The well-known writer LESLIE MARMON SILKO has a very interesting idea – that star beings come to earth crossing over occasionally when the membranes of parallel worlds are more permeable than usual. She painted some star beings and they spoke to her without words…. Some were not friendly; most of hers lacked compassion and didn’t care much for human beings.
This made me think about astrology, a very popular cultural belief system that has ancient origins involving divination and was once correlated with the stars in our galaxy and the patterns they created (the stories they might have been telling and others we told about them), but has since split away into a very fixed system that make little sense to me. However, since the 60’s popular astrology has become a kind of religion for some. Perhaps astrology is taking the place of religions of various kinds that are in a state of collapse?
It seems to me that humans need STORY… the stories may change but the need to create them does not. We also apparently need access to divination to untangle mystery. Dreams and visions are one way divination operates.
As a naturalist I was never able to make the jump from the awe I experienced gazing up into the stars at night to a rigid system of charts that told me a story of my life that had nothing to do with these beings – the whole thing was predicated on a few planets in our solar system…
After all we live in an evolutionary universe – everything is a process, and changing all the time.
With that much said I also believe that everything in the cosmos is connected and that we ARE influenced not just by what happens on earth but to some degree also by what happens in the cosmos beginning with the planets in our own solar system and the sun star.
To complicate matters we also live in an evolutionary universe that appears to be patterned – judging from the stars we see overhead and the patterns that operate in the lives of all living beings. So an evolving universe that contains patterns suggests that there might be a relationship between the two and that divination might be the ability to access what I would call ‘the space in-between’. A kind of bridge.
‘As above, so below?’
Out of curiosity I would like to see what would happen if we re-united astrology with astronomy- the actual scientific study of the stars…
Do star beings cross over from one dimension of reality to another? And who or what are star beings? Are they waves that manifest as discrete particles from time to time? (Quantum mechanics)
And what do we mean about dimensions? Like modern astrology that has no basis in science the same is true of parallel universes… So?
I don’t know the answers, but I have had so many relationships with non – human species here on earth (both positive and negative) and am witnessing so many destructive patterns of change that are associated with a climate in crisis that my mind remains quite open to the possibility that star beings may exist and even visit us from time to time.
We could use their help right now.
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Great essay, Sara. I especially connected with this: ”It seems to me that humans need STORY… the stories may change but the need to create them does not.” Is it because we need somehow to explain (even feebly) the mysteries of the world? Do stories give life to the patterns of our own experience? I don’t know, however, stories do connect with our imaginations and bring individual and collective experience to life. Being able to express that is vital–hence, the importance of stories!
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Thanks Esther – I really liked theses words of yours “stories do connect with our imaginations and bring individual and collective experience to life.”
I think the need to create meaning is a universal need in human beings and story is the vehicle that our imaginations use to bring meaning to life – and yet it’s more complex than that because stories are also patterned – following similar threads from culture to culture. Here we see a dance between creativity and patterning that seems very ,mysterious to me. We know so little, really.
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I always love your essays.
I remember way back in astronomy class ( about three decades or more ago), we were taught the universe is expanding and nothing is where it used to be. This results in astrological sign dates not being exactly the same as they were previously. That stuck with me because I refused to be defined by a single astrological sign or label for that matter.
Yes, we do need stories. Many of us are rejecting patriarchial mythology, but we do need our own stories to replace the ones what don’t fit.
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Goddess mythology interrupts the ugly story of patriarchy reminding us that there are other ways to live. AND THAT WOMEN ARE VALUABLE. In these dark times I think it’s critical to remember this truth so that we can imagine paying our stories forward perhaps in ways we can not yet imagine. Stories like our evolutionary universe are always changing… It is interesting that you were not able to imagine being defined by astrology – I felt the same way – and yet, here is the mysterious part we can’t reject astrology outright because it tells patterned stories too! As I said, i would love to see the two, astrology and astronomy re-untied.
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A fascinating essay! And your discussion of stars and mythology reminds me of how many myths from all over the world are about goddesses who were once Earth-dwelling but were flung up into the sky to become stars, breaking the boundaries between Earth beings and Sky beings, or were always star beings. I think there is something in the human psyche that yearns to be or connect with star beings – look at the popularity of science fiction. Now that you’ve got me thinking, I’m also reminded of the fungi called Earth Stars that I found all over part of my yard a couple of years ago. They are shaped like stars and in the Blackfeet tradition they are falling stars that foretell miraculous events.
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I couldn’t agree more Carolyn. There is something inside of us that needs to unite earth and sky… the Blackfoot are doing just that! It interests me that various traditions connect earth and sky – it doesn’t seem to matter if we come from the stars or go back to them does it? The story remains the same… the core is interconnection between the two. And by the way Earth stars are absolutely amazing fungi!
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Thanks Sarah! I always resonate with your posts and enjoyed reading your “far out” ideas in this one. I totally agree that we need to untie astrology and astronomy – I love that anology.
I am currently reading “The Knot of Time: Astrology and Female Experience” written by Lindsay River and Sally Gillespie. It is a wonderful interpretation of astrology from a femnist perspective – published in the early 90s. . . but still extremely relevant and highly recommended.
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Oh, I am glad that you agree that we need to unite the two – something creative would emerge i am sure.
