around 5 AU from its sun. The 4-Jupiter mass planet is projected to eventually move into a circular, more aligned orbit via the Kozai mechanism. However, it is currently on an incrediblyeccentric orbit that ranges from approximately one astronomical unit at itsapoapsis and six stellar radii at periapsis.[sup][20][/sup] HistoryEditUrsa Major has been reconstructed as anIndo-European constellation.[sup][21][/sup] It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century AD astronomer Ptolemy in his Almagest. It is mentioned by such poets as Homer, Spenser,Shakespeare, Tennyson and Federico Garcia Lorca (in “Song for the Moon”[sup][22][/sup]). The Finnish epic Kalevala mentions it, Vincent van Goghpainted it. In 2009, the American rock bandThird Eye Blind named their fourth album,Ursa Major, after the constellation. It may be mentioned in the biblical book of Job, dated between the 7th and 4th centuries BC, although this is disputed.[sup][23][/sup] MythologyEdit

Ursa Major and Ursa Minor in relation to PolarisThe constellation of Ursa Major has been seen as a bear by many distinct civilizations.[sup][24][/sup] This may stem from a common oral tradition stretching back more than 13,000 years.[sup][25][/sup] Using statistical and phylogenetic tools, Julien d’Huy reconstructs the following Palaeolithic state of the story: “There is an animal that is a horned herbivore, especially an elk. One human pursues this ungulate. The hunt locates or get to the sky. The animal is alive when it is transformed into a constellation. It forms the Big Dipper”.[sup][26][/sup]In Burmese, Pucwan Tārā (pronounced “bazun taja”) is the name of a constellation comprising stars from the head and forelegs of Ursa Major; pucwan is a general term for acrustacean, such as prawn, shrimp, crab,lobster, etc.In Roman mythology, Jupiter (the king of the gods) lusts after a young woman namedCallisto, a nymph of Diana. Juno, Jupiter’s jealous wife, discovers that Callisto has a son named Arcas, and believes it is by Jupiter.[sup][27][/sup]Juno then transforms the beautiful Callisto into a bear so she no longer attracts Jupiter. Callisto, while in bear form, later encounters her son Arcas. Arcas almost shoots the bear, but to avert the tragedy, Jupiter turns Arcas into a bear too and puts them both in the sky, forming Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. Callisto is Ursa Major and her son, Arcas, is Ursa Minor. In ancient times the name of the constellation was Helike, (“turning”), because it turns around the Pole. In Book Two of Lucan it is called Parrhasian Helice, since Callisto came from Parrhasia in Arcadia, where the story is set.[sup][28][/sup] The Odyssey notes that it is the sole constellation that never sinks below the horizon and “bathes in the Ocean’s waves”, so it is used as a celestial reference point fornavigation.[sup][29][/sup] It is also referred to as the “Wain”.[sup][30][/sup]One of the few star groups mentioned in theBible (Job 9:9; 38:32; — Orion and thePleiades being others), Ursa Major was also pictured as a bear by the Jewish peoples. (“The Bear” was translated as “Arcturus” in theVulgate and it persisted in the KJV.)In Finnish language, the asterism is sometimes called with its old Finnish name,Otava. The meaning of the name has been almost forgotten in Modern Finnish; it means a salmon weir. Ancient Finns believed thebear (Ursus arctos) was lowered to earth in a golden basket off the Ursa Major, and when a bear was killed, its head was positioned on a tree to allow the bear’s spirit to return to Ursa Major.The Iroquois Native Americans interpreted Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid as three hunters pursuing the Great Bear. According to one version of their myth, the first hunter (Alioth) is carrying a bow and arrow to strike down the bear. The second hunter (Mizar) carries a large pot — the star Alcor — on his shoulder in which to cook the bear while the third hunter (Alkaid) hauls a pile of firewood to light a fire beneath the pot.The Wampanoag people (Algonquian) Native Americans referred to Ursa Major as “maske”, meaning “bear” according to Thomas Morton in The New England Canaan.