By both Liaf and Morfessa
Between the constellation of Gemini and the last one we will talk about, Leo, lies a very faint constellation of Cancer, the so-called crab. Again, this is where the ancients perverted the symbolism and changed it to what they saw. One depicts it as a beetle, another with a hawk's head, ultimately a crab. But when we get to the root core of the names, the intended meaning comes out. The Denderah name, however, is Klaria, or, "the cattle-folds". The theme has something to do with a fold or herd. Let's continue on. The Arabic name, Al Sartan means, "who holds or binds together" and this in turn may be derived from the Hebrew. In fact, the crab was an unclean creature and there was no specific Hebrew word for a crab, but was generally categorized with the term "vermin". Both the Syriac and Greek names also indicate "holding" or "encircling". The ancient Akkadian name of the month associated with Cancer is Su-kul-na, or "seizer and possessor of seed".
In the center of this constellation is the famous Beehive, or M44 cluster. Its ancient name was Praesepe, which means "a multitude" or "offspring". The brightest star Tegmine means "holding". The star alpha is named in both Hebrew and Arabic, Acubene. This means "the sheltering" or "hiding place". Another is named Ma'alaph, or, "assembled thousands". And lastly, Al Himarein, meaning, "the kids" or "the lambs". Let's put this all together: cattle-folds, including kids and lambs, binding together and encircling, sheltering, one who possesses them, and a multitude. This, as Bullinger stated, sounds like Messiah's redeemed possessions held fast. As we have stated before, Bullinger does not believe in the Lost Tribes, and yet according to him these constellations do not depict the church. How he personally reconciles the non-populous Jewish remnant with the prophecy of "multitudes" escapes us. However, what we do agree on here is that there is a large and protected flock of Israel, preserved and protected and finally gathered at the coming of Messiah. This large mass, of course, is preceded by the lesser spiritual fold (remember our teaching on this site that there are those of faith, be they from Israel or not, and a larger fold of physical seed of Abraham--- these people have material blessings due to the birthright promises, but do not necessarily have personal salvation or, that which is heavenly). In the end, however, these people will be gathered again to be placed in the land of Israel upon the return of Christ and the spiritual seed of Abraham. The truth of this can be well illustrated in the next two constellations, Ursa Minor (the Little Bear or Dipper) and Ursa Major (the Big Bear or Dipper).
What would an astronomy lesson be without including the famous Little Dipper and Big Dipper? The Little Dipper is easy to find, provided you are not with a group of friends who vehemently argue which direction is North while each are pointing 90 degrees apart from one another. (We had such people who will argue that using their cereal-box compass--- but with today's GPS and Internet mapping capabilities, you should be able to find true North without much difficulty.) The main star in Ursa Minor is called Polaris and is otherwise known as the North Star. Contrary to popular belief of zealous yet naive amateurs who enter into the astronomy field believing the North Star is the "brightest star in the heavens", it is really only a moderately bright star of the second magnitude. To find it is simple--- on a reasonably clear night, look due north and it will be there at an elevation about equal to your latitude. It always stays there since the Earth's pole points to it (within less than a degree). For example, Liaf lives at about 41 degrees north latitude, so Liaf sees it due North 41 degrees above the horizon (almost midway between horizon and straight overhead)--- use a protractor available wherever stationary items are sold to get a feel for angles if you are not certain. Morfessa lives closer to 29 degrees north latitude and therefore the North Star is due north only about 29 degrees above his horizon (or about one-third of the way from the horizon to straight overhead.). The name Polaris means "the turned" or "ridden on". Did you all get that? Indeed the North Star is the hub in which everything circles, including the sun and planets. You may be asking, "What is so great about that? We already know that!" There's one problem. If these star names were given thousands of years ago, the North Star was NOT the North Star then because of the precession of the equinoxes. Remember our earlier message that alpha Draconis was once the pole star used in the aligning of the Great Pyramid? So....Just how did these ancient "cavemen" know that the Polaris was going to be the North Star back then, unless, they were really more intelligent than we give them credit for, or they were indeed inspired as we teach here?
The truth of the matter concerning this constellation as Bullinger pointed out was that none of them pictures a little bear. Again, this constellation meaning was perverted. We find this interesting that the perverted meanings of mostly all these constellations in the sign of Cancer are significant since this has to do with little vs. big flocks of people of Israel--- just like the teaching about the Lost Tribes have been dismissed. Is this possibly for a reason? Well, that was just our thoughts. Back to the intended meanings found in the star names. As indicated by similar constellation names and pictures, the "Little Dipper" and "Big Dipper" go together. They even look alike. Since ancient times, in other words, they were seen as a pair (and not only their appearance, but their proximity is very close to each other as well). If we look to the Big Dipper, there is one star name that gives a clue to the intended meaning of both. The star name Dubheh means "a herd of animals". The confusion that these two constellations were bears is that the name of this star is similar to the word meaning a bear in some languages. In Hebrew, the word for bear and a fold are very similar, and thus is one source of confusion. (In Arabic, this similar word for "fold" is their word for "cattle"). The Hebrew word also connotes rest and security. Other star names include, Kochab, or, "waiting for him who comes", Al Pherkadain, or, "the young (calves)", Al Kaid, or, "the assembled", and Arcas, or, "the traveling company". Another interpretation is rendered "the stronghold of the saved". Bullinger brought out an interesting observation. Since Draco was once the pole star, those of the heavenly calling were removed from the domain of the dragon star (since he will be cast down from the heavens) and safely 'folded' there in Ursa Minor, now becoming the pole, or heavenly star. Ancient folklore also equated the northern regions with that which is heavenly. These people are "partakers of the heavenly calling" (Hebrews 3:1) waiting for that which they did not receive yet, but by faith know that they one day will (Hebrews 11:16). This was always the "lesser fold" or "little flock" compared with the populous Earthly seed of Abraham, who, without necessarily being saved, still enjoy the promised birthright blessings. Thus, we have here a fold, resting and secure--- the Little Dipper is the lesser fold of those who are of the heavenly calling, and Ursa Major, as we will see, represents the greater fold of God's earthly people Israel.
This sign turned out to be somewhat longer than we intended, so we will pick up with the second half in about a week or so dealing with Ursa Major and Argo, the ship.