Historical eclipses are a very valuable resource for historians, in that they allow a few historical events to be dated precisely, from which other dates and a society’s calendar may be deduced. Aryabhata (476–550) concluded the Heliocentric theory in solar eclipse. A solar eclipse of June 15, 763 BCE mentioned in an Assyrian text is important for the Chronology of the Ancient Orient. Also known as the eclipse of Bur Sagale, it is the earliest solar eclipse mentioned in historical sources that has been identified successfully. Perhaps the earliest still-unproven claim is that of archaeologist Bruce Masse asserting on the basis of several ancient flood myths, which mention a total solar eclipse, he links an eclipse that occurred May 10, 2807 BCE with a possible meteor impact in the Indian Ocean. There have been other claims to date earlier eclipses, notably that of Mursili II (likely 1312 BCE), in Babylonia, and also in China, during the Fifth Year (2084 BCE) of the regime of Emperor Zhong Kang of Xia dynasty, but these are highly disputed and rely on much supposition.

Herodotus wrote that Thales of Miletus predicted an eclipse which occurred during a war between the Medians and the Lydians. Soldiers on both sides put down their weapons and declared peace as a result of the eclipse. Exactly which eclipse was involved has remained uncertain, although the issue has been studied by hundreds of ancient and modern authorities. One likely candidate took place on May 28, 585 BCE, probably near the Halys river in the middle of modern Turkey.

An annular eclipse of the Sun occurred at Sardis on February 17, 478 BCE, while Xerxes was departing for his expedition against Greece, as Herodotus recorded. Hind and Chambers considered this absolute date more than a century ago. Herodotus also reports that another solar eclipse was observed in Sparta during the next year, on August 1, 477 BCE. The sky suddenly darkened in the middle of the day, well after the battles of Thermopylae and Salamis, after the departure of Mardonius to Thessaly at the beginning of the spring of (477 BCE) and his second attack on Athens, after the return of Cleombrotus to Sparta. The modern conventional dates are different by a year or two, and that these two eclipse records have been ignored so far. The Chronicle of Ireland recorded a solar eclipse on June 29, 512 CE, and a solar eclipse was reported to have taken place during the Battle of Stiklestad in July, 1030.

In the Indian epic the Mahabharata the incident is related of the thirteenth day when Arjun vows to slay Jayadrath before nightfall, to avenge the death of Abhimanyu at Jayadratha’s hands. What may only be described as a solar eclipse brought Jayadrath out to celebrate his surviving the day, only to have the sun reappear and Arjun killed Jayadrath. In the epic astronomers have calculated all possible eclipse pairs matching the above time difference and being visible from Kurukshetra, the battlefield of the Mahabharata war. 3129 BCE and 2559 BCE appear to be the best candidate for the Mahabharata war

Attempts have been made to establish the exact date of Good Friday by means of solar eclipses, but this research has not yielded conclusive results. Research has manifested the inability of total solar eclipses to serve as explanations for the recorded Good Friday features of the crucifixion eclipse. (Good Friday is recorded as being at Passover, which is also recorded as being at or near the time of a full moon.)

The ancient Chinese astronomer Shi Shen (fl. fourth century BCE) was aware of the relation of the moon in a solar eclipse, as he provided instructions in his writing to predict them by using the relative positions of the moon and sun. The ‘radiating influence’ theory for a solar eclipse (i.e., the moon’s light was merely light reflected from the sun) was existent in Chinese thought from about the sixth century BCE (in the ”Zhi Ran” of Zhi Ni Zi), and opposed by the Chinese philosopher Wang Chong (27–97 CE), who made clear in his writing that this theory was nothing new. This can be said of Jing Fang’s writing in the 1st century BCE, which stated:

The ancient Greeks had known this as well, since it was Parmenides of Elea, around 475 BCE, who supported the theory of the moon shining because of reflected light, and was accepted in the time of Aristotle as well. The Chinese astronomer and inventor Zhang Heng (78–139 CE) wrote of both solar and lunar eclipses in the publication of ”Ling Xian” in 120 CE, supporting the radiating influence theory that Wang Chong had opposed (Wade-Giles):

