Here we begin our little journey to the full moon. A few words about the fascinating quest of the greater purpose, that includes the full moon circulating through our lives. In layman’s terms and not always scientific (astronomy experts – don’t look too closely!). We would like to wish you illuminating moments. Enjoy!
It is said that there are more than 6,000 languages worldwide (this is hard to imagine) and it is a fascinating concept to think, there are probably as many words for “full moon”.
A full moon is when the Sun and the Moon are facing opposite, being in opposite direction from an Earth perspective.
This might feel astonishing if one imagines that the Moon is on one side, the Sun on the other and the Earth in between? Shouldn’t the Earth throw a shadow onto the Moon? Bingo – this is exactly what she does! But only when the Moon is exactly on the Earth orbit, the so called “ecliptic”. When this takes place, we speak of a lunar eclipse!
The Moon needs 27.33 days to circle around the Earth. Something that is also referred to as “sidereal time”. But because the Earth orbits the Sun, just like the Moon orbits the Earth, the Moon has to travel two further days in order to resume the same position to the Earth and Sun. This is then called the “sidereal time”. In order to determine the point of time of the reoccurring full moon, the sidereal time serves as basis.
We already know now that the moon month is mostly shorter than the calendar month, being on average approximately 29.5 days. If full moon falls on the first or second of a month, it is possible that another full moon occurs in the same month, for instance in July 2004:
Friday, 2 July 2004, 01:08:54 pm
Saturday, 31 July 2004, 08:05:06 pm
This event is also known as “blue moon”.
The answer is: “everywhere at the same time”. This refers to the so called Universal Time (UT) though, which is used for general astronomical events. We have already learnt that full moon is an astronomical event, where the moon, sun and the earth play a role by being in a specific position. So, full moon takes place at a specific time in the outer space. This point of time is specified by astronomers namely by the Universal Time.
There are multiple ways of approaching this question. If we look at it from a purely theoretical standpoint, we might be tempted to say that the full moon is infinitely short, since the phases of the moon are changing continuously. The moon is not yet quite full shortly before the full moon, and is already waning shortly afterwards.
However, there is a practical aspect that lets us quantify the full moon as a finite and measurable span of time: Since the Sun is significantly bigger than the Moon, its rays are able to reach just a little over half of the Moon’s surface. This means that the timespan in which the visible side of the Moon’s surface is irradiated (as seen from Earth) is longer than infinitely short.
Whether scientists, astrologers or esoterics, they agree on one thing: the moon influences earth and life on earth. For instance, it regulates the tides through its magnetism. Also continents feel the consequence of this magnetism and either raise or lower their position sometimes up to 26 cm.
In nature it is a known fact: for some animal species, mating takes place at full moon. However, the examples that can be found on this subject are rather simple. Full moon serves in some cases indirectly as the cause (for instance through the high water levels during the tides that the horseshoe crab uses to deposit its eggs) or also as the signal for both sexes of a species to begin at the exact same time to safeguard their future existence (a particular type of fly or also corals). It is understood that also wolves are led by full moon when it is time to mate.
… that people are looking for an argument at full moon or are especially happy …
… that if full moon is surrounded by a haze, a person dies …
… that you raise your hat three times to the moon (being a man) or you make a curtsey (being a woman), in order to protect yourself from misfortune until the next full moon …
… that whoever does not chink glasses with full moon at least once, does not deserve any happiness [Greek toast] …
During a lunar eclipse, the Moon moves through the shadow of the Earth. Which means, that the Earth is positioned quite exactly between the Sun and Moon and casts its shadow onto the Moon. This is only possible at full moon and if some other requirements are met. Depending on whether the moon passes the partial or the core shadow of the Earth, we speak of a partial or total lunar eclipse.
There is a German poem called »Dunkel war’s, der Mond schien helle«, in which the first line has been dedicated to the Moon and which boasts special features. For one thing, nobody knows who wrote the poem, which is quite unusual coming from the »land of poets and thinkers«. For another thing, it is based on the principle of the »oxymoron«. This is a figure of speech that juxtaposes elements that are contradictory or that are created from terms which are mutually exclusive. Straight away, the first line reveals this principle, because it cannot be »dark«, when the Moon is shining »bright«.
