Many cultures believe that an eclipse is the sun and the moon being devoured by mythological creatures. In Chinese mythology, it’s a dragon; in Norse and Korean, it’s wolves. For the Cherokee and Vietnamese, it’s a frog. For the Maori in New Zealand and Hindus in India, it’s a demon. For the Pomo, it’s a bear. They all created "noise rituals" to scare away the darkness: whistling and screaming at the sky, or banging on drums or pots and pans.
We’ve mastered noise rituals in our modern world, too. We've created plenty of places to yell at one another about things we don’t understand or can’t control: elections, race, gender, genocides, the climate. Even if yelling is more likely to move the heavens than change another person’s mind.
The Batammaliba people of West Africa believe an eclipse is the sun and moon in a celestial conflict. To end the eclipse, they perform the opposite of a noise ritual: the community gathers for “rituals of forgiveness.” Elders mediate conflicts between individuals and families, gifts are exchanged, followed by feasts and music. They show the sun and moon reconciliation by example.
There’s no ritual big enough to heal the divisions we have right now. But maybe this eclipse, we can create rituals of absolution for just ourselves, quietly warding off the demons of our own shame with a meditation that says, "I may not understand what is happening, but life is short, and the universe is infinite…maybe I really am just doing my best in the darkness."
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