The Dipper Stars in Mythology

Across the World

The constellation known as the Big Dipper is an easily identifiable group of stars in the northern hemisphere sky.

From the ancient Greeks with Callisto, her son Arcas, and the constellation of the bear, through to medieval england where the dipperstars were known as Arthur's Wane or the Chariot, these Stars have made their mark in the imaginations and belief systems across time and space.

They figure predominantly in the mythologies of many diverse cultures, across continents and seas, and have retained esoteric significance in many living forms today.

Here we give you a few of the stories from across the globe, surrounding these bright stars. The following is not an exhaustive, nor even necessarily representative, list.

 

Scroll down, to take a Dip in the Dipperstars mythology.........

 

LAKOTA

To the Lakota people, the seven Stars of the Big Dipper represented stages in a woman's life. Blue Woman Spirit lives in the hole in the centre of the Dipper and helps women give birth.

The Dippers carry the spiritual essence of the deceased to the Milky Way, according to this tradition.

Fallen Star, a Lakota hero, was the son of the North Star and a Lakota woman, who had lived in the clouds with North Star, then fell to Earth. She is said to have fallen to Earth via the hole in the centre of the Dipper.

ALGONQUIN :

The Song of the Stars was recorded by folklorist Charles G. Leyland in 1882. The bears are the four stars in the bowl of the Dipper and the three stars on the handle are the hunters.

 

THE SONG OF THE STARS

We are the stars which sing,
We sing with our light;
We are the birds of fire,
We fly over the sky.
Our light is a voice.
We make a road for spirits,
For the spirits to pass over.
Among us are three hunters
Who chase a bear;
There never was a time
When they were not hunting.
We look down on the mountains.
This is the Song of the Stars.

 

HINDU

In Hindu mythology, the seven stars of the Dipper were seven Rishis, who were married to seven sisters called Krttika. After a love affair with Svala, the Star Zeta Tauri, and Agni, the god of fire, which implicated the Krttika, 6 of the sisters flew of to become the stars of the Pleidies. The remaining sister remained with her husband as the Star Alcor.

 

SIBERIA

Stone-age peoples in Siberia made star-drawings of a bear with a very long tail, which was the handle of the dipper. These pictures have been dated to being between 8,000 - 12,000 years old.

 

AVALON

Near Glastonbury, England, in the mythic isles of Avalon, there were seven islands. The islands were said to be in the formation of the seven stars of the Dipper. The islands were sacred to the Druids of the White Star.

 

CHINA

In a small town in Guangdong province, lies seven crags, volcanic mountains. The seven crags are in the formation of the stars of the Dipper, and are said to be the Stars fallen to Earth a long time ago.

The Literary God, Kuei, is believed to have come form the sixth star of the dipper. In his human form, he was a talented student who was presented before the emperor. Unfortunatley, Kuei was also quite ugly, and the emperor dropped the Golden Rose he was about to award Kuei. Disgraced, Kuei jumped into the sea whereabouts a monster bore him up to the stars in the Dipper, from where he continues to rule as the God of Literature.

In qi-gong theory, the dipper-stars are a cosmic resovoir. They collect the qi from other stellar regions as they rotate in the sky.

 

MONGOLIA

There were seven brothers who went out into the night to study the winds. They saw a bright light coming from the Pleiades. One of the Pleiades maidens had fallen in love with Mizar, who was the youngest Mongolian brother. The maiden and Mizar went to live together in the sky, and the other six brothers came too, making the seven stars of the Dipper.

 

AFRICA

The dipper is often referred to as the 'drinking gourd".

ARABIA

According to Arab myth, the Stars of the Dipper crowd around the Pole Star to revenge the murder of the Children of Al Na'ash, murdered by the pole star. Alkaid ( epsilon ursa major) is known by the Arabs as the Principal Mourner.