In 1977 the English music group The Kinks, released their album »Sleepwalker«, with which they returned to the more rocky sounds of the 60s after a more conceptual and overtexted phase, and thus were at least able to resume their previous success.
The Kinks are considered to be one of the most important British rock bands of this time, next to The Beatles, Rolling Stones and The Who.
Who believes to see a staggering Moon at night, has probably had a drop too much, although a staggering movement of the Moon actually exists in astronomy. This is called »libration«, but happens very slowly and is therefore only visible by the naked eye in time-lapse photography.
The Moon orbits around the Earth in a so called synchronous rotation. This means that it always faces one hemisphere towards the Earth, while the reverse side of the Moon is not visible from Earth. Due to certain physical conditions (relating to orbits, angular velocity, centres of mass, among others), what happens is that the visible surface of the Moon varies slightly during the course of the moon cycle, and there is a gentle change of inclination of the Moon’s axis or it appears to turn a little.
In June or July of each year, students commemorate their spiritual teachers (Gurus) with a big festival in India, but also in many parts of Asia. This festival is always celebrated at a full moon (Purnima):
3rd July 2012 [*]
22nd July 2013
12th July 2014
31st July 2015
In Hinduism, this day is also dedicated to the wise Vyasa who is connected to vital Indian writings, like the Vedas, a significant collection of religious scripts.
Potassium, aluminium, silicon, oxygen and some other ingredients result in a mineral in a certain compound, which has received the name moonstone due to its whitish, shimmering glow. This stone has already been known in old cultures. The Romans viewed it as solidified rays of the Moon, the old Greek connected it to the moon goddess Selene.
We are tapping again into the treasure chest of Old English stories and have come across the fairy tale »The Buried Moon« or »The Dead Moon«. This piece was published by the Australian historian Joseph Jacobs in 1894, as part of a fairy tale collection, but its origin lies much further back like so many folktales, and has been passed down by word of mouth over the centuries.
As already mentioned in our article about sleepwalking, a connection was made in the past between the moonlight and people, if their conduct was odd, crazy or threatening. One assumed that the moonlight caused this behaviour and spoke of »lunatic«, which derives from the Latin »lunatus« and means more or less »influenced by the moon«. In English, this terminology »lunatic« has been used for many forms of mental illnesses over many centuries. Because many of these disorders could not be explained for a long time (and there are still plenty of questions today), one was in need of a point of reference, a word that would accompany on the path of darkness. The Moon was very convenient.
This article is for all lovers who are far apart from each other – maybe due to travelling, maybe because of personal circumstances.
Sometimes we have to learn not to experience geographical distance as inner distance. But although it is said, love surmounts time and space, one still has a longing for closeness, which is difficult to push aside, despite all sensible thoughts. A kiss over the phone is simply not the same as the moment when lips touch.
Have you ever wondered, after you took a photograph of the full moon that the Moon looks much smaller on the picture than as it appears to you in real? This effect occurs particularly when the Moon is above the horizon. This is a so-called Moon illusion, which is an optical illusion, meaning it can only be seen this way through our perception and is therefore not depicted on the photograph.
The word “aggression” derives from the Latin verb “aggredi” which means »approach, attack«. This is interesting, because it does not only contain a destructive energy, but also a proceeding, solution-oriented energy. We also speak of tackling problems or approaching a task. During the course of the centuries, the component of attacking and destroying appears to have become dominant, so much so, that we judge aggression nowadays negatively and see the result to be destruction, violence and war. It is easily understandable now, why people are having such a difficult time to deal naturally with their aggressions that they express or restrain. We have put a negative mark on it. And we neither want to carry something negative inside us, nor do we want to voice it.
The Moon circles the Earth. But indeed, it is no circle, but an ellipse, which portrays itself in space like a kind of spiral, because the Earth, together with the Moon, circles the Sun. And thus, the distance between the Earth and the Moon does not remain the same, but continuously changes. The distance varies between approx. 357,000 km/222,000 mi (called perigee) to approx. 406,000 km/252,000 mi (called apogee).
