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Death - 'return ' to Venus

Firetree

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Warned: Low quality (copy-paste from Wikipedia)
Morning star .... pole dance and ceremony .


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Barnumbirr has strong associations with death for Yolngu people.
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The rising of Barnumbirr in the sky before sunrise is a time when the Yolngu conduct the "Morning Star Ceremony".
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As Venus becomes visible in the early hours before dawn, the Yolngu say that she draws behind her a rope that is connected to the island of Bralgu.
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Along this rope, with the aid of a richly decorated "Morning Star Pole", Yolngu people are able to release the spirits of their dead and communicate with their ancestors.
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Research
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suggests that this light is likely zodiacal light, caused by extraterrestrial dust reflecting light from the
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. This ‘rope’ is important in Yolngu mythology because it prevents Barnumbirr from straying too far from Bralgu and facilitates communication between dead and living people.
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The Morning Star Ceremony​

The Morning Star Ceremony is a mortuary
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of the Dhuwa moiety.
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In Dhuwa mythology, the Wangarr (Yolngu ancestors) perform the Morning Star ceremony every night of Venus’
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.
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In the real world, the Morning Star Ceremony is an important part of the funeral process for a small number of Yolngu clans.
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The ceremony begins at dusk and continues through the night, reaching a climax when Barnumbirr rises trailing a rope of light to connect with Bralgu.
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When Barnumbirr rises, the spirits of those who have recently died are released with the help of the Ceremony to Wangarr, the spirit-world



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HoldAll

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Interesting, but it's just Wikipedia copypasta. Is there anything original you'd like to say on the subject? For example, how it is relevant to you yourself, any take-home lessons to be learned, or questions regarding that ceremony? The link between Venus and death would be another interesting topic, could you elaborate on that?
 

Firetree

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I have noticed that a few of the groups here feel a connection to Venus - even being 'from Venus ' and 'returning there . I think it is due to its prevalence in the morning sky . A few traditions in the past ( outside Australia ) have seen 'morning star' and 'evening star ' as two separate things . It seems some Aboriginal groups realized they were the same star . It has here the usual significance of being a herald of the dawn as well .

The 'stars' 'fit in' , in a general way to an essential creation myth ; an earth snake 'Ungud' and a sky snake 'Wallenganda ' , who 'interact' ... Wallenganda is a black snake and also a dark river in the sky ( the dark dust cloud in the Milky Way ) and the stars either side are the campfires of Wallenganda's children camped along the river banks . In a way , the Venus 'star' then represents a stella 'camp' or location to head to .

On the first day of Venus rising ( after 8 days ) is seen as a gateway opening so communication with the ancestors ( that went there ) can be made . Communicating with ancestors is very important in these traditions . The 'morning star pole ' assists in this . .. as described above .

In some raditions Venus is not the actual destination , that is 'Buralku ' an 'island for the dead ' ., travelling along the 'rope of light' (see above post ) .

The 'Morning star pole' is like an 'anchoring post ' for the rope it connects it to earth and makes a pathway up to Venus (in my view , it represents a type of 'half way house' for those 'acclimatizing ' so as they can go on further to the actual location .

there is a similar 'anchoring post ' concept in ancient Egypt , but to explore or compare that might be off topic ?

Its also like a telegraph terminal , communication to and fro with ancestors goes through the pole .

The feathers on the pole represent stars and star groups and Venus itself , the strings are the ropes of light , it has various
other signs on it indicating clans that use it , sometimes signs of the maker of the pole , signs representing locations and ancestors .

For some , Baralku (or similar ) - the land or island of the dead is said to be in the east , as Venus rises there before the Sun , it is thought to connect to that land .

Unfortunately many have misread all this , and unscrupulous people have tried to hijack this tradition and slit it into their ideas about aliens and other non traditional topics , to try and support their modern views about things .

Looking at it from the anthropological perspective might be more productive ; the land of the dead is also the land of creation and the beginning ( for Yolngu people ... up in Arhnam Land ) .... creators , people culture came from 'an island ' in the east .

east of Arhnam Land , towards Cape York is the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Arafura Sea ... going up NE to PNG . It is likely this part of the story is some oral history . When they die , they go over the sea in a canoe , back to the island ... but the sea is also 'up into the stars ' . It might be interesting to compare how many cultures have thois concept ... a lot ! Canoe , Egyptian 'barque' or 'bark ' , River Styx and the ferryman Chiron (in Yolngu culture he would be Nganun ) .

Part of the reason of these studies and comparisons is to identify similarities in very different cultures . and to observe the root and base of certain ideas , aside from their 'cultural clothing ' to identify some 'archetypal ) (meaning common to all aside from culture or time ) human understandings about life and death , ( that is how it is revelant to me as well , I use these 'common' understandings and realizations to add to my own 'base' experience ( again , that which is 'inside' my own cultural conditioning ) and gnosis .
 
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