The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. - Psalm 111:10
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As in 2017, the 2023 eclipse entered the US at the Oregon coast; this time however, Salem was not in its path. (Though a small 1600 sq mi area lies within the paths of totality/annularity of both eclipses, the two centerlines intersect offshore.) The path of annularity (PoA, or antumbral path) moved southeast towards Texas where the centerline slipped into the Gulf of Mexico at Corpus Christi. Crossing the Yucatan Peninsula, the antumbra proceeded over land and water through Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, eventually entering South America at Colombia. From there it swept across the northern half of Brazil, finally exiting the country's far eastern shore at Nova Cruz in the state of Rio Grande do Norte.
There are a number of interesting things about this eclipse. If you look at the map, it seems remarkable just how much terrain it covered. In fact, I find it hard to imagine how the path of a solar eclipse could traverse more land area in the Western Hemisphere than this one. Furthermore, virtually the entirety of North and South America was able to view at least a partial eclipse. The only areas left out were the westernmost regions of Alaska, part of Greenland and the southern portions of Chile and Argentina.
It should also be mentioned that there are no cities named Salem in the 2023 path. The Salems in Oregon, Utah and New Mexico are all just outside the antumbral zone. If the 2017 eclipse said "peace, peace, peace, peace, peace," this eclipse seems to say "no peace, no peace, no peace." If so, this may be a reference to the birth pangs and world turmoil Jesus spoke of in the Olivet discourse. (Matthew 24, Mark 13 & Luke 21)
THE RINGS OF FIRE
Another thing worth mentioning is the fact that the appellation Ring of Fire more commonly refers to the series of tectonic zones that border the Pacific Rim. Beginning near New Zealand, the Ring runs northward through Tonga and Samoa, then westward through Micronesia and the Philippines, up through Japan, across the Aleutian Islands and down through the westernmost portions of North and South America.
This active region of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis is an ever-present concern in the minds of those living in close proximity to fault lines and subduction zones.
CORPUS CHRISTI
As previously mentioned, the centerline of the PoA exited the US at Corpus Christi, Texas.
Corpus Christi is Latin for "Body of Christ." Given that I was looking at the eclipse in search of spiritual connections, this crossing definitely caught my attention. In Christian theology, the Body of Christ may refer to one of three different things:
- The physical body of Jesus, broken and nailed to the cross as payment for the sins of humanity.
- The bread at the Last Supper which Jesus broke and distributed amongst His disciples saying, “This is My body, broken for you.”
- The worldwide fellowship of Christ's followers, also called the Church. (In this discussion, I will capitalize Church when talking about the universal Church as opposed to individual churches.)
I should also mention that when I refer to saints, I'm talking about all true followers of Jesus. I am not referring to saints as canonized by the Roman Catholic church.
