The morning star symbol

The Morning Star symbolizes hope and guidance. The morning star is the brightest star in the sky at dawn. The morning star is actually the planet Venus as seen in the eastern sky around dawn. It is used by many Native American Indian tribes and usually has meanings related to past spirits and ancestors. In many of the Native American cultures the ancestors were represented as stars. For additional information on this subject refer to Star Chart & Astrology. The Great Plains Indians honor the morning star as a sign of courage and purity of spirit. The Ghost Dance Religion used it as a symbol of the coming renewal of tradition and resurrection of the heroes of the past.

The Morning star and the Shaman

The Religion, Ceremonies and Beliefs of the American Native Indians were dominated by Shamanism in which a religious leader, called a Shaman, acted as a medium between the visible and spirit worlds. Two Paiute prophets, or shamans, named Wodziwob and Wovoka, introduced the Ghost Dance in a mystical ceremony designed to re-establish the native culture and restore the environment to pre-European levels. The Morning Star symbol is closely associated with Sitting Bull, another famous shaman. The symbol of a Shaman is often associated with the following shaman sun symbol and the similarities between the symbol and Morning star symbol are evident.

There were so many tribes of Native American Indians it is only possible to generalise the most common meaning of the Morning Star symbol. The Pawnee tribe practised the ritual killing of a young girl in their Morning Star ceremony.