Perhaps the most famous star cluster on the sky, the Pleiades can be seen without binoculars from even the depths of a light-polluted city. Also known as the Seven Sisters and M45, the Pleiades is one of the brightest and closest open clusters. The Pleiades contains over 3000 stars, is about 400 light years away, and only 13 light years across. Quite evident in the above photograph are the blue reflection nebulae that surround the brighter cluster stars. Low mass, faint, brown dwarfs have also been found in the Pleiades.
Introduction
Throughout the Early World, numerous stories were told about a visiting ‘star-god’ and, sometimes, his companions. This being was known by a variety of names but his description and the stories told about him was always the same. The Egyptians called him Osiris and they hoped to be united with him in the Afterlife. The Ancients linked him with the Pleiades stars, which regulated many early calendars, and which some people claimed to be the origin of all life. Many early temples, pyramids, and religious sites, were aligned to the rising, and setting, of the Pleiades and this event heralded a new beginning or the end of an era. The star-god religion provides answers to many of the unsolved mysteries of the Ancient World such as the meaning of Egypt’s Great Pyramid, why one particular number has been sacred for thousands of years and what was behind the hundreds of stories told about the Great Flood. 
Is the Star cluster Pleiades where the Human Race originated? My good friend, Dr. James Gillihan, a Cherokee man who was raised by the Lakota, shared wonderful Lakota traditions with me. Also, my good friend and mentor, Cherokee elder and wisdom keeper, John Red Hat Duke, enlightened me about many of the Cherokee and Hopi traditions. I was very blessed by both of these friendships. The Lakota and Hopi both have oral traditions related to their origination from the Star cluster Pleiades. When the Hopi see the seven stars overhead (seven stars of Pleiades?) then the members of the Two Horn Society begin to sing their creation songs. Dr. A.C. Ross, in his book, “Mitakuye Oyasin: We are all related”, shares with us some information about the Pleiadians, and their similarities with the Lakota Sioux. He said that the Pleiadians communicate mostly through mental telepathy, and the Lakota also communicate through mental telepathy especially during ceremonies.
The Pleiades Enigma
‘Are we alone in the Universe’ is a question which intrigues scientists and the public alike. Astronomers involved with the SETI project patiently scan the depths of space waiting for the radio signal which will confirm that life also exists in other parts of the universe. Many Ufologists, on the other hand, believe that the thousands of unexplained U.F.O sightings, reported over the years, are indications that we are being visited, or monitored, by extra-terrestrials.
In the late 1960’s, the Italian author Peter Kolosimo wrote ‘Not of This World’. His book dealt with some of the mysteries of the Ancient World and also suggested that beings from another star system were in contact with Earth in prehistoric times.
In 1968, the Swiss author, Erich Von Daniken, wrote ‘Chariots of the Gods’ which became a best seller in America and Europe. Von Daniken has since written numerous books on the Ancient Astronaut theory which have been translated into twenty languages. His latest one, ‘Odyssey of the Gods’, suggests that the Ancient Greek gods were extra-terrestrials. Although some of his theories have been rejected by scientists, and other researchers, he is unconcerned about their criticism and he still has a large following.
Zachariah Sitchin was an American citizen, born in Azerbaijan, who became popular when he published his version of the Ancient Astronaut theory. Sitchin’s theory about theAnnunaki was based upon his translation of Sumerian texts. Although his suggestion that they came from Niburu, which he called the twelfth planet, and some of his interpretations of Sumerian writings, have been criticised by some authors, he, and especially Christian O’Brien, should be commended for drawing the public’s attention to the Annunaki.
Leonard Farra gives this account. "My involvement with this subject dates back to the late 1970’s when I began to study Sumerian religion. What I found was that traditions about the Seven Annunaki leaders had spread to neighbouring countries such as Babylon and Assyria and that these were the gods in many early religions. When I researched Ancient Egypt, I discovered that, although the country had national gods, and many local ones, at the heart of its religion, and especially in its Afterlife beliefs, there were the leading figures of the Annunaki. I had a good knowledge of Babylonian, and Assyrian, sacred architecture and when I discovered it in Egypt, I found a plausible explanation for Egypt’s Great Pyramid. This amazing structure was not built by extra-terrestrials, as some alternative scholars believe, because it was an integral part of Egyptian religion.
Over the past 30 years, I have studied all the early religions, mystical traditions, major Stone Age sites, surviving Stone Age cults, and a wide variety of related subjects, and my conclusions are that although further gods, and goddesses, were introduced into some of the pantheons, all the ancient peoples basically had versions of the same ‘star-god’ religion. The great teachers of the Early World decided that this story was much too deep for the general public to understand and so they explained it using allegorical tales and animal symbolism the deeper meaning of which was only known to initiates. What happened, though, was that over the years, in some cultures, the original meaning of the animals was forgotten and they sometimes became objects of worship themselves. The serpent, a creature linked with the Annunaki, was associated with gods, and goddesses, throughout the world and serpent worship continued into comparatively recent times. In parts of Europe, it was suppressed by the Church which proclaimed that various saints had banned the serpent from their lands. Geometric symbolism was also used in the Ancient World, to express religious ideas, and a form of concentric circle symbolism, which the Sumerians associated with one of the Annunaki leaders, was carved on the rocks in many parts of the world. Its also one the many mystical designs in the Nasca Desert in Peru.
