Skip to main content

The Wanderers Through the Stars

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Great Canoes in the Sky

Abstract

When we gaze at the sky we notice that all the celestial bodies appear to rise in the east and set in the west, due to the rotation of the Earth. At night-time we find that some of these objects—the stars—always appear to move across the sky in the same positions relative to each other. There are, however, certain celestial objects that do not fit this state of permanence. Although they also rise in the east and set in the west, as the year progresses they appear to wander through the fixed patterns of stars. These are the objects of the Solar System, which include the Sun, the Moon, the planets, asteroids and comets. This chapter explains the nature of these objects and how their wandering through the stars has led to some fascinating star lore.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 44.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 44.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Elsdon Best, “Various customs, rites, superstitions pertaining to war, as practiced and believed in by the ancient Maori,” p. 104.

  2. 2.

    T.E. Riddle et al, “Some myths and folk stories from Epi, New Hebrides,” p. 158.

  3. 3.

    Georg Höltker, “Mythen und Erzählungen der Monumbound Ngaimbom-Papua in Nordost-Neuguinea,” pp. 81–82.

  4. 4.

    Margaret Lawrie, Myths and Legends of the Torres Strait, p. 195.

  5. 5.

    Frans Tetera and Thomas H. Slone, “Where did the night come from?”, p. 10.

  6. 6.

    Johannes Andersen, Myths and Legends of the Polynesians, p. 200.

  7. 7.

    William Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific, pp. 61–63.

  8. 8.

    Robert Williamson, Religious and Cosmic Beliefs of Central Polynesia. Volume, p. 118.

  9. 9.

    Robert Williamson, Religious and Cosmic Beliefs of Central Polynesia. Volume, p. 117.

  10. 10.

    William Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific, p. 47.

  11. 11.

    Katherine Luomala, “Documentary research in Polynesian mythology”, p. 185.

  12. 12.

    Teuira Henry, Ancient Tahiti, pp. 128–129.

  13. 13.

    Ann Salmond, The Trial of the Cannibal Dog, p. 50.

  14. 14.

    John Inglis, In the New Hebrides, pp. 176–180.

  15. 15.

    Arthur Grimble, “Gilbertese Astronomy and astronomical observances,” pp. 220–221.

  16. 16.

    H.C. Maud and H.E. Maud, “String figures from the Gilbert Islands,” p. 12.

  17. 17.

    D. Jenness and A. Ballantyne, “Language, mythology and songs of Bwaidoga, Goodenough Island, S. E. Papua,” p. 63.

  18. 18.

    Anon. “Honorific terms, sacerdotal expression, personifications, etc, met with in Maori narrative (continued),” p. 326.

  19. 19.

    Duane W. Hamacher and Ray P. Norris, “Eclipses in Australian Aboriginal astronomy,” p. 108.

  20. 20.

    Aldo Massola, Bunjil’s Cave: Myths, Legends and Superstitions of the Aborigines of South-east Australia, pp. 162–163.

  21. 21.

    Baldwin Spencer and F.J. Gillen, The Native Tribes of Central Australia, pp. 524–566.

  22. 22.

    E.R. Edwards and J.A. Belmonte, “Megalithic astronomy of Easter Island: A reassessment,” p. 425.

  23. 23.

    Meredith Osmond, “Navigation and the heavens,” p. 167.

  24. 24.

    Carl A. Schmitz, “Todeszauber in Nordost-Neuguinea,” pp. 40–41.

  25. 25.

    George Turner, Samoa: A hundred years ago and long before, p. 260.

  26. 26.

    Dianne D. Johnson, Night Skies of Aboriginal Australia: A Noctuary.

  27. 27.

    Duane W. Hamacher and Ray P. Norris, “The astronomy of Aboriginal Australia,” p. 43.

  28. 28.

    Charles Mountford (Ed.), Records of the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land, Vol. 1: Art, Myth and Symbolism.

  29. 29.

    Ragbir Bhathal, “Pre-contact astronomy”, p. 19

  30. 30.

    Nicholas Rothwell, “Gali Yalkarriwuy’s morning star on the rise.”

  31. 31.

    Anon, “Report of native meeting at Mataahu, East Coast,” p. 3.

  32. 32.

    Charles Mountford (Ed.), Records of the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land, Vol. 1: Art, Myth and Symbolism, p. 481.

  33. 33.

    W.E. Stanbridge, “Some particulars of the general characteristics, astronomy, and mythology of the tribes in the central part of Victoria, southern Australia,” p. 301.

  34. 34.

    William Ramsay Smith, Myths and legends of the Australian Aborigines, pp. 249–251.

  35. 35.

    Ronald M. Berndt, “Some aspects of Jaralde culture, South Australia,” p. 228–229.

  36. 36.

    See the footnote 36.

  37. 37.

    E. R. Edwards and J. A. Belmonte, “Megalithic astronomy of Easter Island: A reassessment,” p. 425.

  38. 38.

    John Stair, “The names and movements of the heavenly bodies from a Samoan point of view,” pp. 48–49.

  39. 39.

    Robert Henry Codrington, The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore, p. 348.

  40. 40.

    Elsdon Best, “The Maori genius for personification; with illustrations of Maori mentality,” p. 6.

  41. 41.

    Elsden Best, “Ritual formulae pertaining to war and peace-making,” pp. 204–210.

  42. 42.

    Danny Keenan, “Te Whiti-o-Rongomai III, Erueti.”

  43. 43.

    Dennis Ngāwhare-Pounamu, “Living memory and the travelling mountain narrative,” pp. 215–242.

  44. 44.

    John Wilson, “History – War, expansion and depression.”

  45. 45.

    Carl Strehlow, Die Aranda und Loritja-stämme in Zentral-Australian, p. 220.

  46. 46.

    Alfred Howitt, “On some Australian beliefs,” p. 189.

  47. 47.

    Aldo Massola, Bunjil’s Cave: Myths, Legends and Superstitions of the Aborigines of South-east Australia, pp. 161–162.

  48. 48.

    Northcote Thomas, Kinship organisations and group marriage in Australia, p. 212.

  49. 49.

    W.E. Harney, “Ritual and behaviour at Ayers Rock,” pp. 73–74.

  50. 50.

    Turi McFarlane, Maori Associations with the Antarctic - Tiro o te Moana ki te Tonga, pp. 5–6.

  51. 51.

    Klaus J. Dodds and Katherine Yusoff, “Settlement and unsettlement in Aotearoa/New Zealand and Antarctica,” p. 151.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Chadwick, S.R., Paviour-Smith, M. (2017). The Wanderers Through the Stars. In: The Great Canoes in the Sky. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22623-1_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics