Wear your red underwear: Solar eclipse casts light on folklore of past centuries

If the sun turned black and day became night, would you shout at the top of your lungs, toss your lunch in the garbage, maybe hunt through your dresser for some red undies?

People in the past have followed those traditional precautions to avoid or reverse the misfortune they associated with a solar eclipse.

On April 8, modern eclipse chasers will travel many miles to be in position for the best view of the latest totality, when the moon passes directly between the Earth and the sun. But, down through the centuries, the celestial phenomenon has more often been viewed as a bad omen or cause for alarm.

NASA debunks a common myth that an eclipse will somehow produce harmful rays that can poison food prepared during the event.

"If that were the case, the same radiations would harm the food in your pantry or crops in the field," the space agency points out.

According to The Old Farmer's Almanac, similar traditional beliefs have been recorded in Japan, where people covered their wells to keep the water from being poisoned, and in

Alaska, where native denizens turned their dishes upside down and washed exposed utensils, to prevent eclipse-infected dew from spreading sickness.

Mexican traditions offer steps expectant mothers can take to keep an eclipse from affecting their babies, as noted in a Texas Public Radio report.

Metal appears to be a key ingredient in protecting the offspring. The pregnant woman is advised to wear a safety pin on her belly. If the eclipse occurs after the infant arrives, she can open a pair of scissors in the form of a cross and place it under the crib.

For extra measure, the mother-to-be can pull on some red underwear, an idea that may be a holdover from an Aztec custom.

The Old Farmer's Almanac cites a belief dating from ancient times that an eclipse could afflict a newborn with blindness, a birthmark or a cleft lip.

The Aztecs are said to have believed an eclipse occurred when a beast in the heavens bit into the sun, and that a baby would suffer a similar fate if the pregnant mother dared to watch what was happening in the sky — not to mention the woman's risk of being blinded if she looked directly at the sun.

Eclipses are attributed to sun-swallowing villains in a number of other cultures. Norse mythology blames a giant wolf associated with the trickster god Loki. A dragon does the dark deed in Armenia; a giant frog is the culprit in Vietnam.

In India, the sun is devoured by the demon spirit Rahu. Luckily, since the demon's head has been separated from his body for a previous transgression, the sun is assured of shining once more instead of being digested.

In some cultures — predating modern rock music — people would beat on drums and scream and shout to scare away whatever evil entity had blotted out the sun.

According to the Exploratorium museum in San Francisco, members of the Choctaw tribe attributed eclipses to a mischievous squirrel gnawing on the sun.

A tale among the Cree is that a boy — or maybe a dwarf — is angered at being burned by the sun and gets revenge by catching it in a snare. A tiny mouse is the only animal able to chew through the ropes and set the sun back on its course.

The Chippewa reacted to an eclipse by shooting flaming arrows into the sky to rekindle the sun.

In some cultures, the sun and moon are viewed as being of opposite sexes, with an eclipse representing their romantic union. But there are also negative interpretations, where the male moon's advances are unwelcome or where the two heavenly globes are given the roles of incestuous siblings.

The Navajo are among those who have a positive attitude toward eclipses, considering them a time of renewal that is part of a cosmic cycle. During the event, their tradition is to sit quietly and reverently inside their homes.

Bad omen from above

Throughout history, people have seen solar eclipses as foretelling the downfall of political leaders or have associated them with the spread of disease, enemy invasions or other hard times.

A separation of months between the solar event and earthbound circumstances didn't keep people from finding a link between the two.

A Chinese historian, referring to a solar eclipse on Aug. 28, 360, wrote: "Whenever an eclipse covers a small portion of the sun, the calamity it brings will be relatively small, but, when it covers a large portion of the sun, the consequences will be much more serious. ... The next year, the emperor died."

Gregory of Tours, a French bishop and historian who lived in the sixth century, may have been referring to the raids of Attila the Hun in the previous century when he wrote about an eclipse that occurred on Feb. 24, 453: "Even the sun appeared hideous, so that scarcely a third part of it gave light, I believe on account of such deeds of wickedness and the shedding of innocent blood."

A total solar eclipse visible in England on March 16, 1485, certainly was ill-timed for the nation's queen, Anne Neville, who died that day.

As noted on medievalwanderings.com, historians believe the queen likely died of tuberculosis. At the time, her demise under literal dark circumstances was seen as having a greater prophetic consequence for her husband, King Richard III, who was fatally wounded in the Battle of Bosworth on Aug. 22 of that year.

Predictions, peaceful outcome

For centuries, people have worked to predict the timing of eclipses — a science that has grown more precise over the years.

The time-traveling title character of Mark Twain's 1889 novel "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" uses his knowledge of a forthcoming solar eclipse to convince onlookers he has supernatural powers.

A Shawnee religious leader known as Tenskwatawa, or The Prophet, performed a similar feat in real life. Tenskwatawa is said to have accurately predicted a solar eclipse that occurred on June 16, 1806, answering a challenge of his powers issued by future U.S. President William Henry Harrison. Harrison had fought against Native Americans in Ohio and at the time was pitted against native inhabitants in his role as governor of the Indiana Territory.

On at least one occasion, an eclipse has been credited with inspiring the peaceful end of armed conflict.

Reported a century after the fact by Greek historian Herodotus, a solar eclipse on May 28, 585 B.C. is said to have startled battling soldiers who were fighting on behalf of Lydia, in what is now Turkey, and the Medes, an ancient Iranian people. As a result, the troops reportedly threw down their weapons.

A truce was called, eventually ending a war that had been going on for more than five years.