CATASTERISM. – The transformation of human beings or mythological heroes into stars. Catasterism thus forms part of astrological doctrines (v. *Astrology*), and, like these, it originated in Mesopotamia. Among the earliest testimonies are those from Egypt, where, according to the “Pyramid Texts,” the king (as well as the queen), after death, could become Orion or be placed—new star—in this constellation by the goddess Nut.
In Greece, catasterism has singular philosophical precedents. Heraclitus and Plato had explained that the human soul came from the stars and would return to the stars after death; and the Pythagoreans also believed in this stellar destiny. With such a belief, it was easy for the Greeks to adopt Babylonian teachings and develop a system of stellar legends, in which the heroes of mythology continue their lives among the stars after death. Three theories emerged regarding this: a person could be elevated to the heavens even during life in his full personality; not the body, but only a part of the person (the eye, the arm, the heart, the soul, etc.) could benefit from this assumption; the person or his soul did not become new stars, but only luminous beings who would dwell in preexisting stars. Ancient fables thus received an astronomical determination, and poetic tales found a way to make their protagonists live in celestial form.
In the sky, Perseus finds Andromeda again, Chiron fraternizes with Orion; Heracles, Castor and Pollux, and others enjoyed this fortunate destiny. Catasterism represents the conclusion of countless mythical stories, a conclusion not devoid of moral foundation.
As a development of catasterism, one may consider the belief of the Hellenistic solar religion, according to which the king becomes a sign of the Zodiac (v.), or is placed as a new star in a constellation or in the Milky Way.
Even the Roman apotheosis of the emperor sometimes regarded the deceased emperor as an inhabitant of the stars.
Naturally, Christianity does not admit catasterism: an echo of it is found in certain authors, for example, where the two Bears become symbols of creation before and after Christ; the Dog is the Word; and the constellation
anomia ('Εγγόνασίν') is Adam kneeling who
confesses his sins, stretching one hand toward the Lyre (instrument of the Word) and the other toward the Crown,
which will be restored to him if he remains faithful to the harmony of Lyre and Word.