Eclipse and Equinox

This Friday is a pretty special date. We will start the day with an awesome Solar Eclipse, beginning at 08:22 and ending at 10:38 GMT. This rare phenomenon will see Europe have 90% of its rays blocked out temporarily, with that figure rising to 94% in Scotland and up to 100% in Svalbard Norway and the Faroe Islands. This will be the biggest eclipse that Britain has seen since 1999. The word eclipse actually comes from the Ancient Greek work ekleipsis, which meant being abandoned. It was believed by the Ancient Greeks that the Sun would abandon us temporarily if the gods were angered. In many different cultures, there are stories of how the Sun was eaten or stolen to explain away the eclipse. Among them is the Viking fable that the Sun goddess is chased by a wolf, and when the animal catches her, a Solar Eclipse happens. Korean folklore suggests that solar eclipses happen because mythical dogs are trying to steal the Sun. In China, the belief was that a dragon attempted to eat the Sun, and in Vietnam it was a giant frog who swallowed the Sun. The Pomo, an indigenous group of people who live in northwestern United States, tell a story of a bear who started a fight with the Sun and took a bite of it. According to Hindu mythology, the deity Rahu is beheaded by the gods for capturing and drinking ambrosia. Rahu's head flies off in the sky and swallows the Sun. According to Inuit folklore, the Sun goddess, Malina walked away after a fight with the Moon god, Anningan. A solar eclipse happened when Anningan managed to catch up with his sister. The Batammaliba who live in Benin and Togo, believed that the Sun and the Moon were fighting and that the only way to stop them from hurting each other was for people on Earth to resolve all conflicts with each other. A popular myth that still persists in some cultures is that pregnant women and their unborn child can be harmed by the Solar Eclipse, and as such should stay indoors during the event. In parts of India, people do not eat during a Solar Eclipse, as food prepared during this time is believed to be impure. Not all superstitions surrounding Solar Eclipses are about doom. In Italy, for example, it is believed that flowers planted during a Solar Eclipse are brighter and more colourful than flowers planted any other time of the year.

In the evening we will have an event called the Spring Equinox occuring at 22:45 GMT.  The Spring Equinox marks the moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator – the imaginary line in the sky above the Earth’s equator – from south to north. On the Equinox, night and day are nearly exactly the same length – 12 hours – all over the world. This is the reason it's called an “equinox”, derived from Latin, meaning "equal night". Many cultures celebrate festivals and holidays around the Spring Equinox, like Easter and Passover. In both Persia and India the Spring Equinox marks the start of a new calendar year. From 1155 to 1751 the English calendar year began on the 25th March. Today the Spring Equinox is celebrated by modern pagans, who observe the sunrise on the morning following the Equinox. On Saturday the 21st, over 100 people will have gathered at Stonehenge for a Druid ceremony and festivities. English Heritage opens Stonehenge from 5.45am until 8.30am to allow worshippers to watch the sunrise from within the megalithic circle. Modern pagans have to be very creative with their celebrations, as there's barely a shred of evidence to tell us how this date was celebrated by ancient Britons. A monk from the early 8th century wrote that the pagans celebrated a goddess of spring at this time, after whom the entire month was named. We don't know how accurate his observations were, so this may or may not be true. If we have a look at the etymology of the word Easter, we can see that it might have been the name of an ancient goddess.

Art by Judy Mastrangelo

"Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated "Paschal month", and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Now they designate that Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old observance." St Bede's 8th-century work De temporum ratione. 

In the 19th century, Jacob Grimm agreed with Bede's point of view, and wrote that the German name for this goddess was Ostara. Today, many modern pagans refer to the Spring Equinox as Ostara, although not all are aware of how the term originated. Grimm explains; "Ostara, Eástre seems therefore to have been the divinity of the radiant dawn, of upspringing light, a spectacle that brings joy and blessing, whose meaning could be easily adapted by the resurrection-day of the Christian's God. Bonfires were lighted at Easter and according to popular belief of long standing, the moment the sun rises on Easter Sunday morning, he gives three joyful leaps, he dances for joy ... Water drawn on the Easter morning is, like that at Christmas, holy and healing ... here also heathen notions seems to have grafted themselves on great Christian festivals. Maidens clothed in white, who at Easter, at the season of returning spring, show themselves in clefts of the rock and on mountains, are suggestive of the ancient goddess." 1835, Deutsche Mythologie by Jacob Grimm.