[sup][31][/sup]In Hinduism, Ursa Major is known asSaptarshi, each of the stars representing one of the Saptarshis or Seven Sages viz. Bhrigu, Atri, Angirasa, Vasishta, Pulastya, Pulalaha and Kratu. The fact that the two front stars of the constellations point to the pole star is explained as the boon given to the boy sage Dhruva by Lord Vishnu.In Javanese, as known as “Bintang Kartika”. This name comes from Sanskrit which refers “krttikã” the same star cluster. In ancientJavanese this brightest seven stars are known as Lintang Wuluh, literally means “seven stars”. This star cluster is so popular because its emergence into the sky signals the time marker for planting.In South Korea, the constellation is referred to as “the seven stars of the north”. In the related myth, a widow with seven sons found comfort with a widower, but to get to his house required crossing a stream. The seven sons, sympathetic to their mother, placed stepping stones in the river. Their mother, not knowing who put the stones in place, blessed them and, when they died, they became the constellation.In Shinto, the 7 largest stars of Ursa Major belong to Amenominakanushi, the oldest and most powerful of all kami.In China and Japan, the Big Dipper is called the “North Dipper” 北斗 (Chinese: běidǒu,Japanese: hokuto), and in ancient times, each one of the seven stars had a specific name, often coming themselves from ancient China:”Pivot” 樞 (C: shū J: sū) is for Dubhe (Alpha Ursae Majoris)”Beautiful jade” 璇 (C: xuán J: sen) is for Merak (Beta Ursae Majoris)”Pearl” 璣 (C: jī J: ki) is for Phecda (Gamma Ursae Majoris)”Authority” 權 (C: quán J: ken) is for Megrez (Delta Ursae Majoris)”Measuring rod of jade” 玉衡 (C: yùhéng J:gyokkō) is for Alioth (Epsilon Ursae Majoris)”Opening of the Yang” 開陽 (C: kāiyáng J:kaiyō) is for Mizar (Zeta Ursae Majoris)Alkaid (Eta Ursae Majoris) has several nicknames: “Sword” 劍 (C: jiàn J: ken) (short form from “End of the sword” 劍先 (C: jiàn xiān J: ken saki)), “Flickering light” 搖光 (C:yáoguāng J: yōkō), or again “Star of military defeat” 破軍星 (C: pójūn xīng J: hagun sei), because travel in the direction of this star was regarded as bad luck for an army.[sup][32][/sup]In Theosophy, it is believed the Seven Stars of the Pleiades focus the spiritual energy of theSeven Rays from the Galactic Logos to theSeven Stars of the Great Bear, then to Sirius, then to the Sun, then to the god of Earth(Sanat Kumara), and finally through the sevenMasters of the Seven Rays to the human race.[sup][33][/sup]The Lakota people call the constellationWičhákhiyuhapi, or “Great Bear”.”[sup][34][/sup]
Taweret, Egyptian goddess, as a bipedal hippopotamus. Graphic visualisationEditIn European star charts, the constellation was visualized with the ‘square’ of the Big Dipper forming the bear’s body and the chain of stars forming the Dipper’s “handle” as a long tail. However, bears do not have long tails, and Jewish astronomers considered Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid instead to be three cubs following their mother, while the Native Americans saw them as three hunters.
H. A. Rey’s alternative asterism for Ursa Major can be said to give it the longer head and neck of a polar bear, as seen in this photo, from the leftside.Noted children’s book author H. A. Rey, in his 1952 book The Stars: A New Way to See Them,(ISBN 0-395-24830-2) had a different asterismin mind for Ursa Major, that instead had the “bear” image of the constellation oriented with Alkaid as the tip of the bear’s nose, and the “handle” of the Big Dipper part of the constellation forming the outline of the top of the bear’s head and neck, rearwards to the shoulder,[sup][35][/sup] potentially giving it the longer head and neck of a polar bear. Because of Rey’s book, many amateur astronomers[sup][who?][/sup]have come to accept Rey’s star chart interpretation of Ursa Major,[sup][citation needed][/sup]dropping the idea of the Big Dipper’s “handle” as being the hind end of the bear, with a non-natural “tail” extending rearwards. ”
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” During Egyptian history, she was called by three names – Ipet (‘harem’), Taweret (‘great one’) and Reret (‘the sow’). Of the three, the cult of Taweret assimilated the other two versions of this goddess, despite the Temple of Ipet (often translated to be ‘Harem’ rather than the name of the goddess) at Karnak.   In Egyptian astronomy, Taweret was linked to the northern sky. In this role she was known as Nebetakhet, the Mistress of the Horizon – the ceiling painting of the constellations in the tomb of Seti I showed her in this capacity. She was thought to keep the northern sky – a place of darkness, cold, mist, and rain to the Egyptians”

” At Thebes, she was also thought to be the mother of Osiris, and so linked to the sky goddess Nut. Another part of this theology was that it was Amen, who became the supreme god rather than Ra, who was the father of Osiris. It was believed that Amen came to Taweret (called Ipet at this particular time) and joined with her to ensure the renewal of the cycle of life. Ipet herself had become linked with the original wife of Amen, Amaunet (invisibility). It was at Karnak that she was believed to have given birth to Osiris. In later times, Ipet was assimilated by Mut who took her place as the wife of Amen and mother goddess.
