In his 19th century treatise on natural living, Henry David Thoreau wrote: "The Sun is but a morning star," but if he were composing these lines right now, it would have been hard for him to overlook the other 'goddesses of dawn' this week.
I'm Mary Stewart Adams. This is the "Storyteller's Guide to the Night Sky."
As morning twilight arises this week, the star Sirius will be seen sinking into the west. As our brightest star, Sirius was beautifully described by 19th century Finnish writer Zachris Topelius as being exceptionally bright because the lovers Zulamith the Bold and Salami the Fair, after a thousand years of seperation and toil while building their bridge, the Milky Way, they met, and "straight rushed into each other's arms and melted into one; so they became the brightest star in heaven's high arch..."
Turning to the East, the planet Venus is moving through the dawn in the region of the star Spica, in the constellation Virgo. Like Sirius, Venus is related to love and beauty, and her brilliance is associated with the sacred mystery of the human heart.
The star Spica is the star of abundance, but because Spica appears relatively alone in this region of the sky, she is regarded as being defenceless or unarmed. Lucky for morning sky viewers, then, that Spica is flanked by the love and beauty of Venus!
After Thursday, the Moon will sweep onto the morning stage, lending even more feminine dominance to the scene as the Greek Selene or Roman Luna.
The waning crescent will be a spectacular sight, moving by Jupiter Thursday and Friday, Mars on Saturday, and demonstrating how "a thing of beauty is a joy forever" when she meets Venus Monday morning, December 7th.