© 2024 Interlochen
CLASSICAL IPR | 88.7 FM Interlochen | 94.7 FM Traverse City | 88.5 FM Mackinaw City IPR NEWS | 91.5 FM Traverse City | 90.1 FM Harbor Springs/Petoskey | 89.7 FM Manistee/Ludington
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Speaking the Cosmic Word at Eclipse Season: this week on The Storyteller's Night Sky

Dusk May 2, 2022. 45 minutes after sunset. Looking west-northwest.
Sky & Telescope
Dusk May 2, 2022. 45 minutes after sunset. Looking west-northwest

The month of April ended with a New Moon that partially eclipsed the Sun, casting a shadow over parts of the southern hemisphere. Now we cross into May, through the mid-point of the Spring, and further into eclipse season.

At solar eclipse we get to let off steam, so that was April 30. At lunar eclipse, we receive further forces of destiny. That happens May 16.

And what happens in between, where we are this week?

The Moon is visible not long after sunset on Monday, looking west toward the stars of Taurus. The planet Mercury is also there, near the star cluster of the Pleiades. They’re all pretty close to the horizon, and binoculars will help if you want a really good look.

So first the Moon partially eclipsed the Sun, then it moved past Mercury, and for the next few days, it will be seen rising up through Taurus stars, passing between the Bull’s horns on Wednesday.

I see a sacred Egyptian mystery unfolding here, in that this region of sky was linked to the human larynx through the ancient star wisdom, and was carved into a mysterious stone tablet depicting Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti ~ the “beautiful one who came.” Nefertiti is seated so we view her left side. A spiritual being is pressed against her left shoulder, feet placed firmly at her heart, her outstretched hand raised up through Nefertiti’s larynx, as if drawing down condensed divine forces that will allow her to speak the sacred word: Love. At the left shoulder of Taurus is where we find the star cluster of the Pleiades, where Mercury is now, and with the Moon then moving up through this region of condensed spiritual forces, it illuminates our ability to speak human mysteries back to the stars.

Mary Stewart Adams is a Star Lore Historian and host of “The Storyteller’s Night Sky.” As a global advocate for starry skies, Mary led the team that established the 9th International Dark Sky Park in the world in 2011, which later led to her home state of Michigan protecting 35,000 acres of state land for its natural darkness.