Sky Superstitions

Steffani Hay and John Burrell

Mr. Klenk

Science Foundations 1A

1/6/07

Sky Superstitions

Over the many years, ancient civilizations have pondered about things that they cannot explain and tying them to strange occurrences. This is also known as a 'superstition' to most people. In my research paper I will be explaining 3 myths about the earths atmosphere. Those three superstitions are.: the full moon, the aurora borealis and eclipses of the sun. it is amazing to find that today people still believe in these silly superstitions.

The first superstition is the full moon. The full moon has been tied to crimes, suicide, mental illness, disasters, accidents, birthrates, fertility and werewolves. Some people who engage in the stock market even buy and sell stock according to the phases of the moon. A method probably as effective as all the others. Numerous and extensive studies have tried to find lunar effects and get to understand them. So far, the studies haven't gotten a lot of the publics interest. Lunar effects that have been found have little or no connection with human behavior during a moon phase. For example, the discovery of a slight effect of the moon on global temperature, which in turn might have an effect on the growth of plants. There have been single studies here and there that have found relations between a various phenomenon and different phases of the moon. Some people believe that the moon can foretell whether or not what year they will be married soon, get rich, find true love. Those sorts of things.

The second superstition I will be talking about is the aurora borealis. For as long as there have been people on Earth, many legends, myths and superstitions have centered around the northern lights or the "aurora borealis". It is thought that the early dragon legends of China and Europe originated from the aurora, as people imagined fiery breath flashing across the sky.

In ancient times, when the waves of light could occasionally be seen flashing through the sky as far south as France and Italy, they struck fear into the population. Auroras rarely appeared that far south, and people were shaken by the sight, believing the lights to be a warning of illness, plague and death. When the aurora was red, the most common color at low latitudes, the fearful and superstitious people of Middle-Age Europe thought they were being warned of the outbreak of war. A less fearful belief was that the Northern Lights were the breath of heavenly warriors as they fought in the heavens. As a kind of reward, the spirits of soldiers that gave their lives were allowed to battle on in the skies forever.

My third and final superstition I will be talking about is the common superstitions tied to a solar eclipse. In times before ours, events such as lunar eclipses were noticed by everyone and accorded great significance. On more than one occasion, a lunar eclipse altered the course