On August 10, the night of San Lorenzo, it is traditionally linked to the show of the “falling stars” and the custom of expressing a desire. In reality, those we see are not stars, but fragments of ice and rock left by the comets that, when the earth crosses the swarm of the Perseids, enter the atmosphere and are set for friction, creating the bright trails we see in heaven. The tradition of desire arises from the universal charm of looking up towards the sky: moreover, the term “desire” derives from the Latin de-Sidus, “without stars”, and recalls the human need to find a guide and hope in the lights of the firmament.
The falling stars in ancient Egypt and India are souls of the deceased
Before getting to find out why we express a desire when we see the shooting stars, we have to take a dip in the past, and find out what the great civilizations saw them in them.
The Egyptians, for example, believed that The celestial vault was the body of the goddess nut – divinity of heaven and birth, depicted like a youth that gives birth to the sky and the stars every day – while, after the medium kingdom, it was started to think that the stars were The souls of the deceased. Until that era, in fact, it was thought that only the pharaohs could hope for catheterism – the transformation of the body into stars – but then it was started to believe that this opportunity was worth for everyone, that they were rich, poor and not noble.
With this in mind, the shooting stars were not considered as real stars, because otherwise the ancestors would “fallen” by the celestial vault. Then, it was believed that the raising stars were gifts that past souls sent from the sky. For example, of this belief, in the tomb of Tutankhamon it was found of silica glassor melted sand following the fall of a meteorite.
The Hindu tradition, however, from ancient times interprets falling stars like the desire for a deceased soul to return to earth to reincarnate and live a new life. This link with the Samsara – that is, the infinite cycle of birth, death and rebirth – transforms every bright wake into heaven into a “sign of passage between worlds”: in practice, a soul that leaves the spiritual plan to seek new earthly experiences, led by one’s karma.
Abundance and prosperity: the shooting stars were a sign of a good omen for the Romans
In ancient Rome, the falling stars were considered the demonstration of Priapo, divinity linked to the fertility, protection of fields and the prosperity of men. They were also seen as a sign of divine benevolence: the more bright trails they sighted, the more abundant the harvest of the following year would have been. This link between celestial phenomena and agriculture reflected the Roman cosmic vision, in which the stars and natural cycles were intimately connected to daily life and rural economy.
In addition to the agricultural meaning, however, the falling stars also appeared in the medical and naturalistic texts of the time. Pliny the Elder, in Naturalis Historia, associated their appearance with the fall of Calli; Rutilio Palladio, in Opus Agriculturae, connected them to the healing of warts, while Marcello Empirico considered them linked to the improvement of some eye diseases. These beliefs demonstrate how the Romans saw a phenomenon capable of directly influencing people’s health and well -being directly, as well as the fate of the fields.
Ragging stars as a bad omen: so it was believed in Persia, in China and Sparta
The falling stars, however, were not always well seen. If for the Romans this luminous phenomenon was synonymous with abundance, so it was not for the Persianwhich considered the scie of light as Demons and evil witches on the run. It would then be the Sirio starthat is the Tishtrya god, to defeat them, to bring the cosmic order back.
In China, the emperor was considered in danger Every time he sighted a comet, which is why the falling stars – for their similarity with the comets – were considered bad omens. The Chinese, perhaps thanks to this combination of falling stars and phenomena related to comets, they studied the bright shamans in depth.
TO Spartaon the other hand, the phenomenon of the falling stars was connected to political decisions: every nine years the magistrates gathered and, if they sighted a star fall, they considered it a sign of misfortune against the sovereign, which was then deposited.
Because San Lorenzo is associated with the stars: legend
The falling stars are associated with August 10 for another reason: the religious one. San Lorenzo was a young aristocrat who lived in Rome in the third century AD: he was also a Christian archdeacon, and helped the poor and beggars. The Emperor Valerian openly fought the advent of Christianity and, in 258, condemned bishops, priests and Christian operators to death. Among the latter there was also Lorenzo, who On 10 August 258, he was burned alive.
Legend has several versions, but one of the best known tells that his tears – combined with the tears of those who cried for him – became stars; another says that the souls of those who had helped, as a sign of gratitude, They shone and move to heaven to thank himand another more than the stars symbolize burning coal on which Lorenzo was burned.
Why is a desire expresses if you see a falling star?
If you see a falling star, the first thing that jumps to mind is to have make a desire: this tradition, to which we are all very tied, sinks its origin in profound sense that pushes man to raise your eyes to the celestial vaultenchanted by wonder of the starry skyand always looking for explanations on the order of the stars and the cosmos.
We then think about the very meaning of the word wishwhich originates from Latin: de-Sidus, literally, stars. When there are no stars, The bright guides are missing who have always guided man – without forgetting that, in ancient times, The stars were the guide for the navigation routes – And therefore the human being, if he feels “lost” he can decide whether to give up or whether to strive and want something better.
Also Julius CaesarIn the De Bello Gallicospeaks to us of desiringthat is, the military who, once the battle ended, spread under the celestial vault hoping in the return of their companions. In fact, the legends around the shooting stars are deeply linked to both myth and spirituality: When the light scie manifests themselvesforever, man’s eye rises towards the sky.
