wish upon a star

The wishing on a shooting star is believed to have originated around AD 127 – 151 by Greek astronomer Ptolemy when he wrote that the Gods will, out of both curiosity and boredom, occasionally peer down at the earth from between the spheres where stars could sometimes slip out of this gap, becoming visible as shooting or falling stars. The Gods, it’s believed, tend to be more receptive to wishes made during these times. But many other cultures also revered the shooting star, such as the Jews and Christians believing them to be fallen angels or demons and the Greeks thinking them the rising or falling of human souls. In other instances, like when a shooting star is seen in Chile, it’s believed one must pick up a stone when someone sees the star or in the Philippines where one must tie a knot in a handkerchief before the star’s light is extinguished. There is also the legend of wishing on the first star you see at night, which we all know, if from nothing else, this little rhyme: “Star light, Star bright, the first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.”