Everyone is a moon and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody. - Mark Twain
One day I suddenly sat bolt upright in bed. There was no dream, no noise, just the full moon that climbed over the hills pouring its reflected glory down into the sleepy village. I opened the window only to see a ripple like a white flame in the river flowing by.
Despite the irresistible beauty, there was something menacing about the moonlight. I saw the trees slightly swaying from side to side in the gauze-coloured moonlight. There were a few men and women returning home, maybe after a late night show or from work. They looked like characters from a horror movie. Anyway, I sat mesmerised by the mystery of the moment.
People seem to have a love / hate relationship with the moon which symbolises love, sex, birth, renewal and even creation. However, the moon is closely associated with death, demons, werewolves, vampires and even insanity. That is the dark side of the moon.
If you dig deep into the scientific details of the moon, you will come across certain surprising information. The moon’s orbit is perfectly circular. As a result, the moon comes as close as 221,000 miles to earth and moves as far as 252,000 miles.
My astronomer friend said this is a stone’s throw in cosmic terms. He also said the moon has about one-sixth the gravity found on the earth surface. Temperatures swing from 125 Celsius at midday to minus 170 degrees at night. Therefore, no living being can survive on its surface. However, poets have a different perspective of the moon. John Milton referred to the moon as “resplendent globe.” John Keats saw it as a queen. For ordinary people, the moon is something out there beyond their comprehension.
Ebb and flow
Although the sun and the moon play major roles in the ebb and flow of the oceans, the latter has more influence on us. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West. The full moon, however, appears only once a month.
Buddhists perform various religious observances on the Full Moon Poya Day. It is also a public holiday. At the Bay of Fundy in Canada, the pull of the moon raises the water level up to 50 feet. According to Douglas Clay, the Park Ecologist at the Fundy National Park, the tide plays a major ecological role. All the oceans are subject to tidal waves caused by the moon. They also have a lasting impact on sea creatures, notably oysters.
Today, we are concerned about the changes brought about by the moon on the lives of humans and animals. Farmers believed that crops should be planted according to a schedule governed by the lunar calendar. Even hunters and fishermen believed in the lunar cycles. On full moon days, most animals restrict their movements for fear of being killed by hunters or predators.
We very often hear dogs howling at the moon. In the forests, wolves follow the same practice. There seems to be a scientific reason for their howling. Scientists believe that the moon is capable of stirring the oceans. It can do so even with humans as our bodies contain 60 percent of water. Although most of us do not feel any changes, the moon is capable of causing an ebb and flow of our emotions.
William Shakespeare wrote, “The moon makes men mad.” Mr. Hyde in Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hide” admitted that he had committed crimes under moon-induced lunacy.
Psychologists have supported this view by saying that there is an increase in violent crimes under a full moon. Even medical authorities have confirmed the lunar influence on women’s menstrual cycles and birth rates. However, this view has been rejected by modern scientists.
Sudden desire
On a full moon day you may get a sudden desire to climb mountains or even howl like wolves. We have heard many tales of moon-inspired madness. Chinese poet Li Po is said to have once invited the moon down for a drink! Unfortunately, he drowned while trying to catch the moon’s reflection in the lake.
Ryokan, a Zen master, lived in a little hut at the foot of a hill. One evening, a thief entered the hut, but found that there was nothing to steal. The Zen master caught him and said, “Don’t return empty-handed. Please take the clothes I am wearing.” The thief was somewhat confused, but accepted the bundle of clothes and vanished. Ryokan sat naked watching the moon and mused, “Poor fellow. I wish I could give him this beautiful moon.”
The moon has enriched the English language. If you are over the moon, you are very pleased. When a person does a moonlight flit, he leaves secretly especially to avoid paying the money that he owes. Apart from that, poets have waxed eloquently about the beauty of the moon.
The following is a memorable poem written by Percy Bysshe Shelley:
To the moon
Art thou pale, for weariness
Of climbing Heaven and gazing on the earth
Wandering companionless
Among the stars that have a different birth
And ever changing, like a joyless eye
That finds no object worth its constancy?