Spiritual vs Scientific
Can we use the solar eclipse to contrast the two views?
In the spiritual community, the solar eclipse signifies when two lovers meet: the Sun and Moon, who spend so much of the year apart. However, this is a problem because we scientifically know that the Moon and Sun are about four light minutes away, which is a considerable distance. Light travels at light speed, the fastest speed in the universe, about 186,000 miles/second. How many seconds are in a minute, and how many seconds are in four whole minutes? That’s a lot. The Moon and Sun do not meet up as lovers.
In the atheist community, which I count as people who reject spirituality completely, they celebrate the solar eclipse as a rare celestial phenomenon, which it rightfully is. Of course, it is a fantastic opportunity to share such a moment with cherished family and friends to spend some quality time together, which we often forget to do even when it is entirely possible due to a low-key all-pervading depression that envelopes us all. And we are so lucky, here on Earth, that our satellite, the Moon, is about the same size as our distant star, the Sun, when they cross in the sky. That is undoubtedly a moment to celebrate.
Spiritually, a solar eclipse means something astrologically: when we release the old and embrace the new. Letting go of old ways prepares…
