The changing faces of the moon never cease to cast an enigmatic look upon, and effect, the earth. While early man appreciated how the sun gives life, the moon according to the ancient, regulates life. The lunar cycle regulate the rhythms of all life cycles: the tides, the rain, fertility, women’s menstruation, and plan cycles. The moon establishes unifying pattern for all living entities, with every life and breath harmoniously existing in an intricate and incredible web.
In the Vedas, the moon is known as Soma, the source of food and grains, strength, and longevity for the heavenly beings. He is the master of all vegetation. It is said that succulence of vegetable is due to the moonshine. Being a vital force of all living being and source of nectarine coolness influencing the growth of plants, followers of the Vedas find it very difficult to accept the conclusion of the scientists today that the moon is a desert.
Gazing upon the changing phases and position of the moon in the sky, ancient men came up with their weather auguries. So, it was held that if a full moon between the 25th and 28th of April brought serene nights and no wind, expect heavy dew and crops of grain suffer. Weather forecasting based on the moon was also recorded in the ancient Assyrian Cuneiforms dating back to the seventh century B.C., which says that “when it thunders on the day of the new moon, the crops will prosper and the market will be steady.”
People have keenly observed that the heaviest rainfall occurs just after the new and full moons. Indeed, studies shows that rain is most likely to occur three to five days after a full or new moon. Thunderstorms are most likely to strike two days after the full moon. Hurricanes, typhoons and other violent storms also appear to brew up more often around the new and full moons. Of course, we know how the waning and waxing of the moon influence the tide cycles.
Sometimes, we look at the moon; we notice it has a halo around it. This halo is cause by humidity in the atmosphere, and is universally considered to forebode wet weather. This was a scientific basis.
Moon Gardening and Fertility
In agriculture, the lunar cycle is the farmer’s guide in producing robust plants and than bountiful harvests. Plants are known to be at their juiciest and animals at their most active at the waxing of the moon. From experience, farmers have noticed that certain crops planted during the waxing of the moon grow faster and more abundantly than crops planted during the waning of the moon.
According to moon gardening, farmers obtain better harvest when seeds are sown during the waxing moon. This occurs between the new moon and full moon, and includes the first and second quarters.
The waning moon covers the period between the full moon and the new moon, and includes the third and fourth quarters. All growth and propagation activities, especially of plants above the ground, should take place during the waxing moon.
On the other hand, cutting, controlling, and harvesting for food to be conserved or is preserved, as well as planting crops below the ground should take place during the waning of the moon. Farmers have also noticed that animals tend to give birth more often with healthier offspring during the waxing moon.
For the ancient Romans, the crescent phase of the moon is the symbol of fertility and fecundity. This crescent symbol, which could be in the form of any object reminiscent of this shape (such as claws of a crab, the tusks of a boar, or any horns), will serve as an amulet. Wearing is said to increase love and fertility, and protects one in his travels and from evil eyes. To this day, many novelty stores carry this crescent moon amulet.
In Japan, on the 23rd night after the new moon, women observe the lunar fertility and worship rite, Nijusan-ya-ko. The rite is offered to Nijusayasama, the lunar guardian of easy birth and good fortune. The women meet at the village shrine and remain there throughout the night to worship the moon, which appears at dawn of the next day.
Women’s menstrual cycle, which averages a28 to 29 days, is roughly the lunar cycle. It is said that ovulation occurs most frequently at or near the full moon. It is also during the full moon that man’s lust or passion increases. This is the reason why lovers find the full moon very romantic.
Researchers show that people bleed more during the waxing and full moons than any
other time. Thus, surgeries are usually performed during the waning moon. This was supported by two theories.
The first is based on the ancient understanding of how the moon regulates the body fluids, just like the ocean tides respond to the full moon’s gravitational pull.
The second is that the moon’s phases increase the electromagnetic activity which, in turn, increases stress to the nervous system, hence, a faster heartbeat.
Conducting a major study (in the nineties), Dr. Harry Rounds of the Wichita State University, discovered that blood chemicals affect the heart rate more powerfully during
the different moon cycles. He found out that a drop of blood taken after a new or full moon and placed on a cockroach’s heart accelerated the insect’s heart beat more than blood drawn at different times.
Following Aristotle and Pliny the Elder, some contemporary authors, such as Miami psychiatrist Arnold Lieber, have conjectured that the full moon’s supposed effects on behavior arise from its influence on water. The human body, after all, is about 80 percent water, so perhaps the moon works its mischievous magic by somehow disrupting the alignment of water molecules in the nervous system.
On The Other Hand
There are at least three reasons why this explanation doesn’t “hold water,” pardon the pun.
First, the gravitational effects of the moon are far too minuscule to generate any meaningful effects on brain activity, let alone behavior. As the late astronomer George Abell of the University of California, Los Angeles, noted, a mosquito sitting on our arm exerts a more powerful gravitational pull on us than the moon does. Yet to the best of our knowledge, there have been no reports of a “mosquito lunacy effect.”
Second, the moon’s gravitational force affects only open bodies of water, such as oceans and lakes, but not contained sources of water, such as the human brain.
Third, the gravitational effect of the moon is just as potent during new moons—when the moon is invisible to us—as it is during full moons.
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