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Ephemeris: 11/18/2025 – What other cultures see in the Pleiades

November 18, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, November 18th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 27 minutes, setting at 5:11, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:45. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 7:22 tomorrow morning.

Let’s look at how some other cultures saw the Pleiades, the star cluster that is seen in the eastern sky these evenings. To the Anishinaabe native peoples around here, the Pleiades is the “Hole in the Sky” or the seven stones that are heated for the sweat lodge ceremony. To the Kiowa, these were sisters who were whisked up into the sky from the top of Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, where they were threatened by a huge bear. An Iroquoian legend has seven daughters who danced all day and were drawn into the sky, along with a black bear who danced with them. One daughter heard her mother’s call and fell back down to the Earth. In Norse mythology, these were the goddess Freya’s hens.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

The mostly naked eye stars of the Pleiades with the Anishinaabe hole in the sky in the bowl of the tiny dipper shape of the Pleiades. Also, the stars themselves are considered the seven stones heated for the sweat lodge ceremony.
The mostly naked eye stars of the Pleiades with the Anishinaabe hole in the sky in the bowl of the tiny dipper shape of the Pleiades. Also, the stars themselves are considered the seven stones heated for the sweat lodge ceremony. Created using Stellarium and LibreOffice Draw for notations, and GIMP.
Categories: Anishinaabek Constellation, Ephemeris Program, Mythology, Observing Tags: , ,