Let’s get one thing out of the way here. No matter what, nothing you ever read, see, watch, or hear will give you a proper baseline of what to expect from a total solar eclipse. Even if you have seen a partial solar eclipse, what occurs at totality is far and away a vastly different phenomenon. A partial eclipse is like looking at a still frame from your favorite movie. A total solar eclipse is like actually watching the movie itself, for the very first time. A partial eclipse is like sitting on a hayride as it’s slowly pulled by a tractor. A total solar eclipse is like taking a co-pilot ride in a fighter jet and breaking the sound barrier. This is the magnitude of a difference between the two events. As the partial eclipse builds toward a total eclipse, with the moon obscuring more and more of the sun every minute, your surroundings begin to change with increasing speed and intensity. The wind picks up, racing across the land as you become acutely aware that the temperature is lowering, and fast.
The ambient light shifts, and becomes ever closer to the feel of dusk, but this twilight is different. It is as if there is a heavenly spotlight above, casting a dim glow over the area as if it were a grand stage. This effect becomes more and more pronounced as the remaining sun reduces further. At the moment the sun becomes a pure crescent sliver, smaller than any moon you’ve ever seen, your body starts to instinctively react to the imminent event. A ring of pure energy, like a perfect circular lightning bolt that flashed into view and somehow remained without fading away, is suspended in the sky above. It exudes a color that you have never before seen in your life, for nothing on this planet can output true solar intensity. It glows brighter than any neon lights, and pulses as if it were a living thing.
The center of the ring is a void, pitch black, a complete representation of nothingness. The ring of radiant energy seemingly appears larger in the sky than any sun or the moon you’ve ever witnessed. The air becomes electric, and exhilaration builds, as you know deeply and intuitively that something tremendous is about to occur. You also come to the realization that nothing can and nothing will prevent the impending and incredible sequence that is about to unfold.The sun wanes nearing totality and breathes a flash of light at the outer edge of an explosion. This is the last vestige of sunlight, about to be covered by the moon. It swells bright and shimmering, and then collapses in on itself, disappearing just as fast as it came. Your senses are about to be thrown into pandemonium. The light of day that once surrounded you has cast away in a manner like a dimming light switch extinguishing a light bulb. Darkness descends and envelops everything around you.
Save for the horizon, which glows a beautiful orange and red gradient in every direction. Then you see it. Extending out of the ring are beautiful wisps, like perfect strands of flowing silk fanned out on top of still water. These pure white wisps slowly wave and dance off the edge of the ring, never standing completely still. The scene you are now a part of is so foreign, it feels like you have been teleported to an alien planet. The eclipsed sun, without any direct angular light reaching your location, still completely overpowers and dominates both the moon and the earth. But it does not stop there. It overpowers you. The experience becomes shatteringly emotional and visceral.
You cannot possibly imagine the awe that results from witnessing it with your own eyes, until you have done so. It is as if the universe has pulled back the curtains to reveal something sacred, allowing us to gaze upon a hidden secret for the first time.You feel like you are being offered a gift that you can only catch a fleeting glimpse of, for it is the rarest of sights, and a treasure to behold. In a way you feel as though what you are seeing was never meant to be seen by human eyes at all. As much as you want the moment to continue, and persist, it begins to end all too quickly. The light at the edge of the ring explodes into a flash once more, and daylight returns just as fast as it was struck out before totality. It resonates on an emotional level, a philosophical level, a spiritual level. It was worth everything it took to experience it, and a magnitude more.
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