Guest Author - Phyllis Doyle Burns
This article was written by our previous editor, Phyllis Doyle Burns, and all rights are reserved. For inquiries and comments, please contact the current editor, Jane Winkler.
In the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, stand the Three Sisters. They are a very famous rock formation that tower above a densely forested valley of spectacular views, where the semi-rainforest collects water in gullies. The Three Sisters stand together, supporting each other.
Three Sisters is also a play by Russian author and playwright Anton Chekhov, said to be inspired by the three Brontė sisters. It was written in 1900 and first produced in 1901. It is a touching story of three sisters and their brother. The sisters are not happy with their lives, are always searching for the dream, the perfect life, somewhere other than where they call home. In the end, they separate, but, not before the three of them embrace and stand together as one.
In the Torres Strait of the Vigilan Channel, in Queensland, Australia, three islets sit together braving the storms and waters rushing over reefs. The islands and their surrounding waters and reefs provide a highly diverse set of land and marine ecosystems, where sea turtles populate the waters. These islets that brave the storms together are called the Three Sisters.
The River Barrow, the River Nore and the River Suir are referred to as The Three Sisters in Ireland. All three come from the same mountainous area in County Tipperary and join the sea in the same bay southwest of the city of Waterford. In between, they fan out to drain a large portion of the southern part of the island, including County Tipperary, County Carlow, County Kilkenny, County Wexford and County Waterford, among others. They begin together, they follow their own paths, yet they come back together once again.
Within the Native American belief system, the Three Sisters are a staple of their diet - corn, squash and beans. The three crops benefit from each other. The corn provides a structure for the beans to climb, eliminating the need for poles. The beans provide the nitrogen to the soil that the other plants utilize and the squash spreads along the ground to prevent weeds. The squash leaves act as a mulch, to retain moisture in the soil, and the prickly hairs of the vine discourage pests. Corn lacks the amino acids lysine and tryptophan, which the body needs to make proteins and niacin, but beans contain both and therefore together they provide a balanced diet. The Three Sisters live in harmony and balance, supporting each other.
Iroquois Legend Of The Three Sisters
A long time ago there were three sisters who lived together in a field. These sisters were quite different from one another in their size and way of dressing. The little sister was so young that she could only crawl at first, and she was dressed in green.
The second sister wore a bright yellow dress, and she had a way of running off by herself when the sun shone and the soft wind blew in her face.
The third was the eldest sister, standing always very straight and tall above the other sisters and trying to protect them. She wore a pale green shawl, and she had long, yellow hair that tossed about her head in the breeze.
There was one way the sisters were all alike, though. They loved each other dearly, and they always stayed together. This made them very strong.
One day a stranger came to the field of the Three Sisters - a Mohawk boy. He talked to the birds and other animals - this caught the attention of the three sisters.
Late that summer, the youngest and smallest sister disappeared. Her sisters were sad.
Again the Mohawk boy came to the field to gather reeds at the water's edge. The two sisters who were left watched his moccasin trail, and that night the second sister - the one in the yellow dress - disappeared as well.
Now the Elder Sister was the only one left.
She continued to stand tall in her field. When the Mohawk boy saw that she missed her sisters, he brought them all back together and they became stronger together, again.
Throughout history, throughout the world, the support and love of sisters is cherished.
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