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Solar Eclipses Are Bad Omens To Ancient Tribes
We celebrated a solar eclipse today.
Would you be surprised to know that this is a new phenomenon? No, not the solar eclipse. Eclipses have been occuring since the beginning of time. However, nature and humanity has not always acted favorably towards them as I saw them react today. Over the weeks leading up to this eclipse we saw people rush to order their eclipse viewing glasses on Amazon Prime and buy plane tickets to travel to the path of totality so they could be where it is all happening live and direct.
However, once upon a time, ancient cultures saw the coming of a solar eclipse as a bad omen. They believed it signaled the fall of empires, the change of regimes and even the end of the world.
It's not that they did not know that the moon was just blocking the sun. They knew this. In fact, many cultures in India, South America, China and even Africa could predict the coming of a solar eclipse. However, they had their own religious beliefs and rituals that persisted in tandem with that knowledge.
