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Ursa Major (Changing Bear Maiden) Navajo

The seven brothers became Ursa Major. The Big Dipper is the more famous part of the constellation.
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Courtesy of Nova Development Corporation

In Navajo myth, Ursa Majo , the Great Bear, originated from the story of the Changing Bear Maiden. In the story, a girl accepts a bear as her husband. Her younger sister tells the father, who in turn kills the bear. The older sister changes into a bear to get revenge.

The younger sister and seven brothers tried to flea their sister. The bear turns back into a girl and chases after her siblings. She eventually killed six of the brothers.

The seven brothers flew up into the sky and became Ursa Major.

Callisto and her son Arcas - Greek

Callisto and her son Arcas transformed as the Great Bear and the Bear Warden.
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(c) 1995 Visula Language. All rights reserved.

Callisto was a river goddess. Callisto was the favorite companion of the moon goddess Diana. One day the god Jupiter saw the beautiful Callisto and fell in love with her. Knowing that Diana had warned Callisto about men and gods, Jupiter pretended he was the goddess Diana.

In this disguise, Jupiter made the beautiful Callisto his girlfriend. She gave birth to a boy child named Arcas. Jupiter's wife Juno was mad and changed Callisto into a bear.

One day, when Arcas was a young man, he decided to go hunting. Callisto saw her son and, forgetting that she was a bear, rushed toward him to give him a hug. In fear of his life, Arcas lifted his bow and shot at the charging bear, who was his mother. A Callisto saw her son and, forgetting that she was a bear, rushed toward him to give him a hug.

In fear of his life, Arcas lifted his bow and shot at the charging bear. At the last moment, just before the arrow struck, Jupiter tossed Callisto and her son Arcas into the heavens as the constellations Ursa Major, the Great Bear and Bootes, the Bear Warden. Arcas is always found standing next to his mother.

Ursa Major

The Great Bear

The wood-nymph Callisto was a maiden in the wild region Arcadia. She was a huntress, "not one who spent her time in spinning soft fibres of wool, or in arranging her hair in different styles. She was one of Diana's warriors, wearing her tunic pinned together with a brooch, her tresses carelessly caught back by a white ribbon, and carrying in her hand a light javelin or her bow" (Metamorphoses II 412-415).

Jupiter caught sight of her and immediately desired her. He took on the shape of the goddess Diana and spoke to Callisto, who was delighted to see the form of her mistress. She began to tell him of her hunting exploits, and he responded by raping her. "She resisted him as far as a woman could--had Juno seen her she would have been less cruel--but how could a girl overcome a man, and who could defeat Jupiter? He had his way, and returned to the upper air" (Metamorphoses II 434-437).

The cruelty of Juno mentioned by Ovid resulted from the goddess's easily-aroused jealousy. Unfortunate Callisto bore a son to Jupiter, Arcas, infuriating Juno. Out of jealousy, the wife of Jupiter transformed the girl into a bear. She lived for a time in the wild, until Arcas came across her one day while hunting. Unknowingly, he was about to kill his mother in her bear form, but Jupiter took mercy on Callisto, stayed Arcas's hand, and transformed him into a lesser bear. The king of gods then placed both mother and son into the heavens as neighboring constellations.

The constellation Ursa Major, representing Callisto, is one of our most familiar. It includes the Big Dipper, perhaps the most-recognized feature of a constellation in the heavens.

The seven Rishis - Hindu

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According to the epic Mahabharata, composed in about 500 B.C., the stars of the Big Dipper were the seven sages called Rishis. These seven sages are said to be those who made the Sun rise and shine. They were happily married to seven sisters named Krttika. They originally all lived together in the northern sky.

But one day, the god of fire, Agni, emerged from the flames of an offering performed by the seven Rishis and fell in love with the seven Krttika. Trying to forget his hopeless love for the Krttika, Agni wandered in the forest where he met Svaha. To conquer Agni's love, Svaha disguised herself as six of the seven Krttika. Svaha could mimic only six of the Krttika because the seventh sister Arundhati was too devoted to her husband to be imitated.

After a while, Svaha gave birth to a child that she named Skanda. With his birth, rumors began to spread that six of the Rishis' wives were his mother. Six of the Rishis divorced their wives. Arundhati was the only one that remained with her husband as the star Alcor. The other six Krttika went away to become the Pleiades.

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