​THE SEVEN HATHORS OF THE CELESTIAL HERD (aka The Pleiades)

Seven hathors ~ seven Sisters ~ The Pleiades

​THE SEVEN HATHORS OF THE CELESTIAL HERD (aka The Pleiades)
 
THE SEVEN HATHORS ~ THE SEVEN SISTERS ~ THE PLEIADES
 
The ancient Egyptians were master astronomers and observers of the night sky.  Tracking the movements of the sun, moon, stars and planets they developed a calendar system of timekeeping. They based this calendar on the heliacal rising of Sirius and devised a method of telling time during the night, a method based on the heliacal risings of 36 stars, a star for each 10-degrees segment of the 360-degrees zodiac circle. 
One important seasonal marker in this zodiac was easily recognizable by its distinctive star clusters, the V of the Hyades and the bright red orange Aldebaran, and the star cloud of the Pleiades/Seven Sisters (looking like a mini big dipper). The ecliptic, the path of the sun & moon in the sky, passes right between these clusters, through what we now refer to as the constellation Taurus, The Bull.
In ancient Egypt the Pleiades Star Cluster was known as "The Celestial Herd".  
Seven Goddesses, represented by seven cows, composed the celestial herd that provides divine nourishment to humans. This herd is observed in the sky as a group of stars, that we now call the Pleiades, close to Aldebaran & the Hyades in the Taurus constellation.
This Celestial Herd was linked to the Goddess Hathor.  In Egyptian mythology, Hathor is the goddess of the sky, and in her form as the celestial cow provides sustenance and life to humanity. 
Cosmic Womb, Cosmic Mother
Hathor is actually two words, Het-hor, which is commonly translated as “house of Horus“. The first part--Het, translated as “house”, has a deeper meaning….
COSMIC WOMB the womb as a Matrix within which something originates, takes form, and develops into full maturity. The womb provides nourishment and protection. As such, Hethor provides both nourishment and protection. 
She is also worshipped in the form of "Seven Hathors”: these seven goddesses are the Pleiades shining in the sky, usually represented by seven cows, often associated with a bull, as a heaven herd providing the nourishment, milk, bread and beer, in the Underworld. As the Seven Hathors, she was the goddess often present at birth and when the soul leaves earth for the afterlife.
The Egyptian book of the Dead names these Seven Hathors, and we have placed them in the grid of the star cluster, associating one with a “sister” – one with each of the 7 primary stars of the cluster.
The Seven Hathors of the Celestial Herd 
(as named in the Egyptian Book of the Dead)
Lady of the Universe
Sky-storm
The hidden one, presiding over her place
You, from Khemmis 
Red-hair
Bright Red 
Your Name prevails over the West
Associated with both the Goddess Hathor, and “The Hathors” – the milk symbolized the stars in the milky way, and as the seven cows pour their nourishing milk, represents the seven stars streaming the light of the milky way down our galactic arm to our solar system.  Milky Way as source of Life!

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Resources and Sources:
(1) The Pleiades: The Celestial Herd of Ancient Timekeepers
Amelia Sparavigna Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Torino C.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Torino, Italy    
 
(2) WATCHERS OF THE PLEIADES: ETHNOASTRONOMY AMONG NATIVE CULTIVATORS IN NORTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA 
by  Lynn Ceci Department of Anthropology  C.U.N.Y. Queens College 
 
(3) Gods of Egypt: http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/hathor2.htm

(4) Egyptian Wisdom Center https://egyptianwisdomcenter.org/lady-love-hathor-venus-2/