The later Chinese scientist and statesman Shen Kuo (1031–1095 CE) also wrote of eclipses, and his reasoning for why the celestial bodies were round and spherical instead of flat (Wade-Giles spelling):

Eclipses have been interpreted as omens, or portents, especially when associated with battles. On 22 January 1879 a British battalion was massacred by Zulu warriors during the Zulu War in South Africa. At 2:29 PM there was a solar eclipse. The conflict was named the Battle of Isandlwana, the Zulu name for the battle translates as “the day of the dead moon”.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Solar eclipse, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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Astrology is one of the oldest sciences mankind has known. It is a Vedanga which means one of the branches, parts or components of the Vedas. It helps in understanding Veda mantras. Astrology is often referred to as the eyes of Vedas. It is believed that a proper spiritual knowledge is not possible without understanding the karmic influences in a person’s life. Astrology is an effective tool to understand the same.

The astrologers of yesteryears like Parashara, Jamini etc were generally Rishis. They laid down different dasa systems like Vimshottari, Yogini, Chara, Mandook etc. They wanted us to crosscheck astrological indications through different methods before giving any prediction. Parashara has described many such steps in his book “Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra”.

Many causes can be cited which lead to erroneous astrological predictions. Some of the causes which lead to prediction failures are discussed below.

a) Mixing Hora Jyotish (Native astrology) with Medini Jyotish (Mundane astrology):-

Hora Jyotish is concerned with astrological prediction of individuals. For this there are tenets to be followed as prescribed by Jaimini Rishi, Parashara Rishi etc. This is the field of native astrology or Hora Shastra.

On the other hand Medini Jyotish is concerned with prediction about the land and the people on a larger scale. Any celestial happening like Surya Grahan (solar eclipse) or Chandra Grahan (lunar eclipse) affects the world as a whole. The occurrence of earthquakes, wars, Tsunamis, droughts, floods

However, it has been found that astrologers try to connect the effects of celestial events like Surya Grahan and Chandra Grahan with the horoscopes of individuals based on their rashi. If a Tsunami or earthquake becomes a killer, it will kill everyone irrespective of rashi. Chance survivors cannot claim that they survived because they belonged to a particular rashi. However, there may be dasa systems as per Hora supporting them in surviving.

Therefore, one of the causes of failure of astrological prediction is mixing the system of Medini for prediction of events of individuals. 

b) Ignoring Shodasvarga (16 divisional charts) in making predictions about individuals:-

It has been a habit among recent astrologers to completely ignore the divisional charts while giving predictions. The following reasons can be cited for this practice:

• The time of birth required should be correct for the effective use of such divisional charts.

• The calculation and interpretation of such charts requires skill which comes only by proper study of astrology under the guidance of a competent Guru.

• If predictions are to be based on divisional charts, time must be given to the astrologer because the study and analysis of charts takes time. In today’s fast world every thing is required by the click of button which is not possible.

• Birth time rectification is necessary for proper use of divisional chart for which cross-checking of many events has to be done with the consulter.

Astrological predictions can fail if they are not based on interpretation of divisional charts.

c) Error of astrologer:-

This may be the third cause and a very important cause for failure of astrological prediction. No profession is 100% foolproof. Errors are natural and they occur.

A medical doctor prescribes medicines for ailments. A correct diagnosis of ailment is necessary for medicine to be effective. If the diagnosis is not correct, the medication will not be effective and the patient may continue to suffer.

An astrologer can be put in the same category. People come to him with horoscopes to seek advice on their problems and difficulties. The astrologer should be competent enough to diagnose the problems in the light of established astrological techniques. True diagnosis can be done only by a professional astrologer who has depth of knowledge.

If diagnosis is done carelessly or if the astrologer is not fully conversant with astrological techniques, the predictions may fail. For this, the science of astrology cannot be blamed because like any divine knowledge, astrology is complete in itself. It is only the human interpretation that can be questioned.

d) Divine Intervention in prediction:-

In the battle ground of Mahabharata Lord Krishna showed his Vishwaroop to Arjun for counseling him and for reminding him to his duties. Arjun saw that the Kaurva’s were going into the mouth of Lord Krishna. But he did not see Abhimanyu (his son) going into the mouth of the lord. Abhimanyu also died in the battle but God concealed this information from Arjun. Hence, what God wants to conceal, no astrologer will be able to predict.

