"Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight."

--children's nursery rhyme

The magic only works for the "first star I see tonight". When one thinks about it, that's often a planet -- Venus -- and so one might be wishing for the intercession of a goddess.

When I was little, we would capture and "wish upon" milkweed seeds, which have very fluffy white "parachutes" attached to them. We called them "Santa's whiskers". Once released, the children's legend says, the whiskers are drawn to Santa's beard, all the way in the North Pole, and would whisper our wishes in Santa's ear.

As one can hold a milkweed seed in one's hand, so one can also hold a star with one's eyes and in one's imagination. To wish upon a star (held in this way) is to hope that the star will whisper the wish into the proper ear, somewhere beyond the depths of space.

Regards--
Mary Anne