JULY 7, 2026
Pleiades [English from Greek], also known as The Seven Sisters, is a star cluster located in the Taurus constellation, located only 444 light years (4,200,000,000,000,000 km) away, making it one of the closest to Earth. When you look at this cluster in the night sky tonight, the light your eyes are absorbing began its journey around 1582.
Background image courtesy of Wikimedia commons.
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These photos don’t show the star cluster. They were taken during the cluster’s dawning time. – SN
A star cluster is different from a constellation.
Constellations only appear to be moving together because of how they are seen from the Earth’s surface. As a result, over great stretches of time, constellations may change shape as the Earth and stars dance across the Cosmos.
A star cluster consists of a group of stars connected by gravitational forces that cause them to rotate together. This keeps keeps them in the same formation for long periods of time, meaning the clusters appear in exactly the same place every year and look virtually identical to how they appeared to the first humans. Rather trippy.
Depicted in books and art since the Bronze Age and a favourite of astrophysicists, the cluster was originally thought to contain between 200 and 1,000 ‘bound stars” but a study published in November 2025, revealed “the total footprint of the cluster’s family is roughly 20 times larger than previously assumed.”
READ MORE at The Astrophysical Journal
The Pleiades cluster is revered by almost every ancient culture on Earth and despite being vastly separated by distance and cultural outlook, and having no historical cultural contact, all tell an uncannily similar story of “sisters”… seven sisters, even though only six bright blue stars of this otherworldly cluster are visible to the naked eye.
Astronomers and anthropologists believe the nickname stems from eyewitness accounts dating back 100,000 years, originating from Africa, the fountain of human life.
They believe that back then, the stars were spaced far enough apart to be seen as 7 distinct stars with the naked eye, but over tens of millennia, the “proper motion” (the actual physical movement of a star through space relative to our solar system) of these stars has caused them to appear closer together, merging into the six easily visible stars we see today.
Lorekeepers maintained the lore of The Seven Sisters, even as the sky changed, but why are the stories about “sisters”?
And why are they always in peril? [FEATURE: Astronomical Misogyny XX/07]
Anthropologists suggest this is partly because “early skywatchers used the eternal, cyclical movement of stars to narrate fundamental earthly experiences“, which suggests to me that the “early skywatchers” were WOMEN.
Human bodies contain photoreceptors for sunlight and moonlight, affecting circadian rhythms and melatonin. No reason not to believe we can’t feel and receive starlight. We have connected to the cycles of the stars since we were stardust.
The Māori New Year and also the Māori name for the star cluster known (in English) as the Pleiades.
On this side of the Planet, the cluster rises in midwinter and for many Māori, heralds the start of the new year, which the iwi (tribes) celebrate in different ways and at different times.
As it is based on the lunar calendar*, the dates are precise but not fixed.
This year in New Zealand, Matariki is celebrated July 8-11th, with the public holiday on July 10th.
Observing Matariki was an ancient tradition for the Māori, even before they arrived in Aotearoa, not just for spiritual reasons, although science and spiritually co-existed for ancient cultures. Their ancestors used this star cluster to guide their Waka (voyaging canoes) across vast distances.
That is perhaps why they called it the “Eyes of The God”.
Most Māori language experts and cultural historians note that Matariki is an abbreviation of the phrase “Ngā mata o te ariki Tāwhirimātea“, meaning “The eyes of the god Tāwhirimātea”.
Interestingly, “mata” is also the word for eyes in indigenous Fijian language.
According to one Māori legend, several children of the Sky father, Ranginui, and Earth mother, Papatūānuku, wanted to separate their parents so they could stop living in eternal darkness, crushed between their tight embrace
When the God of the forest, Tāne Mahuta, separated Ranginui and Papatūānuku, his brother Tāwhirimātea was so upset that he tore out his own eyes and threw the broken pieces into the sky, which became the Matariki star cluster.
“In Māori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa (or Ranginui and Papatūānuku) appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world and the Māori people (though there are many different versions).”
[…]
“…they are the primordial sky father and earth mother bearing over 500 children of male and female including Tāwhirimātea, Tāne and Tangaroa. Both Ranginui and Papatūānuku lie locked together in a tight embrace, and their sons forced to live in the cramped darkness between them.
[…]
These children grow and discuss among themselves what it would be like to live in the light.
Tūmatauenga, the fiercest of the children, proposes that the best solution to their predicament is to kill their parents. But his brother Tāne disagrees, suggesting that it is better to push them apart, to let Ranginui be as a stranger to them in the sky above while Papatūānuku will remain below to nurture them. The others put their plans into action…”
– The Wikipedia page is an in-depth and a delight to read story. READ here (Wiki).
Another legend believes the cluster originally consisted of nine stars, but two were lost over time.
