Only on star filled nights do all of the faeries meet to have a star gathering. Star gatherings occur on the first clear star-filled night following the summer solstice on June the twenty-first, when the sun reaches its extreme northern point in the Ecliptic and appears to stand still. There may or may not be a moon. The only requirements are billions and billions of stars.

During the fae's star gathering, one faerie is chosen for the coming year to reign as "Star of India". This order of sisterhood is patterned after the British order of knighthood, The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India, which was instituted by Queen Victoria in 1861. Its motto is "The Heaven's Light Is Our Guide". Whereas the British recognition was for services to India and the loyalty of its princely rulers, the Faerie regognition is for loyalty to The Faerie Queen. It has been obsolescent in Britian since 1947, but the faeries still honor the Order.

On the Queen's table is an old Cornish dish of pilchards baked in a pie with their heads poking though the crust! (Pilchards are saltwater fish of the herring family).

Around the Queen's table is the Star Chamber. This is the Queen's Court, and is composed of Faeie Queens from each of the fairylands, and Boadicia is there from Dubh_Sidhe's Faerie Garden.

The Star Chamber is so named from another meeting place, the Star Chamber in the Palace of Westminster, the ceiling or roof of which is decorated with stars.

One particularly beautiful star is named Star of Bethlehem, and another is Star of David. The Star of David also repesents a symbol of obscure oigin made up of two super-imposed equilateral triangles forming a hexagon or six-pointed star. It is used as the symbol of Judaism and is incorporated on the flag of the State of Israel. It is found as early as the 3rd centuy but is not mentioned in the Talmud. Jews were made to wear such a cloth star under the Nazi regime and, to show his disapproval of this racial indignity, King Christian X of Denmark wore a Star of David during the German occupation of his country.

The Star of Bethlehem is also the name of a plant of the lily family. It has star-shaped white flowers. The French peasants call it La dame d'onze heues, because it opens at eleven o'clock.

In real time the Star Gathering lasts about four hours. At its closing, the faeries sing the National Anthems from every country represented at their gathering. The faeries from the United States of America are proud to sing The Star Spangled Banner. On their flag, the stripes are emblematic of the original thirteen colonies, and the stars, represent each state in the Union. And, of course, the fae from Dubh_Sidhe's Faerie Garden sing the Anthem of Scotland as they display a flag with the Thistle. Now, until next year's gathering--"Slitzweitz" from all of the faeries.

This is Dubh_Sidhe reporting from this year's Star Gathering.

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