Plutarch described Taweret as a concubine of Setwho had changed her ways to become a follower of Horus. In this form, she was linked to the goddess Isis. It was thought that the goddess kept Set’s powers of evil fettered by a chain. This is probably because she was a hippo goddess while Set was sometimes seen as a male hippo. The male hippopotamus was seen by the Egyptians as a very destructive creature, yet the female hippopotamus came to symbolise protection. This is probably why Set was, in later times, regarded as evil while Taweret was thought to be a helpful goddess, deity of motherhood and protector of women and children. ”
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”  sow (n.) Old English sugu, su “female of the swine,” from Proto-Germanic *su- (source also of Old Saxon, Old High German su, GermanSau, Dutch zeug, Old Norse syr), from PIE root *su- (source also of Sanskrit sukarah”wild boar, swine;” Avestan hu “wild boar;” Greek hys “swine;” Latin sus”swine,” swinus “pertaining to swine;” Old Church Slavonic svinija “swine;” Lettishsivens “young pig;” Welsh hucc, Irish suig”swine; Old Irish socc “snout, plowshare”), possibly imitative of pig noise, a notion reinforced by the fact that Sanskritsukharah means “maker of (the sound) ‘su.’ ” Related to swine. As a term of abuse for a woman, attested from c. 1500. Sow-bug “hog louse” is from 1750. ”
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amenominakanushi
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” He sits within a canopy of six-pointed stars, representing the celestial influences at work in this Tarot card. The crescent moons on the man’s shoulders are outward facing to refer to the formative world. The symbols on his tunic are alchemical symbols, representing the spiritual transformation of man. The square signifies earth, a sign of strength of will. The laurel and star crown indicate the highest attainment of man in spiritual evolution.The wings on the Chariot represent inspiration and the Hindu sign of the union of positive and negative. The black and white sphinxes have the same meaning. The Charioteer holds no reins, just the wand from the Magician card. He controls through strength of will in the same way the Magician does. The city is behind him, indicating he has turned his back on civilisation and materialism in order to seek spiritual matters.”
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http://www.constellationsofwords.com/Constellations/UrsaMajor.html
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” Located at the top of the heavens the stars of the two bear-constellations, Ursa Major andUrsa Minor, never set, i.e., they never disappear below the horizon, they are always visible in the night sky, all night, every night, throughout the year. One of these stars, Polaris, the Pole Star in Ursa Minor, appears to stand still making it a good reference point for navigators at sea to identify, while the other stars in these two constellations, called circumpolar stars, revolve around it.
