The Seven Sisters

The legend of The Seven Sisters, known to many Aboriginal nations as Kungkarangkalpa, is one of the most powerful and far reaching Songlines in Australia, stretching across the continent from the Anangu people of the Central Desert to the Yolngu communities of the far north. This ancient story is not only a myth but a living map, a moral guide, and a celestial memory written into the land and the night sky.

Long ago, there were seven young and beautiful sisters, full of life and purity, bound together by kinship and responsibility. They were admired for their strength and harmony, but their peace was shattered by Wati Nyiru, a powerful and cunning hunter who desired them as wives. His intentions violated sacred marriage laws and moral codes, making him a symbol of dangerous obsession and abuse of power. To trap the sisters, he used deceptive magic, disguising himself as delicious food, cooling shade, or strange fruits, hoping to lure them into his grasp.

Refusing to surrender their dignity, the Seven Sisters fled across the vast Australian continent. As they ran, every place they rested, cooked, danced, or searched for food became part of the landscape itself. Waterholes and caves formed where they dug into the earth, while mountain ranges rose where they climbed high to watch for danger. Wati Nyiru followed relentlessly, never abandoning the chase. Each time he drew too close, the sisters used their spiritual power to rise higher and move farther away. This endless pursuit carved a Songline thousands of miles long, still remembered and used by Aboriginal hunters today to navigate both land and spirit.

At last, realizing that the earth could no longer offer true safety, the Seven Sisters escaped into the sky, transforming into the Pleiades star cluster. Yet even the heavens could not fully end the pursuit. Wati Nyiru rose after them and became the constellation Orion, forever chasing but never reaching his prey. When you look at the night sky, the Pleiades always appear ahead, while Orion follows behind, replaying the ancient story in silence. The red star Aldebaran, nearby in the constellation Taurus, is sometimes remembered as a sister who stayed behind to block the hunter, or as the glowing fire the sisters lit during their flight.

Beyond its drama, this legend carries deep meaning. It is one of the most important teachings of Women’s Law, instructing young girls about alertness, unity among sisters, and protecting personal honor. It also serves as a seasonal calendar, since the clear appearance of the Seven Sisters signals seasonal change, often the approach of winter, reminding communities to prepare food and shelter. Most remarkably, the same star cluster is known as the Seven Sisters in cultures across the world, from ancient Greece to Indigenous peoples of North America, revealing a shared human bond through sky watching, storytelling, and timeless moral wisdom.