This and that with Maluphosa: Man got bit wife

The eclipse of the moon last week came as a surprise to most of us lay-men. Had it not been for the news on SABC, the eclipse would have come and gone unnoticed by many. But it was very early, really, just after half eight. Sqhezema was the first among my friends to notice the difference in the shape and colour of the moon. The guy has been gazing at the heavens since the 21st of last month, the supposed Dooms-day. He has scrutinised smoke and clouds for any sign of life, in case Jesus decides to use a cloud that is not really a cloud. He has spent many hours glaring into the horizon, and listening to the news for any sign of trouble in New Zealand. Phela the dooms-day committee say the Armageddon will start e-New Zealand. They also say all means of communication will fail so that all of us are taken by surprise. This time Sqhezema was convinced the Son of Man was here.

Just think of it: if the eclipse had happened on the night of the dooms-day-that-never-was nga sonke saziphosa elwandle.

Scholars will tell you how eclipses happen. I would like to look at the myths surrounding the solar or lunar eclipses. There is a native tribe of America, called the Pomo. Their name for a solar eclipse is "sun got bit bear". They tell a story about a bear who goes out for a stroll along the Milky Way. Soon Bear met up with the Sun and the two began to argue about who would move out of the other's path.

The argument turned into a fight, which was represented by an eclipse of the Sun. Eventually the Bear continued along his way, but soon met up with the Moon, the Sun's sister. Again, an argument ensued about who would move over and again the argument turned into a fight. Now there was an eclipse of the Moon. After the eclipse Bear continued on his way along the Milky Way and the cycle repeated. It gives me an idea; I should call Godlwayo "man got bit wife". He has an ugly scar on his left cheek, where he was bitten by his wife in the middle of the night. Ukuthi kwakubangwani ebusuku obungaka is any body's guess.

The Ge' are among the Amazonian tribes of Brazil. They also believe that eclipses are a result of a fight between Sun and Moon. They say the eye of the Sun or Moon is pierced by a small boy who shoots them with an arrow. The wound bleeds, symbolized by the Moon turning reddish and dimming. A shaman removes the arrow and the wound heals.

Skoll the wolf who shall scare the Moon Till he flies to the Wood-of-Woe: Hati the wolf, Hridvitnir's kin, Who shall pursue the Sun.

Grimnismal, The Elder Edda

The Vikings tell a tale about two wolves who wish to eat the Sun and Moon. Skoll (repulsion) goes after the Sun and Hati, running ahead of the Sun, goes after the Moon. When either are caught, there is an eclipse. (Do you remember 'umaficwa uya ncetshwa'?) When this happens, the people on Earth rush to rescue the Sun or Moon by making as much noise as they can in hopes of scaring off the wolves.

Hupa Indians of Northern Carlifonia say the Moon is a man who has twenty wives and a house full of pets consisting of mountain lions, bears and snakes. To feed his pets, the man goes out to hunt. After the hunt he carries all the game back to his house for his pets, but they are not satisfied with what he has brought them. In anger, the pets attack the man, who begins to bleed. This is represented by the Moon turning a reddish colour during a lunar eclipse. One of the Moon's wives is Frog and when she sees the predicament her husband is in, she rushes to help him. Frog beats away the pets. Then she and the other wives collect up the Moon's blood and he can then recover.

The Serrano Indians of California believe an eclipse is the spirits of the dead trying to eat the Sun or Moon. So during an eclipse, the shamans and ceremonial assistants sing and dance to appease the dead spirits while everyone else shouts to try and scare the spirits away.

Meanwhile, everyone avoids eating food with the idea that it would starve the spirits out.

The Moon was represented by a mirror in China. During an eclipse, people beating on mirrors is a very old tradition. It was believed that a dragon swallowed the Moon during an eclipse and beating the mirrors would cause the dragon to cough it up and return it to the sky. But nowadays we would simply assume there is no eclipse in china because that silly dragom has been eaten by the Chinese. Phela these guys eat anything that moves as long as it is not made of soil or metal.

They are the present day eaters of dirt. We may know there is a scientific explanation for eclipses, unlike okhokho bethu, but solar eclipses continue to exert an almost magical power over us. It's not at all clear we've decreased in gullibility since the days when cunning rapist Columbus used to used his fore knowledge of an eclipse to hood-wink the Jamaicans and Africans. And even though we know better, during each total eclipse, there will be people blinded by the too tempting sight of an eclipse. Eclipses have been seen as evil omens whose presence changed the course of battle.

I remember in the seventies when there was an eclipse and the elders explained it as a prediction of impi enkulu. And boy were they right! The whole place was teeming with ibutho labantu, i-ZIPRA forces. There were many nasty contacts with amabhunu, and the whole place smelt of untimely death!

Ngiyabonga mina!