One myth explains why they were positioned so; Zeus (Jupiter) placed Callisto in the sky as the constellation Ursa Major, or ‘Great Bear,’ and her son, Arcas who was also Zeus’ son, as Ursa Minor, as ‘Little Bear’:”Hera, Zeus’ wife, was not pleased with this arrangement, especially since Callisto was another of her husband’s infidelities. She went to her nurse, Tethys, the wife ofOceanus, and beseeched her to punish Callisto and Arcas. Tethys decided to deprive the pair of water, and so the Great Bear and the Little Bear are cursed to circle in the skies, never to dip below the horizon for a refreshing bath or a cool drink” [1].The constellations never sink below the horizon, thus they never appear to be going into the water.The Ursa of Ursa Major is from the Indo-European root *rtko, ‘Bear’. Derivatives: arctic(meaning north from Latin arcticus, from Greekarktikos), ursine (bear-like), from Latin ursus,Greek arktos. [Pokorny rktho-s 875. Watkins]. The names Ursula and Orson, are related.In the northern branches of the Indo-European languages, the name of the bear was subject to a taboo and there was a proliferation of euphemisms; ‘honey-licker’, ‘honey eater’, ‘shaggy’, etc. The word for bear in Russian is ‘medved‘, and the same in Czech. In Polish, bear is a similar word ‘niedzwiedz‘, and in Old Church Slavonic, bear is ‘medvedi‘. All of these words mean something like ‘honey-eater’ and are derived from the common Slavic words ‘medu‘ = ‘honey’ (PIE *medhu-, from which we also get the English word ‘mead’, an alcoholic beverage made from fermented honey and water) plus ‘ed-‘ = ‘eat’ [2]. Our word bear[sup]2[/sup] appears to be another taboo term, from Dutch ‘bruin‘, meaning ‘the brown one’, French ‘brun‘ and ‘brunette’. Related to the Norse name Bjorn, and place-namesBerlin, Berne. Our word bear, the animal, comes from the Indo-European root *bher[sup]2[/sup], ‘Bright, brown.’ Derivatives: brown (one meaning of brown was ‘shining’, and it was often used to describe swords in Old English poetry), bruin (a bear),Bruno (name), brunet, burnet, burnish (meant to make something brown.), from Old French brun, shining, brown, beaver (a semiaquatic rodent noted for felling trees to build dams and partially submerged dens called lodges), Bernard (name, ‘bold bear’), bear² (the animal), from Old Englishbera, bear, from Germanic *ber, ‘the brown animal’), berserker, from Old Norse björn, bear, from Germanic *bernuz. [Pokorny 5. bher– 136.]There might be a relationship between the rootsbear[sup]1[/sup], to tolerate (from *bher[sup]1[/sup]), and bear[sup]2[/sup] (from *bher[sup]2[/sup]). Aristotle (according to Olcott, p.348) “held that the name (Ursa) was derived from the fact that of all known animals the bear was thought to be the only one that dared to venture into the frozen regions of the north and tempt the solitude and cold”. According to Hesiod“Zeus put Callisto among the stars, giving her the name Bear because of the misfortune which had befallen her.” The bear was the only animal able to bear the cold. Navigators used the two bear constellations (Ursa Major and Ursa Minor) to get their bearings on sea. The Little Bear, Ursa Minor has the North Pole, Polaris, the North Star, so by finding it you can find which way is true north. The pointer stars in this constellationMerak and Dubhe, point to Polaris.Arabs imagined the asterism, the Big Dipper, as a Bier with the three stars in the tail as the mourners following the Bier. Olcott (p.350) says the title “‘the Bier’ is so similar to the almost universal appellation ‘the Bear,’ that we might almost suppose that the latter title was a confused rendering of the former.”In the Hindu tradition, the Great Bear (sapta–riksha) is the abode of the seven Rishi; identifying Kratu with the star Dubhe; Pulaha with Merak; Pulastya with Phecda; Atri withMegrez; Angiras with Alioth; Vasishtha withMizar; Bhrigu with Alkaid. [2]Ursa Major represents Callisto (Kallisto) as the Great Bear. Callisto from Greek kalos, or kallos, beautiful, from the Indo-European root *kal-[sup]2[/sup], ‘Beautiful’. Derivatives: Callisto, calomel,kaleidoscope, (these words from Greek kalos, beautiful), calligraphy, Calliope (the Muse of epic poetry), hemercallis (the day-lily),’calisthenics‘, from Greek kallos, beauty. [Pokorny 2. kal– 524. Watkins]Kaleidoscope literally means ‘observer of beautiful forms’, ‘a complex, colorful, and shifting pattern or scene’, or, ‘a complex set of events or circumstances’. The word might relate to this explanation of how this constellationUrsa Major appears to us as explained by Julius Staal:”The bear is a quadruped but is able to stand upright on two legs and move about like a human being. Much mythological significance has been ascribed to this similarity between the posture and movement of humans and bears. The daily circumpolar movement of Ursa Major is simple, easy to observe, and can be imagined readily as similar to the shifting movement of a bear changing regularly from quadrupedal to bipedal to quadrupedal posture. As Ursa Major makes its daily transit around the Pole star, it gives the appearance of a bear running on all fours when it is near the lower culmination of