Star stuff forebears: are humans made of dead stars?
According to a YouTube posted by The Atlantic entitled “We are dead stars,” humans are made of star stuff (video posted below). Dr. Michelle Thaller, a NASA astronomer featured in the video, states that the hemoglobin of our blood and its iron, was formed inside an exploding or dying star.
Her exact words are very interesting. At one point Thaller states, “We are dead stars, looking back up at the sky.” This straightforward, scientifically pronounced data set resonates with the essences of many meditative traditions which suggest each individual is the Universe’s attempt to know or remember itself.
Our star stuff nature helps the Cosmos know itself
The quote, “We are made of star stuff” has a long life, and multiple users. (See Quote Investigator for a full breakdown.) I’ve run across this statement many times in my own journeys, but my favorite experience of the quote was hearing Carl Sagan speak it in the first episode of his profoundly groundbreaking science series, “The Cosmos: A Personal Voyage”.
Not too long ago, the entire “Cosmos” series was available for streaming on Netflix and as mailed discs. If you haven’t seen this landmark media event, there’s still time to catch it. The first episode was entitled “The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean,” and while the link above to Quote Investigator will deliver the same content, for the reader’s ease and enjoyment, it’s also quoted below:
“The surface of the Earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean. On this shore we’ve learned most of what we know. Recently, we’ve waded a little way out, maybe ankle-deep, and the water seems inviting. Some part of our being knows this is where we came from. We long to return, and we can because the cosmos is also within us. We’re made of star stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.”
Look up and say hello to your star stuff galactic cousins
So why pay attention to astronomy and other galactic events like eclipses, equinoxes and moon phases? Well, as the YouTube video has already marked out, the heavenly bodies are kind of like galactically distant cousins, aren’t they? Or at the very least, certainly very old forbears or ancestors, since their death gave us our blood and life.
For this reason among others, whenever possible Grounded Relating will include celestial happenings on its calendar of Sky Events each month. Hopefully, these calendar reminders will encourage our readers to get grounded, As Above-So Below, and take a moment to pause, step outside yourself, and see the world around you for the dynamically stable and ever-changing thing it is.
