Lunar eclipse
During a lunar eclipse the Romans beat pots and pans to scare off whatever was swallowing the moon, and, as a 1903 collection dryly notes, they always succeeded. The moon was coming back anyway, but the noise helped people wait together.
What it may mean
Of all eclipses, the lunar kind is the friendliest. It is safe to watch with the naked eye, it unfolds slowly over a couple of hours, and everyone on the night side of Earth can see it at once. Yet for most of history it was frightening: the moon, the night's great lamp, was being eaten. People answered with noise. Romans beat pots and raised torches, and, a 1903 writer remarked, they always succeeded in the end; the moon came back, smiling as ever. It would have returned without them, but the clatter gave everyone something to do together while they waited. That is worth noticing about the things you cannot control: doing something with others can make a long wait bearable, even when the outcome was never in your hands.
Depending on how you saw it
The moon turning copper
At totality the moon rarely disappears. It glows dull orange, copper or brick red, and the shade depends on how much dust and cloud is in Earth's air at that moment. No two eclipses look quite alike. What changes in you from one hard night to the next, even when the situation repeats?
Watching from your own yard
A lunar eclipse needs no glasses, no travel and no ticket, only a clear sky and some patience. It rewards anyone who goes out every half hour to check. Which slow change around you could you follow by checking in now and then, rather than all at once?
Missing it behind clouds
Clouds can hide an eclipse completely, even after weeks of looking forward to it. The event happened; it just was not yours to see this time. How do you handle it when something you looked forward to slips away for reasons nobody controls?
Why it happens in nature
Earth's shadow falls across the full moon during a lunar eclipse, which can happen only when sun, Earth and moon line up almost exactly. During totality, sunlight filtered and bent by Earth's atmosphere still reaches the moon and gives it a coppery red color, which is why such eclipses are often called blood moons. Totality can last over an hour.
What folk beliefs say
Ancient Rome
At an eclipse of the moon, the Romans beat their brazen pots and pans and lifted torches and firebrands into the air to scare away the evil spirit swallowing it, and they always succeeded in the end.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 2 (1903), vol. 2, p. 941. View the page
Turkey
A Turkish belief held that an eclipse of the moon is caused by a dragon eating her up.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 2 (1903), vol. 2, p. 941. View the page
Mexico
The Mexicans pictured an eclipse of the moon as the moon being devoured by a dragon.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 2 (1903), vol. 2, p. 961. View the page
China
To avert the evil of an eclipse, the Chinese made a great noise, firing guns, beating drums and pans and shouting, to drive off the spirit trying to swallow the moon.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 2 (1903), vol. 2, p. 941. View the page
To reflect on
Who would you want beside you through a long, uncertain night?