Winter Sky, the Pleiades and the Faerie Star
The sky has been clear the last few nights, an unusual happening on the Oregon Coast in winter so I’ve been able to indulge my favorite sky-watching activity next to meteor showers – gazing with awe at the nightly march of the Pleiades, Orion, and Sirius across the dome of night.
For those of you who are not ardent star-gazers, let me explain the fascination. The dominant feature in the Northern Hemisphere’s winter night sky is the constellation Orion, the hunter – the one constellation that almost anyone can find. If you follow the stars of Orion’s belt upwards, you find the Pleiades; if you follow them down, you’ll get to Sirius. These three features of the night sky account for a lot of astronomical lore related to ancient human structures, from the Pyramids of Egypt to the ones in the Yucatan. They’re also so easy to recognize it feels like I’m finding old friends in a crowd.
My favorite of these is the Pleiades, perhaps because of the mythology around them. The Pleiades are also known as “the seven sisters;” actually a cluster of hundreds of stars, there are seven generally visible to the naked eye. According to Greek myths, the titan Atlas and the sea-nymph Pleione had seven daughters who were nymphs, serving Artemis. “After Atlas was forced to carry the heavens on his shoulders, Orion began to pursue all of the Pleiades, and Zeus transformed them first into doves, and then into stars to comfort their father. The constellation of Orion is said to still pursue them across the night sky.” (from Wikipedia)
Photo by Jason Ware
This star cluster has captivated humans for millennia. A little internet research will turn up myths from every continent, each of them having some group of seven humans who for various reasons are transformed into stars.
In the Faerie Realm, the Pleiades are associated with the seven pointed Faerie Star (or Elven Star). According to Faerie lore, the seven pointed star is a gateway symbol, signifying the intersection between the human and Faerie realms. Three points on each side, perfectly matched, and a seventh point where the two worlds meet. This is the energetic structure that allows us to move between the worlds.
Knowing that nothing in the Faerie Realm is merely symbolic, I called on my favorite wisdom teachers from the Otherworld to help me understand the connection between the Faerie Star and the Pleiades. “I understand that the energy movement within a seven pointed star is the key for opening Faerie gateways but how do the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades, fit into this?”
“Meet me at the Fairy Circle tonight, before the moon rises,” I was told. “Wear your parka and bring a blanket. And bring chocolate.”
Fortunately, the weather report calls for clear skies tonight and I have a stash of chocolate. If I get any answers, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, do you have any thoughts about the relationship between the Pleiades and the Faerie Star? If you do, please share in “comments” below.
© Bridget Wolfe, 2013
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I have to tell you how much I appreciate (my whole family will too) your fairy magical whimsical and imaginative website and blog. What a fun and wonderous space you’ve created. Thanks for sharing with all of us! Charlotte
Hi Charlotte! Thank you for your comment. I’m delighted you’ve found Fairy Woodland and this blog and took the time to let us know. I hope you’ll visit often – please say “hello” when you do.
Bright Blessings,
Bridget
Oh I definitely will. I also shared your places with my sisters, mom and kids…then off to all their friends. We love your spirit.
And hey. If you could possibly help my little growing vintage & retro shop get seen I sure would appreciate that. I don’t have a big following & am still learning. Here’s my etsy shop if you would help share me. (: happy smiles to you all….Char https://www.etsy.com/shop/NostalgicByNature?ref=si_shop
Hi I don’t have a thought on that as such.. Here we Maori believe the Plaedies are seven sisters and thier mother Matariki. We celebrate a new year when this cluster appear. Strangely to blend my Scottish Fairy descent with my Maori descent I got a tattoo on my hand done last year.. It is a fairy sitting on moon credentials with Plaedies behind.. Just found it very interesting to find this read.. Wow.. I’m still unsure why I got this particular symbolism tattooed on and I think it was on a subconscious level.. So yes interesting indeed.. Love to hear more.
I came across this post when I did a quick google search of Faerie & the pleiades.
I did a full moon meditation with a friend two nights ago, and our destination was to journey to the pleiades and ask for their help. All my mental images from the journey left me with the feeling that whatever pleiadians i’d encountered really seemed to remind me of faerie. There was lots of running water where they were, their skin was a light pearly green, and they entered/exited the earth through the sides of hills. When I asked them about anchoring love on the planet, they said “love is green” and said we need more trees, more plants, more vegetation–because that raises the heart vibration of the entire planet. I felt like they were strongly connected to nature spirits….?
After the journeying, I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of connection there could be between that star system and faerie. Hope to learn more!!
Did you learn anything about it after taking out your offering of chocolate?
Thank you for the post and all the work you do!
Much love,
grace