Starlore Quilt

Quilting is a practical art. I have blogged about it before, but in the past (mostly) women have used this practical medium to express their emotions, sentiments, philosophies, and even their political views.

And in the case of the Shared Sky quilts, quilting also provides a canvas on which to convey the starlore heritage and legends of the African sky. The Visitor's Center at the South African Astronomical Observatory had such a quilt hanging in its lobby. It was made by Jo Crocket and Nomawethu Bebeza based on paintings produced as part of the "Friends with the Universe" project during South Africa's first year of Science and Technology in 1998.

Here are some of the star legends of South Africa appliqued on the quilt:

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Legends of the Khoikhoi and the San

"A strong-willed girl became so angry when her mother would not give her any of the delicious root that she grabbed the roasting roots from the fire and threw the roots and ashes into the sky, where the red and white roots now glow as red and white stars, and the ashes are the Milky Way."

The Sotho Calendar

"Canopus, the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina and the second brightest star in the sky after Sirius, was called Naka (the horn), or E a dishwa (it is carefully watched.) Sotho men would camp in the mountains, where they made fires and watched the early morning skies in the South. It is believed that the first person to see the star would be very prosperous that year, with a rich harvest and good luck to the end of his life."

Sotho, Swazi, Nguni

"isiLimela or the Pleiades were the 'digging stars', whose appearance in southern Africa warned of the coming need to begin hoeing the ground."

Venda

"The bright stars of the pointers and the Southern Cross were often seen as giraffes, though different tribes had different ideas about which were male and which were female. Among the Venda the giraffes were known as Thutlwa 'rising above the trees', and in October the giraffes would indeed skim above the trees on the evening horizon, reminding people to finish planting."

Namawuas

"According to the Namaquas, the Pleiades were the daughters of the sky god. When their husband (Aldeberan) shot his arrow (Orion's sword) at three zebra (Orion's belt), it fell short. He dared not return home because he had killed no game, and he dared not retrieve his arrow because of the fierce lion (Betelgeuse) which sat watching the zebras.

There he sits still. shivering in the cold night and suffering thirst and hunger."

Tswana

"Some believed that after sunset the sun traveled back to the east over the top of the sky, and that the stars are small holes which let the light through Others said that the sun is eaten each night by a crocodile, and that it emerges from the crocodile each morning."