Suns & Serpents
Sun - New Moon on Lilith - South Node - Earth - North Node = Annular Solar Eclipse
Ancient peoples all over the globe used mythology to record and explain natural phenomena on the Earth, and in the skies. Among the most shocking of these events was the Eclipsing of the Sun. As the most consistent, reliable feature of reality, the disappearance of the Sun from the daytime sky still absolutely dazzles people who know what the heck is happening, even after planning trips precisely when and where to watch one ahead of time. It’s easy to image our ancestors absolutely freaking out as it was unexpectedly blotted out above.
While each pantheon had their own individual quirks, in mythologies across era and culture, the Solar Deities of the world nearly always struggled against Serpentine adversaries. And we can see this common narrative thread used to represent Solar Eclipses.
An Annular Eclipse on an Annulus, in the mouth of a dragon-head statue at Santa Monica Pier
India: Surya & Svarbanu
We’ll begin with the Samudra Manthan from India, both because it is among the oldest recorded, and because of how precisely it represents the Astronomy of eclipses. Even many Western astrologers refer to the Lunar Nodes by their Vedic names, Rahu and Ketu, and the Vedic tradition has been able to track those mathematical points for a mind-bogglingly long time. The Hindu religion is extremely complex and intricate, but for this story you just need to know that Devas are more benevolent deities, while the Asuras are their power-seeking opponents.
The story goes: in ancient history the Asuras managed to capture Swarga, the paradisiacal abode of the Gods, and exiled the Devas to wander. Attempts to take it back failed, time passed, and their desperation grew. They prayed to supreme-being Vishnu to help them, and fortune smiled upon them as he answered. He advised the Devas to propose a collaboration with the Asuras to churn a gigantic milky ocean, and retrieve an immortality-giving drink called Amrita from it’s depths. Vishnu promised that the Devas alone would be allowed to drink the sweet nectar, and from it, gain power to overcome the Asuras.
A deal between the two groups was struck, and they went to work. After eons of churning the ocean, using a snake tied around a mountain, a great poison emerged, threatening the lives of all involved, and the universe at large. The great Destroyer, Shiva, saved them by swallowing the poison, gaining an iconic blue throat he is often depicted with as a consequence of this story. After this, many treasures came out of the liquid, including various tools, jewels, and mounts the Gods came to be associated with. At long last, the Amrita emerged!
With the help of Vishnu, who distracted the Asuras by embodying a beautiful dancing woman, the Devas were able to keep the nectar amongst themselves alone, passing it down the line in which they were seated. But one cunning Asura, Svarbanu, did not fall for the deception. In disguise, he seated himself amongst the procession of the Devas. The Sun god Surya and the Moon god Chandra noticed something was wrong, and as the Amrita reached Svarbanu’s lips, they cried out to Vishnu for help. Instantly, he hurled his 108-bladed discus, cutting the head off the Asura, but not before a drop of the nectar had touched his tongue.
Mohini cuts off the head of Svarbanu, creating Rahu & Ketu
Having achieved a partial immortality, the severed head and the body became the shadow planets called Rahu and Ketu, respectively. Vishnu tossed each to opposite ends of the sky, making them perpetually opposite to one another. And now, as revenge for revealing him all those eons ago, he lies waiting in attempt to swallow the Sun or Moon whenever he has the opportunity. He always fails however, as the luminaries are able to pass from his severed throat unscathed.
Egypt: Ra & Apophis
The story from Egypt is quite similar, though perhaps more archaic. After milennia as the ultimate ruler of ancient Egypt, Ra began to feel his age. He retired as pharaoh, but took up the role of guiding the barque of the Sun full-time. This job had two distinct sections; the more obvious daytime portion of his ride as he passed through the heavens, and the nighttime section where the Egyptians believed he physically died and had to pass through the underworld, to make his way back to the East for Dawn. Many dangers awaited him in this midnight sojourn, but the most ominous of these was the god known as Apep.
