Boost for superstitious: Sun to darken on day of pope's funeral

PARIS (AFP) - Those who say eclipses herald history-shaping events will find support for their superstition when, on Friday, the Sun will be briefly plunged into darkness on the day of Pope John Paul II's funeral.

Astronomers, though, say the eclipse, while of a rare and intriguing type, was calculated long ago and is simply part of a ballet in celestial physics between the Sun, Earth and Moon.


It will be visible on Friday along an arc ranging from the southwestern Pacific to South America, at a time it will already be night in Rome.


The event will be a rare type called a "hybrid eclipse," expert Fred Espenak says on his website (http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov).


Along the central part of its path, some sections will have a total eclipse, in which the Moon will completely obscure the Sun

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=2&u=/afp/20050405/sc_afp/vaticanpopeastronomy&sid=84439559

wasn't that on the Simpsons on Sunday?:rofl:

Hey, I was born on a special day. And I'll probably die on a special day too.

Ain't life great? :)

in many ways, happening at about 20 degrees of Aries. It nails Tom Delay head on, and should give the Chimpster a goose, too.

Otherwise, Mercury is Retrograde, so expect some major SNAFUs and such around the whole thing (e.g. Bonnie Prince Charley and his Intended, Camilla, and their date shift dance).

Meanwhile, our erstwhile koMMander in cHeef also has Pluto (nuclear forces) transiting opposite his natal Mars (tantrum and war energy), so it is altogether an INAUSPICIOUS TIME.

My klAssiQue koZmiQue advice to Bush: Grab a big bag of pretzels and hide out at the Imperial Pig Farm Upon Crawford.

I hope it gets them good! (I know, I'm bad.)

It must be a sign from Gawd! :eyes:

Or maybe it's nothing more than a perfectly natural astronomical occurance. Shh! Don't tell the devout!

nfm

and i like yours.

10. The Earth quakes and the heavens rattle; the beasts of nature flock together and the nations of men flock apart; volcanoes usher up heat while elsewhere water becomes ice and melts; and then on other days it just rains. 11. Indeed do many things come to pass.

:o

Prince Charles and whats her name are lucky they changed the date. When he married Diana there was a eclipse.

... be on its way since this hybrid eclipse will pass through South America.

AND... John Paul II was born during a solar eclipse too.

Kind of ominous if you ask me :P




266 John Paul II (1978-) 110 De labore Solis.
(of the eclipse of the sun)
Hist.:Karol Wojtyla was born on
mai 18, 1920 during a solar
eclipse
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
267 ??? 111 Gloria olivae.

268 ??? In psecutione extre-
ma S.R.E. sedebit
Petrus Romanus, qui
pascet oues in mul-
tis tribulationibus :
quibus transactis ci-
uitas septicollis di-
ruetur, & Iudex tre
mêdus iudicabit po
pulum suum. Finis.

There are 2-3 solar eclipses (counting annular and partials; there will be 3 in 2005) per year, so the odds of being born during one are between 1:121.7 and 1:182.5. Same for dying. So multiply the probabilities and we get odds of about 1:14802 to 1:33306 for being born and dying on eclipse days.

But JP2 did not die during an eclipse day, he is just going to be buried during one. The odds of that are the same as dying on an eclipse day. But I bet if he HAD died on an eclipse day we would have the same kind of story, so, with regard to the end of life for JP2 we have 2 days that would be seen as significant, not one. This cuts the odds in half.

Odds between 1:7401 or 1:16653 may seem like big odds, but they are not so big in reality.

Some will see the hand of providence, others (like me) the metaphor of providence - something to reflect on, but of mythical substance in the material world.

and I won't believe you. John Paul II was also a big believer in the Catholic Mystics and mystic traditions. They picked Friday on purpose...not just because the schedule worked out that way. As soon as the Pope died I looked to see when the next solar eclipse was and knew they would schedule the funeral for this Friday. Bet on the fact that the man they pick to be the next Pope has something in common with olives, olive branches or the Benedictines.

of the funeral and see if there's another eclipse.