Suggest measures that can be taken to eradicate the superstitious. related to the eclipses
Answers
1. According to Hindu mythology, a beheaded but angry Rahu swallows the sun and the moon, causing eclipses. But he cannot hold them for long in his mouth; neither does he have his body and hands to grab them—and that’s why eclipses don’t last long.
2. In Vietnam, legend has it that eclipses occur when a giant frog swallows the sun. Its master, Lord Hahn, then convinces the frog to spit it out. The lunar eclipses are also explained along similar lines.
3. Chinese myths and dragons are nearly inseparable. So naturally, you have a dragon eating the sun for lunch, thereby causing the eclipse. And how does the eclipse end? The legend goes that Zhang Xian, the god of birth, fired arrows at the dragon forcing it to throw up the sun.
4. Evidently, animals figure prominently in myths around eclipses. Norse legends also attribute the eclipses to animals. According to them, a pair of wolves chased the sun and the moon; one of them managed to catch the sun and ate it.
5. The Chippewa tribe of North America shot flaming arrows towards the sky to rekindle the sun and believed that it was because of this that the solar eclipse ended.
6. Ancient Greeks had a different spin on this celestial event. They believed that eclipses were a sign that gods were angry with humans, and that disasters would follow, bringing untold misery to people.