Thousands in China viewed the "Olympics eclipse" in time for the upcoming Games, and some thought it was a bad omen. But some realized that the passing of the moon in front of the sun is a natural phenomenon, and that there's no need for anyone to sacrifice anything, except for a few minutes to gaze upward (with the proper protection) to acknowledge this very awesome spectacle. [I use the word "awesome" in the sense of "creating or inspiring awe" as in the feeling one has at seeing the Grand Canyon or looking at the night sky, not in as in the feeling one has in admiring someone's new car or new party dress. "Awesome" in the latter circumstance seems to me to be an incorrectly applied adjective.].
Notes this MSNBC.com story, "Despite the ruling Communist Party's emphasis on scientific thinking, China still has its superstitions. The date and time of the Olympics' opening ceremony on Aug. 8 are stuffed with as many eights as possible, because the word "eight" in Chinese sounds like "fortune." Adopting Friday's solar eclipse as a good sign meant stripping away the ancient superstition about it being the unluckiest event in the sky. When eclipses happened, emperors were blamed and had to apologize for angering the heavens. Being able to predict solar eclipses and show control over the skies became so political that some eclipse reports apparently were manipulated, said John B. Henderson, a history professor at Louisiana State University who has written about Chinese cosmology. "Eclipses were reported where none took place, in areas of political or bureaucratic strife," Henderson said. "It may have been a means of voicing dissent." So an official (legal) adoption of the solar eclipse as a good omen for the opening of the Games transforms it magically. Neat trick if you can get those inclined to believe such things to adopt your view.
Here's more on the history of cosmology from the American Institute of Physics.
Congratulations to all Olympians!
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