Monoceros (Unicorn) in the sky

 Monoceros ( "unicorn") is a faint constellation on the celestial equator. Its definition is attributed to the 17th-century Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius. 

It is bordered by Orion to the west, Gemini to the north, Canis Major to the south, and Hydra to the east.

Officina Typographica, or Atelier Typographique, the Printing Office (actually ‘typing office’), was a minor constellation situated between the feet of the Unicorn. 

 Other bordering constellations include Canis Minor, Lepus, and Puppis.

The unicorn (Latin unus ‘one’ and cornus ‘horn’) is a mythical beast depicted with the body of a horse and a spiral horn on its forehead. 

The unicorn’s horn was said to have the property of being able to neutralize poisons. 

The picture of a Unicorn was the apothecaries’ ( one who prepares and sells drugs or compounds for medicinal purposes.)symbol.

 The powdered root of the ‘unicorn horn’ was believed to be a panacea (wonder  drug)for just about all illnesses.

Hippoi Monokeratas

Ancient Greek writers associated the unicorn with the Hippoi Monokerata, One Horned Asses, in which it is said “the fabulous unicorn of Medieval bestiaries (stories)was derived from this creature of Greek legend.”

The only likely extant earthly representation of this mythical beast is believed to be the rhinoceros.

 The rhinoceros is the only known land animal to possess a single horn and this horn is also credited with great healing properties. 

Powdered rhinoceros horns are regarded as a panacea in Eastern Asia, “effective against anything from nosebleeds and headaches to diphtheria and food poisoning” etc.

 The Asian rhino is Rhinocerosunicornis. 

In legend the unicorn is depicted with the body of a horse and a spiral horn on its forehead; the closest living relative to rhinoceros is the horse.

 Rhinoceros means literally ‘nose-horn.’ 

This feature is emphasized in the animal where the nasal passages is actually larger than the brain.

 Unlike the horns of other horned mammals which are bony, the rhino’s horn consists of keratin; densely compacted hair (the words ‘keratin’ and ‘horn’ come from I.E. *ker- ‘Horn, head’). 

The mono– of Monoceros derives from Greek monos, ‘alone, single’, from the Indo-European root *men-. Derivatives: monad, monastery, monk, mono-, minnow. 

The uni– of unicorn derives from Latin and from the Indo-European root *oi-no ‘One, unique’. Derivatives: a¹, an¹, once, one; alone (‘all one’), anon, atone, lone, lonely, none, uni-, union, unite, unit, unity, unanimous, unicorn, universe, onion, ace, any, unique, inch¹, ounce¹. 

 Amalthea was the she-goat that nourished the baby Jupiter, hence its horn became proverbially used for nourishment and abundance.

 This modern constellation, Monoceros, is a likely a representation of the ‘horn of plenty‘, the Cornucopia (cornu-copiae), that Zeus broke off his goat-nanny nurse, Amalthea, while playing with her as a baby; 

Amalthea, herself, was placed amongst the stars as Capra, the star Capella on the arm of the Constellation Auriga, the Charioteer.

 The  sacred goat having broken off one of her horns,

 Amaltheia filled it with flowers and fruits and presented it to Zeus, 

who placed it together with the goat amongst the stars. 

Confirming the widely held belief that the unicorn was thought to be the same as the rhinoceros, Isidore says:

“The rhinoceros (rhinoceron) is named with a Greek word;

 in Latin it means ‘horn on the nose‘. 

This is also the monoceron, that is, the unicorn (unicornus), 

because it has a single four-foot horn in the middle of its forehead,

 so sharp and strong that it tosses in the air or impales whatever it attacks. 

It often fights with the elephant and throws it to the ground after wounding it in the belly.

 It has such strength that it can be captured by no hunter’s ability, but, as those who have written about the natures of animals claim, if a virgin girl is set before a unicorn, as the beast approaches, she may open her lap and it will lay its head there with all ferocity put aside, and thus lulled and disarmed it may be captured.” 

