How Stars Came to Be, or After Death

Long, long ago, when the world was very young, and its people even younger, the night sky was whole and black save for the moon. Which would, of course, change its shape even so that the world might be wholly dark at times.
Then, so long ago, the world was gentler. War had not been invented yet and there was no disease. People lived much longer lives. So it was, then, before any had yet died, they could not comprehend of death. They did not understand that there was an after much as they did not understand that there was a before. There simply was.
But they were not a deathless people. The trees rise and fall and so do the people. When the first person died, the others at first laughed. They woke from their day-sleep to find one of them had not.
“A game, a new game! I like it,” they said. But the dead did not rise, did not laugh with them. They simply lay where they were.
“Come now, do not lie there. Tell us what you are doing that we may play with you.” There was again no response.
It was then that the people began to grow afraid. “What has happened to our friend?” They said. “What are they doing? What is the matter? Why do they not move, or speak? Why have they grown cold?” There was no answer.
Soon they grew sad, for their friend had changed and they did not know how. They did not know why. Their friend was gone from them. Then they grew afraid- where had their friend gone? Were they trapped, unable to move? Were they somewhere else, unable to be seen, unable to return? Then they feared for themselves, should the same fate befall them. They did not travel for the rest of the day. They remained where they were, guarding the body of the dead.
Night fell upon them. They continued to be sad for their lost friend. They mourned, though they had not the word for it yet. But one among them turned their gaze skyward to take in the moon-sliver in the dark night sea above. They then cried out in surprise, alerting the others around them.
There was another light in the sky!
The others quickly came to their feet and out from under the trees. Indeed, when they looked up above, there was another light in the sky. It was not as the moon, large and shaped; it was instead very small, and round. It was only a tiny speck of light a ways away from the glowing crescent of the moon. Its light flickered unlike the constant moon.
What could it be? Why was it here? How did it get there?
Then one among them called out to it the name of the dead. The star grew brighter and larger, but only for a moment. The people rejoiced- they had found their friend! But they quickly grew sad again, for though they had found their friend, they were so far away. None of them knew how to reach their friend.
The sounds of their great sadness rose and reached the star above. It grew larger and larger, falling from the sky until they could see its shape. It touched gently down upon the earth and all could see it was indeed their lost friend. Oh, how they rejoiced!
“My friends, my friends!” said the star, who was now like a grey form of themselves, mist-like in texture and weight. “Oh how I have missed you. Let me tell you of my new journey- for I have died, and can no longer remain with you. My body has released the soul within that was me and given it to the sky that I may explore.
“But I am lonely! I can only visit you at night, when my greyness is visible against the blackness. During the day the white sun will burn any sign of me away, and I will be blinded, this I know. But I will not be gone! I simply wait until the night returns and I may look upon you and you me. Fear not death, my friends, for it is merely the next great journey.”
In this way all were together again, and they danced and played all through the night. They remained awake all through their night-sleep, overjoyed as they were! As the sun rose they retreated back to the protective shade of the trees. But the dead remained. They gestured for their friend to follow, but they merely shook their head.
“I cannot, for I do not truly belong with you any more. I may walk with you at night but I can no longer call myself one of you. I belong to the sky now, just as you belong to the earth. When you die you will join me! I look forward to the day when I may receive one of you, my dear friends, in the sky and we may journey the skies together. But for now I leave you.”
With that the grey form of the dead rose into the sky, growing brighter and smaller as it travelled, until it was again no more than a tiny dot. The sun soon rose in its might and all had to retreat to the shelter of the trees. But the one who had first seen the star stood just inside the shadow’s edge to watch the sky, bright as it was. They could no longer see their friend.
Yet the people were not longer sad! They knew where their friend was, and they were greatly happy for it. They knew that one day they would all be able to rejoin them. For know, they contented themselves with wandering the land as much as they could and learning as much as they could so the day they joined their friend they might have stories to tell.
The body, they now knew, was empty, and so they did with it what they did for the bodies of those they hunted. They said their thanks over it, thanking the soul and spirit for the life they led. Then they returned the body to the ground that it might feed that which grows from the soil.
One by one, they too grew old and died. They had words for it now, and understanding. One by one new stars appeared in the sky. They too moved in the vast black expanse, wandering, much as they once did on the earth below. But each season they always returned where they once were that they might look down upon those they loved again.
As the world and its people grew older, the sky filled with the soft grey light of the dead. The dead grouped together, made shapes, played in the sky. The people knew to look to the sky for guidance, where to find their ancestors, their friends, their loved ones.
They also knew what the fall of a star meant- one of the dead had returned to the world of the living to guide them. If you are ever in need of guidance, little ones, always look to the stars for it. For they are your forebears, the ones who loved you and continue to love you in death, and they will always be there when you call.

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• ɮudō