What folklore tells us to expect in the wake of the blood moon

As always, the lunar eclipse has fascinated every corner of the globe. Glenn McConnell looks at history books to understand what early astronomers thought of the blood-red moon

The longest eclipse of the century blew the blood of the moon on Saturday morning as we watched eclipse of selenelion. lucky enough to see the eclipse will have savored the rare event, traditional knowledge paint a much darker story.

In New Zealand, old tales tell us about a lunar prisoner serving a sentence of eternity. A map to find eternal youth, which controls the tides, can also be discovered if we listen to the first stories about lunar eclipses

Offshore, history tells us about celestial creatures capable of devouring whole stars and interplanetary war. It is fair to say that we have always been amazed and intrigued by these lunar wonders, if not frightening.

Returning to Aotearoa, the first Maori astronomers reported a battle between the moon and Rona – a helpless or demonic human being

She was the woman on the moon, her face looking at Papatūānuku since her exile. jail. It is said that she was drawn to the moon for insulting her one night, when she disappeared behind a cloud. For this insult, she would purge an eternal sentence, but to this day she sometimes fights with her jailer.

One night, she shouted at the moon not to shine. She was gone, and she could not see.

Having more than she wanted, the moon came down and took Rona to live with her forever.

Elsdon Best, a colonial scholar who interviewed Maori and also attacked them, He wrote about a first astronomy at Aotearoa

"The Shared Vision of a lunar eclipse is that Rona, a clever being, attack and destroy, "he wrote in 1922.

After the battle, the moon – which depends on the iwi – heal himself and come back as a new, younger being.

"After the fight, the moon bathes in the waiora at Tane, and so we come back again young and beautiful," said Best.

He continued to live, said Best, he had different meanings according to the spoken iwi.

Some people see Rona as a god himself, maybe even a faithful servant. She could be the sister of Tangaroa, god of the seas – who would suggest that Rona controls the tides.

For more information, read the story of Rona on Te Ara and the 1922 book of Best Astronomical Knowledge of Māori

THE ECLIPSES CHANGED THE WORLD

The Peloponnesian War resulted in a crushing defeat for the Athenians in 413 BC. Without an eclipse, historians believe that the Athenians would have withdrawn from Syracuse, a Sicilian city, to reach Athens.

However, an Athenian politician called Nicias saw a blood moon at the time as a bad omen. While waiting for the disappearance of the blood moon, they were completely destroyed

For more, read Moon: Nature and Culture, by Edgar Williams

SOMETHING TO EAT THE MOON

Many stories from around the world describe a huge planetary animal that attack the moon.

it was believed that a dragon would have eaten the moo n. The best way to fight the creature was to create as much noise as possible.

According to The Conversation Hindu folklore also called "the eater of the sun" – a dragon capable of tremendous destruction. ] A full moon rises on a cross of a Christian Orthodox church "title =" "src =" https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/r/0/a /6/z/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620×349.1r0ahg.png/1532741014540.jpg "class =" photoborder "/>
    

Petros Karadjias / AP