Lunar Eclipse Coronation (+Ancient Babylonian Substitute King Ritual)
Bad omen: Fire on tube train day before Coronation
Video and transcript published May 5, 2023
Charles and Camilla have their coronation on May 6th of 2023, only one day after the Lunar Eclipse in 14° Scorpio on May 5, 2023.
In ancient tradition (Babylonian, Mesopotamian, Greek Hellenistic, etc.) the eclipses were considered to be omens–particularly bad omens–regarding the fate of the king.
Headline from May 5, 2023 by Josh Milton reads: “Chaos on London tube as passengers smash windows to escape smoking carriage.” (File this under bad omens for Charles).
Eclipses were traditionally associated with the death of the king and transfer of power to a new ruler. One of the oldest astronomical works entitled “Enuma Anu Enlil,” named for the Sumerian Gods, talks about the eclipses and their impact on the fate of the king, specifically stating that if Jupiter is visible in the sky, that the king would be okay.
They used to have rituals during eclipses in order to protect the king, where they would substitute the king for a lowly peasant, dress him up like the king, and then sacrifice him; while the real king would lay low and mind his business to avoid the fate that he was destined to meet.
(citation: Gonzalo Rubio, Penn State, “How eclipses were regarded as omens in the ancient world” published August 8, 2017 on TheConversation.com)
In order to prevent these [substitute king] rituals from being confused with a legitimate coronation, there would be some sort of discussion of said omen.
There is a legend of one king who chose a farmer to be the substitute king for this ritual, but the real king ended up dying still. I guess he choked on some hot soup. So, the farmer ended up becoming the next king. I think its very interesting that they chose the day after a Lunar Eclipse for his coronation ceremony. Who knows, maybe they’ll even be serving hot soup [at the coronation celebrations].
