During the darkness, you might see stars.
During today’s solar eclipse, Sirius is one of those stars you might see.
天狼星 – tian lang xing – is the star’s Chinese name. It means Wolf Star. In ancient china, it was a Sky Dog 天狗 tiangou – that ate the sun during eclipses.
It’s common for modern day people to presume the ancients were simple people with odd beliefs, like celestial dogs eating the sun. Myth, however, is much more than that, it is a coded reference to the way the world works, and to understand, one has to understand the codes.
According to Wudangshan Daoist Zhou Xun Yun, ancient Chinese had three practices to “save the sun” 救日jiu ri .
The first – confess evil deeds and ask for forgiveness. Secondly, ask help for the future, and thirdly banish evil by making a big noise to scare away the Sky Dog.
The Chinese have one of the most detailed records of stellar bodies in history. Records of solar eclipses date back to some 700 years BC! Earlier still, around 1065 BC, the Chinese recorded a lunar eclipse.
Modern practice is to go chase the sun, or watch the effects through Nasa’s photography.
Yet others prefer to recall the wisdom of the ancients, keep a period of silence like the Navajo people,
and dream the future. Dream Big!
If you are interested in reading more about the eclipse or seeing more pictures, click on the links in blue!