<P> The passage "Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?" is found in the Bible's Book of Job and Book of Amos . Tennyson's poem The Princess describes Orion's belt as: </P> <P>... those three stars of the airy Giant's zone, That glitter burnished by the frosty dark . </P> <P> The three stars of the belt are known in Spain, Portugal and South America as Las Tres Marías . They also mark the northern night sky when the Sun is at its lowest point, and were a clear marker for ancient timekeeping . In the Philippines and Puerto Rico, they are called the Los Tres Reyes Magos . The stars start appearing in early January around the time of Epiphany, the Christian holiday commemorating the visit of the Magi to the Child Jesus . </P> <P> In Finnish mythology, the Belt of Orion is called Väinämöisen vyö (Väinämöinen's Belt). The stars which appear to "hang" off the belt form an asterism called Kalevanmiekka (Kaleva's sword). In pre-Christian Scandinavia, the belt was known as Frigg's Distaff (Friggerock) or Freyja's distaff . Similarly Jacob's Staff and Peter's Staff were European biblical derived terms, as were the Three Magi, or the Three Kings . Väinämöinen's Scythe (Kalevala) and Kalevan Sword are terms from Finnish mythology . </P>

The distance to the three stars in orion’s belt