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Solar Eclipse Folklore

Native cultures around the world developed folklore and myths to explain solar eclipses. Common themes included that a demon, dragon, or other creature was attacking or consuming the Sun, causing it to darken. Alternatively, the Sun and Moon were sometimes described as lovers or companions whose periodic unions blocked the light. Many cultures associated eclipses with negative outcomes and took precautions like covering wells or turning dishes upside down to prevent illness or harm. Overall, the document outlines the variety of explanations that different indigenous peoples developed for eclipses in the absence of scientific understanding.

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Shiela Mae Ancheta
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141 views2 pages

Solar Eclipse Folklore

Native cultures around the world developed folklore and myths to explain solar eclipses. Common themes included that a demon, dragon, or other creature was attacking or consuming the Sun, causing it to darken. Alternatively, the Sun and Moon were sometimes described as lovers or companions whose periodic unions blocked the light. Many cultures associated eclipses with negative outcomes and took precautions like covering wells or turning dishes upside down to prevent illness or harm. Overall, the document outlines the variety of explanations that different indigenous peoples developed for eclipses in the absence of scientific understanding.

Uploaded by

Shiela Mae Ancheta
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Solar Eclipse Folklore, Myths, and Superstitions

 Native people in Colombia shouted to the heavens, promising to work hard and
mend their ways. Some worked their gardens and other projects especially hard
during the eclipse to prove it.
 In Norse culture, an evil enchanter, Loki, was put into chains by the gods. Loki got
revenge by creating wolflike giants, one of which swallowed the Sun—thereby
causing an eclipse. (Another of the giant wolves chased the Moon, trying to eat it.)
 Fear led Chippewa people to shoot flaming arrows into the sky to try to rekindle the
Sun. Tribes in Peru did the same for a different reason; they hoped to scare off a
beast that was attacking the Sun.
 In India, the demon spirit Rahu steals and consumes the nectar of immortality but is
beheaded before he can swallow it. His immortal head flies into the heavens. The
Sun and Moon had alerted the gods to his theft, so he takes revenge on them: When
Rahu swallows an orb, we have an eclipse—but the orb returns to view because Rahu
has no body!
 Similarly, in China, Mongolia, and Siberia, beheaded mythical characters chase and
consume the Sun and Moon—and we experience eclipses.
 In Indonesia and Polynesia, Rahu consumes the Sun—but burns his tongue doing so
and spits it out!
 In Armenia, a dragon swallowed the Sun and Moon.
 In Transylvanian folklore, an eclipse stems from the angry Sun turning away and
covering herself with darkness, in response to men’s bad behavior.
 In India, many believe that when an eclipse occurs a dragon is trying to seize the two
orbs. People immerse themselves in rivers up to their neck, imploring the Sun and
Moon to defend them against the dragon.
 To the Australian Aborigines, the Sun was seen as a woman who carries a torch. The
Moon, by contrast, was regarded as male. Because of the association of the lunar
cycle with the female menstrual cycle, the Moon was linked with fertility. A solar
eclipse was interpreted as the Moon-man uniting with the Sun-woman.
 In German mythology, the hot female Sun and cold male Moon were married. The
Sun ruled the day, and the sleepy Moon ruled the night. Seeking companionship, the
Moon was drawn to his bride and they came together—thus, a solar eclipse.
 Some Native Americans drew on a similar concept: that a solar eclipse was a visit of
companions.
 West Africans of Benin switch the gender roles of the Sun and Moon and suggest that
the orbs are very busy, but when they do get together, they turn off the light for
privacy.
 In Tahitian myth, the orbs are lovers who join up —providing an eclipse—but get lost
in the moment and created stars to light their return to normalcy.
 The fog or dew or other precipitation resulting from an eclipse was considered
dangerous.
 The Japanese thought that poison would drop from the sky and covered their wells.
 In Transylvania, they believed that eclipses could cause plague.
 Alaskan natives believed that the moisture and dew could cause sickness; dishes
were turned upside down; affected utensils were washed.
 Many ancient people worried that an eclipse caused pregnancy issues such as
blindness, cleft lips, and birthmarks.
 Eclipses did not incite fear in at least one group: Bohemia’s miners. They believed
that the event portended good luck in finding gold.
 Some North American Indian tribes believed that an eclipse was simply nature’s way
of “checking in” with the sky, perhaps a sort of cleaning house. The Sun and the
Moon temporarily leave their places in the sky to see if things are going all right on
our planet Earth. Some say that the baby superstitions date from the Aztecs, who
believed that a celestial beast was biting the Sun—and the same thing would happen
to a baby if the pregnant mother watched.

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