Caelestis: Belonging to Heaven (Shooting Star)
The Shooting Star is a distinctive flower, with its petals sweeping backwards. It is well-named, because it has the look of a star or space capsule heading for earth. Perhaps long ago botanists chose its name because of the plant’s interesting shape, or perhaps because they sensed the fiery energy coming from this plant of the early spring. Its scientific name, dodecatheon, derives from the Greek word, which refers to the twelve principal Greek gods residing on Mount Olympus.
The Pyralis Firefly is intertwined with the Shooting Star in this painting. This creature is named after a legendary fly that arose from a fire. It is nocturnal and has a luminous organ at the tip of its abdomen, which flashes a yellow light off and on as it searches for a mate. This ability to produce light is called bioluminescence. Even the larva glow, and we know them as glow-worms. Fireflies are also called lightning bugs.