Ancient Cultures' Reactions to Lunar Eclipses

On January 20th, 2019 millions of people turned their heads to the sky to feast their eyes upon the spectacle that was the “Super Blood Wolf Moon”. A bit of a mouthful, yet this Lunar Eclipse caught the attention of many people in North and South America, and select parts of Europe and Africa. A lunar eclipse, as defined by NASA is when “Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon, blocking the sunlight falling on the Moon. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon and Sun are on opposite sides of Earth.” There is also an explanation for the reddish hue that is seen as the planets pass over one another, “This is because the only remaining sunlight reaching the Moon at that point is from around the edges of the Earth, as seen from the Moon's surface. From there, an observer during an eclipse would see all Earth's sunrises and sunsets at once.” Considering how frequently eclipses and supermoons occur, they get more attention than expected. This may be because of the significance the moon played in ancient civilizations and religions.

The eclipse that was witnessed on Saturday was once a terrifying sight for ancient civilizations. According to theconversation.com, the Sun was considered a powerful entity which many countries such as Greece, Egypt, and Japan, regularly worshiped as a God. This was mainly due to the fact that it provides warmth, brought life to their plants, and yet has the power to bring droughts, burn things and blind those who looked directly at it. When a lunar eclipse occurred, myths arose as to what was happening to the Sun God, theconversation.com explains “the idea that the sun deity could be temporarily extinguished in a total eclipse inspired a number of imaginative explanations. Most involve some sort of evil entity trying to devour the sun. Such myths undoubtedly arose from the fact that during the early stages of a solar eclipse, the sun appears to have a bite taken out of it.The various creatures include the Vikings’ sky wolves Skoll and Hati, a Chinese dragon, a Vietnamese frog and assorted Roman demons.”

Although many of these beliefs are not relevant today, there are still several conspiracies out there about what happens during an eclipse. Some Evangelicals believe it is bringing about the end of the world, while those who believe the earth is flat are convinced that “The Shadow Object” is to blame. Whatever the reasoning may be for acknowledging this astronomical event, Americans can look to the sky next month on Tuesday, February 19th to catch a glimpse of another supermoon.