The following is from Carol Botha.
''Shortly - the Pleiades and African folklore
Khoikhoi and the San
When the Pleiades appear in the east, little ones are lifted by their mothers and presented to the stars . . . The Pleiades are considered friendly and the children are taught to stretch their hands toward them.
The Pleiades, named Khuseti or Khunuseh by the Khoikhoi, are called the rainstars. Their appearance indicates the rainy season is near and thus the beginning of a new year. Hahn. The Khoikhoi, or Bushmen (1881).
. . . when rain is accompanied by lightning, girls who are out in the open become killed by the lightning and are converted into stars. Therefore young unmarried women and girls must hide themselves from the rain. Schapera (1930).
Namaquas:
the Pleiades were the daughters of the sky god. When their husband (Aldeberan) shot his arrow (Orion's sword) at three zebras (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 (Betelgueuse) which sat watching the zebras. There he sits still, shivering in the cold night and suffering thirst and hunger.
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. All over Africa, these stars were used as a marker of the growing season. `And we say isiLimela is renewed, and the year is renewed, and so we begin to dig'. (Callaway 1970). Xhosa men counted their years of manhood from the time in June when isiLimela first became visible.
http://www.saao.ac.za/public-info/sun-moon-stars/african-starlore/
I hope the seven sisters will be in full regalia on Sat evening''.
Carol Botha
