eclipse

On July 22nd the moon’s shadow fell across Asia in the longest total solar eclipse the21st century will witness. From the Ganges River in India to remote islands of the Pacific, the sun rose only to vanish again, allowing the stars to twinkle — a celestial show that inspired awe and fear in millions across Asia. Never before have so many people lived under an eclipse’s path.The skies darkened first in India just after dawn, then a wide swath of Asia was blackened as the eclipse moved eastward over southern Japan and then off into the Pacific Ocean. In some areas, the eclipse lasted as long as six minutes and 39 seconds.

China has traditionally seen eclipses as ominous. A government directive ordered officials to combat “superstition and terror”, watch out for traffic accidents caused by distracted motorists and prevent stampedes.

Others in India were gripped by fear and refused to go outdoors. In Hindu mythology, an eclipse is said to be caused when a dragon-demon swallows the sun, while another myth says the sun's rays during an eclipse can harm unborn children. Along the banks of the Ganges, thousands of devotees turned out to pray, chant and bathe in the waters, which were dotted with women in colorful saris and bare-chested men, all wearing dark glasses.

At a Buddhist temple in the Thai capital Bangkok, dozens of monks led prayers at a Buddhist temple to ward off evil. The eclipse is viewed as the bad omen for the country and the praying to boost the fortune of the country.

Total eclipses are caused when the moon moves directly between the sun and the Earth, covering it completely to cast a shadow on Earth. Wednesday's was the longest, there will not be a longer eclipse until 2132.

My first encounter with eclipse began when I was very little. I grew up in the plantation in the very big house on top of the hill. My dad the scientist wannabe never let the opportunity slip when there are any natural phenomenon occurs. What I remember on one day my daddy call me to come out as soon as possible outside the house and the was a tub basin fill of water and my dad asked me to look at it and never look up. The image was amazing, it look as if the moon eating the sun gradually. Later I found out it was actually solar eclipse and found the explanation in Science book. During those day there were no special google or binocular made to public, not to mention we are out of nowhere so the only way is to look as the reflection on the water tub basin. Whenever the eclipse occurred I still remembered the special moments with my daddy.

Personally I view the occurrence of the eclipse as a natural cycle of earth sun and moon realignment. Me, always view life as the half full of glass take this rarely occurrence as a sign that we should reset our cycle of life. To declutter whatever chaos we have inside and to start a new. If we have slump in our daily life whether it is work of personal we have to part from it temporarily. Most likely we often encounter blockage or jam in our daily work or study. However, it is not possible for the jam to slip our easily. What we need to do is to part from the blockage and let it recover by parting from it temporarily. The logjam, the slump is a kind of tiredness. Tiredness can be recovers. To slip out from the slum at work, free time for vacation is required to recover from a mental and physical stress. The French called this La retraite, is to become free from life to which work and study etc. are restrained through life.

So taking from this celestial even I’ll start cleaning and declutter all my stuff. Maybe I’ll do the scattering of beans ritual like the Japanese kids during the New Year, Oni wa soto, Fuku wa uchi “The Demon out, the Luck in”. Hopefully the luck will recover. Finger crossed.