In the early morning of October 8, 2014, the moon drifted through the sky, taking on a reddish hue as it crossed the horizon. This total lunar eclipse is the result of the Earth passing between the sun and the moon and obstructing the usually direct sunlight that reflects off the lunar surface. The light will instead pass through the earth’s atmosphere, giving it a distinct crimson color before it reaches our pockmarked grey neighbor. The best part about the lunar eclipse, or the blood moon as the media have taken to calling it, is that it happens frequently. At least every couple of years for as long as records have been kept, the moon has been obscured by the earth’s shadow with enough regularity to play a definite role in our terrestrial history.
In 1504, Christopher Columbus and his ships were stranded on the island of Jamaica. It was his fourth voyage to the new world, and after hopping islands in the Caribbean and visiting the mainland of Central America, all of which Columbus insisted was the Indies, the fleet was caught up in a storm. They limped to nearby Jamaica where they beached the ships and settled in for a wait. Messengers were dispatched to the nearby settlement at Hispaniola, where Columbus had initially landed a decade earlier, but they were rebuffed. The governor there had a particular distaste for Columbus, perhaps owing to the explorer’s general abrasive temperament and propensity for genocide, and refused to send help. They were marooned, and would be for quite some time.
The natives of Jamaica had initially welcomed Columbus and his men to their island, offering them food and assistance. The relationship quickly went sour when the European guests took to plundering native villages and eating more than their fair share of food. Columbus was running out of options, as he had no reasonable expectation of rescue and the cooperative nature of his relationship with the natives was rapidly deteriorating.
He was no nation builder, and certainly no diplomat, and so to solve his issues Columbus turned to the useful tool of fear. One of his navigation books predicted a total lunar eclipse on the night of February 29, 1504. Columbus worked to translate the predicted time and date to his location as the original forecast was for Germany, and then called a meeting of the native leaders. He told them he was angry and with his great powers would make the moon disappear that night. They laughed it off. But when the moon changed color and became harder to see, they returned to Columbus and pleaded with him to call it off. He told them he would see what he could do and returned to his beached ship. When his timing confirmed that the moon was at its darkest point that night, he returned to the natives and told them he had decided to reverse his enchantment, but that they would have to cooperate with him and his crew moving forward, which they quickly agreed to do.
Columbus and his men were rescued a few months later by a passing Spanish fleet. They had lived the intervening months in relative comfort, well supplied by the fearful natives. While Columbus had triumphed and survived using his wits, it could be argued in the light of history and our understanding of who Columbus really was, that the natives won that day. For the price of feeding a few extra mouths for a couple of months, they appeased and ultimately rid themselves of one of the more murderous conquerors of that era. They were lucky that Columbus lacked the forces necessary to subjugate them by the sword, and rather used his understanding of celestial events to scare them into line. The event of the lunar eclipse has become better understood over the years, and while we don’t fear it as sorcery and omen, it is still observed keenly as a heavenly spectacle worthy of our attention and awe.