its transit. However, a few hours after lowest culmination the quadrangle gradually rises into an upright position, just as a real bear would do as it stands up in its cumbersome way” (The New Patterns in the Sky, Julius D.W. Staal).The female bear archetype might represent the ‘fallen woman’ in society, bears have loud passionate ‘love affairs’ and then part company leaving the female pregnant and alone. This was the experience of Callisto who was a hunting partner in Artemis’ virgin group. After she became pregnant by Zeus Callisto was cast out and turned into a bear (Ursa Major, the Great Bear) for her sexual transgressions against that society’s mores. Olcott (p.353) tells of a legend; “this constellation represented a Princess, transformed into a bear on account of her pride in rejecting all suitors. For this her skin was nailed to the sky as a warning to other proud maidens.” Female bears stay with their bear lovers for a period of time and studies have found that it is often the female that rejects the male causing him to leave her, also knowing he could harm the cubs.”Linguists hypothesize that in old common Germanic, the true name of the bear was under a taboo — not to be spoken directly. The exact details of the taboo are not known. Did it apply to hunters who were hunting the bear and did not want to warn it? Or to hunters hunting other animals and did not wanting to rile up the bear and have it steal their prey? Or did it apply to anyone who did not want to summon the bear by its name and perhaps become its prey? Whatever the details, the taboo worked so well that no trace of the original *rtko– word remains in Germanic languages, except as borrowed historically in learned words from Greek or Latin. The Greeks and Romans apparently had a more laid-back relationship with the bear, perhaps because there were relatively few encounters, and preserved the ancient name”.http://www.cloudline.org/LinguisticArchaeology.htmlSpeculating on the word dub: Dabu, was the Babylonian name the Great Bear constellation [3]. A bear is Hebrew Dobh, the name for this constellation; Phoenician Dub; and Arabian AlDubb. The English verb ‘to dub‘ means to give another name or nickname, or give a new title or description. Because of the taboo of calling a bear a bear, bears were dubbed with various descriptive titles in European languages.Helice representing Ursa Major, and Melissa (honey or honey bee), or Cynosura, representingUrsa Minor, were the nurses of the baby Zeus. The Latin name Helice and its Greek cognates seems to have been the most common title for this constellation with both Greeks and Romans. Of the name Helice Allen in Star Names says that in Greece Ursa Major was referred to as Elix(with the h dropped), meaning curved, or spiral (helix), and Elike, Homer’s Elikopes, apparently first used for the constellation by Aratos (310 BC – 240 BC). Some, however, derived the name from the curved or twisted position of the chief stars; and others, still more probably, from the city Helice, Kallisto’s birthplace in Arcadia [Star Names, see below] (ancient Helike a city on Gulf of Corinth lost in a tidal wave in 373 BC was rediscovered in 2001). The Roman poet Ovid used this title, Helice, in the Fasti, where he wrote of both the Bears, in navigation. Manilius (see below) also called it Helice. The word helixand the Greek name Helice comes from Greekelix, meaning a helix form, or revolving form, from the Indo-European root *wel-[sup]3[/sup] ‘To turn, roll’. Derivatives: waltz, welter, whelk¹ (marine snail),whelk, willow (Salix), walk, well¹ (a water hole),wallet, wale (a weal or welt), wallow, vault¹ (an arched structure), voluble, volume, volute,archivolt, circumvolve, convolve, devolve,evolve, evolution (to unroll as one unrolled a scroll), involve, revolve, (these words from Latinvolvere, to roll), convolution, devolution,evolution, revolt, revolution, vulva (the external genital organs of the female, including the labia majora, labia minora, clitoris, and vestibule of the vagina), valve, ileus (from Greek eilein),vale¹, valley (a vulva metaphor), Helen (from the Greek name Helen, oldest form Welen), helicon,helix, helicopter, (theses words from Greek helix, spiral object), Mt. Helicon (the legendary abode of the Muses), heliculture (snail farming), helical(spiral shaped), helico– (spiral), helminth (a worm, especially a parasitic roundworm or tapeworm) [Pokorny 7. wel– 1140. Watkins]”There the revolving Bear, which the Wain they call” [The shield of Achilles, in Sir John Herschel’s rendering: Allen, Star Names]”The Bear, revolving, points his golden eye”. [Pope rendered the original the Northern Team, and the lines on Orion: Allen, Star Names]The bear is a quadruped but is able to stand upright on two legs and walk (from *wel-[sup]3[/sup] ) like a human being.Maybe it is because the word Helice is a cognate with the word vulva that made it so taboo to call the bear by its real name?”The vulva is so called as if it were a folding-door, that is, the door of the belly; either because it receives the semen or because the fetus goes forth from it.” [The Aberdeen Bestiary][b

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