The stars in the
cluster known as the Pleiades are considered to be sibling stars in both myth
and science.[1]
They were apparently ‘born’ from the same cloud of gas some 100 million years
ago, though they have evolved at different rates due to their different mass. Comprised
of seven main stars that are visible to the naked eye. In Greek mythology they represented
the seven daughters of the mythological figures of Atlas and Pleione, and each
were given names and complex stories associating them with the pantheon of
seducing gods, especially Zeus. They tell tales that underpin this mainly anthropocentric worldview as a means for
explaining (mansplaining?) human behaviour in its relationship to the world of
natural phenomena.
Then there are many cross-cultural stories, originating in prehistoric, pre-Neolithic cultures passed on down the millennia and created around loss and return,
through which the strength, power and primal source of women is expressed and
revered.[2]
Developed in association with observation of seasonal
changes in the natural world many have been forgotten, but some are still maintained within contemporary Indigenous cultures. In the Northern Hemisphere the
first sighting of the Pleiades above the horizon in May signalled the season of
spring and the beginning of the sailing season for maritime fishing and trade and the seasonal planting
of crops. In
Celtic folklore the first showing of the cluster above the horizon in late May
gave cause for the festival of life returning; and their disappearance in
November the festival of death (Hallowe'en, or Samhain, which later became All Souls Day). Their
movement across the night sky was symbol of the life cycle of life-in-death-in
life, celebrated at the two Solstices. From the Crone aspect of Goddess
cultures, the Pleiades are the seven judges of one’s life activities at the end
of life, known as Kritikas (meaning razor in Greek and from
which we get the word ‘critical’). It is the job of these sisters to assess one’s place in the after-life. Such concepts relating to end of life
judgment were held in pre-Vedic India, in the archaic traditions of Egypt and
no doubt other areas of the Middle East. The seven branches of the menorah (which
translates as ‘moon priestesses’, and which were traditionally decorated with
typical female genital symbols, lilies and almonds) may have represented the
seven sisters.[3]
For those of us who live in the South the seasons are reversed, since May takes us into the winter
season of dormancy and underground activities. In a imaginary, or a ‘mode of perception, in which all of the world is
alive with spirit’, creating a lore
that situates Australian Indigenous peoples in deep spiritual
relationship to all creatures and landscapes and celebrates the harmonious
relationship between humans and their natural environment, the behaviour of the
protagonists nevertheless has extraordinary similarities to the stories of the
Pleiades evolved in other cultures.[4]
In Australia the sighting of the Seven Sisters from dusk until dawn signals the
time of growing coldness, associated with frosts on the ground, and the ending
of the warmer months, so the narrative has the young women as very beautiful, their
bodies sparkling with icicles. They refuse the courtship of amorous young men
of another tribe, who tempt them with fresh honey, but when they are refused,
pine away and die. Two of the sisters are abducted by a fiery Ancestor spirit, who tries to
melt their icicles, which only results in putting out his fire but explains why
there are two less bright stars in the cluster. In this season the Meamei, as they are called, break
off some ice and throw it to Earth, which is used to numb the nose before it is
pierced in the memory of the seven sisters who once dwelt on country before
becoming glittering celestial bodies. There are other associations deriving
from this story held in lore.[5]
Here is another source used.[6]
Contemplating,
cogitating, ruminating over how to represent this significant cluster in human
cultural traditions I decided to listen to Jimmy Little’s song ‘Seven sisters’
from his album Resonate: “…we cannot
do great things, but only small things with great love.” After toying with
different fabrics and positions, feeling a little reassured by the lyrics and
more akin to the story of the sisters, I am encouraged to keep holding the
space in which the cluster form will take shape. This image shows one possible
rendition, one that was discarded for reasons I’ll explain later.
[1] In the process of this
research I began to understand where the names for the models of many cars have
originated. And when I look into the star cluster of the Pleiades I realise
that the design for the logo of the popular Suburu range of cars is based on
these wonderful seven sisters (though there only six in the logo), whose story
goes way back prior to vehicle automation.
[3] Barbara Walker, 1988, The woman’s dictionary of symbols and sacred objects, Harper &
Row: San Francisco
[5] ibid
[6] Antonella Riem Natale, 2012, The
Pleiades and the dreamtime: an Aboriginal Women’s story and other ancient world
traditions, Coolabah, no. 9, Centre for Australian Studies: University of
Barcelona.
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