Blog 6: Witches and Eclipses

              On April 8, 2024, North America will experience the world's longest land-based total solar eclipse in over a decade. With this date quickly approaching, I wanted to investigate if there are any witchy links between the occult and eclipses. I found many articles on the deep connections of witchcraft and eclipses, most notably a scientific piece written by NASA exploring the history of dark lunar eclipses and Witch Aglaonice. It starts by describing witches in general: “One of the most dramatic of their magical claims was the ability to draw down the Moon from its course in the heavens after depriving it of its illumination.” They then mentioned the testimonies of a highly sophisticated witch named
Aglaonice: “Agalonice was well informed both as to the cause of total lunar eclipses and the times of their occurrence: ‘Always at the time of an eclipse of the Moon she pretended to bewitch it and draw it down.’”

Now that I know the lore of witches and their wrangling of the moon, I wanted to explore how I could participate in witchey practices in this upcoming eclipse….

The first I found was creating “eclipse water.” The purpose of eclipse water is to bottle up all the energy of the eclipse to be able to use it for months after the event has passed.

Here is the recipe and instructions I found for making eclipse water:

What you'll need:

1. A clear container with a lid, typically a mason jar.

2. Water. Could use tap, but feel free to use filtered water if you prefer.

What you'll do:

1. Fill up your clear container with water and close it tight.

2. Set your mason jar out as soon as the eclipse begins.

3. While your water is collecting energy, set your intention. It could be a more productive time at work, or a more creative outlook, or luck with love.

4. Put your water away once the eclipse is complete.

What you can do with it:

• Use it to water your plants when they're looking down

• Put some in your drinking water when you need power, luck, or help for the day

• Use it to bake when you're making something extra special

• Put it in your coffee maker for an extra boost of energy

• Mix it with warm water and Epsom salt for a foot bath to remember

• Put some in with your alcoholic drinks to reduce hangovers

• Add some to your animal's water bowl when they're feeling sick or lonely

While you are making eclipse water, you can also take this time to charge your crystals. Crystals are often used to focus someone's thoughts and energy on a particular outcome, idea or goal. You can charge them by holding them and thinking of that exact idea during periods of intense sunlight, moonlight, or eclipses, and the crystals absorb that energy.

Overall, people consider eclipses to be times of just great energy. Even if you're a totally rational person and you know exactly what's happening in terms of how the planets are moving, it's still really unsettling to see the sky turn black in the middle of the day. Therefore, why not add a littly witchiness to your mundane Monday and participate in some of these rituals. I can’t wait to try my eclipse water!

Source: https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1983JBAA...93..160B#:~:text=According%20to%20Plutarch%20(Obsolence%20of,it%20and%20draw%20it%20down%22.