In an attempt to understand the mystery of the stars, people around the world created myths to explain the origin of the stars. Using the stars as a story book, text book, and messenger, societies not only explained the origin of the Pleiades, but they tied their philosophy on living, and religious practices to this group of stars. With the passing of time many myths about the Pleiades have passed into obscurity, while others, because they reflct the passion, romance and tragedy that surrounds our lives, have become the classic myths that today are written in the stars.

Unlike the ancient stargazer, science has taught us what the stars are and how they are created. Moving close to the ecliptic in the constellation of Taurus, the Pleiades shines from a distance of 490 light-years from Earth (Pleiades 1). Like all stars the Pleiades formed when a dense interstellar cloud of hydrogen and dust grain collapsed inward under the force of its own gravity. As contraction continued and chemical changes of hydrogen converting to helium occurred, the temperature in the stars core continued to increase until its energy level was high enough to support thermonuclear reaction (Snow 233-236).

For thousands of years people living on the American and European continent looked up at the sky wondering what these lights were. They wondered how they got there, and what the stars meant in their lives. Due to the travels of the Native American Indians there are similarities between myths. Their explanations were not only imaginative and socially beneficial, but the stars were also the harbinger of torture and murder.

American Indian forlklore attempted to explain the existence of the Pleiades while at the same time included a philosopy for the people of the tribe to live by. No other society focused on myths as strongly as the Iroquois, whose myths included the stars and traveling to other worlds. The Mohawk of the Iroquois federation, originally living west of what is now Schenectady, New York, were a close family unit. Each community was led by a chief who was advised by a council of adult males (Iroquois 1). In the Iroquois tribes as in our society today, age and not an individuals capability of understanding was the determining factor when an individual was considered to be an adult. However, determining the difference between the two was the lesson given in their story of the Pleiades.

The Mohawk tell the story of a group of Mohawk children who wishing to dance like all true Mohawk, imitated the secret dance of the tribe elders. Although the children had never witnessed the dance, or heard words to the music, inspiried by a spirit , they learned the secret dance of the Mohawk. Dancing without the guidance needed from the elders, an emissary spirit appeared in the form of a man, and warned the children that before they could take part in the secret rituals, they first needed to learn the rules of life that the elders would teach them. Once they had learned everything, then they would be able to pay homage to the creator. Without taking time to acquire this knowledge, the children could not uphold the traditions of the tribe and they would be punished for their haste. So the children stopped dancing and returned to their lessons of life which would make them true adults.

When the elders once again excluded the children from a dance to rid a woman of an evil spirit, the children, inspied by the spirit, once again performed the secret dance. The spirit who understood the children's determination, told the young leader of the children that they were ready to join in on the cermonies of the adults. However, there was a warning to go along with this responsibility. As the children made this step into the world of adults, they must not look back. The children were told, "woe the tide of whoever looks back."

As the children danced they began to rise into the air and enter into the world of the spirits. As they rose into the sky they were reminded not to look back. They were told to keep moving forward, because the one who looked back would become a falling star. As they rose one child looked back and became a falling star. The other children continued to ascend becoming the Pleiades. When it was too late to stop their children, the adults realized that their children had grown up, and that by not recognizing them as adults they had lost them forever. (Buzy)

The Cherokee originally living in a territory covering Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, tell a story similar to the Mohawk. Although the Cherokee version does a reversal on the Mohawk philosophy of children's play. The Cherokee tell the story of seven boys who instead of spending time working in the cornfield, spent their time playing. The children's mother reprimanded them because of their playing, but the children would not stop. Punishing the children, for dinner their mothers boiled stones along with corn, and then served only the stones to the children. Feeling that they were being treated unfairly, the children decided that they would never again be trouble to their mothers. So the children prayed to the spirit to help them, and they began to dance around the village townhouse. As they danced their feet began to lift off the ground, and every time they circled the townhouse they rose higher. Discovering what was happening, their mothers ran to stop the children. However, by the time they saw the children all but one child had risen too high to reach. Grabbing the child, his mother pulled him down, but when he fell he hit the ground with such force the impact buried him. The other boys continued to dance until they were high in the sky becoming the Pleiades, or as the Cherokee call them "The Boys." All the people were sad that they had lost the boys. The mother of the son that fell back to Earth was so sad over losing her son, that she wept over the spot where he was buried. Over a period of time a Pine tree grew out from the spot where she wept. (StoneE 2-3)

