ABSTRACT
One still, sad measure of modernity may be the extent to which human life on this planet has estranged itself from a conscious awareness of the sky. While no culture has ever experienced a perfectly harmonious relationship with nature, the ability to observe and record solar, lunar and planetary phenomena has proven essential to the survival of our species. Once, we all lived beneath the skies in the same perceived time zone – local solar time – and our biorhythms were synchronized with the rising and setting of that one natural light source. Through oral histories, myths, ritual, artefacts and early symbolic writing, we collected and preserved our accounts of celestial objects’ periodic and irregular appearances, correlating with meteorological and historical events as well as human needs and desires.