Apep, or in Greek Apophis, was most often depicted as a massive cobra, and associated with Chaos, the natural opposite to the Light of Truth the Sun illuminats. Some believed him to be an even more ancient God of the Sun, usurped by Ra, and therefore hell-bent on seeing his failure. Other stories say he was born from Ra’s own umbilical cord, a more symbolic message suggesting that the duality of light and darkness must coexist. In any case, Apep waged a nightly attack on the solar-barque by attempting to ingest it whole.
There is evidence that the Egyptians practiced both daily prayer and more involved yearly rituals in order to assist in Ra’s task and keep Apep at bay. Depending on the source, Ra also employed the help of several other Gods at different times to help on his journey, the most notable being Set (a punishment for killing his brother Osiris, after nephew Horos retook the throne). Every once in a while, Apep would succeed in swallowing the Sun, but Ra would transform into the natural enemy of the snake, a cat, to cut his way out of the beast, along with Set’s spear.
Here again, we have beautiful imagery for the Total Eclipse of the Sun in the plot-points of this myth. While Apophis is less directly connected to the North and South Nodes of the Moon, I do find it interesting and fitting that the markings of the Cobra so closely resemble their astrological symbols. Apophis 99942 is also the name of an asteroid with the highest possibility of impacting on Earth in the next few centuries, an event that would definitely create chaos. (But don’t worry, even the “most likely” case is very tiny, and Apophis is not large enough to cause a cataclysmic event like extinction).
Greece: Apollo & Python
The Greek Olympian of the Sun is Apollo, who was the son of Zeus and the titaness Leto. As that name is not Hera, you can probably guess that she was less than thrilled about this. Upon hearing about the pregnancy, Hera cursed Leto to not be able to give birth on “solid ground’’, forbade the Goddess of childbirth, Eileithyia, from assisting in Leto’s labors, and sent the snake named Python to pursue her.
Once wandering Leto had finally found shelter on the floating island of Delos, and the other Goddesses helped free Eileithyia to help, Artemis of the Moon was born first, followed by her twin Apollo. As gifts for his bastard (but nonetheless glorious) children, Zeus commissioned divine craftsman Haephestus to make them the finest of all Bows and Arrows. This act had a long-term effect on Artemis as she would devote her life to the art of the Hunt and archery. But for Apollo, there was a much more immediate cause for use, and as an infant he set out to avenge the terrorization of his mother by their serpentine pursuant.
Python was a child of Gaia, guarded an entrance to her domain, and possessed the gift of prophecy. It was actually a vision of his own death at the hands of Leto’s son which had ended his pursuit of her, and driven back to his home in Delphi. The infant Apollo wasted no time fulfilling this fated encounter, and slew the beast with a 3-arrow shot that pierced its mouth, eye, and neck. Upon his victory, he gained dominion over the ream of prophecy, and established his famous Oracle.
Though Python is not specifically tied to the Nodes like Rahu and Ketu, it is interesting to contemplate Python’s domain of divination and seeing the future, as the North Node is also associated with one’s future in a natal chart.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — —
#/media/File:Apollo_dan_Pithon.jpg){kind=link}
The next two Solar Eclipses will be visible over the continental US
The next Solar Eclipse will take place on October 14, 2023, visible over the South-West United States and down into South America, with both the Sun and Moon conjunct the South Node. It will be Annular, causing a Ring of Fire around the black disc of the New Moon, due to its proximity to the Lunar Apogee, aka Lilith. The next Total Eclipse will occur on April 8, 2024. These will be the final two Solar Eclipses visible over the US for a few decades, and thus are highly anticipated by umbraphiles.
Truly, we are quite lucky to have the opportunity to observe Eclipses at all. While the ancients regarded the phenomenon with dread and superstition, with the dimming of our brightest light, the light of Science has made clear many of the shadowy unknowns that made metaphor necessary, and given us better understanding of how it happens. But, at least from my perspective, the intricacies of “how” only cause more questions of “why” to pique my curiosity. ⭕️