One of my favorite stories is unfolding in the sky right now, with the great constellation Orion rising up in the morning sky in the east while the starry crown slopes toward the west, where the Sun is setting below the celestial equator now that it’s equinox time. The story, Catherine and Her Destiny, is from Andrew Lang’s Pink Fairy Book, and it goes like this…
Long ago there lived a rich merchant who, besides possessing more treasures than any king in the world, had in his great hall three chairs, one of silver, one of gold, and one of diamonds.
We’ll allow that the three chairs are the three stars that mark the belt of Orion.
But his greatest treasure of all was his only daughter, who was called Catherine.
We can imagine Catherine is Sirius, the brightest star in our sky, and at this turn of the season, Sirius begins to rise in the east, down and left of the three stars at the belt of Orion. The Great Bear constellation has swung ‘round the pole star so that the Dipper appears tipped up on its handle, the ladle pouring forth destiny forces into the dawn.
Here’s what happens next:
One day Catherine was sitting in her own room when suddenly the door flew open, and in came a tall and beautiful woman holding in her hands a little wheel.
‘Catherine,’ she said, going up to the girl, ‘which would you rather have-a happy youth or a happy old age?’
Catherine was so taken by surprise that she did not know what to answer, and the lady repeated again, ‘Which would you rather have-a happy youth or a happy old age?’
Then Catherine thought to herself, ‘If I say a happy youth, then I shall have to suffer all the rest of my life. No, I would bear trouble now, and have something better to look forward to.’ So she looked up and replied, ‘Give me a happy old age.’
‘So be it,’ said the lady, and turned her wheel as she spoke, vanishing the next moment as suddenly as she had come.
Now this beautiful lady was the Destiny of poor Catherine.
Only a few days after this the merchant heard the news that all his finest ships, laden with the richest merchandise, had been sunk in a storm, and he was left a beggar. The shock was too much for him. He took to his bed, and in a short time he was dead of his disappointment.
So poor Catherine was left alone in the world without a penny or a creature to help her…
So begins a series of trials for Catherine, until seven years have passed, when she settles into service for a woman who gives her the task each day of climbing a mountain that overshadowed the town to offer a loaf of bread to the woman’s destiny. Finally the woman, noticing Catherine’s sadness, prompts her to ask her destiny if she will speak with Catherine’s destiny, to entreat her to leave Catherine in peace.
Here’s where the Big Dipper comes in, for the woman’s destiny tells Catherine, “Don’t you know that your destiny lies asleep under seven coverlids and can hear nothing?” These seven coverlids are the seven stars of the Big Dipper asterism, forever circling overhead and never setting below the horizon in the northern hemisphere.
What is it to make an offering to the forces of destiny? How do we nourish these forces, and can it really matter in today’s world? According to the Storyteller’s Night Sky, there’s little else that will do. Knowing the stars, having poems by heart, reading true fairy tales ~ these things strengthen the inner self, bolstering the moral wisdom and keeping us free from chaos. And this is especially important at equinox, when the growth forces of nature withdraw and go to sleep. But now, the human being must stay awake and be active.
Now back to the story. Catherine’s destiny does respond to her plea, by giving her a ball of silk thread that, it just so turns out, matches exactly the thread needed to complete the bridal garment for the king’s wedding.
I don’t want to give it away completely, but let’s just say that all the king’s riches placed on a mighty scale can’t balance the ball of silk thread, only the king’s crown tips the scales, revealing Catherine’s true self.
It’s a perfect tale for equinox, when things are brought to balance, and with the help of a fairy tale, we can rest in the knowledge that despite the trials and probations, a happily ever after is possible.
~Mary
Hear this week’s episode of The Storyteller’s Night Sky on podcast here, and wherever you tune in. Cover image by John Hill.