Eclipse

It's hidden now.

The Sun.

Behind the meagre moon that can only censure

it's core.

It pours out around it,

intense,

fiery -

That the eye catches

not the void,

but,

the ring that contains it.

Old tides are turning.

Waters that once raged 

ragged rocks into coarse sand

now bring back the sifted sand,

sheepishly,

to the beach.

These waters are not selfsame

and neither is the rock.

The wind lays still,

with no heat to rile it up

to ignite it,

burning it till it swirls in an unseeing frenzy

crashing out

at all things that yet,

linger.

It unwinds,

after the intensity of eternity

it rests.

A slumber,

the period

before that begins anew.

The clouds have receded

into the abscess

they were concocted from.

Poured back,

to someday take

another shape,

in a time that would have heretofore

come to pass.

I too,

am quietly gazing

into the eye of Gods.

Look long enough,

and it's a mirror,

that shows you the shape of who you are.

Dare to look beyond,

and it will blur into naught.

That's where you are.

Wondering

like the wind,

the clouds,

the rock,

if you exist.

All you could do,

is wait a while.

For when the ring breaks

open,

you do too.

Image Courtesy: Dr. DePinho - Ring of Fire eclipse October 14, 2023

Eclipses have lived more lives in folklore than the times they have occured since humans could communicate. Each culture has its own belief associated with the eclipse; interestingly they all converge on one point: - the sun being eaten. Devoured by a bear, a squirrel, a dragon, a beheaded demon's head as it roams the skies it was banished to for eternity, and so much more. The act of eating itself is an act of completion and satiety, as you would know if you were reading this with a satisfying meal, after or in anticipation of it. Psychologically, eating is an intrinsic reward mechanism. And we all know the complicated history of reward mechanisms when it comes to individuals and their insatiable need to be rewarded.

And suddenly, what was a survival mechanism, turns into gluttony. Eating more than one requires to eat out of greed to devour and satiate. And this is how most religions viewed the eclipse: an animal's uncontrolled urge to eat that then resulted in ephemeral darkness till the animal was scared away, appeased, or prayed to.

[Sidenote: What's intriguing is the obvious circular referencing error (got excel on my mind) - humans thinking they could act as Gods to the Gods they pray to, to control the behavior of animal-like deities that prey on reverent ones. Who then was the God?]

From believing in animalistic gluttony to the belief that eclipses signify upheavals, ends, and beginnings, we have come a long way. Forward, back, sideways, up-down, or just diagonally, in this 3D world we are limited by directions and not imagination to answer this. All we know, is as we look at the eclipse, each one of us feels something. Something we may not have felt in a while, something we don't understand. Something both awe-inspiring and terrifying - we're more than ourselves. And the prose is a take on this very feeling.

Here's to waking up on the other side of the eclipse. Happy Sunday!