Latin nares, plural of naris, ‘nostril’, means nose and nostrils, a translation of the Greek word for nose, rhin-, as in rhino-ceros. 

The word nose is from the Indo-European root *nas– nose. 

Derivatives include: nose, nuzzle, nostril, ness (a cape or headland), nasal, naso-, nasturtium, pince-nez, from Latin nasus, nose. nark (an informer, especially a police informer, narcotics agent), from Romany narke, nose, Narcissus .

In British slang the word ‘rhino‘ means ‘money’ and may have something to do with the origin of the expression “paying through the nose.”   

Rhinoceros are solitary creatures, both male and female rhinos establish territories. 

The bestiaries saw this animal as a symbol of the pious recluse who has renounced the world because it loves to dwell alone and remote from its kind .

“The concept of a unicorn is very real, even if the unicorn itself does not exist”. 

In the constellation Monoceros, near the nose of the unicorn, or the base of the unicorn’s horn, is a feature called the Rosette Nebula.It is called the eye of Monceros.

Stories about unicorns can be found from around the world.

 Magical deer and horse-like creatures with one horn in the middle of the forehead. 

In many Asian myths story of the unicorn begins with a statement that unicorn was the first creature that was created and it was the most magnificent and purest creature to wonder in this earth. 

Asian unicorn was told to be a gentle soul who would not even hurt a fly – quite literally.

 Unicorns were careful not to crush insects while walking. 

They did not eat fruits because of the life inside them. 

Their hooves barely touched the grass when they were running. 

This might have connections to the concept of ahimsa from Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina religions where one of the main principles is to honour life because all life is sacred.

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According to Eastern legends the free and wild unicorn who was also the most gentle of all beings would hide itself into the mystical other realms until day would come when mankind would give up on it´s evil ways.

 Only then would unicorn appear to men and would allow itself to be tamed.

Indus Valley Civilization

A creature with a single horn, conventionally called a unicorn is the most common image on the soapstone stamp seals of the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilization ("IVC"), from the centuries around 2000 BC.

 It has a body more like a cow than a horse, and a curved horn that goes forward, then up at the tip. 

The mysterious feature depicted coming down from the front of the back is usually shown; it may represent a harness or other covering.

 Typically the unicorn faces a vertical object with at least two stages; this is variously described as a "ritual offering stand", an incense burner, or a manger. 

The animal is always in profile on Indus seals, but the theory that it represents animals with two horns, one hiding the other, is disproved by a (much smaller) number of small terracotta unicorns, probably toys, and the profile depictions of bulls, where both horns are clearly shown. 

It is thought that the unicorn was the symbol of a powerful "clan or merchant community", but may also have had some religious significance.

A toy in Harappa

After years of believing that unicorns were nothing more than mythical fairy tale creatures, researchers have definitively proved that they did exist -- though not as pretty horses with pearly white manes, wings and horns.

Thanks to a newly discovered skull fossil found in the Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan, it's now known that the unicorn, or Elasmotherium sibiricum, roamed the planet roughly 29,000 years ago and looked more like a rhinoceros than a horse.

The study, published in the American Journal of Applied Sciences, also revealed that the unicorns stood about 6 feet tall, measured 15 feet long, and weighed around 8,000 pounds -- much larger than the horses that they were imagined to be.

The discovery was a shock to scientists, who initially thought that the creatures had gone extinct 350,000 years ago.

"Most likely, the south of Western Siberia was a (refuge), where this rhino (had been) preserved the longest in comparison with the rest of the range," Tomsk State University scientist Andrei Shpanksy noted in the research.

Sadly, no magical flying abilities were discovered, but one never knows what future studies will reveal.

In business, a unicorn is a privately held startup company valued at over $1 billion. 

The Honda Unicorn is a motorcycle developed by Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India and introduced in 2004.

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