The second important thing is that astrology is a divine knowledge and every prediction needs divine intervention for its fulfillment. Egoless-ness is the primary qualification for a competent astrologer. If he is full of ego, his predictions are likely to fail because in every prediction the grace of the almighty is needed. An astrologer who meditates or prays regularly and is egoless, knowledgeable and who thinks himself as only a Nimit (conduit) can give predictions which are not likely to fail.

e) The failure of prophets of doom:-

On several occasions in the last century, the end of the world was predicted due to particular arrangements of planet on certain occasions. Almost all such prediction came from western astrologers. In the 21st century also the first such prediction has come according to which the world is going to end in 2012.

Earlier predictions have failed and this prediction is also going to fail. This means that the astrologers who are predicting such events are casually treating everything without any basis and without sound research on the subject.

Some of the western astrologers say that astrology originated in Babylon, Egypt and Rome. They are reluctant to accept that India was the leading country in this field and persons like Aryabhatta and Varahmihir gave it a sound mathematical footing. The system of Vedic astrology is a far more competent system of analyzing future happenings.

f) Country, Time and Individual:-

Parashara emphasized the need for consideration of Desh (country), Kaal (time) and Patra (individual) before giving any prediction. Child marriage was the practice in old age. Astrological predictions conformed to those practices. But, times have changed and astrology should also march with time. Child marriage has become illegal.

In Vedic period agriculture was the main occupation. Today there are hundreds of occupations. Astrological predictions should correlate to the present day occupation in order to be more meaningful. Continuous transformation of society is taking place and the astrologer should understand the trend to make relevant predictions.

Conclusion:-

Some important causes of erroneous predictions have been discussed in this article. There may be some other causes as well. Astrological remedies sometimes do not work because predictions themselves remain incorrect.

Anand Sagar Pathak is a famous astrologer, who has written a lot of articles and reviews on various sections of Astrology, Horoscopes, Sprituality, Tarot Card and Angelic Reading. He is master of his skills, especially in Astrology Compatibility, Astrology Consultation, Career Astrology, Astrology Charts, Astrology Forecasts, Relationship Astrology and Love Match Astrology.

Currently he is associated with www.astrosagar.com as a active Astrologer and Programme Coordinator.

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http://interestingfactshere.blogspot.com/2009/07/solar-eclipse-2009.html The solar eclipse of July 22, 2009, is the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, lasting at most 6 minutes, 39 seconds. It has caused tourist interest in eastern China, Nepal and India.

The eclipse is part of saros series 136, like the record-setting solar eclipse of July 11, 1991. The next event from this series will be on August 2, 2027.[ The exceptional duration is a result of the moon being near perigee, with the apparent diameter of the moon 8% larger than the sun (magnitude 1.080) and the Earth being near aphelion where the sun appears slightly smaller.

This will be the second in the series of three eclipses in a month, with the lunar eclipse on July 7 and the lunar eclipse on August 6.

Visibilty

It will be visible from a narrow corridor through northern Maldives, northern Pakistan and northern India, eastern Nepal, northern Bangladesh, Bhutan, the northern tip of Myanmar, central China and the Pacific Ocean, including the Ryukyu Islands, Marshall Islands and Kiribati.

Totality will be visible in many large cities, including Surat, Vadodara, Bhopal, Varanasi, Patna, Dinajpur, Siliguri, Tawang, Guwahati, Chengdu, Nanchong, Chongqing, Yichang, Jingzhou, Wuhan, Huanggang, Hefei, Hangzhou, Wuxi, Huzhou, Suzhou, Jiaxing, Ningbo and Shanghai, as well as over the Three Gorges Dam. According to some experts, Taregana in Bihar is the “best” place to view the event.

A partial eclipse will be seen from the much broade

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