Solar Eclipse 2017

Valentina's bark woke me from a deep sleep. It was an unusual bark slow and uniform....and unrelenting. I opened one eye to peek at my alarm clock it was 2;30 am. It was probably a cat, I thought. Though I did admit it did not sound like her "cat" bark. I laid in bed too tired to move.

 I had gotten home late from work, just in time for Mando's chemo. He and I stayed up and watched a movie together. He has been a night owl since he got sick, I try to keep up with him when I can. I went to bed around 12:30 am and turned on the computer to do a little computer research on the up and coming total solar eclipse. I like to keep up on the myths and lore associated with such celestial events. I drifted off to sleep around 1:30 in the morning.

Valentina's bark sounded decidedly eery. Maybe it was a murderer...if it meant getting up...I suppose the guy was just going to have to kill me.

Woof. Woof. Woof.

Typically, cats, woodchucks, squirrels, garbage trucks, trains eventually pass by and Valentina stops barking. What ever had her attention was not moving...WOOF. WOOF. WOOF. WAS IT A MURDERER??

I decided to open BOTH eyes.

I could see out my window into the backyard by propping my head off my pillow ever so slightly.

I noticed an enormous red circle cascade across the horizon followed by a blue circle... repeatedly.

The eclipse had started, I thought.  The eery barking continued. I closed my eyes and lowered my head. I thought for a moment. Wait a moment....THAT'S NOT A SOLAR ECLIPSE.  I shot upright in bed and opened both eyes. I leaned forward looking out the window. I continued to see the red and blue orbs. Valentina warning me from the living room. Woof. Woof. Woof.  I rubbed my eyes. Am I hallucinating? How would Valentina know that?

 I ran to my window and pulled back my sheer curtains and saw the lights.
THE END OF THE WORLD. This damn solar eclipse, starting in Salem on a black moon during 6 planetary retrogrades, just as predicted.

Not knowing which way to run next. Scared half to death, I decided to stare at the beautiful apocalyptic event unfold before my eyes for a few seconds longer.

Wait...could  I detect rays of light streaming to the beautiful orbs?

OH, MY GOD! This was not the END OF THE WORLD....IT WAS AN AMBULANCE!

I ran to the front of the house and opened the front door to allow the EMT's  in.

My mother, 92 had called them from a phone in her room for having SOB...shortness of breath... I was having the other kind of  SOB. Mom had both kidneys removed 12 years ago. She goes into fluid over load every so often, when it is near a dialysis day. I was very relieved to find out it was NOT the end of the world. Away she went to the local hospital and I went back to sleep and Valentina did too.

Celebrating the Eclipse

Me and Mando at a local spring

Later in the morning Janelle stopped by and came to see what we had planned for the actual Solar Eclipse. I had thought about making some Eclipse Water and Eclipse Tea. Mando and Janelle agreed this was a good idea.

The three of us discussed all the various beliefs and traditions held about the eclipse. We all agreed we liked the one that viewed the sun and the moon as lovers, therefore, you should go in your house and not view the eclipse, instead sit in sacred silence.

So it was.  Prior to the eclipse, we gathered spring water and place around our sacred circle. Held a ceremony of releasing that included a Bon fire and headed inside.

We sat. We fasted. We meditated. We made our own tradition.

Mando gets spring water to make Eclipse water

Rosemary and Sage

Janelle and Mando at the spring

Later we drank that night we drank the water and the solar eclipse tea we made.

It was soooo good.