September 15, 2011
“Summer ends, and autumn comes, and he would have it otherwise would have high tide always and a full moon every night" - Hal Borland
A full moon every night might be too much, but once a month is mesmerizing.
Did you see the Full Harvest Moon in all its radiance this week?
If you did not get to step outside and stare in amazement, you will have more chances when the full moon shines again on October 12th, November 10th and December 10 th .
When the moon is full, the sky glows brighter and illuminates the ground better than a streetlight making lawns look almost snow-covered. I love observing full moons outside in our front yard or driving at night watching the giant red, orange or yellow ball, whatever color it may be that month. Magically, the moon rises slowly above the horizon in the east just as the sun disappears in the western sky.
Surreal, beautiful, numinous, mystical.
Ned Potter of abcnews.go.com agrees with me, to a point:
"We're coming up on the autumnal equinox on Sept. 23, when summer turns to fall and the temperature turns, too. At this time of year, night and day are the same length, which is why the sun and moon, just opposite each other in the sky, make for a nice show. There's no real magic to all this, just the bodies of the solar system doing what they do as they follow the rules of orbital mechanics. But there is a pleasant effect on us earthlings, if we pause to enjoy the combination."
Not everyone likes the full moon or its effects, however.
Lore and legend hold the belief that people become crazy during a full moon and that it brings out the worst in us, sometimes called 'The Lunar Effect' or 'The Transylvania Effect'.
An article title "Moonstruck" in Dr. Eric Chudler's "Neuroscience for Kids" online magazine explains the moon's influence on behavior.
Note: I am not embarrassed at all to say that I enjoy reading science articles written for children because they make science easy and fun. If you are a science-challenged adult like me, try it sometime. I guarantee you will be entertained and informed.
But back to the crazy full moon and its weird effects on behavior.
The "Moonstruck" article explains further: "The belief that the full moon causes mental disorders and strange behavior was widespread throughout Europe in the middle ages. Even the word 'lunacy' meaning 'insanity' comes from the Latin word for moon. You may hear people say, 'Just ask an emergency room nurse or a police phone operator. They will tell you that they are busier on nights when there is a full moon.'"
The list is long about aggressive or 'crazy' behaviors the moon can cause, but in articles in Psychology Today and Live Science, data shows no significant relationship, more frequency or difference in occurrences of violence, crime and aggression.
Lore and legend are powerful though with many folks who remain convinced that the following behaviors absolutely do occur during a full moon:
Sleepwalking, increased aggression by athletes, crisis calls, more emergency room admissions, mental health disturbances, sleep deprivation, pet injuries, homicides, criminal offenses, deviant behaviors, farm animals changing their sleep habits, jungle animals becoming nocturnal, bad surgery outcomes and nursing home patients not sleeping or turning aggressive.
We all have similar stories to tell, and I imagine if you are like me, we will be slow to convince, despite the scientific data to the contrary.
For example, I went to the nursing home to visit my mother during the recent full moon. The nurses met me at the door saying the full moon was making everyone crazy in there last night.
The first person I saw was a 94-year-old resident; let's call him Sam, yelling out loudly, "I'm dead. I'm dead, I'm dead!"
"Hi Sam, I said, "Are you OK?"
"No, I'm not OK", he replied. "I'm dead."
"Oh, no you're not dead, Sam." I said.
He never missed a beat saying, "Well, if I'm not, then I'm gonna be."
He got me, leaving me to wonder who was the crazy one.
Perhaps, the scientists are right about the moon, or perhaps as Lord Byron once wrote, "The devil could be in the moon for the mischief of it all."
