Among the early Greek scholars, Pythagoras of the sixth century is generally credited with having had access to some secret science. His pupils, and their pupils, the so-called Pythagoreans, were cautious not to disclose their science to anyone who did not belong to their circle. Aristotle wrote of their interpretation of the nature of comets: "Some of the Italians called Pythagoreans say that the comet is one of the planets, but that it appears at great intervals of time and only rises a little above the horizon. This is the case with Mercury too; because it only rises a little above the horizon it often fails to be seen and consequently appears at great intervals of time." 5
This is a confused presentation of a theory; but it is possible to trace the truth in the Pythagorean teaching, which was not understood by Aristotle. A comet is a planet which returns at long intervals. One of the planets, which rises only a little above the horizon, was still regarded by the Pythagoreans of the fourth century as a comet. With the knowledge obtained from other sources, it is easy
Morals (transl. "by several hands," revised by W. W. Goodwin), Vol. Ill, Chap. XV. cf.
Roscher's Lexikon der Griech. u. Rom. Myth., col. 2182.
2 Hippolytus, The Refutation of All Heresies, I, Chap. XI. Plato, who was a contemporary of Democritus, similarly described the destruction of the earth and its future rebirth in a far-away region of the universe (Timaeus 56 D).
3 Seneca Naturales quaestiones vii. iii. 2. * Aristotle Meteorologica i. 6. 5 Ibid.
robin-bobin
WORLDS IN COLLISION 163
to guess that by "one of the planets" is meant Venus; only Mercury and Venus rise a little above the horizon.
Aristotle disagreed with the Pythagorean scholars who considered one of the five planets to be a comet.
"These views involve impossibilities. . . . This is the case, first, with those who say that the comet is one of the planets . . . more comets than one have often appeared simultaneously ... as a matter of fact, no planet has been observed besides the five. And all of them are often visible above the horizon together at the same time. Further, comets are often found to appear, as well when all the planets are visible as when some are not."6
With these words, Aristotle, who did not learn the secrets of the Pythagoreans directly, tried to refute their teaching by arguing that all five planets are in their places when a comet appears, as if the Pythagoreans thought that all comets were one and the same planet leaving its usual path at certain times. But the Pythagoreans did not think that one planet represents all comets.
According to Plutarch,7 they taught that each of the comets has its own orbit and period of revolution. Hence the Pythagoreans apparently knew that the comet which is "one of the planets"
is Venus.
The Comet Venus
During the centuries when Venus was a comet, it had a tail.
The early traditions of the peoples of Mexico, written down in pre-Columbian days, relate that Venus smoked. "The star that smoked, la estrella que humeava, was Sitlae choloha, which the Spaniards call Venus."1
"Now, I ask," says Alexander Humboldt, "what optical illusion could give Venus the appearance of a star throwing out smoke?"2
Sahagun, the sixteenth century Spanish authority on Mexico, wrote
«Ibid.
7 Plutarch, "Les Opinions des philosopher," in QZuvres de Plutarque (transl.
Amyot), Vol. XXI, Chap. Ill, Sec. 2.
1 Humboldt, Researches, II, 174; see E. T. Hammy, Codex Telleriano-Remensis (1899).
2 Humboldt, Researches, II, 174.
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that the Mexicans called a comet "a star that smoked." 3 It may thus be concluded that since the Mexicans called Venus "a star that smoked," they considered it a comet.
It is also said in the Vedas that the star Venus looks like fire with smoke.4 Apparently, the star had a tail, dark in the daytime and luminous at night. In very concrete form this luminous tail, which Venus had in earlier centuries, is mentioned in the Talmud, in the Tractate Shabbat: "Fire is hanging down from the planet Venus." 5
This phenomenon was described by the Chaldeans. The planet Venus "was said to have a beard."
6 This same technical expression ("beard") is used in modern astronomy in the description of comets.
These parallels in observations made in the valley of the Ganges, on the shores of the Euphrates, and on the coast of the Mexican Gulf prove their objectivity. The question must then be put, not in the form, What was the illusion of the ancient Toltecs and Mayas? but, What was the phenomenon and what was its cause? A train, large enough to be visible from the earth and giving the impression of smoke and fire, hung from the planet Venus.
Venus, with its glowing train, was a very brilliant body; it is therefore not strange that the Chaldeans described it as a "bright torch of heaven," 7 also as a "diamond that illuminates like the sun," and compared its light with the light of the rising sun.8 At present, the light of Venus is less than one millionth of the light of the sun. "A stupendous prodigy in the sky," the Chaldeans called it.9 vThe Hebrews similarly described the planet: "The brilliant light of 3 Sahagun, Historia general de las cosas de Nueva Espana, Bk. VII, Chap. 4. * J. Scheftelowitz, Die Zeit als Schicksalsgottheit in der iranischen Religion (1929), p. 4; Venus "aussieht wie ein robin-bobin
mit Rauch versehenes Feuer" ("looks like a fire accompanied by smoke"). Cf. Atharva-Veda vi.
3, 15. B Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Shabbat 156a.
6 M. Jastrow, Religious Relief in Rabylonia and Assyria (1911), p. 221; cf. J. Schaumberger,
"Der Bart der Venus' in F. X. Kugler, Sternkunde und Stern-dienst in Babel (3rd supp., 1935), p.
303.
7 "A Prayer of the Raising of the Hand to Ishtar," in Seven Tablets of Creation, ed. L. W. King.
8 Schaumberger in Kugler, Sternkunde und Stemdienst in Rabel, 3rd supp., p. 291.
»Ibid.
WORLDS IN COLLISION 165
Venus blazes from one end of the cosmos to the other end."10
The Chinese astronomical text from Soochow refers to the past when "Venus was visible in full daylight and, while moving across the sky, rivaled the sun in brightness." J1
.-As late as the seventh century, Assurbanipal wrote about Venus (Ishtar) "who is clothed with fire and bears aloft a crown of awful splendor."12 The Egyptians under Seti thus described Venus (Sekh-met): "A circling star which scatters its flame in fire ... a flame of fire in her tempest." 13
Possessing a tail and moving on a not yet circular orbit, Venus was more of a comet than a planet, and was called a "smoking star" or a comet by the Mexicans. They also called it by the name of Tzonte-mocque, or "the mane." 14 The Arabs called Ishtar (Venus) by the name Zebbaj or "one with hair," as did the Babylonians.15
"Sometimes there are hairs attached to the planets," wrote Pliny;1S an old description of Venus must have served as a basis for his assertion. But hair or coma is a characteristic of comets, and in fact "comet" is derived from the Greek word for "hair." The Peruvian name "Chaska" (wavy-haired) 17 is still the name for Venus, though at present the Morning Star is definitely a planet and has no tail attached to it.