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lol, you said “untie” in your response to morgan’s comment and I thought that is what you meant. . . I love the idea of “untying” these things as well as “uniting” them, hence why my mind went to River and Gillespie’s book since they titled it “the knot of time” . . I’m talking semantics I know, but still fun to consider.
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I know this isn’t related to what you wrote, but It’s weird to see this today. Last night I was looking at some articles about Niiji (Native American) belief in Aliens. Many believe in the “Star People” who bore humanity. Some Niiji say they were spirits. Others aliens. And some are sort of in between. There are other strange Gods and spirits in other cultures that make you think alien.
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Hmm. I think your comment is related… I don’t like the word ‘alien’ because it suggests pop culture. How about ‘unknown’? As a long term student of Indigenous mythology I cannot make a connection between Native mythologies and aliens. However, some tribes do believe that their people came from the stars…I immediately think of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s story of how Sky Woman came to earth. You can listen to this story on you tube -Kimmerer has a number of podcasts.
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That sounds amazing. Thanks for the recommendation. Obviously, I don’t believe all the spirits of indigenous religion are unknown. I am just repeating what some Niiji have told me. And what elders have said in the past. I do think sometimes there is an inter-lap.
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Interesting discussion. This makes me think of this biblical passage (Genesis 6:4) : The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
Makes me wonder just who the Nephilim were – star beings perhaps?
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Gosh Janet, I am not familiar with Nephilim but from what you say it sounds to me like this is an example of story making a connection between earth and cosmos… if we take story seriously and I do then we recall that dreams and visions, intuition, use of all our senses, were taken very seriously in the past just as extant Indigenous peoples still do. My position is that science is light years behind story in terms of “proof” BUT that most westerners do not or cannot (?) take anything seriously unless it is sanctioned by science or the technocratic stories.
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I’ve always wondered about the Nephilim, too, Janet. Perhaps they were star beings, or “lesser” deities, from the perspective of the writers of Genesis.
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Hi Sara. Love this!
In my own intuition I feel there is a bigger story and that everything in this Universe is a connected web. I really feel it outside when I am gardening. The plants, animals, fungi, and insects… I feel an “energy signature” communicating beyond Earth with Star beings…maybe? I also recognize I am interpreting this information through my own human lens.
It seems to me when I read about Quantum physics and the theories of the origin of the Universe it reinforces my belief of connectedness. The “big bang” is more of an expansion. Like a balloon expanding in all directions all at once. Or “quantum entanglement” when two particles synchronize together and start pulsing at the same rate at far away distances. Physicists know how to make this happen but cannot explain why it happens?
I get into conversations with very linear, sequential thinkers sometimes about this stuff. One person said why would other life forms come to “visit” Earth in this vast Universe…they could go to many other places? I commented that in my mind Earth is a very unique, special living organism. Nothing we are aware of in our explorations comes close. I sense possibly there is concern from other beings. In my intuition but I can’t prove it.
Perhaps Quantum physics will align astronomy with astrology in a less mythological way? I believe the “star maps” definitely have a story. Historically it may have been explained using our imagination, mythologies and true natural events upon or near Earth. As science continues I feel it possible that it is edging closer to concepts that years ago many would’ve said that sounds like imagination not science.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.
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Yes, it is certainly true that the various theories of quantum physics indicate interconnection on not just on earth but throughout the cosmos… I guess my ongoing concern about the focus on cosmos takes us away from the earth at a time when we need to be concentrating on mitigating the damage we have done to the planet. I remember studying quantum physics in grad school – just fascinated by the coming together of my intuition/senses with those of the sciences –
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Thank you, Sara, for this thought-provoking essay. I have a number of unrelated comments, which i will post separately.
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“[It] has since split ways into a very fixed system” Researching the origin of calendars, I learned that in Biblical times, the new moon, which signals the beginning of a Hebrew month, was originally determined month by month; someone reported that they saw it and the judges in Jerusalem proclaimed the month. After the fall of the Temple, when judges could no longer congregate, it morphed into the very precise astronomical calculation that determines the Hebrew calendar today.
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Interesting.
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“I would like to see what would happen if we re-united astrology with astronomy” Several years ago I attended a lecture by an archaeologist about his interpretation of an ancient astrological system he had excavated. Someone asked if he believed in astrology. He replied that he had been at a conference that brought together astronomers and astrologers. The speaker mentioned the date of birth of a historical figure. Half the audience gasped, and said “that can’t be right”. They were the astrologers. And they were correct, the birthdate was mistaken. He said he is now more open to the idea that astrology might have something to offer.
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I really believe there is value in bringing the two together
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“I have had so many relationships with non-human species” ” It’s synchronous that I read this today. I have been asked to suggest mythologies & folktales from Old Europe that describe forest guardians and spirits who are intercessors, minor gods & goddesses, part forest & part human. Do you (or anyone) have suggestions?
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My suggestion to you is to peruse old fairy tales – there are so many – frogs and toads birds bears – I could go on here.
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Thank you Sara for this essay full of thought provoking questions. I am especially attracted to the “Space in Between.” The Liminal Space for me is where our soul dwells and just as there is an anima mundi, I am now imagining that there is a soul to all of creation that exists in the ethers that could possibly be your star beings.
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