Today the day of the longest solar eclipse in the 21st century. According to CNN correspondent Emily Chan, who is in Shanghai to catch the eclipse, there were hundreds of dragonflies flying around the area. As the time of the eclipse is drawing to a near, these dragonflies suddenly disappeared. What is the mystical significance of an eclipse?
Earlier, I woke up this morning to the sounds of dogs howling nearby. And this happens before 8am, before the eclipse had started. I do not hear such howls often. The weather looks somber and a bit chilly even though where I live, in Malaysia, is not within the path of the eclipse.
“Another triple eclipse in 3031 BCE coincided with the destruction of the ancient city of Dwarka. More recently, the first half of the 20th century saw the occurrence of a series of triple eclipse between 1910 and 1945, which coincided with World War I and II, the Holocaust, and the nuclear bombings in Japan.
~ D Hari & D Hema Hari, founders of Bharath Gyan
It is mentioned by Emily from CNN that in ancient China, emperors would start doing good deeds like reducing taxes and helping the poor peasants whenever an eclipse happens. This is because in China, such events are linked to natural disasters and the fall of an emperor. The emperors had hoped that such good deeds would be able to avert or at least minimize bad disasters associated with eclipses.
The Spiritual Science Research Foundation (SSRF), mentioned in their article, A spiritual perspective on an eclipse, that eclipse foretells a bad omen ahead:
- the people staying in the region where the eclipse that are most visible will be most adversely affected. (The eclipse this time is most visible in Northern India, Bhutan, China and Hong Kong).
- negative energies generated by an eclipse is 1000 times more than normal. It is said that dark entities will harvest these energies and use it cause problems to society (which incidentally coincide with occurance of World War I & II with the previous triple eclipse)
- people will tend to experience lethargy, tiredness, negative thoughts and emotions. The tendency to make incorrect decisions are also implicated. Know that on eclipses, you may do or say things that you may regret later- as such, better to think twice before you say or do anything. Take deep breaths and relax because being stressed up will make us more vulnerable.
The SSRF also provide guidelines of the Do and Don’ts:
Do- perform spiritual practice as will benefit 30% spiritually. If you have not been doing good deeds, it will be a good time to store up your merit account.
Don’ts– during the period of eclipse:
- don’t plan important functions- as such, if you have any important decisions to make or significance events, try to put off to another day
- avoid eating during that period because during this period, the food we take and our digestive system are affected
- avoid activities like sleeping (when we are not conscious and could be affected by unfavorable energies), going to the toilet or having sex.
Another lunar eclipse will happen on 6 August 2009. And with that, it will mark a triple eclipse- 7 July, 22 July and 6 August.
After all, this is a very unusual event, falling on the date of the New Moon (first day of the month in the Chinese lunar calendar). Even as I am finishing this, I can hear the eerie sounds of a few dogs howling at different directions of my neighbourhood- something highly unusual in the day. You can call this superstition or just fiddlesticks, but for me, I will just stick to some guidelines above.
