Syzygy

(Noun) Pronounced siz-i-jee

March 11, 2023

Photo by Aleksa Kalajdzic (www.pexels.com)

Syzygy. A word that looks and sounds like something other than a word. There’s even some confusion about when syzygy, as a word, was first used. Dictionary.com says the first known use took place sometime between 1650–1660 and Merriam-Webster.com states first use was 1847. I tend to hold close to the tried-and-true Merriam-Webster, but there are also links to syzygy from Ptolemy’s work in the 2nd century! The etymology of syzygy is clearer: it’s from the Late Latin syzygia, to denote a conjunction (a combination, a concurrence) and from the Greek Συζυγία, meaning yoked together.

This fuzzy-sounding word first drew my attention because of its astronomical meaning—I love the night sky and yearn to understand more about our galaxy (and others). Quickly, however, my research of the word syzygy took me into a word-journey not unlike an Alice in Wonderland trip. There are so many, varied applications for this word and each one is worthy of a deep dive. Syzygy is featured in Carl Jung’s philosophy regarding the anima and the animus. Gnosticism (religious systems from the late 1st century AD) used the word Aeon to mean “male/female pairs called syzygies” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeon-Gnosticism) and much more!

Here are four of the many definitions of this word (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syzygy):

• syzygy (astronomy): the alignment of three or more celestial bodies.

• syzygy (philosophy): Vladimir Solovyov’s concept denoting a close union.

• syzygy (poetry): the combination of two metrical feet into a single unit.

• syzygy (biology): the pairing of chromosomes during meiosis.

From the plethora of scintillating definitions, I have chosen one direct reference—the one related to astronomy—and one intriguing offshoot of syzygy, Caledonian Antisyzygy, to feature in this Bellewether Blog post. Here are two brief explorations of syzygy, the shortest word in the English language with three Ys!

Syzygy/Astronomy

“Whenever we experience a new moon or a full moon, the Earth, Sun, and Moon are in alignment. That is the basic definition of a syzygy: the alignment of three or more celestial bodies. In the case of Earth-Moon-Sun, this sometimes results in an eclipse of the Sun or the Moon.” (https://astrosociety.org: A Historic Undertaking: Finding Syzygy in the 14th Century, July 12, 2019.)

Humans have been studying the night sky for thousands of years. Ptolemy’s work, The Almagest, (dated around 150 CE) shows a mathematical method of calculating an astronomical syzygy. Other late medieval texts contain Latin and Hebrew astronomy tables focused solely on syzygies and eclipses. These cosmic phenomena fascinated and frightened many ancient humans and incredible stories were created around them. In Korea, it was thought that two fire dogs, known as Bul-Gae, would chase the sun and moon in an attempt to eat them. When caught, the sun was too hot and the moon too cold, so the dogs were forced to release them.

Syzygy/Anti-syzygy/Scottish Literature

Caledonian Antisyzygy refers to the idea of dueling polarities within one entity. Caledonian antisyzygy, was first spoken of by the Scottish literary critic G. Gregory Smith (1865-1932) in response to the (mistaken) view (by T.S. Eliot and others) that there is no value in Scottish provincial literature, since there isn’t a foundation in a single language. Mr. Smith argued that diversity is a legitimate base for Scottish literature and that combining opposites is not a cultural trait unique to the Scots. Here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caledonian_Antisyzygy), Mr. Smith uses the antithesis of syzygy, antisyzygy, in his 1919 book Scottish Literature: Character and Influence and, I must add, gives us a fantastic, bold, ending statement that may be worth exploration:

“…we find at closer scanning that the cohesion … is apparent, that the literature is remarkably varied, and that it becomes, under the stress of foreign influence, almost a zigzag of contradictions. The antithesis need not, however, disconcert us. Perhaps in the very combination of opposites—"the Caledonian antisyzygy"—we have a reflection of the contrasts which the Scot shows at every turn... we need not be surprised to find that in his literature the Scot presents two aspects which appear contradictory. Oxymoron was ever the bravest figure, and we must not forget that disorderly order is order after all.”

“Oxymoron was ever the bravest figure, and we must not forget that disorderly order is order after all.” Ha! I love this statement. Were truer words ever spoken? Happy vernal equinox to all!

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