Blog IV
The Ninth Star of Fleming
“…but for God all things are possible.”
~ Matthew 19:23-26
Some dreams provide answers and others present perplexing questions to ponder. In gaining wisdom and insight, there are very few experiences in life that can compare to visions and phrases brought out from a dream. Some clarify while others mystify. It is our own limited, corporeal abilities that tether us to this physical reality in which we find ourselves. Overcoming this is our challenge and our calling.
Many of us become locked into an egocentric, tangible world that consists of limited resources for spiritual growth. Understanding that there is God within each of us, which in turn, makes us infinite, is a concept not easily grasped as we are programmed, since birth, that we live and then we die. This is only our physical nature. Our true nature is everlasting.
We emanate from the eternal and enduring love of God which animates our being and brings us to the realization that this world is finite and thus, spiritually insufficient. Therefor things like dreams, intuition, inspiration, premonition, epiphany, enlightenment and other such phenomenon are shrugged off and designated as anomalies of the human condition, and to some extent, thought of as insane. A sentiment that has held us back, denying humanity of the immeasurable possibilities.
An open mind and heart helps us to exceed the boundaries of this earthly odyssey. We are fallible and yet, our ability to rise above and learn from our errors, without the guilt, can bring us to an ethereal state of being where we live in faith, love and harmony. In knowing that everything happens for a reason and, even the worst of things that can occur in our lives, are to enhance our spirituality…to release us from the bondage of a world we did not come from. We can evolve into the Light we are meant to be.
With that said, I present to you, dear reader, a very strange message given to me some months ago that has me both confounded and intrigued…a mystery I am still unraveling.
One morning, as I rose from my bed, five words came to me out of a dream that I don't remember having. The phrase, whispered in my ear as I slept, has yielded some compelling results. Cryptic as it was, it made no sense until I began to research it.
Out of the ether came the words, “The Ninth Star of Fleming”. With no idea of what this meant I came to find out, through investigation, that there indeed was an astronomer in the late 1800s and early 1900s named Williamina Fleming. Born in 1857, she was a Scottish woman who married young, and emigrated to Boston with her husband in 1878. Not long after they arrived, her husband abandoned her. She had a young son and was left alone in a strange country with no source of income. She approached Edward Pickering who, at the time, was the director of the Harvard Observatory, and offered her services as a housemaid for him and his wife. It didn’t take long for Mr. and Mrs. Pickering to recognize Williamina’s (Mina) outstanding intelligence, and so, Mr. Pickering offered her a position at the observatory. There she worked with Pickering on the classification of stars into spectral types. She was intensely involved in the original 17 classes of stars which were arranged alphabetically from A-Q, each according to the intensity of its hydrogen spectral lines. Although she never looked through a telescope, she worked diligently, deciphering photographic plates and eventually headed up a team of women called Harvard Computers. She was the first and only woman to have achieved Curator status until the 1950s and the first female American citizen to be elected into the Royal Astronomical Society, in 1907.
It is known that during her time at the observatory she had examined nearly 200,000 photographic plates and is largely responsible for the classification of over 10,000 stars. She also discovered 10 novae, over 200 variable stars and is credited with the discovery of the notable Horsehead Nebula. Mina worked at the observatory until her death in 1911.
She was an amazing woman by anyone’s standards. As I continue to research and try to make sense of this, various questions come to mind that may never be answered. At this point in time, I have found a few resources on Mina…most notable, a New York Times article dated October 5, 1910, proclaiming her discovery of her Ninth Star, which was found in the zodiacal constellation of Sagittarius. I have also found some pictures of her, some online biographical articles and a lovely children's book regarding Mina's contribution to astronomy entitled, "She Caught the Light".
In pursuit of more answers, visiting the Harvard Observatory is something I am considering. The adventure continues...
This life is a mystery and it’s only now that I begin to realize that, although we all feel limited in so many ways, there is something much bigger at work here. We all have unlimited potential.
In conclusion, I leave you with a fascinating poem written by an 18th century, English poet named Samuel Taylor Coleridge entitled, "What If You Slept"...
What if you slept
And what if
In your sleep
You dreamed
And what if
In your dream
You went to heaven
And there plucked a strange and beautiful flower
And what if
When you awoke
You had that flower in your hand
Ah, what then?
Be well my friends