Tag: History


The Kinks and their song »full moon«

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.

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Guru Purnima at the full moon

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.

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»The Buried Moon«

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.

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Moonraker – an English legend

Even though the title of this article may suggest it, the following is not about James Bond, the famous secret agent of Her Majesty, but about another legend, which supposedly happened in Wiltshire in southern England.

A gang of alcohol smugglers tried to hide barrels in a pond of a village from the eyes of the official custom officers. When they were caught by them one night at the shore and were asked to explain themselves, the smugglers tried to rake the surface of the water in order to make the view onto the barrels more difficult. They then claimed that they were trying to fish a round cheese out of the pond and pointed at the reflection of the full moon in the water. The officers thought them to be insane and simply granted them to continue as pleased.

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The Last Supper at the full moon

Shortly before Easter, we are taking a look at Christianity and notice that a very important event must have taken place at the full moon: the Last Supper of Jesus and his disciples. From a historical point of view, the Last Supper derives from the Jewish Passover feast (Seder), which traditionally takes place on the eve of Passover. This meal is being celebrated on the 14th Nisan, which is always the first full moon after the spring equinox – the beginning of spring. This is how later, the calculation of the Easter date had been determined: »Easter takes place on the Sunday after the first full moon in spring.«

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Tecciztecatl – the moon god of the Aztec

The Aztec were indigenous people (natives), who lived in Central America between the 14th and 16th century, in the area of today’s Mexico. Just like all primordial nations, they had a variety of deities and Tecciztecatl is the god of the moon. Many stories about the Aztec have been passed on, most of them appear sinister and cruel. Also their ending, precipitated by the Spanish conquerors, was bloody and does not belong to the chapters man can boast about. And so, you look to the past with split feelings.

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The Chinese Lantern Festival

We are looking again at China, where next to the moon festival in autumn, an event is celebrated at the beginning of the year, which is also connected to the full moon: the Lantern Festival (»Yuanxiao«). This celebration is traditionally held on the 15th day of the first moon month of the old Chinese calendars and therefore coincides (more or less exactly) with the full moon. The Lantern Festival indicates the end of the Chinese New Year ceremonies.

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Santa Claus in the full moon light

Ho ho ho – not long now, Christmas will bring joy to the hearts of the people and »Santa Claus« – this is how Father Christmas is called in America an many other countries – will ride with his flying sleigh across the sky at Christmas Eve, pulled by his reindeer with plenty of presents in the baggage. Looking at this imposing depiction of the nightly sleigh ride, the full moon is found quite often in the sky.

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The full moon above Stonehenge

Everyone is familiar with the silhouette of the Stonehenge rocks  in the southern English county of Wiltshire, one of the truly ancient structures of human kind that continues to fascinate because of its archaic construction and mystical presence. Maybe it reminds us people of our origin and of something we often tend to forget amid our hectic everyday world: simplicity.

At the same time, the building of Stonehenge has been everything but easy back then. The age of the grounds is estimated to be more than 5000 years. Experts assume, it took many millions of working hours to dress and transport the up to 50 tons heavy rocks by hand and to erect them in the well-known formation. In particular the lintels, on top of the upright stones, leave us in awe.

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