A total lunar eclipse is just days away on April
15, 2014, and will be visible in North America. The totality phase will last 78 minutes, beginning at midnight west coast time and 3am
on the east coast.
This photo shows Lucien Rudaux's painting of how a lunar eclipse might look from the moon. The
only sunlight is refracted through Earth’s atmosphere at the outer
edges, causing the moon to look red.
This eclipse launches a cycle of four
consecutive Blood Moons, known as a tetrad lunar eclipse series. Dates to watch for are April 15, 2014, October 8, 2014,
April 4, 2015 and September 28, 2015. To give you an indication of how rare
tetrads are, there were none between 1600 and 1900. In this, the 21st Century, there will be 9 sets of tetrads.
A lunar eclipse happens when the Moon, Sun and Earth are all
aligned exactly, with Earth sandwiched between Moon and Sun. It can only happen
when the Moon is full.
Some ancient cultures interpreted lunar eclipses as the moon
being swallowed by an animal. For the Maya it was a jaguar, in Egypt it was a sow,
and in China it was a three-legged toad. Others thought a demon swallowed the
moon. The lunar eclipse was viewed as a portent of evil or disaster. Even
today, many see it as a sign of doom. A prominent religious leader wrote such a
book, saying this eclipse period is apocalyptic.
Ancient people were superstitious. It’s easy for us to say
they didn’t know the science behind eclipses, but is that an accurate
assumption? Look at the precision in such astronomical systems as the Maya calendar,
which calculated planetary movements for hundreds of centuries into their
future. The Dogon people of Mali, West Africa had a complex understanding of
astronomy and stars, as did many others.
Here are some definitions according to the Merriam Webster
Dictionary online:
ASTRONOMY: The scientific study of stars, planets, and other
objects in outer space.
ASTROLOGY: The study of how the positions of the stars and
movements of the planets have a supposed influence on events and on the lives
and behavior of people.
ECLIPSE: The total or partial obscuring of one celestial
body by another.
LUNAR ECLIPSE: An eclipse in which the full moon passes
partially or wholly through the umbra of the earth’s shadow.
TETRAD: An occurrence of four total lunar eclipses in a row with
intervals of six lunations (semester). (According to Wikipedia.)
The photo above shows the Blood Moon Eclipse that rose during
the Fall of Constantinople, when the Byzantine capital fell to the Ottomans.
The siege lasted from April 5, 1453 to May 29, 1453, and the eclipse was on May
22, 1453. It was considered a prophecy fulfilled at the time.
Most people have an opinion about eclipses, one way or the
other. Do you see them as omens, purely scientific events, or a blend of the
two? Even knowing the science behind them, you may still see them as omens.
I'm currently editing a story I began writing in 1998. The moon, eclipses and rare lunar events feature heavily... it takes place at a castle on an isolated island off the south coast of Ireland...
For authors, eclipses can add elements of suspense, danger,
and paranormal excitement to our stories. Have you used an eclipse in any of
your books?
GEMMA JULIANA is a
multi-published author who lives in an enchanted cottage in north Texas with
her handsome hero, brave teen son and a comical dog who is really a human in
disguise. She loves making new friends and hearing from readers. Exotic coffee
and chocolate fuel her creativity. She writes romance, mystery and suspense
with a splash of the paranormal.
Gemma’s books are available on
Amazon.
Connect
with Gemma
