Seven Sisters

John Sara

The ancient star dreaming story of the Seven Sisters is one of the most widely told stories amongst Aboriginal People in Australia. To Aboriginal People the stories associated with the Milky Way – the home of our solar system, the stars and night skies carry meanings which explore deep into the law, culture and social structure of the people.

Traditionally the journeys of the Aboriginal Spirit Ancestors are recorded in Song Lines. Instead of maps these tracks are imaginary lines that trace the paths travelled by the Spirit Ancestors and the Mythical Snake as they moved through the land and waterways forming its features and creating the animals and plants. The song lines relating to the Seven Sisters story is one of the longest known, it covers more than half the width of the Australian continent from deep in the central desert to the west coast, it travels through diverse landscapes and many different language groups.

The story of the Seven Sisters relates to a journey taken by the sisters that makes up the star cluster known as the Pleiades in the constellation Taurus. In Aboriginal spirituality many groups believe there are only six sisters and that the seventh one is one of the planets. They say that when you see the seventh sister getting closer to the horizon she is visiting her six sisters, then she goes past and continues on her journey. The Wongutha People from the Central Goldfields believe the Seven Sisters came down to Earth to play at Lake Ballard, the islands around the Lake represent hiding places of the Sisters. The Wadjuk people from the Fremantle area believe that even though there are only two of the seven hills associated with their dreaming story of the Seven Sisters left, because of development, they are still connected to their dreaming stories. Further south the Wudjari People from the Esperance, Bremer Bay area believe their legend associated with the Seven Sisters is a warning about welcoming and trusting strangers.

The mythological stories of the Pleiades, one of the closest groups of Stars to the Earth, also cross many cultures outside Australia even appearing in ancient Greek mythology.

Painting and story by John Sara

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