alcyone

Alcyone and The Navigator are based upon the Pleiades cluster, estimated to be over 100 million years old and 444 lightyears from Earth.

Alcyone, (from Greek 'alkyon', meaning Kingfisher) seen here unfurling her wings on a rock, is associated with peace and protection wherever she is seen. The brightest and most central star amongst the Pleiades, she was believed to be a safekeeper of sailors, her name whispered by navigators before sailing into uncertain waters, trusting that gentle winds and quiet seas would lay ahead.

In the Greek myth, a bereaved Alcyone is offered divine mercy by the Gods and transformed into a ‘Halycon bird' to be reunited with her husband. Fifteen days of calm are granted in which the winds are tamed and the seas are stilled so that she can nest peacefully upon the rocks.

Through her story of sorrow, the ancients were able to show how compassion for the plight of others can lift us into more peaceful states. Pain can give way to renewal and loss can be transmuted into an everlasting light for hope. The term'Halcyon Days', which derives from this ancient story is a metaphor for peace and healing - 'that what the sea once took, the sky can return in light'.