What a shame that modern day mathematics and our understanding of the three dimensional elliptical orbits reduces all the fabulous mythology and superstitions of the past to inane storytelling. Or maybe not. News that a full lunar eclipse will daunt our skies on Monday, followed by a partial solar eclipse 14 days later would certainly have enraptured the Medieval pitchfork toting crowds into active protest in days gone by. (“Blood moon treat for us”, Saturday Telegraph, 6/9). Fearful bible-reading Christian Europe regarded eclipses as apocalyptic in nature, associated with economic hardship, destructive wars and a fearsome urgency of impending doom. Pregnant women feared for their babies as birthmarks and congenital conditions were deemed a malignant consequence of blackened skies. With the social fabric in the world now beset with political polarisation, inflation, crime and gun violence, illegal immigration, national debt, climate change, failing health care, election fraud, DEI, wokism and opioid addiction, I guess even the superstitious will agree that eclipses occurring in September are not forecasting anything we don’t already know. Alan Sexton. North Parramatta 8Sept2025