Star Gazing through time

During our infrequent cool spells in South Florida in January and February when the temps dip into the low 50s and even briefly skirt with the 40s, Trish and I like to sit outside by our fire pit. Once the rainy season is here or near, the fire pit goes into hibernation. The sub-tropics don’t cool in the evening like it does in the North or the desert Southwest. So we take advantage of these few days by stocking up on wood and watching for ‘cold’ fronts to come our way.

This year after stoking the fire on our cool nights, I would typically sit back on my Adirondack chair and gaze skyward into the night. I had a view between our front yard palm trees of one particular bright star that I would watch. What fascinated me was that after staring at the fire, then looking up, the star would appear blue. That reminded my of the Hopi Indian legend of the Blue Star kachina.

When a blue star appears in the sky, the blue star kachina will dance alone in the plaza indicating the end of the Fourth World and the beginning of the Fifth. Kachina dances are held in the plazas of the Hopi villages during a variety of seasonal-related festivities. But the Blue Star kachina has yet to appear for its world-changing dance. The exception is in my novel, Time Catcher, my fourth and last novel in the Will Lansa mystery saga that starts when Will is a high school student and ends in Time Catcher when he is in his late 20s, a cultural anthropologist who is called back to the reservation by his aging grandmother.

Seeing the ‘blue star’ hovering in the southeastern sky was more of a personal experience than a shared one. In fact, when I pointed it out to Trish, she found the star, but it didn’t appear blue to her. Maybe she was staring at the iPad on her lap, instead of the fire, before she looked.

Regardless, blue or not, I was staring at the most mysterious star in the sky. It’s embedded  in legend and mythology of  numerous  cultures. It is, of course, Sirius, the Dog Star, of Canis Major, the most luminous star in the night sky. Mystery schools and secret societies throughout time have attributed special status to Sirius. Is it merely because of its brightness that Sirius it is the brightest star in the sky, or do humans have an ancient connection with the star?

Sirius played a large role in the mythology of ancient Egypt. It was revered as Sothis and was associated with Isis, the mother goddess of Egyptian mythology. Isis is the female aspect of the trinity formed by herself, Osiris and their son Horus. Anubis, the dog-headed god of death, was linked with the dog star and Toth-Hermes, the great teacher of humanity, was also esoterically connected with the star.

The Egyptian calendar system was linked to Sirius. Its appearance was linked with feasts and celebrations.  Several occult researchers have claimed that the Great Pyramid of Giza was built in perfect alignment with the stars, especially Sirius. The light from these stars was said to be used in ceremonies of Egyptian Mysteries.

The star’s celestial movement was also observed and revered by ancient Greeks, Sumerians, Babylonians and countless other civilizations. Legends of a tribe of people in Mali tell of a watery planet within the Sirius star cluster that is the home of a race called the Nommos. Supposedly, the Nommos came to Earth and instructed humans in science and trade. Maybe it’s a synchronicity of sorts that the tribe in question that still maintain legends of the dog star are called the Dogon people.

Finally, I decided to look for any Hopi legends related to Sirius. I figured there might be something, and I was right. Amazingly, and here is my synchronicity – the Hopi name for Sirius is Blue Star kachina. Seriously? I did not know that – or if I did, I had forgotten. I’m not sure how that fits with the prophecy of the appearance of a blue star, since Sirius has been up there shining brightly throughout all human eras. But there it is. Sirius, the blue star kachina. I just knew it looked blue from my chair at the fire pit!