The Solar Eclipse fever has gripped the UK, with millions of Brits bracing for the once-in-a-generation event. However, some religions and traditions have chilling beliefs surrounding the lunar spectacle. The UK will see its fullest solar eclipse for the next 54 years today.
More than 90% of the Sun will be obscured by the Moon between 6.17pm and 8.06pm on August 12, the most it has been blocked above UK skies since the total eclipse in 1999. Across the world, each religion reacts differently to the event, with some containing references to the solar spectacle. The Bible and the Quran only contain “scattered” references to such events, but faiths assign symbolic meaning to them.
Christianity associates eclipses with being a sign of the end of the times. Three of the four Gospels – those of Matthew, Mark and Luke – described a great darkness that accompanied the execution of the messiah. “From noon until three in the afternoon, darkness came over all the land,” reads the Gospel of Matthew.
Judaism attributes negative connotations to eclipses. One Talmudic tractate (a set of texts which provides commentary on the Torah), Sukkah, directly refers to them: “When the sun is eclipsed, it is a bad omen for the other nations. (…) When the sun is eclipsed in the east, it is a bad omen for the residents of the lands of the east. When it is eclipsed in the west, it is a bad omen for the residents of the lands of the west. When it is eclipsed in the middle of the sky, it is a bad omen for the entire world.”
Islam views the eclipse as a time for prayer and charity. Similar to Christianity, the Quran associates eclipses with divine signs that herald the end times.
“When vision is dazzled, and the Moon is eclipsed, and the Sun and the Moon are joined together, on that Day, man will say: ‘Where is the escape?’ No indeed! There is no refuge! To your Lord on that Day is the settlement,” states Surah 75, entitled “The Resurrection.”
But it’s not only some religions which hold ideas about eclipses. Conspiracy theorists say the solar eclipse could trigger a horrific doomsday event that could kill 40 million people, reports Daily Star.
Some online theorists say the event will cause the Earth’s gravity to “switch off”. They claim to have discovered the colossal “secret” in a NASA document titled “Project Anchor”, which allegedly states the planet could experience a seven-second loss of gravity.
One of the earliest known references to the bizarre theory is an Instagram post by @mr_danya_of. It read: “On August 12, 2026, the world will lose gravity for seven seconds. NASA knows. They’re preparing but won’t tell us why.”
It alleges that the cosmic event would result in “40 million deaths from falls. Infrastructure destruction. Economic Collapse lasting over ten years. Mass panic.”