Eclipse Legends

Over the course of history, many of our explanations of what happens in our universe is represented by presumptive storytelling.  this has led to a number of old wives tales, stories passed down generations and even various religions sparked by the idea of powers-that-be doing things in the sky.

Here are just a few pieces of lore from around the world that cultures have used in the past to explain where exactly our sun (or moon) goes during an eclipse:

 

The Lord of Hahn and his pet frog

In Vietnam, legend has it that a giant frog leaps into the sky and swallows the sun.  His master, the Lord of Hahn then convinces the frog to spit it out.

 

A time out from the disappointed sun

The word Eclipse pulls its etymological roots from Greek words meaning “to fail to appear” or “to abandon”, and this checks out when thinking about how the sun should be there.  But it’s deeper than that, Greek legend has it that the sun is so disappointed in humanity that it just leaves.  It’s reminiscent of being a teenager, knowing you’ve gotten in trouble and that moment of silence right before your parents let out that “I’m disappointed in you” before they dole out your punishment.

 

Shoo, Kitty!

In South American, the people of the Andes believe a puma devours the Sun. To prevent the Sun’s death, the puma must be frightened away by the screams of children and the cries of animals.

 

A love affair

In both Australian Aboriginal lore and German legends, the sun is a woman and the male is a man and they are married.  They each rule part of the sky and part of the lunar cycle, and the eclipse is them coming together after they miss each other.  This legend is fortified by the fact that reproductive cycles line up with the phases of the moon leading cultures to believe this is a great signifier of change and new life.

 

A Celestial Klutz

The Bella Coola people of Canada figured that the Sun was just a little clumsy and occasionally dropped its torch.

 

ACHOO

The Kwakiutl people on the western coast of Canada believe that a sky creature swallows the moon. They dance around a smoky fire to make the sky creature sneeze it up.

 

If you saw an eclipse for the first time, what would you think is going on? A wild conspiracy? The end of times?