Letting Go of Grudges: An African Tradition To Honor The 2024 Solar Eclipse

April 8th marks the date for the 2024 solar eclipse that will be visible for most of us in the western sphere. In the spiritual community many of us use the movement of the moon to follow traditions or perform rituals. In some West African traditions, eclipses were viewed as the evidence of war between the Sun and the Moon. In Togo and Benin it was believed that tension and conflict among people would cause an eclipse.  It was also believed that making amends amongst each other could end the celestial conflict. For them, observing an eclipse was a reminder to take personal responsibility for the grudges and ongoing battles that they were keeping alive.

 In their tradition, making peace with an opponent was a way to celebrate the coming together of the Sun and the Moon. Acknowledging that two powerful forces can visually collide then return to their natural state was a powerful reminder that humans can also cross each other and eventually return to peace. 

Lessons Learned from Tradition

Today, settling conflict to honor the eclipse is a tradition that requires us to take inventory of our own strengths as well as the strengths of our so-called enemies. The maturity that it takes to acknowledge that opposing views can have merit can also help us see the purpose of the conflict from a higher perspective. Releasing the need to be right and seeing that others have their own purpose leads to understanding that they also have values and desires that deserve consideration, even those things are not in alignment with your own. Contrasting paths do not have to lead to a collision. Deeper understanding of each other’s motivations could result in agreements that allow both parties to establish paths to focus on their goals and not each other.

Creating a safe distance from our opponents is another lesson that we can learn from a lunar eclipse. The sun has to be 400 times further from the Moon as the Moon is from Earth during an eclipse. It is only from the ground perspective that the two celestial titans seem to come face to face. 

 Forgiveness is also illustrated by the temporary effects of the blocked light during the eclipse. Two powerful forces crossing each other and blocking light for the world to see is quite a spectacle. People often travel to get the best views of the celestial phenomenon, so don't be surprised if onlookers encourage you to continue the clash with someone long after you both have evolved. It's important to not feel pressured by onlookers. There is no need to make your new stance public, nor do outsiders need an explanation.

When observing a lunar eclipse, the scale of the event can overwhelm us, but in the tradition of settling grudges at this time we can step back from past slights and remember our own flaws. It is easy to focus on the flaws of our opponents but when we embrace the full purpose of forgiveness we can respect their efforts to meet their own needs. Like the sun and the moon, we all have our own purpose and destiny. In fact, the areas where we clash shows us where we are not trusting that our needs will be met by higher consciousness. If God, The Universe, or a Higher Power are with us, who can be against us?