Navajo myths unlike the Mohawk and Cherokee myths do not seem to have any social value, but they do tend to support their religious belief. Originally from Canada, the Navajo moved to the Southwest United States extending from Southeastern Utah to Northwestern New Mexico and Arizona, during the late tenth century and early thirteenth century (Navajo 1). Due to the difference in the myth of the Pleiades the Navajo apparently did not have contact with other nations in regard to this myth. Two of their myths give different explanations for the origin of the star cluster. One myth of the Pleiades, or as the Navajo called them "Flint Boys," is characteristic of their religious belief that the First People came from various levels beneath the Earth (Religious 1). The Navajo tell a story in which after the Earth was separated from the sky, Black God, who was in charge of the sky, had seven stars on his ankle. After people questioned him about the meaning of the seven stars, Black God stomped his foot. The first time he stomped it, the Flint Boys jumped up to his knee. He stomped his foot a second time and the Flint Boys jumped up to his hip. A third time Black God stomped his foot the Flint Boys jumped to his shoulder. The fourth time Black God stomped his foot the Flint Boys jumped up to Black God's forehead. With the Flint Boys on his forhead Black God felt that they were at a suitable location. (Flint Boys 1)

Another Navajo story tells how the sun, moon and stars were created. In order to brighten the Earth, First Woman took a slab of quartz and using a flint and stone hammer, cut two equal size wheels. Decorated in a manner that would represent their power, the first stone, the sun, was decorated with blue turquoise to produce light and heat, and then red coral was tied to its sides and feathers were attached to carry it through the sky. The stone was taken to the top of the highest mountain on the edge of the Earth in the east, and there it was fastened to the sky with darts of lighting. The second stone, the moon, was decorated with yellow pollen and red coral on its sides. Feathers were fastened to its sides to hold it up. This stone was also taken to the mountain and held up in the sky with sheet lightning.

Sense the sun and moon were only stone and had no spirit, they did not move, remaining in the sky in the east. To give them life so that they could move across the sky, two old and wise men gave their spirit to the stones. After their spirits entered the stones they began moving in their present orbits.

Many small pieces of quartz and quartz dust remained from the work on the two round slabs. In order not to waist the quartz the First People took their knives, chisels and hammers and shaped the stars. When the stars were ready to be placed in the sky, laws were written in the stars so that mankind could look at the stars and remember the laws forever. Fire Man shot two crooked fire arrows into the sky so the tails made a ladder, then Fireman with help from Coyote climbed the ladder and placed the stars into their appointed locations.

From one generation to the next amongst the Navajo people, one man was to learn the laws that were written in the constellations. Now days only the Navajo medicine men know the contellations and can explain the laws that are written in them. (Newcomb 1-6)

The Blackfoot occupied territory from the Northern Saskatchewan to the Missouri river (Blackfoot 1). These people looked to the Pleiades in both their social and religious life. As a lesson in social issues they told the story of six young orphan boys that lived on handouts and wore ragged clothing. People were unkind to the boys and children teased them. The brothers were loved by no one except the dogs of the camp. Because of the cruelty of the people the boys decided that they no longer wanted to be people. They thought about different things they could become. They could become flowers, but they could be eaten by the buffalo. They could become water or trees, but water would be drank and trees could be cut down. They didn't want to be stone because it could be broken. So they decided to beome stars because they are beautiful and no one could touch them. So the boys went up into the sky to become the Pleiades. Because of what they had done, the Sun punished the people by causing a drought. The dogs missed the boys and so they howled at the stars. To stop the drought, the dog chief asked the Sun to have pitty because the drought hurt the people and animals. So the Sun sent the rain. (Snowder 1)

The Blackfoot looked to the Pleiades in the same way that other Plains Indians such as the Lakota looked to them. They signaled the beginning of springtime and the observance of the Sun Dance. (10)

The Lakota Indians were originally from Minesota, but wars forced them into the Great Plains (Sioux 1). There they watched the stars which told them the time to prepare for their sacred ceremonies, paying tribute to the supreme spirit Wakan Tanka and the Earth, and the bounty that they would provide for the people. (Maxwell 183-184)

When the sun crossed the sky reaching the Pleiades, the Lakota gathered at their sacred site in the Black Hills. This was the time of summer encampment, of festivity, and of sacrifice. It was the time of the Sun Dance. In the dance, the volunteers would gain honor among the people, by taking the place of the entire tribe and endure great suffering. Though their suffering it was beleived that the Great Spirit would bring prosperity to the people for the coming year. During the twelve days of festivities, a forked cottonwood tree was cut down and prepared for the ceremony. Stripped bare, the cottonwood pole became the focal point for the dance. Men volunteered to dance, and they were given the opporunity to decide what level of torture they wished to endure during the dance. On the 12th day of the celebration, after various ceremonies had been performed, it was time to begin the dance.