“Lady and the Tramp” made in 1955, belongs to one of the most beautiful and most successful cartoons by Walt Disney. The story of the elegant female dog Lady and the fun-loving vagabond Tramp, shows how love can overcome social boundaries. In reality, this is of course a human issue and not one of our four-legged friends. However – as usual with Disney – it has been staged simply convincingly. And this is how a good acquaintance joins Lady and the Tramp in the nightly scenery: the full moon.
Who doesn’t know Batman, the comic hero who fights the sinister subjects of the big city at night as a bat man with super powers. Who has not seen him in movies or held one of the comic books in his hand? What we are mostly interested in, at this point, are not however, his impressive appearance, nor the trendy outfit, but the affinity to the full moon. Batman can be seen standing in front of the circular moon in countless images, his black cape blowing in the wind. And also the famous batman logo is always portrayed in connection with the moon, whether hovering against the light or as a full-moon-like light projection in the black night sky (the so-called »Bat-Signal«).
It is getting quite hot now, as there is indeed a sexual pose, called “full moon”, at least in the German language. This name has not been given in every country. In English it is referred to “reverse cowgirl”. This makes one curious …
In this position, one partner lies on the back (usually the man) and the other partner (usually the woman) sits on top in squat position, but in reverse and turning the back and buttocks towards the person lying underneath.
A lot is said about how full moon can or could influence the sleep of people. And like so often, opinions differ on this subject. Some are certain that they sleep poorly or have a restless sleep around the time of full moon and are not able to fall asleep for a long time. Others sleep like a log … in between there are many who are not aware of any of this and not able to determine by their sleep patterns whether it is full moon or not.
It was about 100 years ago when a special kind of postcard was fashionable in Europe: the moonshine card. This is a kind of postcard with motifs of cities or landscapes that was to convey the effect of a nightly moonshine scenery. It was supposed to be romantic and this obviously appealed to people in those days. There were printed cards as well as photo-postcards that were »dipped into moonlight« in this way.
Have you ever seen a face or shape of an animal in passing by clouds? This tendency of our perception to find structures within an image or a pattern, is called pareidolia (derives from Greek eidolon = picture). Essentially, this is a misperception where we see objects changing subjectively. But this can also be so much fun and inspire our fantasy to search for these shapes and to find them. Children, in particular, are known to be true masters of this game.
Selene is the Greek moon goddess, she is a daughter of Hyperion and Theia from the Titans, a race of deities. The two siblings of Selene are Eos (the goddess of dawn) and Helios (the god of the sun). These three, forge the bridge between day and night, the Sun and the Moon, masculine and feminine. Later, in Greek mythology, Selene has also been equated with Artemis, just like Apollo is linked with the sun god Helios.
Let us still stay with the music for a little while and let us bring our attention to a grand musical genre of theatre, the opera. We recently saw TOSCA (from Puccini) in Madrid and lo and behold! In the first act, we suddenly heard »luna piena«, which is Italian for full moon. A real highlight!
Then we had the idea to rummage through some libretti (opera lyrics) to find out if the full moon motif may also play a part in other operas. For this purpose, one can view the libretti online. We were interested in particular in the actual mentioning of it, as these were created by the composers themselves, whereas the appearance of the full moon on stage was usually the part of the stage designer.
Suitable for today’s 4th July, »Independence Day« in the US, and moreover it being the new moon, we pose the question of the dependency or independency of the Moon. Are we dependent on the Moon or not? And is the Moon dependent on us?
If we believe the surveys, more than 40% of people feel influenced by the Moon, in particular during sleep. In other ways as well and the influence of the Earth’s moon is being discussed in many areas, although there is still no evidence. Science rather confirms the opposite and verifies this by referring to various studies that the human is independent of the Moon; however, this does not correspond with the basic feelings of most.