ECLIPSE SUPERSTITIONS OF THE INDIANS 

 By Hector Alliot 



CIVILIZED man looks upon an eclipse with keen interest, but 

 he is no longer awed by that fascinating phenomenon. 



Modern science has long since made clear the causes of 

 eclipses of the moon and sun, and the household almanac gives 

 us the exact course of their progress as well as the very second 

 on which they will occur and the various regions in which they 

 will be visible to the naked eye. 



In many parts of the world, however, even today, savage 

 tribes and nomadic peoples hold to the superstitions of centuries 

 past and regard eclipses of moon or sun wath fear and awe. 



To the natives of the Malay peninsula, for instance, the 

 eclipse of the sun is one of the world's greatest recurring trage- 

 dies. According to their belief the Sun and Moon are two god- 

 desses and the stars are their children. Once upon a time the 

 Sun had as many children as the Moon. The inhabitants of the 

 Earth, however, were unable to stand the insufferable light and 

 heat from the innumerable little suns, so they incited the Sun and 

 Moon to devour their offspring. 



It seems that a long time ago, the Sun carried out her part 

 of the bargain and the day-stars disappeared, while the Moon 

 managed to hide her ow^n children and they escaped. 



When the Sun found out the deception that had been prac- 

 ticed upon her, she swore vengeance, and has been chasing- the 

 Moon through the heavens ever since. Sometimes she succeeds 

 in coming so close to her victim that she is able to bite her. That 

 is w^hat we call an eclipse. 



According to that very ancient myth the Sun has retained 

 a ravenous appetite for devouring stars. Every morning upon 

 awakening she breakfasts upon a multitude of little stars, while 

 every evening the Aloon, knowing that the Sun is asleep, brings 

 forth her own children from the hiding caves of the sky to play 

 in the cerulean blue fields until the morrow. 



To the native Peruvians, as well as our own Algonkins, 

 Creeks, Iroquois and Esquimaux, night is symbolized by a mon- 

 ster dog which devours the sun. Time has long since demon- 

 strated that this operation is harmless since the sun rises brightly 

 every day, but the eclipse is the extraordinary occurrence unex- 

 pected and inexplicable to the native tribes. They remember 

 that in their most ancient myths it was said that some day the 

 great night hound W'Ould really swallow the sun, and that the end 

 of all things would then surely come. 



In an attempt to distract the attention of the great dog and 

 induce him to abandon his purpose, the medicine men of ancient 

 days devised what seemed to them a most logical method of 



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