Don’t let eclipse weird you out

It made sense for ancient people to be concerned about nature. Storms, plagues and other disasters occurred, often without warning. Watching the sun or moon vanish out of the sky was terrifying. If, out of sheer coincidence, something bad happened soon afterward, people learned to associate eclipses with devastation. Hence, global myths were born.

One common myth was that the sun or moon was being eaten. The Vietnamese said a frog ate the sun, while the ancient Norse said it was wolves. Many developed a common solution: banging pots and pans to chase the offender away. It “worked.” After a while, the sun or moon reappeared.

In 1504, two years after Columbus landed among Jamaicans, he predicted that another lunar eclipse was about to occur. He threatened the Jamaicans that if they didn’t supply him with food, the moon would go away. When it did, and the Jamaicans were frightened, he didn’t need to bang a pan. Columbus just told the natives that the moon would come back after he consulted with God. Showoff.

It wasn’t until modern science figured out how the heavenly bodies moved that eclipses were demystified. Yet some people are still very superstitious about astronomical events. Why?

Solar eclipses occur about once every 18 months, but they often are in the middle of nowhere, so few people witness them. Because they are so rare, both solar and lunar eclipses have long been associated with awe and terror.

Some people believe we’re all going to die. Today — according to a “Christian” numerologist who cherry-picked several verses from the Bible and imbued them with meaning that nobody ever intended — will serve as a harbinger of Earth’s imminent collision with the mysterious Planet X (also called Nibiru) this Sept. 23. Most theologians, astronomers and football fans eagerly anticipating the 2017 season disagree.

Go out and enjoy the eclipse. And if eclipses aren’t your thing, you can enjoy a day of headlines that aren’t all about President Trump.