Natural light
Daylight is a blessing. Moonlight is
magical. Starlight is bewitching.
Starlight, star bright,
First star I see tonight –
I wish I may, I wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight.
This little rhyme is a nursery rhyme which
originated in America in the late 1890s and travelled to Britain and other English-speaking nations by the early 1900s.
Wishing on the first star of the evening is
a superstition that may have had its origins in ancient times, when people
believed the heavens were peopled with gods. Shooting stars or meteors had special
significance because they were rarer and an indication that the gods were
watching the people below. The Ancient Greeks thought the sbooting stars were the souls of the departed rising
to heaven, although as shooting stars descend, I can't quite understand that.
The Ancient Romans thought that making a
wish when seeing a shooting star would bring good luck and prosperity. If the
wish could be completed before the shooting star disappeared, it was more
likely to be granted.
In some cultures, a falling or shooting
star is thought to be a new soul coming to earth to be reborn.
In the Disney film of Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket
sings –
When you wish upon a star,
Makes no difference who you are,
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you.
If your heart is in your dream,
No request is too extreme,
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do.
Fate is kind,
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfilment of
Their secret longing.
Like a bolt out of the blue,
Fate steps in and sees you through;
When you wish upon a star,
Your dreams come true.
There is a British charity called, ‘When You
Wish Upon a Star,’ dedicated to fulfilling the wishes and dreams of seriously
ill children. The founder is Barbara White, also known as the Fairy Godmother.
There is more information here.
There are many songs about stars or
inspired by stars. Here is a small selection:
Catch a falling star
Waiting for a Star to Fall
All of the Stars
Shining Star
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Choose one of the above, or think of a personal favourite, and let it haunt your brain all day.
I’ll take the Disney song. It’s too late for it to haunt my day, but maybe it will give me pleasant dreams.
ReplyDeleteThat song is so sweet and innocent.
DeleteLovely post. I love the first little poem.
ReplyDeleteIt's so sweet and hopeful, isn't it?
DeleteThere is a charity here called the Star Foundation, I think, and it's job is to make wishes come true for critically ill children, many of them have cancer in one form or another and the money is raised by people's donations. Two of my children donate every month.
ReplyDeleteAs for wishing on a star, I've never had any of those wishes come true.
There are so many worthwhile charities. One of my daughter's friends works as a children's hospice nurse. It takes special people to do such work.
DeleteI love the idea that charities are called ‘When You Wish Upon a Star,’ especially if they are dedicated to fulfilling the wishes and dreams of seriously ill children. The name is much more child friendly than, say, "Preventing Dangerous Cancers in Children".
ReplyDeleteThe wishes can be simple or elaborate, but the charity does what it can to make a terminally ill child happy.
DeleteLast night the skies cleared for a short while so we could see the stars 🌟
ReplyDeleteThe sky is endless on a clear night - makes me realise how insignificant we are.
Delete‘Catch a Falling Star’’ was a favourite of mine when I was young and I’ve always enjoyed listening to Perry Como singing it.
ReplyDeletePerry Como was a great favourite for a long time, until crooners went out of fashion. Shame!
DeleteSadly with all the light pollution, stars are rare in the night sky.
ReplyDeleteYou are right. There are very few places in UK which have dark sky status. Very sad!
DeleteWhen you wish upon a star is a nice name for a charity. That would be like the Make a wish foundation that we have here.
ReplyDeleteI rather like the Jimminy Cricket song so I'll sing that while I do my housework today
I''ll sing it, too, but housework? Well, I have stripped the bed, so will have to remake it, and there's always laundry . . . oh, joy!
DeleteSo nice to be reminded of these childhood favorites.Very much enjoyed, thank you!
ReplyDeleteI seem to be slipping into my second (or third) childhood!
DeleteI would wish on a shooting star if I was ever up in the middle of the night to see one, LOL but that experience is long past me.
ReplyDeleteAugust is a good month for shooting stars - the Pleiades, I think.
DeleteI learned to play twinkle twinkle little star on piano, organ and harmonica when I was a child. one finger playing of course. I may have to crank up the iPad today and play it, since it will now be in my head all day... I agree with the daylight blessing, moonlight magical. I love both sunshine and moonlight and star shine also
ReplyDeleteI'll always take natural light over artificial, when it's possible.
DeleteThe Starlight rhyme at the beginning is familiar from one of the Iona Opie collections we used to sing and read to the children. Her books are packed with such wonderful stuff.
ReplyDeleteShe and her husband did so much work and research to record rhymes.
DeleteYour post brought back memories and was informative. Thanks.
ReplyDelete😀
DeleteHere in the southeastern United States most everyone knows the song “Stars Fell On Alabama”. I don’t know whether it ever made its way to England. “Catch A Falling Starl was a big hit for Perry Como back in the day.
ReplyDeleteI looked up 'Stars fell on Alabama' and listened to the version by Patti Page. Pretty tune, lovely words and perfect diction. I haven't watched the film . . . yet! Thank you for the introduction.
DeleteI envy people with street lights. It goes dark early in August here in the countryside at night until April.
ReplyDeleteIt's rare to live in a place where the night sky is unpolluted.
DeleteWe have so much artificial light where I live that I would be fortunate to see more than a handful of stars. "Catch a Falling Star" was a big hit in my early childhood, and that's the song that first came to mind.
ReplyDeleteLight pollution can be a big problem for wildlife.
DeleteThe first of these song will stay in my head all day.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a bad accompaniment to the day. 😀
DeleteI've seen quite a few shooting stars in August.
ReplyDeleteThat's one of the months to see them.
DeleteI'll take Catch a Falling Star ...
ReplyDeleteAs for that charity, we have one with a similar mission called Make-a-Wish Foundation. No sign of a star ... xxx
Such charities do wonderful work.
DeleteYou keep posting these earworms and I keep having to recite the alphabet backwards!
ReplyDeleteHere's some weird instrumental stuff to add to the collection, though it's more spacy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hHwz1UWJmI
Thank you for the Space Music - I've got it playing in the background. The video is stunning.
DeleteWhen you wish upon a star will be with me for hours.
ReplyDeleteI think it's one of my favourites . . .
DeleteHaunted.
ReplyDeleteGood or bad?
Delete... and now I'm singing ‘Catch a Falling Star’’ :)
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
😁
ReplyDeleteI love star light, star bright and I also love the other verses of Twinkle Twinkle. Simple and pretty. xx
ReplyDeleteSimple things are often the most memorable.
DeleteI won't be counting sheep to get to sleep tonight, I'll be 'wishing on a star' !
ReplyDelete