Lunar Eclipse
One of the most beautiful phenomena in the world is the eclipse. While usually, only portions of the sun or moon are blocked out, there are times when the entire celestial body is blocked by the Earth, resulting in a total lunar eclipse. Which is what happened on the 8th of November, resulting in a complete lunar eclipse with a blood moon following it.
What Causes Eclipses?
Eclipses happen when the Earth moves directly between the sun and moon. Lunar eclipses and solar eclipses are a little different. Lunar eclipses happen because the moon doesn’t actually produce its own light, it reflects it from the sun, causing itself to glow. When the Earth goes between the sun and moon, it blocks all the light from the sun, preventing the moon from getting light to reflect, making it turn dark and ‘disappear’. In a solar eclipse, the moon passes in front of the sun and the Earth, blocking out the sun. The blood moon happens when sunlight is scattered throughout Earth’s atmosphere in the same phenomenon that causes sunsets to appear red.
Eclipses in Ancient Culture
Nowadays, with different advanced scientific instruments and data, we are able to know exactly what causes eclipses to happen. In ancient times though, these were not possible, so many cultures around the world came up with their own explanations for the phenomena. Most of these myths concern solar eclipses, since they were considered to be more special.
Greece
The English word “eclipse” actually comes from the Greek word “ekleípō”, which means disappearance. The ancient Greeks would believe that solar eclipses foretell punishments to the king. Captives would be rounded up as a substitute for the king as the Greeks hoped that their actual king would be able to escape punishment. After the eclipse, the captives were often killed as a cautionary precaution.
Indian
Ancient Hindu mythology, a demon named Rahu wanted to drink the nectar of the gods to become immortal, so he disguised himself as a woman and snuck into the banquet of the gods. However, he was discovered and promptly beheaded, his decapitated head flying into the sky. It is said that he managed to get a sip of the nectar, but it was yet to reach his body when he was killed. His head stayed immortal, and it tries to eat the sun. Due to being beheaded though, Rahu no longer has a throat or body, so the sun quickly reappears after being eaten.
China
In Chinese mythology, both solar and lunar eclipses occur due to a celestial dragon eating either the sun or the moon, though in some versions of the legend, it is a dog that eats the sun or moon. Believing the sun would be in danger, the Chinese would bang drums, pots, bells, or anything else loud to scare the dragon (or dog) away.
Incan
The Incans worshipped Inti, the god of the sun. While Inti was usually considered benevolent and kind, the Incans thought that solar eclipses were signs of his anger and wrath. During these eclipses, the spiritual leaders would try to guess where Inti’s anger came from and find a solution, usually in the form of a sacrifice. While the Incans usually did not offer human sacrifices, occasionally they would deem solar eclipses worthy enough of a reason to do so.
Inuit
The ancient Inuit people of northern Canada believed that the sun and moon were siblings. They believed that the sun and moon are siblings and that when the world was created, the sun deserted the moon. Eclipses would happen when the moon finally caught up to the sun. The moon’s chase of the sun also explained the different phases of the moon, as it was believed that the chase causes the moon to lose weight.
So, next time you see an eclipse, think of both the scientific reasoning of why it happens, but also the hundreds of generations before you that came up with their own tales and explanations to one of the most breathtaking natural phenomena there is.
Sources