All people have a number of superstitions, some more than others, related to all sorts of events and situations in their lives. If those regarding the black cat and walking under a ladder are rather universal, it seems that there are more unusual superstitions that can almost terrify people, for example those in India concerning solar eclipses. They are so powerful that the excitement preceding the solar eclipse on August 1 is actually darkened by fear.

Despite a well known scientific phenomenon behind the solar eclipse, people have not been able to do away with the superstitious beliefs related to the celestial activity. “There are several false beliefs prevalent in our society regarding solar eclipse. Some people even lock themselves in their homes to avoid ‘the bad rays’ from the eclipse,” Nehru Planetarium Director N. Rathnashree said.

 

Moreover, many also take dips in holy rivers to cleanse themselves after the eclipse and others think that pregnant women should not cut and sew during the eclipse in order to prevent deformities in the unborn child.

 

“I have been told that during an eclipse the number of germs increases. Therefore, no food is eaten or cooked during the event, and any food cooked before the eclipse is discarded,” said 32-year-old Anamika Singh, an executive with an IT company.

 

Rathnashree urges people in India, who will witness the partial solar eclipse on August 1(it begins at 16:03:03 and ends at 17:56:07) to put aside their superstitions and resort to the proper gadgets so that there won't be any damage to the eyes. “It is very important to emphasize that viewing the eclipse with [the eyes unprotected] would be very dangerous for the eyes. Viewing the Sun through a telescope or binoculars without a proper filter is many times more dangerous - do not ever do that, it could destroy your eyesight,” Rathnashree said.

 

According to him, the safest way for solar viewing is projection, “By projection method, a pinhole or small opening is used to cast the image of the sun on a screen placed a half-meter or more beyond the opening.” Also, people should avoid watching the solar eclipse using sunglasses, single or multiple layers, smoked glass, color film, black-and-white film that contains no silver, or photographic negatives with images on them.

 

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