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Lore in the Stars
Star lore from around the world is easily accessed today via the internet. Sharing stories around a campfire or along a dusty trail as people traveled from place to place is possibly the most ancient of pastimes. When the sky is overcast and we cannot see the stars, we know they are still there, but keep hoping the next night will be clear to watch the phases of the Moon over the course of a moonth. Which is why our months are called months in the first place. The ancient people used the Moon to mark the passing of time, which is why there are thirteen constellations that mark the number of times there is a Full moon in a year. And Native American lore went by the monthly moons before the Europeans brought their calendar to this continent.
Where Europeans saw a plow, folks here saw a girl and her seven brothers who were hunting buffalo. The Pleiades were disobedient boys and girls who refused to come home after darkness fell and were drawn into the sky even as their mothers called them to come in for the evening meal from their dancing. Resembling a tiny dipper, they are best explored using 7x binoculars or a 15-20 telescope using the wide field of view. They are bathed in wispy ‘clouds’ and are fun to observe. How many stars are you able to discern?
Polaris, the North Star, is known as the home fire, with Queen Cassieopeia becoming First Revolving Woman and the Big Dipper asterism Revolving Man. The single lone star in the southern sky, Canopus, is Coyote, the trickster.
If the skies are clear be sure to head outside and look up and enjoy the steady gleam of Jupiter as sunlight reflects off its heavy atmosphere. You might want to spend some time learning about the various space missions that have been carried out since 1989 to learn about the giant of the solar system. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/galileo/ A later mission was sent in 2011. Juno - Jupiter Missions - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory | NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
The interest in the moons of Jupiter has increased to the point of plans being made to explore the moon Europa which concerns learning about the possibility of water ice beneath its frozen surface.
Let’s end this weekender with a non-scientific tale told by the ancient people of this continent. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy sharing star lore with you. All children everywhere ask questions about how things came to be and this is a favorite myth of mine: How does the night come?
Long ago, in the beginning of time, Mother Earth was watching her people working through the day while the golden Sky Strider shined his light on them. Sky Strider was following them along his path across the blue sky blanket, watching as the people grew more hungry, and more thirsty, and more weary from their labors. Mother Earth’s heart was troubled and she felt that there must be something that she could do to help her People. As she thought about what she could do and watched her people struggle, Mother Earth noticed the beautiful dark chief of the raven family as he flew from tree to tree and called to him thusly: “Hear me, winged darkness. Spread your wings and gather the darkness and pull it across the blue sky blanket and hide the light of Sky Strider.”
As the wind carried her voice to the raven, raven began to gather the threads of the night blanket but it was very large and hard for raven to pull. He called out to the other ravens of his family and they flew at once to gather the fringes of the night blanket and pulled it across the sky between the weary workers and Sky Strider.
The people went to their homes to eat their delicious soup of corn and beans and squash. They spoke of the goodness of Raven and his brothers as they sat around their campfire. When the fire dance ended, they went into their homes to wrap themselves in their warm blankets of buffalo hide and lay down on the soft branches of fir trees inside their homes to sleep. In the morning the blue jays of the morning flew, calling loudly to wake up the sleepers and set them again to work. Mother Earth smiled as the blue jays pulled the dark blanket of night aside, bringing the blue sky blanket forward so that Sun Strider could once again guide the people to their work.
And it is still that way today. Until next week, KLU
