  We explore 50 Australian Aboriginal accounts of lunar and solar eclipses to
determine how Aboriginal groups understood this phenomenon. We summarise the
literature on Aboriginal references to eclipses, showing that many Aboriginal
groups viewed eclipses negatively, frequently associating them with bad omens,
evil magic, disease, blood and death. In many communities, Elders or medicine
men were believed to have the ability to control or avert eclipses by magical
means, solidifying their role as provider and protector within the community.
We also show that many Aboriginal groups understood the motions of the
sun-earth-moon system, the connection between the lunar phases and tides, and
acknowledged that solar eclipses were caused by the moon blocking the sun.

History and Philosophy of Physics;Physics and Society