Perseid Meteor Shower August 2013. Spiritual significance throughout time.

The Perseids have been spotted already for some keen viewers! The spectacular Perseids meteor shower will peak, on the mornings of August 11-13. Luckily our moon will be a crescent moon in the evening sky, leaving the peak meteor-watching hours of midnight to dawn free and clear.

“As a general rule, the Perseid meteors tend to be few and far between at nightfall and early evening. Yet, if fortune smiles upon you, you could catch an earthgrazer – a looooong, slow, colorful meteor traveling horizontally across the evening sky. Earthgrazer meteors are rare but most exciting and memorable, if you happen to spot one. Perseid earthgrazers can only appear at early to mid-evening, when the radiant point of the shower is close to the horizon.

As evening deepens into late night, and the meteor shower radiant climbs higher in the sky, more and more Perseid meteors streak the nighttime. The meteors don’t really start to pick up steam until after midnight, and usually don’t bombard the sky most abundantly until the wee hours before dawn. You may see 50 or so meteors per hour in a dark sky.” http://earthsky.org/tonight

You don’t need any special equipment to see these spectacular perseid meteors, just as wide an open space as possible,  and some warm clothing. Then lie back and enjoy the wonderful spectacle! Be at one with the universe as you enjoy this amazing sight. If it is a dry night then lie right on the grass if you can, this is a wonderful time to be grounded and totally at one with nature. It helps if you know the general direction of the constellation Perseus but the key is to keep your eyes relaxed and adjusted to the dark. Meteors often come in clusters so you may not see any for ages and then a few may come along together. You may have a long wait but these Perseid meteors are certainly worth it and you will have a wonderfully spiritual experience watching them. You will fee completely relaxed and as though you and nature are in perfect harmony after this incredible grounding and spiritual perseid meteor experience.

“What’s the source of the Perseid meteor shower? Every year, from around July 17 to August 24, our planet Earth crosses the orbital path of Comet Swift-Tuttle, the parent of the Perseid meteor shower. Debris from this comet litters the comet’s orbit, but we don’t really get into the thick of the comet rubble until after the first week of August. The bits and pieces from Comet Swift-Tuttle slam into the Earth’s upper atmosphere at some 210,000 kilometers (130,000 miles) per hour, lighting up the nighttime with fast-moving Perseid meteors. If our planet happens to pass through an unusually dense clump of meteoroids – comet rubble – we’ll see an elevated number of meteors. We can always hope!”http://earthsky.org/tonight

 We  have always had and continue to have a very special relationship with the celestial wonders above our heads. In ancient times of course a lot les was known and therefore a lot less was taken for granted. Many ancient Egyptians prayed to the Sun God Ra that the sun would rise every morning. For there was no guarantee! So it is no surprise that a meteor shower would have been seen as a very spiritual experience of great significance.

To many people a meteorite would have seemed an amazing occurrence. A star, from the heavens, coming down towards the earth.  What a sight!  The falling star represented a bridge between man and the divine. Often cultures venerated meteor rocks as powerful magickal talisman, these were said to be sent from the sky gods to the people on earth. The ancient Greeks believed that finding one would bring you a year’s worth of good luck and a wish. It is from the Anciient Greeks that we have inherited the idea of wishing upon a star. Often temples in the ancient Mediterranean that were in possession of meteorites, held them as sacred objects.

Native American medicine men also thought meteorites had special powers and have been known to wear them as protective amulets, passing them down through generation after generation of shaman as symbols of their power.

In Roman times it was thought that the stars were candles lit by the angels with each representing a soul on earth.

In the Teutonic mythology of central Europe, it was believed that every person was represented by a star. This star was attached to the ceiling of the sky by the threads of fate. In Romania, there is a belief that the stars are candles lit by the gods  in honour of each person’s birth and that the brighter the star the greater the person. The falling star represents the soul’s final journey to the afterlife as it is being blown out and across the sky by the divine candle keepers.

In these and other cultures, falling stars and meteor showers were celebrated, they honoured the ancestors who had come before them, and in particular the newly deceased who were joining the ranks of the highly venerated generations who had come before.

So try and spend some time outside in the wonder and the magic of the Perseid meteor shower this August. Perhaps you would like to think about your ancestors as you gaze up into the universe. Or perhaps you would just like to enjoy the incredible experience and wonder at this world that we are so lucky to be a part of. However you spend it know that somehow we are all connected and are all part of this incredible universe, all sharing this same feeling of wonder and amazement that this world continues to give us.