“The Whole Moon was Eaten”: Southeast Asian Eclipse Calculation

One might classify earthquakes and volcanic eruptions as “natural disasters”, whereas comets and eclipses might be described merely as “natural curiosities”. In earlier times, however, all were equally frightening, signs that the gods were angry.

A form of protection against eclipses was available, however, in the sense that prediction provided a means of countering the event. Consequently one main function of the astronomer/astrologer (henceforth “hora”) in his society was to warn his patron that the sky would darken and the birds stop singing at such and such a time on such and such a day.