Everyone has a theory about the origin of the stars. Many suggest the twinkling lights offer glimmers of heaven, while others claim they play host to otherworldly beings. Our ancestors said stars were the gods immortalized, while navigators used each light as a compass and a way to track time and location. Scientists suggest that stars are nothing more than balls of gas burning millions of lightyears away, but in this story, the stars are not born from gods or alien lands, but from a girl named Maria.
Maria had long, black hair that was her prized possession. Each morning, she spent hours combing her hair with a special, crescent-shaped brush. She would pile the tresses atop her head before securing them with a soft, silver ribbon. Tiny diamonds marked the ribbon, and when the sun came out, Maria sparkled like an angel.
But, with all the time spent adorning her hair, Maria was often late to work. Her parents chided the girl, for what was the point of spending hours on your appearance when there was no food on the table? But no matter how much Maria’s parents complained, she paid them no mind. The girl was young, naïve, and had little understanding of hardship. Every morning, Maria spent hours combing and admiring her hair. She loved how the diamonds twinkled as she worked, although she wished they still sparkled and shone when the sun went down.
One day, Maria’s parents finally tired of her vanity. While the girl was sleeping, they stole the crescent comb and ribbon of diamonds from her bedside table. When Maria woke, she was livid, but her parents assured her they would return the items at the end of the workday. Relieved but annoyed that she had to attend work without her usual updo, Maria worked harder and faster than she ever had in her short life.
In fact, Maria was the first to arrive and the last to leave that day. She pounded her mortar and pestle, again and again, so many times that she shook the planet from its orbit.
You see, back then, the sky was only an arm’s length away from the earth, but by the time Maria left work and headed home, there was no way she could reach into the heavens and converse with the cosmos.
Which was a shame, because that’s where her comb and ribbon of diamonds ended up.
Unbeknownst to her, Maria had been grinding and pounding her mortar and pestle so forcefully that her diamonds, which had been carefully placed atop the tallest shelf in the kitchen, shook, rattled, and bounced their way up the chimney and into the night. Legend says the diamonds broke apart and filled the sky, whereas the ribbon became the Milky Way. The moon we see today is what’s left of Maria’s crescent-shaped comb.
You’d think Maria would have been upset over what transpired on that fateful day, but she received so many compliments about her long, black hair that she soon forgot about her ribbon and comb. She only remembered them when she looked at the night sky and watched the dancing lights. Although no child likes to agree with their parents, Maria had to admit that her diamonds looked prettier than ever before, and this way, everybody could enjoy them.
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This retelling was inspired by and adapted from the Filipino folktale, The Origin of the Moon & Stars.
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EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOON PHASES & PLANETS TO IMPROVE & ILLUMINATE YOUR LIFE Uncover New Depths of Yourself by Decoding Moon- Planet Cycles and Phases Uniting Eastern and Western astrological approaches, this groundbreaking book takes you beyond static birth… read moreAstrology by Moonlight Book
