Eclipse, Beliefs and History.........

• Accurate records of eclipses are known to have been kept since at least 747 BC. Many authorities believe Stonehenge was constructed for the purpose of recording and monitoring eclipses. o Ancient civilisations explained eclipses as evil spirits attacking the Sun or Moon. It was customary to run into the street, shout, scream and make as much noise as possible to frighten the spirits away.

• Some thought a huge black dragon swallowed up the Sun or Moon. The places in the zodiac where eclipses occur are known as 'the Dragon's Head' and 'the Dragon's Tail'.

• History records numerous reports of fearful Roman emperors trying to deflect the personal effects of an eclipse by murdering their top ranking statesmen on the advice of astrologers.

• The prospect of the eclipse on 'Black Monday', 29 March 1652, had the citizens of London so terrified that it was reported: "hardly any would work, none would stir out of their houses.... The rich fled London, the poor prayed for deliverance and a thriving trade was conducted in cordials claiming to allay the effects of the eclipse". To the embarrassment of astrologers, the eclipse passed without any notable disaster.