Each of the nine stars has a special significance representing the different forms of the natural environment as the Māori perceived them and as female deities. Matariki is a daughter of the Earth Mother Papatūānuku, and has eight daughters. They represent:
Matariki – reflection, hope, and humanity’s connection to their environment. | Waitī – freshwater bodies | Waitā – ocean and the bounties that they provide. | Waipuna-ā-rangi – represents rain. | Tupuānuku – food grown in the soil. | Tupuārangi – connected to fruit trees. | Ururangi – connected to the winds | Hiwa-i-te-rangi, the youngest and the last, serves as the wishing star
…and was/is considered the most important in some ways, because she carries the hopes, dreams and wishes into the new year.
The Sisters were practical heavenly messengers for ancient people. The brightness of each individual star was believed to demonstrate the strength of what it represents in the coming year.
e.g, if Waipuna-ā-rangi was brightest, it meant that the year would bring strong rains, while if Waitā was particularly dim, it meant a poor fish harvest.
Ancient and Indigenous Peoples across the world observed and chronicled the motions and positions of stars to develop seasonal calendars. These chronicles were later appropriated, rubbished and colonized into European Astronomy in the 1500s. [Further reading below.]
The Māori had celebrated Matariki for centuries prior to European “takeover” and cultural suppression. The Pākehā deemed their rituals, rites and festivities as “pagan”, the standard Euro-bigotry gaze. Colonisation is all about progress not evolution.
By the 1940s, it had become largely forgotten but was revitalized mid 90s when Rangi Matamua, then a university undergraduate, rediscovered an old manuscript written by his great grandfather detailing the Māori astronomical record and the celebration of Matariki.
1. “Professor Rangi Matamua (Tūhoe) is a pioneering Māori scholar who has revolutionised understandings of Māori astronomy, and in particular Matariki.”
2. The lost scrolls of Matariki: by Rangi Matamua
A personal essay by Rangi Matamua on the science of Māori astronomy.
” … as a young Māori boy at a Māori boarding school, the Western notion of science was completely foreign to me. I had no genealogical connection to [white sciences]
” … as a young Māori boy at a Māori boarding school, the Western notion of science was completely foreign to me. I had no genealogical connection to [white sciences]
Yet I always had natural curiosity to ask questions and seek answers, and I have always loved science. This interest began in front of the television and the hours I spent with my father watching sci-fi programmes such as Doctor Who, Blake’s 7, Sapphire & Steel, Star Trek, and Battlestar Galactica. During my formative years, the Star Wars movies were released and my life changed.
What they helped me to realise is that narrative is so important in connecting people to knowledge, especially Indigenous peoples. […] My connection to the field of astronomy is actually part of my family heritage.” – READ MORE at Newsroom NZ [2021 article]
3. “In 1995 […] he asked his grandfather Jim Moses (Timi Rāwiri Mātāmua) about Matariki, the Māori New Year […] Timi Rāwiri produced from a cupboard a 400-page manuscript written in Te Reo Māori.
The manuscript had been written over many years in the 19th century by Timi Rāwiri’s grandfather Rāwiri Te Kōkau and father Te Kōkau Himiona Te Pikikōtuku, who was a tohunga [expert] of Tūhoe and Ngāti Pikiao.
It was an astronomical record containing the names of 1000 stars and 103 constellations, as well as instructions for setting up a traditional house of astronomical learning or whare kōkōrangi. Timi Rāwiri told Mātāmua to share the knowledge it contained: “Knowledge hidden, he said, wasn’t knowledge at all.” – Wikipedia
Matariki was officially declared a public holiday in New Zealand on April 12, 2022, following the passing of the Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill and celebrated by Māori and [enlightened] Pākehā.
It was first celebrated nationally on June 24, 2022 but the iwi have been celebrating publicly ever since they became aware that they are allowed to honour their traditions regardless of decree and stigma.
Future dates can be found here at Te Papa [National Museum of NZ].
Publicly because in whānau (family) celebrations the observance of Matariki has always been a time to acknowledge the dead and to release their spirits to become stars. It was also a time to reflect, to be thankful to the Gods for the harvest, to feast and to share the bounty of the harvest with family and friends.
Matariki represents a living cultural philosophy, a call to practice three distinct values:
1. Matariki Hunga Nui (Remembrance): Honouring the past and calling out the names of loved ones who passed away over the previous year, releasing their spirits to become stars.
2. Matariki Ahunga Nui (Celebrating the Present): Gathering together with family and community to share food (kai), song, and gratitude for the winter harvest.
3. Matariki Manako Nui (Looking to the Future): Reflecting on life, setting aspirations, and planning out goals for the year ahead.
2. Matariki Ahunga Nui (Celebrating the Present): Gathering together with family and community to share food (kai), song, and gratitude for the winter harvest.
3. Matariki Manako Nui (Looking to the Future): Reflecting on life, setting aspirations, and planning out goals for the year ahead.
