Total Eclipse of the Heart

Today I watched a solar eclipse, with all the excitement and giddiness of a 7-year-old. So, basically, the way a once-in-a-lifetime celestial event should be watched.
I squealed with delight when I saw the tiny thumbnail moon starting to cover the sun. I watched as it went from a wedge of cheese, to a Pac-man, to the full-on, total solar eclipse. It was stunning. It was truly phenomenal. And then I watched, slack-jawed, when the ring appeared.
It was a day I will never forget. Just 90 minutes or so, and only three minutes of total eclipse, but it was simply astounding.
While I stood gaping at this amazing wonder, I realized that we had the chance to view it through ridiculously inexpensive glasses. We could even take pictures! The crowd that had assembled in the area clapped and cheered as the moon totally covered the sun. Kids ran exuberantly around the square, parents hugged each other, and elders watched while sipping water. It was a community event to behold!
It also made me wonder what people thought who didn’t have the science, the explanations, and the cute little glasses. In other words, any time in our history, what did people think about a total solar eclipse?
Eclipses are included in most cultures throughout history. Across the globe, myths and legends grew up to explain an eclipse. Many of these involved the belief that the sun is being devoured by some animal, even mythical ones such as a dragon. In China, folks would bang drums and make loud noise to scare off the beast and return the world to daylight. In German cultures (again, historically), it was believed that the sun and moon were married and occasionally needed to be “together.”
In the seventh century B.C.E., a solar eclipse over Greece resulted in these words from the poet Archilochus: “Nothing in the world can surprise me now. Zeus has turned mid-day into black night and now dark terror hangs over mankind. Anything may happen.” Of course, the ancient Greeks are actually responsible for the word “eclipse,” which comes from the Greek word for “abandonment.” They thought that the gods were angry with humans and that the sun would abandon the earth. That would be a bad thing, certainly.
In South America, the Incans believed solar eclipses were a sign of the sun god’s displeasure. This would require leaders to try to determine the source of his anger and appease him.
Scholars have noted that two total solar eclipses were visible in North America in what is now southwest Colorado just two years apart in the 1250’s. These events coincided with a major exodus of the Anasazi people, who left their settlements for another area. Historians believe that a drought was the main cause for this departure, but astronomer Tyler Nordgren believes the eclipses could have affected these ancient people on a psychological level. In other words, having had two eclipses in two years, it was a “bad place, and time to move on.”
All-in-all, I’m glad we have the science to explain eclipses. More importantly, if I had needed it – and I didn’t need it – the eclipse cemented for me my faith that God exists and truly has created a marvelous universe (or ten or fifty universes).