White Wolf : Navajo members won't watch Sunday's solar eclipse
Navajo members won't watch Sunday's solar eclipse
Even though it’ll be in full view over the Navajo Nation in Arizona, traditional tribal members won’t look up while it’s happening.
The Navajo word for eclipse is “eating the sun.” In the Navajo tradition it is believed that the "sun dies" during a solar eclipse and that it is an intimate event between the Earth, Sun and Moon.
People are told to stay inside and keep still during the dark period. There’s no eating, drinking, sleeping, weaving or any other activity.
For Angelenos who do want to see it, the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles and Caltech in Pasadena will host viewings of the solar eclipse on Sunday afternoon.
“The moon and the sun are sacred the way they were created, and you are not supposed to watch the moon or look at, stare at it for a long time," "It affects your mind and your body. Especially for a woman that’s carrying a baby. Because when there is an eclipse either lunar or solar, this is a sacred time where the sun, the moon and the earth is kind of like in an intimate position when they line up, so it’s such a sacred thing that’s happening, you don’t look at those things that are happening out in the sky.”
If a pregnant woman sees an eclipse of any kind, be it solar or lunar, it might "affect the mind of the woman or also in the future it will affect the health of the baby,” Begay said, and a special ceremony must be conducted to rid them of the influence.
During an eclipse, "every man, woman and child—they have to show reverence, and they don’t eat, they don’t drink water, they just go into the house until it passes," Begay said. “And then they show respect for the moon and the sun.”
Navajo members won't watch Sunday's solar eclipse
Even though it’ll be in full view over the Navajo Nation in Arizona, traditional tribal members won’t look up while it’s happening.
The Navajo word for eclipse is “eating the sun.” In the Navajo tradition it is believed that the "sun dies" during a solar eclipse and that it is an intimate event between the Earth, Sun and Moon.
People are told to stay inside and keep still during the dark period. There’s no eating, drinking, sleeping, weaving or any other activity.
For Angelenos who do want to see it, the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles and Caltech in Pasadena will host viewings of the solar eclipse on Sunday afternoon.
“The moon and the sun are sacred the way they were created, and you are not supposed to watch the moon or look at, stare at it for a long time," "It affects your mind and your body. Especially for a woman that’s carrying a baby. Because when there is an eclipse either lunar or solar, this is a sacred time where the sun, the moon and the earth is kind of like in an intimate position when they line up, so it’s such a sacred thing that’s happening, you don’t look at those things that are happening out in the sky.”
If a pregnant woman sees an eclipse of any kind, be it solar or lunar, it might "affect the mind of the woman or also in the future it will affect the health of the baby,” Begay said, and a special ceremony must be conducted to rid them of the influence.
During an eclipse, "every man, woman and child—they have to show reverence, and they don’t eat, they don’t drink water, they just go into the house until it passes," Begay said. “And then they show respect for the moon and the sun.”
