Orion, Renamed

Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored," closing in on that equinox moment! Sunlight and darkness in perfect balance. Oh! That's six words! Should be over on the other blog!

Yesterday I decided that I had the power to rename the constellation Orion to better suit my praise and worship purposes. A burning question remained: What to call the famous cluster of bright stars?

I pondered and pondered. This is not a decision entered upon lightly. It's not like the fate of the free world hangs on it or anything, but it's still important. To me.

Before dinner yesterday evening, my daughter The Spare came into the kitchen. Or I should say, she pirouetted into the kitchen and then stretched into a lovely arabesque.

That's when it hit me. Orion, you are now Pavlova!

If you think of the three stars in Orion's belt as three florets on a tutu, you can see Anna Pavlova, pausing in graceful arabesque, her delicate arm reaching above her head.

Pavlova's a pretty name too. If it conjures up visions of slobbering dogs, you've got the wrong person. That's Pavlov. And in his honor, as he was a pretty decent scientist, I have decided to keep the Dog Star as a dog! Winners all around!

Maybe I'll start a trend here. If you see a star or planet that you like, why depend on other people to give it a name? Choose your own name!

I'm on a roll. Next time I see Venus rising over the shopping mall, I'm going to call her Morrigan. Don't try to stop me. It's a free country, except for the taxes and that pesky homeland security surveillance.

Orion becomes Pavlova. Venus becomes Morrigan. Where's that leave Jupiter? Gosh, once you start this, it's hard to put it down!