The stars are mansions built by Nature’s hand, And, haply, there the spirits of the blest
Dwell, clothed in radiance, their immortal vest; Huge Ocean shows, within his yellow strand, A habitation marvellously planned,
For life to occupy in love and rest …
A snippet of a poem by William Wordsworth called The stars are Mansion’s built by Nature’s hands
For centuries stars have been used to navigate the world, to find opportunities to explore different places, to find peace and calm, to express love and to dream and imagine what heaven looks like. Stars and their placement in the sky has been used by sailors for centuries to navigate the oceans. There so many folk tales in many parts of the world that use the knowledge of constellations to calculate how far they are from the see. Some countries like India and China use moon calendar which is based on the moon cycle.
The scientific definition of a Star according to Britannica is : A star is any massive self-luminous celestial body of gas that shines by radiation derived from its internal energy sources. The universe has millions of these celestial bodies but not all can be seen by humans. According to Wikipedia A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by self-gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun.
Stars, moon and sun have always been special to humans in exploring and expressing their emotions. Right from childhood people see the stars as twinkly objects illuminating the sky like diamonds. The star symbolises hope in the dark sky that there will always be light even in the darkest moments. The poem of Twinkle Twinkle describes the cycle of moon and sun around the earth and when the stars are visible in the night.
Lying on the beach just watching the stars is considered a very romantic date. Stars have always been symbolised as love in Hollywood and Bollywood with numerous movies and songs written about it. Making a wish when the stars fall is considered
lucky and just witnessing shooting stars is considered a good omen/sign. Hence a lot of people name a star with their loved ones names as a special gesture.
Religions across the world use star symbol to depict faith, prosperity, hope etc. The Bahai symbol is a nine pointed star. Jewish religion has Star of David. There is a separate vertical called Astro-theology that studies the amalgamation of astrology and how it is used in different religions across the world.
A star symbolises a lot of things as we have seen but all leads to one thing that it represents love, hope and positivity. Shine bright like a diamond as Rihanna says, a star is that rock that truly stays forever (sorry debeers)
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