The Solar Eclipse:
Maybe Don’t Look Up ?
“Eclipses are powerful potent moments that can be harnessed by meditators for acceleration of awareness and energetic upgrade and should not be wasted.”
SriMati aka Julie Piatt
The upcoming total solar eclipse April 8 will have a path of totality across the U.S, starting in Texas and moving across 15 states before entering Canada. While we understand why people would rush to view this phenomenon (definitely considered it: there’s some amazing festivals happening with great line-ups!), we learnt about Native American Indigenous beliefs about solar eclipses and the ancient wisdom of Vedic teachings, both of which caution against watching eclipses directly.
A Disruption To Natural Order
For many Native American tribes, eclipses were seen as powerful cosmic events with profound spiritual significance. Various tribes across North America held diverse beliefs regarding eclipses, but common among them was the notion that these events signaled a disruption in the natural order. They often interpreted eclipses as symbolic battles between celestial beings or as warnings from the spirit world.
Grandmother Two Clouds, medicine woman for the Wind Creek Tribe (Marza Millar) shares:
“As the 7 planets align and we enter into the shadow across the sun the full solar eclipse ushers in a shadow across our nation. This is a deep time for introspection of entering your own shadow and find those things that align into your intuitive understanding.
My Elders have always told me to not take the direct shadow into your body at the time of the Eclipse and to cover your head and not take the direct shadow transmission into your crown, do not look at it with your eyes but open your heart to your own shadow in your soul to find strength and peace with your shadow self.
Time to do the deep work. It’s good to lay out your prayers and make an offering to the shadow with making a medicine bundle of tobacco and asking the Sun to open you and let you see the enlightenment that is illuminated within that is revealed through this beautiful eclipse window. A time for deep inner work and a time to prepare an offering of those deep prayers to heal your own shadow where we lay our wounds and also the strength of your warrior that lay within your shadow that got you through the hard times.”
Astronomical And Spiritual Implications
Vedic texts such as the Puranas and the Vedanga Jyotisha contain detailed descriptions of eclipse phenomena, along with guidelines on how to observe them. According to Vedic wisdom, it is considered inauspicious to directly gaze at an eclipse, as it is believed to magnify negative energies and may even lead to physical or spiritual harm. Instead, people were advised to engage in spiritual practices such as meditation, chanting mantras, and offering prayers to mitigate the adverse effects of the eclipse.
SriMati aka Julie Piatt, hosts an online community Water Tiger and recently shared from her decades of learnings from Vedic knowledge:
“Vedic guidance suggests that one never wants to go outside under the eclipse or seek to view it physically. Its effects are varied depending on your personal Vedic birth chart that defines your “sky” when you were born. Pregnant mothers are never advised to go out under an eclipse.
Depending on your planetary configuration, there is potential for activating energies that are not in support of your highest alignment.
Eclipses are powerful potent moments that can be harnessed by meditators for acceleration of awareness and energetic upgrade and should not be wasted.”
Both Native American Indigenous cultures and Vedic teachings emphasize the interconnectedness of all life forms and the importance of living in harmony with nature and the cosmos. Watching an eclipse directly was discouraged not only as a precaution against potential physical harm but also as a symbolic gesture of respect and humility towards the cosmic forces at work.
In modern times, as scientific understanding of eclipses has advanced, of course we can also view these events purely through a scientific lens, it is a wondrous astronomical spectacle. However, the wisdom of indigenous cultures and ancient traditions offers a valuable reminder to approach eclipses with reverence and mindfulness.
So maybe if you are joining an epic camp or solar eclipse festival, please at least cover you head and maybe go in a tent for the 4 minutes of visibility and then come back out to dance/ pray/love?
