Throughout history, solar eclipses have had a profound impact on believers of various religions around the world. They were seen as messages from God or spiritual forces and evoked emotions ranging from fear to amazement.
Ahead of a total solar eclipse that will make a long trajectory over North America on Monday, take a look at how some of the world’s major religions have responded to such eclipses over the centuries and in modern times. Let’s look at.
Buddhism
In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, it is believed that when major astronomical phenomena occur, such as solar eclipses, the energy for positive and negative actions is doubled.
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According to the late Lama Zopa Rinpoche of the Mahayana Tradition Preservation Foundation, both lunar and solar eclipses are auspicious days for spiritual practice. He states that the merits, which represent the positive karmic results of good intentions and actions, are multiplied 700,000 times for a lunar eclipse and 100 million times for a solar eclipse. Spiritual activities recommended on this day include chanting mantras and sutras.
Christianity
Some Christians believe that solar eclipses portend the arrival of the “end times” that precede Christ’s return to Earth, as prophesied in various parts of the Bible. One such passage is found in the second chapter of Acts. “The sun will turn to darkness and the moon to blood before the great day of the Lord’s glory comes.”
Additionally, three of the four Gospels in the Bible mention three hours of darkness at the time of Jesus’ death, leading some Christians to believe that a solar eclipse occurred at the time of his crucifixion. It remains deeply rooted.
A partial solar eclipse is seen behind the cross on the spire of St. George’s Church in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, June 21, 2020. Throughout history, solar eclipses have been seen as messages from God and spiritual forces, and have evoked a variety of emotions. From fear to surprise. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
Luke 23:44 says, “It was already about noon, and there was darkness over all the earth until three o’clock in the afternoon, for the sun ceased to shine.”
It has been noted that the three hours of darkness does not indicate an eclipse, and that the darkness will only occur for a few minutes.
However, a recent commentary on ChurchLeaders.com (a website supported by many prominent evangelical pastors) says that the darkness depicted in the three Gospels “represents a deep spiritual transition.” .
“The sun’s temporary concealment, in parallel to Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice, provides a powerful metaphor for the temporary nature of despair and the eternal promise of salvation and rebirth,” the commentary says.
hinduism
The origin of solar eclipses in Hinduism is explained in ancient legends known as the Puranas. In one legend, Devas and Asuras, symbols of good and evil respectively, stirred the ocean to obtain the nectar of eternal life. When one of the asuras, Svarbhanu, pretended to be divine and received the honey, the sun god (Surya) and the moon god (Chandra) warned Mohini, an incarnation of Vishnu, and Mohini cut off Svarbhanu’s head with a discus. .
However, the asuras had already consumed some of the nectar, so the immortal but severed head and body continued to live on under the names Rahu and Ketu. According to legend, Rahu occasionally swallows the sun and moon, causing solar and lunar eclipses, as the gods are involved in his misfortunes.
Hindus generally consider solar and lunar eclipses to be bad omens. Some people fast before the eclipse, while others do not eat during the eclipse. Observant Hindus ritually bathe to purify themselves during the first and last stages of a solar eclipse. Some people offer prayers to their ancestors. Most temples will be closed during the solar eclipse. When the eclipse begins, believers gather for prayers along pilgrimage sites near holy rivers. This event is considered a good time for prayer, meditation, and mantra chanting, all of which are believed to ward off evil.
Islam
In Islam, solar eclipses are a time to turn to God and pray. The solar eclipse prayer is based on the story of the words and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad.
Qaiser Aslam, a Muslim pastor at Rutgers University’s Center for Islamic Life, said in one narration that the Prophet was quoted as saying, “The sun and the moon are two signs of Allah’s signs, and they are eclipsed by someone’s death.” There’s nothing wrong with that.” …Pray and pray to (Allah) every time you see these eclipses. ”
The story was that after the death of Prophet Muhammad’s son Ibrahim, his companions tried to console him by saying they were eclipsed by the magnitude of the loss, Aslam said. Told. “The Prophet corrected them by saying that the sun and moon were signs of God, being careful not to introduce any superstitions as to why solar eclipses occur.”
On April 8, Aslam will lead Kusuf prayers on campus. Customarily, the prayer is followed by a short sermon explaining the lesson behind it and dispelling the superstitions surrounding it, he added.
“This is a beautiful and meaningful prayer that emphasizes our relationship with God’s creation and ensures our dedication to God and not to incidentals in God’s creation,” Aslam said. .
Mahmoud al-Hawary, an official at the Al-Azhar Academy of Islamic Studies in Cairo, said eclipse prayers are better performed collectively in mosques, but Muslims can also pray individually elsewhere. Ta.
Wisdom “is for the individual to seek refuge in God and seek relief from this suffering,” Al-Hawary said. “People should know that the events of the entire universe are in God’s hands.”
Judaism
The Talmud, the more than 1,500-year-old collection of texts that makes up Jewish law, gives special blessings for many natural phenomena, but not for solar eclipses. Instead, it depicts the eclipse as “a bad omen for the world.”
On Chabad.org, a website serving an Orthodox Jewish audience, Chicago-based Rabbi Menachem Pozner writes about the Talmud, given the consensus that solar eclipses are natural phenomena that can be predicted centuries in advance. I tried to put this passage in a modern context.
“Solar eclipses should be an opportunity for increased prayer and reflection, rather than encouraging joyful celebrations,” Posner wrote. “This is a sign that we can and should really improve.”
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Rabbi Mordecai Becher, writing in early March for the Orthodox Jewish educational organization Aish, noted the long-standing interconnectedness between Judaism and astronomy. He said the moon has three craters named after medieval rabbis with expertise in astronomy.
Regarding the solar eclipse, Boettcher, a lecturer at Yeshiva University, suggested that it was made possible by God for a deep reason.
“He created a system that regularly reminds us that our choices can create darkness, even when there should be light,” he wrote. “Our free will choices can create barriers between us and God’s light, but they can also allow God’s light to be seen here.”
