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Partial eclipse in the land of story and stars

On Thursday there’s a partial eclipse of the Sun, visible from Northern Michigan starting just before 6 pm. The Sun will set about 45 minutes later, while 10% of it is obscured from our view by the disc of the Moon. But be careful~though the eclipse is occurring around sunset, it is not safe to look directly at the Sun. Protective eye gear is needed.

In the world of the fairy tale, we can imagine this Eclipse through a variation of the story “Ogo and the Sun Horse”. Ogo is the wicked son of the witch Malvaizia, and as a master thief, his greedy appetites are not content until he has stolen a horse from the Sun that can carry him “right round the Earth in twenty-three hours, and there won’t be a thing worth stealing in the whole world that (he) won’t see.” 

The Sun’s golden chariot is pulled by two horses that rest but twice each day, at sunrise and sunset point. Since Thursday’s eclipse occurs in the evening, we can imagine that  Ogo is hidden there in the west, waiting for Sun’s chariot to pause for awhile so the horses can stoop their golden necks to drink from the clear waters. It’s here the Sun steps down from the chariot to groom each horse in turn. 

But just as the Sun goes ‘round the far side of his horses, Ogo slides out from beneath his rock like an eclipsing New Moon, and cuts the nearer steed free. In this one swipe, a chaos is released that can only be reconciled by a witness honest and true, who has the capacity to tell truth from lies on the Earth.

This witness is the sacred hero Sunface, the Sun’s young cupbearer who descends like a shooting star on Mother Wind to free and restore balance and order. Sunface is the gatherer and distiller of the day’s events, and as such is like the star Vindamiatrix the ‘grape gatherer’ in the constellation Virgo, where Thursday’s eclipse will occur.