“Matariki is a time to remember those we’ve lost, celebrate where we are today, and look forward with hope to what’s ahead.
Over the past few years, I’ve lost a lot of people who were close to me. As hard as those experiences have been, they’ve taught me one of the biggest lessons in life, to be present. They’ve reminded me not to take time or the people I love for granted, because tomorrow is never promised.
When Matariki comes around, I like to honour the people I’ve lost in ways that feel meaningful to me. I reflect on the memories we shared, the lessons they taught me, and the impact they’ve had on the person I am today. Even though they’re no longer here, their love and influence continue to shape my life.
I’ve also learned to celebrate the little things. Whether it’s sharing a meal, spending time with whānau and friends, or simply being together, those moments have become the ones I value most.
Matariki is also a time for me to reflect on my own journey, set new goals, and think about the legacy I want to leave for my family. It’s a reminder to live with purpose, to love deeply, and to make the most of the time we’ve been given.”
1. Taurus Constellation (Wiki)
2. Pleiades (Wiki)
3. Pleiades Greek mythology (Wiki)
4. The Bronze Age (Wiki)
5. Iwi (Te Ara)
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1. ‘Seven Sisters constellation and Wirangu songline connected by stories across the continent’.
Knowledge Holders: Susie Betts and Veda Betts | Wirangu.
“On Wirangu Country, on what will become the Eyre Peninsula, people perform spiritual ceremonies at a site significant to the story of Yugarilya (the Seven Sisters constellation).
Hunter Tgilby, represented by the Orion constellation, fell in love with them and chased them out of the sky down to Earth, as they chased a snake, Dyunu.
The island and sand hills along the Eyre Peninsula west coast and especially at Lake Newland, represent the Seven Sisters.
A creation songline connected with Pleiades, the Seven Sisters constellation, runs across Australia and overseas.”
READ/VIEW this wonderful story at ABC’s ‘The Night Sky’.
2. ‘INDIGENOUS USE OF STELLAR SCINTILLATION TO PREDICT WEATHER AND SEASONAL CHANGE’:
“Changing properties of stars, such as their brightness and colour, are also used for predicting weather.
Combining archival studies with ethnographic fieldwork in Australia’s Torres Strait, we explore the various ways Indigenous peoples utilise stellar scintillation (twinkling) as an indicator for predicting weather and seasonal change, and examine the Indigenous and Western scientific underpinnings of this knowledge.
By observing subtle changes in the ways the stars twinkle, Meriam people gauge changing trade winds, approaching wet weather and temperature changes. We then examine how the Northern Dene of Arctic North America utilise stellar scintillation to forecast weather.”
READ MORE at Aboriginal Astronomy.
1. Krittika is the Sanskrit name for the cluster.
In Indian astronomy and Vedic astrology, it is the third of the 27 nakshatras (lunar mansions).
The name translates to “the cutters” or “the ones who cut,” symbolizing the ability to cut through negativity, ignite spiritual transformation, and purify the mind.
In Hindu mythology, the Krittikas are revered as the six celestial foster mothers of Lord Kartikeya (Skanda), the God of war. According to legend, they nurtured and raised him after he was born from the sparks of Lord Shiva’s third eye. The constellation represents a powerful blend of fierce, protective maternal energy and transformative, fiery power
2. In Japan, the cluster is known as Subaru, which translates to “united,” “gather together,” or “cluster”. In ancient Japanese mythology, the stars were viewed as divine heavenly visitors influencing humanity.
…and yes the car was named after this cluster, to symbolise the formation of the company from 5 others.
3. Native American Tribes
– The Zuni Tribe in New Mexico, the Zuni call them the “Seed Stars”. When the cluster disappears from the night sky every spring, it dictates the exact time to sow crops.
– The Lakota: The Lakota tribe associates the Pleiades with Mato Tipila (Devil’s Tower). Their lore states that seven girls were chased by a giant bear; they prayed to the Earth, which rose to protect them and hid them in the heavens, where they became the stars.
4. Aztec and Mayan Civilisations
– The Aztec Calendar: The Aztecs based their entire 52-year calendar cycle on the movement of the Pleiades. Every 52 years, when the cluster reached its highest point (zenith) at midnight, they performed the vital New Fire Ceremony to ensure the sun would rise again.
– The Mayan Civilisation: The Mayan Temple of the Sun in Cuzco was strategically built to align with the path of the Pleiades across the night sky.
5. Hawaiian traditions speak of the cluster once being a single, blindingly brilliant star.
Lore states a god smashed it into tiny shards out of anger or jealousy. Astronomically, this aligns with the fact that the Pleiades is a youthful star cluster that physically emerged and brightened relatively recently in Earth’s history.
The world’s oldest story is a story of Earth’s People. The Sisters know who we are. – Sandhya Nand.
The Mend