Falling Stars light the Darkness

Every summer, between mid-July and the end of August, we denizens of Earth are visited by the passing of a herd of traveling stars known as the Perseid Meteor Shower.

This August 21st, at the time of the eclipse, these falling stars may even be seen by day when the sun's light is blocked. (Planets, lined up in their orbits around the sun, may also be seen in that brief eclipse moment.)

Is there a meaning to this shower of meteors? Possibly so... but maybe their "meaning" is only their magical beauty, as ancient as our universe and yet seemingly so ephemeral when they appear to us.

Because the shower of stars appears to emanate from the constellation Perseus, they are named after this constellation, which contains the "demon star" Algol, an eclipsing binary star said to exert an evil influence.

 Perseus was a son of Zeus, immortalized for beheading the snake-haired Gorgon, Medusa. To look directly at Medusa would turn a person to stone. Perseus avoided this by using his shield as a mirror, and - looking only at her reflection in this mirror - he cut off her head. But her power did not vanish. It remained in her snakey head, which  Perseus kept in a wallet to use when he needed protection.

Perhaps we all need ways to protect ourselves. Ways to say "No" when needed. Perhaps we all have a Medusa within - a shadow-self whose existence we deny. Looking directly at it could be pretty scary. But if, like Perseus, we find a way to see it without being overwhelmed by it, maybe we can eliminate its power to harm us. And then it can become a powerful ally.

As the Great Eclipse approaches, let's think about what we want to embrace, and what we want to resist, in ourselves and in our beautiful planet, which - now more than ever before - needs our protection.