Today in class (or was it lab?), Bernie shared with us the story of his sad, sad friend being drafted and spending time in Laos, where he witnessed a lunar eclipse and the peoples' reaction to it- they fired their guns at the dark space, trying to kill the dragon that was eating the moon. The idea of the dragon eating the moon or sun during an eclipse goes far back to ancient China, where it was not only a cosmic dragon-event, but a chance to divine information about the current emperor. The Mongols also believed that a dragon or naga was eating the sun or moon, which they called Alkha. Another belief said to be rooted in China is that the three legged toad who lived on the moon would, occasionally, eat it. The Maya, on the other hand, believed it was a jaguar that devoured the sun or moon.
Ancient Hindu scriptures also mention solar eclipses.
Svarbhanu, an evil demon, would strike the sun with darkness. When this happened, Rishi Atri's sons or disciples would rush to tell him the news, and then he would chant four Rik mantras, and by the time he was done, the eclipse would be ending. The same vedas also show evidence of the ancient Hindu understanding for the movement of the stars, moon, sun, and earth.
Ancient Egyptian mythology attributes a lunar eclipse to Seth stealing the Moon Eye of Horus, and priests would begin collecting tribute and warning sinners about two weeks in advance of the eclipse so that when the eclipse happened, they would be truly frightened and redouble their efforts to appease the gods via the priest.
If you're interested in more information, google can reveal patchwork stories, and this article on Jstor seems pretty solid:
The Eclipse of Solar Mythology
Richard M. Dorson
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 68, No. 270, Myth: A Symposium (Oct. - Dec., 1955), pp. 393-416
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment