Also called eclipse magic, tiangou, Rahu, grahan, rescuing the sun
How people have answered eclipses: Chinese courts and villagers beat drums and pots to drive off the creature eating the sun or moon, Hindu tradition tells of the demon Rahu swallowing them, and modern witches treat eclipses as charged times for endings and resets.
TraditionChinese, Hindu and modern Pagan eclipse traditions
RegionChina, India, worldwide
EraAncient to present
Moon● New moon
DayMoon
ElementSpirit
Difficulty●○○ Simple
TimeThe length of the eclipse
Tonight's moon is read when the page loads.
The working
Check the time and type of eclipse for your location. For a solar eclipse, have proper eclipse glasses ready; never look at the sun directly.
Before it starts, write down one thing you want to end or let go of. Eclipses were omens of disruption, and modern practitioners use them for endings rather than new beginnings.
As the shadow begins, go outside with friends and bang pots, drums or bells, as Chinese communities did to frighten off the heavenly dog or dragon.
During totality or the deepest part of a lunar eclipse, be still and quiet. In Hindu households people often stop cooking and eating and spend the time in prayer or chanting.
When the light returns, tear up the paper and throw it away or compost it.
Wash your hands and face, or take a bath, to close the rite. Bathing after an eclipse is a common Hindu custom.
Take care: Never look at a partial solar eclipse without certified ISO 12312-2 eclipse glasses or a pinhole projector; sunglasses and a bowl of water are not safe for looking at the sun. Keep noise-making friendly to neighbours and pets.
Versions across time and place
i
Beating drums to rescue the sun
Ancient China · Zhou period to the 19th century
Commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals describe drums beaten and offerings made at the altar of the soil during a solar eclipse, with banners and drums ranked by status, the king highest. The Book of Documents tells of astronomers Xi and He, punished for failing to predict an eclipse and perform the rites. People banged pots and gongs into the modern era.
Recorded in: Guliang Zhuan commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals; The World of Chinese, 'A Brief History of the Solar Eclipse' (2017)
ii
Tiangou, the heavenly dog
Chinese folklore · Traditional
In one legend Hou Yi's black dog licks the leftover elixir of immortality, chases Chang'e to the moon and swallows it, causing a lunar eclipse, until the Queen Mother of the West makes him spit it out. Noise was made to scare the dog into releasing the sun or moon. The god Zhang Xian is shown aiming his bow at it.
Recorded in: Tiangou (Wikipedia)
iii
Rahu and Ketu
Hindu mythology and Jyotisha · Puranic texts to present
When the gods and demons churned the ocean of milk for amrita, the demon Svarbhanu slipped in among the gods to drink it. The sun and moon reported him, and Vishnu as Mohini cut off his head, but he was already immortal. His head, Rahu, chases the sun and moon and swallows them, causing eclipses. In astrology Rahu and Ketu are the lunar nodes.
Recorded in: Rahu (Wikipedia)
History
Eclipses are among the oldest recorded omens. Chinese records keep eclipse notices for well over two thousand years, and the Book of Documents preserves the story of the astronomers Xi and He, who were blamed for an eclipse during the Xia dynasty. Ritual drumming at the altar of the soil is described in commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals. The Chinese word for an eclipse, rishi, means sun eaten.
In India the myth of Rahu explains eclipses as the revenge of a demon on the sun and moon who exposed him. Many Hindu families still avoid eating during an eclipse, keep pregnant women indoors, and bathe afterward. Rahu and Ketu correspond to the lunar nodes, the points where eclipses actually happen. Modern witches have absorbed eclipse timing into spellwork, but that use is new and varies by practitioner.
