Shooting Stars: Wishes, Myths, and Cultural Beliefs

Shooting star is one of those fascinating tales we were told and also saw play out in movies, and I must say I do find it fascinating when I see people excited about seeing a shooting star and seeing them rush to make a wish in the wake of that. When we talk about shooting stars and the wishes that follow, many have told tales of how their wishes came to pass, and others have said the complete opposite, stating that none of their wishes have ever come to pass. In the light of this subject matter, I'll be talking about my take on shooting stars, what I'm made to believe that they are, and much more.

Like I stated above, I'm actually aware of the storyline that precedes shooting stars, and I must say that the majority of what I heard about making wishes when we see a shooting star is from watching movies or reading novels. Down here in Nigeria, we add meaning to shooting stars just like other parts of the world; the difference is just that the meaning we read into shooting stars is very much different from what others think about them or what they're widely known for. So do I think the wishes people make when they see a shooting star come to pass or not? It's worth knowing that I really don't know because I've never made wishes whenever I saw it, even though I learned of the myth from movies. Still, it's not our belief down here.

So we've established the fact that, yeah, I do know about shooting stars and the story behind them, but then I've also established the fact that I don't believe in them, and neither have I ever made a wish when I see a shooting star. I'm sure what you'll be wondering now is what our ulterior belief about shooting stars is here. Well, around here where I was raised, we believe someone is about to die or has just died when a shooting star moves past us. And to be candid, on at least three occasions when I saw a shooting star fall, almost in the next minute you'd hear the distant cry of people who probably just lost a family member or friend, and these have made me believe a shooting star is most like evidence that the soul of the person tied to the star has departed their body immediately after the star fell.

All photos are taken and edited on canva.