Lunar eclipse and misinformation

Be superstitious. I am no one to judge. But please dont spread wrong information about things you know nuts about to justify your superstition.

Today evening, there is a lunar eclipse and I am at my grandparents house. As will be the case in any typical south indian brahmin household, there are umpteen number of rituals associated with the lunar eclipse. Interestingly, today is also Karthigai, (one of) the supposed birthdays of Lord Muruga. He is important in south India. So, there are the usual sweets and rituals that also have to be performed. 

Here are a few for your amusement. The sudden disappearance / redness of the moon must have been a scary phenomenon back then, so these rules were cooked up to “protect” us:

1. There will be no cooking done starting 4 hours before eclipse. Since the eclipse occurs from 8-9, dinner cant be made. 

2. You are not supposed to eat food cooked before eclipse, after the eclipse => You should start cooking at 9pm.

2a) If you really cannot cook at 9pm, you can cook before the 4 hour deadline, and put darbai (erm, enchanted dried leaf)  (this was probably an evolution because people found 9pm cooking annoying)

3. Immediately after eclipse, everyone must have a head bath.

Now, there is this bloke on a TV show who talks about the required astrological / other random belief-ical precautions one should take every day. Many religious people like my grandparents watch it sincerely to know what superstition they must follow every day. Now if he stuck to superstition, I would laugh him off. But today he tells everyone (after stating the rules above and more), 

“It is even scientifically proven that UV rays increase during lunar eclipse. So, this enters your food and makes it bad for consumption. So, put dried leaf on top to protect”

Now seriously, WHY do you need to bring science inside? Next, I have to hear my grandfather tell me how the ritual makes “modern” sense because of increased UV rays. The amount of bullshit spewed by these “scholars” is staggering. Just stick to your domain, dear astrologer dude (and every other person who broadcasts information), just talk about stuff in YOUR domain of expertise and we will be happy. You go publicly talk about things you know nuts about, you spread bullshit. And you know what, bullshit is MUCH harder to fix than ignorance.