While participating in the dance some dancers volunteered only to fast and dance. Others volunteered to cut strips of flesh from their body and hang them on the pole. Some volunteers would seek a higher honor by having skewers implanted through flaps of flesh cut in their chest. The skewers were then attached to ropes of sinew which were fastened to the willow pole. While standing the volunteer would fall back until the skewers ripped free. Those volunteers who sought the highest honors also had skewers implanted into their chest and sinew was attached to the skewers. Instead of attaching the sinew to the pole, it was thrown over the fork of the pole, and the volunteer was then hoisted into the air. While the volunteer hung from the pole, the dancers would continue dancing, and they danced until all the skewers had ripped through the flesh of all the volunteers. Once this happened the ceremony would come to an end, only to be repeated the next year when the sun once again reached the Pleiades. (189, 191)

Like the Plains Indians, the Aztecs of Mexico kept a close eye on the stars, and the Pleiades, called Tianquiztli, which was of special importance. The Aztecs believed that the earth was formed in the shape of a disk, divided into four sections. The four cardinal sections of the disk were east, west, north, and south. The center of the disk marked the fifth cardinal point. This point was identified with the fire god Huehueteotl and with the Pleiades. (Pre-Columbian 2)

The Aztecs believed that other worlds, or suns, had once existed, and because the universe was unstable, these worlds had been destroyed. In the Aztec calendar, civil and ritual cycles fell into conjunction every fifth-two years, and it was believed that at the end of the fifty-two year cycle the would would end. The people believed that they were "the people of the sun" and it was their duty to provide a sacrifice giving "nourishment' to the sun god so that it would not be destroyed (2). The nourishment required consisted of human blood and a heart (Tonatiuh 1). A victim who was usually a captive taken from an enemy village, was sacrificed to prevent "the demons of darkness" from destroying the people, and guaranteeing the continued movement of the sun and stars (Tianquiztli 1). The sacrifice and celebration to be performed was called the "New Fire Ceremony" (Aztec calendar 1). To prepare for the ceremon all of the sacred and home fires were allowed to die out (Aztec calendar 1). Then the Aztec priest watched the Pleiades as it moved across the sky. When he saw that the Pleiades had moved uninterrupted across the meridian, he knew that the world would not end for another fifty-two years. At the moment the Pleiades crossed this point in the midnight sky, the priest started a fire on the mutilated chest of the victim. The fire was then taken from the victims chest, and placed in the temple of the sun god, and in the homes of the people. Once the fires were rekindled the people began a celebration.

Methology of the Greeks has been embraced by cultures around the world, possibly because unlike other cultures the Greeks painted a much more poetic picture in the mind of the listener. The story of the Pleiades is a story of romance and pity. James Weigel stated that "as models of human excellence they [Greek myths] provided standards for Greek youths to emulate" (Weigel 42). This appears to be the purpose for all of the myths on the Pleiades.

In their mythology the Pleiades were seven sisters named Alcyone, Electra, Celaeno, Maia, Sterope, Merope, and Taygeta. Two other stars in the group are their father and mother, Atlas and Pleione. These are names that identify the stars today.

Mythology tells that one day the sisters along with their mother Pleione were traveling. The giant hunter Orion saw the sisters and fell in love with them. For years Orion chased after the sisters. Finally after hearing of the pursuit by Orion, the god Zeus took pity on the sister. To help them escape, Zeus turned the sisters into doves. The doves then flew into the sky to become the open star cluster. (Pleiades 1)

There are two conflicting stories that continue this myth. One story tells that all of the sisters except Merope associated with the gods. Merope feeling ashamed of being married to a mortal deserted her sisters. The second version told that Electra was the ancestress of the royal house of Troy. When the city of Troy was destroyed, Electra abandoned her sisters out of despair and transformed herself into a comet (Pleiades 1). Both versions are told to explain why the seventh star can not been seen with the naked eye.

The myths told by the Mohawk, Cherokee, and Greek have one interesting element in common. All of them tell of one of the stars that left the group. A date has not been set to the origin of the American Indian myths. However, scientific research seems to confirm that during the 2nd millennium, the time when the Greek people first moved into the land now known as Greece, a seventh star that had been visible to the naked eye became extinct. (Greek religion 1)

As we approach the twenty-first century, Greek mythology is still the major topic when stargazing. Looking at star maps a stargazer will find the characters from ancient Greek mythology drawn amongst the stars. Although we now have a better understanding about the origin of the stars, the Greek classics of romance and adventure can still be spell binding. Personal experience has proven an interesting tendency about many people. When they have the opportunity to view the stars and hear the myths, they suddenly become an audience eager to hear more about the stories that are written in the night time sky.