Recently a total lunar eclipse took place on 27th July 2018. It was not seen in most parts of India because of monsoon/rainy season. However that was a trigger for many myths and superstitions which, now-a-days, get spread far more rigorously over Social Media platforms like WhatsApp. And this is true not only in India, but world over.
Here are some of the popular superstitions across the globe:
- A popular superstition in India is to avoid eating during Lunar Eclipse or Chandra Grahan. Cooking, eating and drinking are avoided during lunar eclipses in India as people are superstitious about food “going bad” during eclipses.
- In the United States, a superstition that existed since long was that an eclipse is a “sign of an apocalypse”. Some scholars say that it stems from the Bible. According to Joel 2:31: “The Sun will turn to darkness, and the Moon to blood before the great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.”
- In Tibet, people believe that good and bad deeds are multiplied ten-fold during a lunar eclipse.
- A popular South African myth is that Sun and Moon fight during a lunar eclipse. People must pray so that these celestial bodies resolve their conflict.
- In many parts of the world, pregnant women are advised to stay indoors. People believe that the “dark moon” will “curse” the unborn child. Women are also advised not to use knives and sharp objects during an eclipse as it may lead to birthmarks.
Scientists and Rationalists (including myself) always tend to laugh at these superstitions and say that Eclipse has no such negative impact. Well, I am not going to get into merit of that. But I want to share a short video I received from a friend which talks about Spiritual interpretation of Eclipse – based on Hinduism / Sanatan Dharma (सनातन धर्म).
I liked Mythology. I have followed a lot of Indian Mythology since childhood and enjoy reading the wonderful stories, their different variants/interpretation in different regions of India or different languages. I also want to read about Greek Mythology (suggest some basic book/material) and other mythologies.
Devdutt Patnaik and others are trying to find new interpretations of the mythology, at times giving new meaning to the stories. Sometimes they go overboard and come up with far-fetched interpretations. But on some rare occasions they come up with some classic explanation or interpretation.
The reason for this blog is a video I received from a friend. The person talks about Spiritual interpretation of Eclipse – what Rahu and Ketu stand for and how they symbolize fight of Good against Evil. Hope you like this video too…
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