T h e g l o b e - t r o t t e r ' s g u i d e t o
C H A S I N G E C L I P S E S
When the light drops in the middle of the day and darkness falls over the earth for a few minutes, something spectacular happens. To come across a total solar eclipse is a rare and profound experience. Not only do you witness a remarkable natural phenomenon, you also become part of a global celebration, rich with culture and traditions.
T h e i n t e r e s t i n g t a l e s b e h i n d
S O L A R E C L I P S E M Y T H S
In some ancient and modern cultures solar eclipses have been attributed to supernatural causes or regarded as bad omens.
CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA
In most Aboriginal cultures solar eclipses have been interpreted as the lovemaking of the Sun and the Moon.
Tórshavn, FAROE ISLANDS
The Vikings tell a tale about two wolves who wish to eat the Sun and Moon. Skoll goes after the Sun and Hati, running ahead of the Sun, goes after the Moon. When either are caught, there is an eclipse.
KENDAWNGAN, BORNEO
A native Fillipeno myth tells of Bakunawa, a dragon-like snake that rises from the sea once or twice in a man’s lifetime, and reaches up to the sky to brazenly eat the sun or the moon.
LINCOLN CITY, OREGON
Some North American Indian tribes deduced that during an eclipse, the Sun's fires were somehow being quenched - so they reversed the process by firing flaming arrows into the sky to re-light the Sun. In every case this proved most effective!
CRUZ GRANDE, CHILE
Andean tribes of Native South America believed the eclipse occurs when a puma devours the Sun. To prevent the Sun’s death, the puma is frightened away by the screams of children.
