The history, legend and mythology of a star cluster associated with women for aeons of human history. Munya captures the richness of the mysterious constellation Pleiades and explains the recurring significance of these celestial sisters who animate the myths of cultures as diverse as Classical Greece and Aboriginal Australia.
The legends of the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades that poets, priests, prophets, shamans, storytellers, artists, singers, and historians have told throughout time are retold in this compilation of the stories that have found their inspiration in nine beautiful stars clustered together in the night sky. While particular attention in this cross-cultural study is paid to the influence of the Pleiades cluster on the living traditions of indigenous people in North America, Australia, Japan, and the Pacific, much ancient mythology passed down through written and visual sources from ancient Egypt, India, Greece, and South America is also explored. Appearances of the myths in the modern world are also mentioned, including American presidential elections, Halloween, Atlantis, the Titanic, and Subaru automobiles. Serious astronomical research complements the variety of mythological explanations for the stars' existence by providing the modern world's scientific understanding of them.
