You see it all the time in movies, the girl and the guy standing in some ridiculously beautiful setting, and as they embrace, they look up and see a shooting star.
It’s one of those incredibly romantic notions, right?
And it’s definitely a spectacular sight to see. Everyone wants to see a shooting star at some point in their lives. The good news is that with a little patience, it is possible to see one or more of them.
These bright bursts of light moving through the sky have a lot of deeper spiritual meanings to many cultures. Throughout this article, we’ll delve a little deeper into shooting stars and what it means when you are lucky enough to see one.
Excited to learn more? Let’s get straight into it then!
The Scientific Side Of Shooting Stars
Okay, so first, let’s talk about shooting stars. Did you know that shooting stars aren’t actually stars at all? Crazy, right?
But it’s true.
These stunning streaks of light are actually tiny bits of rock and dust known as meteoroids.
These meteoroids hurtle toward Earth’s atmosphere at incredible speeds and begin to burn up, causing those short-lived bright lights we’ve come to know and love. The heat is generated due to friction between the meteoroids and our atmosphere.
The bright light that we see is called a meteor, and this is what we colloquially call a shooting star. During certain times of the year, there are more meteors in the night sky.
If you ever hear on the news about meteor showers, that’s when you want to get yourself outside and look up at the sky if you’re desperate to see a shooting star. Searching at these times will give you the best chance of seeing one.
Shooting stars are best observed from a dark site. This is because dimmer meteors will be visible.
But now you know shooting stars actually have nothing to do with the constellations in our sky. It just seems that way because of the way Earth encounters the particles moving in the path of the comet’s orbit.
To discover the origins of the material from which shooting stars are made of see How Fast Do Comets Travel?
The Spiritual Side Of Shooting Stars
There are quite a few different spiritual ‘meanings’ for when you see a shooting star, so let’s look at some of those now.
1. Making Wishes
One of the most common associations with seeing a shooting star is to make a wish. I’m sure we’ve all heard that you’re meant to do that when you see one.
Well, this probably stems from the fact that shooting stars are often conceived to represent a change in some form or fashion.
Because shooting stars represent change, it is believed that a wish is more likely to come true because we generally wish for a change of some kind.
A better job, a new romantic relationship, recovery from an ailment, a new friend, and so on and so on.
Shooting stars are a reminder of your connection with the universe, and it is the way of the universe reminding you that it’s connected to you too.
2. Shooting Stars & Greek Mythology
Shooting stars have been observed since the dawn of time. All that matter in space has been kicking around up there for long before humans ever got the pleasure of coming to be in existence.
So, it’s unsurprising that shooting star symbolism dates back to Greek Mythology.
In the 2nd century, a Greek astronomer named Ptolemy theorized that shooting stars were symbolistic of the gods looking down on their people.
During this time period, it was thought that shooting stars were the gods opening the gap between their universe and the human world.
Shooting stars reminded them that they were always above, watching over the people who dwelled on Earth.
Perhaps this has something to do with why we still wish on stars to this very day.
The Greeks believed that it was the optimal time to make a wish when they saw a shooting star since the Gods were looking down on them at that very moment.
Remember to never point at a star when you make a wish – or it won’t come true. Or at least this is what the Greeks believed, as it would anger the Gods to be noticed too overtly.
3. Shooting Stars & Christianity
In the Christian religion, a shooting star is believed to be a streak of light that would follow fallen angels descending from heaven.
Another belief is that shooting stars represent a human’s soul being released from purgatory to heaven.
4. Shooting Stars & Native Americans
Contrastingly, the Native Americans had a rather bleak symbolism for a shooting star. They did not see shooting stars as something lucky or something to wish upon.
Rather, when a Native American would see a shooting star they would class it as a terrible omen. It would indicate that sickness and death were to fall upon the tribe.
5. Shooting Stars and Romanian Folklore
Romanian folklore states that every person on Earth has their very own star shining bright in the sky. Each star represents a human’s soul.
And when a person is tragically lost, their star and soul fall from the sky, creating a shooting star.
Final Thoughts
Shooting stars are nothing more than rock and dust. However, they are an incredible sight to witness. There’s something so beautiful about this natural phenomenon that has captivated the hearts of humans from the dawn of time.
And it’s unsurprising that with something this stunning and uncommon (relatively), we have always linked it to some kind of significance or symbolism.
Of course, there’s no scientific evidence that all your dreams will come true when you wish upon a star.
Not that it’ll stop me from wishing on one. And the likelihood of each human having a star soul waiting up in the sky for us…it’s slight.
Nonetheless, there can be a great comfort to be found in shooting stars and their symbolism. And I can’t decide which of the aforementioned symbolism I like the idea of most!
I guess the beauty of it is that we can choose what we believe it means to see a shooting star. So, what does it mean for you?
Since then, I’ve been an avid stargazer and astronomer, and love nothing more than spending my time charting stars, observing planets, and finding constellations.
This is why I decided to start Telescope Guru. I only wish to share this fun pastime with the world. With this site, I hope to answer all of your questions relating to astronomy, telescopes, and stargazing.
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