While facing the Pleiades Star Constellation,Makali'i, rising above the horizon one evening 100s of years ago, an artist etched the image of the Pleiades into this lava rock on the Big Island in Puna.This was part of a spiritual ceremony with a Hawaiian Kahuna present for Makahiki that was also happening around the world.
During my Big Island stay last year,after photographing this image, I had a dream that I was flying across the field of petroglyphs.
Wikipedia:
"The nine brightest stars of the Pleiades are named for the Seven Sisters of Greek mythology: Sterope, Merope, Electra, Maia, Taygete, Celaeno, and Alcyone, along with their parents Atlas and Pleione. As daughters of Atlas, the Hyades were sisters of the Pleiades. The English name of the cluster itself is of Greek origin, though of uncertain etymology. Suggested derivations include: from πλεîν plein, to sail, making the Pleiades the "sailing ones"; from pleos, full or m; or from peleiades, flock of doves."
Initially I found this image in a book,comparing it to photographs of the actual stars while researching a project for a client's aloha shirt uniform.I was contacted by telephone, to enter a competition of a few designers to come up with a new design for Hawaiian Airlines for their new uniform that would be unveiled during their anniversary in November/December 2009.
It took 8 months to research,design and hand paint the print under the direction of a very large committee of Hawaiian Airlines employees.