Throughout the Early World, the star-people were linked with the Pleiades. These stars played an important role in many religions. Several early calendars were regulated by them and they were universally linked with periodical renewal. Hammurapi ,who ruled Babylon somewhere between 1900 and 1704 b.c.e, was one of the greatest, and most well known, Babylonian rulers and, commencing from his dynasty onwards, the last month in his country’s calendar, later called Adar, was known as Arakh-Sibuti – the month of the ‘Seven Stars’, or Pleiades. After the end of the Pleiades month, the New Year began and during the rituals of renewal, the priests read the Creation text which explained that after the creation of man, the Annunaki built Babylon’s great temple the Esagali. The Annunaki were claimed to have taught primitive people about agriculture and their apparent link with the Pleiades may be the reason why these stars were universally associated with the agricultural cycle and why they were shown on early Middle Eastern plaques with agricultural activity. One Assyrian plaque shows the Pleiades above seven figures who appear to have been based on the Annunaki leaders.
The Pleiades were linked with the Creation in many early cultures and some people believed that they came from these stars and that they will return there when they die. The Festival of the Dead, when departed souls were believed to return to Earth, was popular in many countries, such as amongst the Celts, in Mexico and Peru, and it was celebrated around the 1st November. The Celts called it Samain and it began with the rising of the Pleiades when the gates of the Otherworld were open and when new fires were lit. This festival was later adopted by the Church and its observed around the world as All Hallows. Its also now popularly celebrated as Halloween.
Early calendars, such as that of the Maya, suggest that ‘sky-people’came here around 5,000 years ago and the indications are that their visit resulted in a catastrophic earth upheaval which completely changed the course of human history. All the early civilizations arose ‘fully developed ’, at that time, including the Sumerians who arrived in their country in Southern Iraq. The newcomers in Sumeria settled amongst the less advanced population and their writings say that they weresurvivors of the Flood. This era was the beginning of the present age, according to the Mayan calendar, and the indications are that it was the rebirth of civilisation and not the beginning as most scholars believe. The Legend of the World Ages which was popular in both the Old and New Worlds similarly says that here have been a series of past ages each of which ended in destruction due to the evil behavior of man. At the end of each age, the ‘gods’ returned and helped start the new age.
Astronomers say that proof of life, elsewhere in the Universe, would be the greatest event in the history of man. So far as the Ancients are concerned, they all had traditions of an Earth visit, by E.T’s, several thousand years ago, and many native peoples are still awaiting their return. Legends, and folk customs, such as snake dances, which were linked with the sky-god religion, passed from generation to generation and they influenced many traditions in the Middle Ages. Take, for example, the tales of lost lands and the battles with dragons. The latter date back thousands of years and appear to have been allegorical stories which relate to a violent conflict which reputedly occurred when the star-gods were here.
Evidence of the early star–god religion can be found in the astronomical alignments of ancient religious structures, in sacred architecture and symbolism and especially in star lore. The titles of certain famous films, and books, and the names of several commercial products, have also been influenced by star-god legends which have travelled through time, in various parts of the world, to the present. And, furthermore, as there were once variations of the same religion on both sides of the Atlantic, could it be that there was contact between the Old and New Worlds thousands of years before Columbus arrived in the Americas and the Vikings reached Newfoundland?"
Leonard wrote, directed and produced a video documentary on this subject several years ago. In his new book,The Pleiades Legacy (The Old World), he has covered the star-god religions, and legends, of some of the major civilisations in the Ancient Middle East, Egypt, Central Asia and Africa and he has discussed Plato’s story of Atlantis. He has also shown that the early star-god traditions had an effect on the Classical Civilisations. Take the name of our month of May for example. This is thought to have come from the name of the Greek Pleiades goddess Maia. Subaru, the name of the Japanese car, means Pleiades and this is also the name of France’s new satellite.
Bibliography
- Richard Hinckley Allen: Star Names.Their Lore and Meaning
- Ernest Babelon: Manual of Oriental Antiquities
- Michael Baigent: From the Omens of Babylon
- Dominique Collon: First Impressions.Cylinder Seals in the Ancient Near East
- Encylopedia of Religion & Ethics
- Colonel J.Garner: The Worship of the Dead
- Peter Kolosimo: ‘Not of This World’
- Christian O’Brien: The First of the Few
- M.Oldield Howey: The Encircled Serpent
- Zachariah Sitchin: The Twelfth Planet, etc
- Erich Von Daniken: Chariots of the Gods, etc
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