Solar Eclipse Myth Alive & Well - Page 3

Ilya · #61 (**permalink**) 20-February-2008, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mperez

YES! im currently 3months and also hispanic well... my mom just reminded me that their is a eclipse 20th &21st and i have college and work so i cant miss but she insist that i stay home! I have no idea what to do

Tell your mom it's a lunar eclipse, not solar. Also, it does not begin until 8:43 pm Eastern time -- wouldn't you be home by then anyway?

#62 (**permalink**) 20-February-2008, 11:04 PM

yes i have heard about the safety pin & the red underwear, it is something most hispanics believe in. well right now i am 35 weeks pregnant =] & there is going to be a total lunar eclipse tonite. & since my mom was born & raised in mexico she knows alot about all these little superstitous things..so last night she went & bought me red underwear & a box of saftey pins lol even though i dont really believe this, i am still gonna go along just for the doubts.

Gillianren · #63 (**permalink**) 21-February-2008, 02:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

yes i have heard about the safety pin & the red underwear, it is something most hispanics believe in. well right now i am 35 weeks pregnant =] & there is going to be a total lunar eclipse tonite. & since my mom was born & raised in mexico she knows alot about all these little superstitous things..so last night she went & bought me red underwear & a box of saftey pins lol even though i dont really believe this, i am still gonna go along just for the doubts.

First, why are so many unregistered people able to post in this thread? Weird.

Second . . . what doubts? There's no scientifically sound explanation for it; there is much evidence that it's bogus. Depending on the cut, red underwear is nice to have, and it never hurts to have a box of safety pins around the house--especially in a house which will have a baby in it soon!--but seriously, no doubts involved.

jayvinton · #64 (**permalink**) 21-February-2008, 11:27 PM

I'm Hispanic, and I grew up in Texas. It is still a belief among some hispanics. Just like all cultures, there are customs and beliefs that betray common sense.

My grandmother was the local neighborhood "Curandera", or healer. This was not some border town neighborhood, it was a suburb of Dallas. Many times as a child with a cold or flu or whatever, a ritual was performed at my bed involving an egg, broom straws floated on the egg in the shape of the trinity, and a bunch of bible reading and incantations. Did it work? Beats me, but it was creepy.

#65 (**permalink**) 27-February-2008, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eroica

When my mother was pregnant with my elder sister, she spilt some boiling water from a kettle on her forearm. A friend who was with her at the time told her that when the child was born it would have a birthmark on its arm in the same spot.

A few days after the birth this friend visited my mother and the first thing she did was ask to see the baby's forearm. My mother had forgotten all about the incident with the boiling water, but when she rolled back the baby's sleeve there was the birthmark!

It's still there, and my mother swears to the accuracy of this old-wive's tale.

I completely agree. My mom has told me of similar stuff happening to people that she knew in the 70s. Someone in her church nicked their finger in the kitchen and the baby had a scar on his finger at the same location. And Second person was my moms aunt. She was pregnant and was dying a white fabric red on the day of the solar eclipse. Unfortunately half of the fabric was dyed. The baby's entire body was two colors. Half red and half white. I've even met that cousin. Initially the doctors thought that it was hemangioma and would disappear with age. But it didn't.

I'm not sure how much truth there is to all this. But my mom has seen too many cases and she's a doctor. There's no scientific proof but if I'm pregnant I wouldn't take any chances. I would just sit in my bed and not do anything to be on the safe side.

#66 (**permalink**) 16-March-2008, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Melusine

I forgot to mention this last week, but thought I'd put it down for the record.

The day after the total eclipse I asked my co-worker if she saw it on TV. She said while growing up her mother and others always believed that pregnant women should not go outside during an eclipse, and should fasten a safety pin under their shirt above their belly, so that their child would not be born with a cleft lip.

I said to her, "You know that's not true, right?" She replied, "Yeah, I know, but we still do it anyway."

I asked her if this old wive's tale applied only to total eclipses or partial eclipses as well. She wasn't sure, just that pregnant women should stay indoors. The reasoning was, "Well, I don't really believe it, but just in case, we still do it." I won't bother mentioning a similar corrollary to this. I like my co-worker very much, but she is embedded with all these old customs and alot of "just in case" thinking.

I had never heard this. She grew up in Texas, and I don't know why this idea of a cleft lip came about. I'll search for some info. Her family is Hispanic, so I don't know if this occurs just in Hispanic circles in a cultural sense. All I can say is that these pregnant women have missed out on some good eclipses!

Is anyone familiar with this?

My brother has a birth mark behind both his ears (which looks like a deep nail mark) and my mother says that she pinched her ear during an eclipse(when she was carrying my brother) in order to test this myth about pregnancy and birth mark. She says that the first thing she did after my brother was born to look for a mark behind his ears and was amazed to find one. I am a firm believer in science and to this day i can't figure out how such a thing can happen.

My brother is 25 now and he still has this 'pinch mark' behind his ears. I reckon a few things in this planet are beyond our knowledge.

A.K.Siva

aurora · #67 (**permalink**) 16-March-2008, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I am a firm believer in science and to this day i can't figure out how such a thing can happen.

I'm not a "believer" in science. I'm a believer in facts and evidence, and the scientific method is the best way humans have come up with to use facts and evidence to learn about the universe.

I don't see anyone suggesting any possible mechanisms that could possibly cause the effects being described by the unregistered participants.

The most likely explanations are various combinations of coincidence, exaggeration, and fabrication.

In the IT industry, one author described a "cargo cult" syndrome that seems to be common in some software shops. If something is seen to work, then everyone jumps on it without understanding it. If the boss wears a green hat, and we have a good day, then green hats for everyone!

HenrikOlsen · #68 (**permalink**) 16-March-2008, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gillianren

First, why are so many unregistered people able to post in this thread? Weird.

I guess it's linked to commentary on the Blog, so nonmembers who post commentary there shows up as unregistered here.

#69 (**permalink**) 27-March-2008, 11:15 PM

hi,
this eclipses birthmark is true. As i experence in my family. my one cousin has eclipses birthmark as his dad gave tumb print in his office. when his wife was pragnet. so the my cousin got tumb print shape on his chin.

an other friend got eclipses birthmark on the head as his dad drop ink port. while mother pregnat.

one firend got staple pin mark on his back as his dad was banker at that time.

its all ture its happens.

aurora · #70 (**permalink**) 28-March-2008, 12:01 AM

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why mythology is prevalent throughout human history.

darkdrag0nlq · #71 (**permalink**) 28-March-2008, 03:22 AM

Maybe the Red underwear simuates a red-shift to fool the evil eclipse demons into leaving the mother alone?

/sarcasm

RedFive · #72 (**permalink**) 01-May-2008, 02:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Melusine

The day after the total eclipse I asked my co-worker if she saw it on TV. She said while growing up her mother and others always believed that pregnant women should not go outside during an eclipse, and should fasten a safety pin under their shirt above their belly, so that their child would not be born with a cleft lip.

The part I like best about this story is wouldn't a solar eclipse be the safest time to be outside..? That is, assuming you don't get injured from all the rioting that ensues (usually started by myself) at the realization that the sun has disappeared forever and we must all repent since the end of civilization is nigh.

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