From Earth, we have a privileged view of the Moon.
For ages, in the sky, we only contemplated clouds, auroras, the Moon, the Sun, and six planets: Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. We also saw the “fixed” stars, once in a while the appearance of shooting stars, comets, and “new” stars or novas, and also supernovae that after a long sudden glow, vanished forever. Almost every change occurring in the sky was perceived as problematics or bad omens, especially in the case of wonders involving the Moon and the Sun, mainly the eclipses.
There are stories and myths about eclipses in almost every culture and in the five continents. Through these narratives, we can notice both cultural and social differences. However, before questioning such beliefs, let’s remember what the Sun and the Moon represent. The Sun gives us its energy and heat and, therefore, is essential in every aspect of life. For thousands of years, its position regarding the stars was observed to seed and harvest. The Moon, on the other hand, illuminates at night, and it is appreciated on its brighter stages in scorching places because it helps to carry out farming and livestock activities at night, avoiding the heat during the day. With this in mind, many nations reverenced these celestial objects, even as the most important among gods in some cultures. Thanks to the observation of repeated phenomena, they tried to give answers based on their experiences or knowledge. Today, we do something similar since we try to explain observed phenomena through physics laws and math.
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