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The Moon
The Moon In Astronomy
The Moon In Witchcraft
The Moon in Astronomy
One Lunar month (often called a "lunation", or a synodic month) lasts 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 2.8 seconds. During this time the Moon goes through progressive phases in which more or less of its surface is visible from earth. It is said to be waxing when it is growing larger, and waning when it's visible surface is shrinking. When more than half of the Moon's surface is visible it is said to be gibbous, whether it is waxing or waning. When it is New it cannot be seen at all (this is known as the Astronomical New Moon, or Dark Moon, which is distinguished from the Traditional New Moon which is considered to be when the first crescent of the waxing moon is visible to the naked eye). From there it grows to a crescent-shaped First Quarter in one week. During this time it appears like a "D", with the left side line taken out. Two weeks after the New Moon, it is Full. A week later it wanes to a Third (or Last) Quarter moon, and appears similar to a "C" in shape. A week after that it is a New Moon once more and the cycle begins anew.
When the Moon is New, she will rise near sunrise and set near sunset. She rises and sets a little earlier each day throughout the month, so that in the First Quarter she will rise near midnight, and set near noon. By the Full Moon she will rise from the east around sunset, and set near sunrise. Then finally in the Third Quarter she rises around noon, and sets a little after midnight.
Another method of measuring the lunar month is the sideral month, which is 27 days, 7 hours, and 43 minutes, and 11.5 seconds. This is the amount of time it takes the moon to make a complete orbit of the earth in relation to a fixed star. The Moon rotates once on its axis in about the same period of time that elapses for its sidereal period of revolution, accounting for the fact that virtually the same portion of the Moon is always turned toward the Earth.
Because the lunar month and calender month are not the same lengths, occasionally the Full Moon will occur twice in a single calender month. The second of these Full Moons is known as a Blue Moon. This happens once every 2.2 years. Previously, the term "Blue Moon" was used to denote the third full Moon in a season with four Full Moons.
The US Naval Observatory has an excellent page on The Phases of the Moon.
The Moon has a diameter of 2,160 miles (3,480 km), which is one quarter that of Earth. However, the density of the Moon is much less than that of Earth, so that the gravitational pull at the lunar surface is only 1/6th that of Earth. The Moon has no liquid water and almost no atmosphere, so no weather exists to change its surface. Yet it is not totally inert either, as volcanic activity has occurred in past centuries. However, the Lunar Prospector found evidence of perhaps as much as 6 billion tons of ice at the poles in 1998. With little atmosphere to trap the heat, temperatures can vary wildly; from 273º F during the day, to -243º F at night. Although the Moon appears bright to the eye, it reflects only 7 percent of the light that falls on it. This is equivalent to the reflectivity of coal dust. In 1999 it was discovered that a huge cloud of sodium gas trails behind the Moon as well.
The Moon travels at an average speed of 2,300 mph (3,700 km/h), moving 2,429 mph at its maximum, and 2,153 mph at its minimum velocities. The Moon does not travel around the Earth in a perfect circle. Rather it moves in an ellipse. It is an average of 238,857 miles (384,403 km) from Earth, being 252,948 miles at its apogee, and 221,593 miles at its perigee. Each year the Moon steals some of the Earth's rotational energy, and uses it to propel itself 3.8 centimeters higher in its orbit. Researchers say that when it formed, the Moon was only 14,000 miles (22,530 kilometers) from the Earth.
It is the Moon's gravitational pull that causes the tides to raise and lower as it passes by, literally dragging the water in the oceans along with it as it orbits the Earth. Obviously this is at its more powerful during the Moon's perigee than its apogee. Another high tide occurs on the opposite side of the planet because gravity pulls the earth toward the Moon and away from the water. During the Full Moon and New Moon, the Sun, Earth and Moon are lined up, producing higher than normal tides called spring tides (for the way they spring up). When the Moon is at first or last quarter, smaller neap tides form. When the Moon is closest to Earth, spring tides are even higher, and are called perigean spring tides.
The Moon is positioned between the Earth and the Sun during the New Moon, and opposite the Earth from the Sun during the Full Moon. It is at 90º angle to the Earth during the First and Third Quarters.
The Moon radiates more than reflected light. It also transmits microwaves and infrared radiation. Infrared emanations are strongest when the Moon is waxing, four times more so than when it is waning. Microwave transmissions are strongest during the three days following the Full and New Moons.
The polarity (measurement of light particle density) of the Moon's light varies from phase to phase as well. It is strongest in the First and Third Quarters, the highest being during the Third. It is at neutral polarity during the Full Moon. This increases the electromagnetic field through which the Sun, Moon, and Earth pass.
The Moon In Witchcraft
The phases of the Moon are the inspiration for the Triple-Moon symbol above, showing the First, Full, and Third Quarter Moons respectively. Each of these quarters also represents an aspect of the Triple-Goddess of Witchcraft: Maiden, Mother, and Crone.
The Moon has been linked to witchcraft and magic since time-immemorial. It has always been a symbol of mystery. The Moon casts aside the curtain of darkness, allowing humans a glimpse at the mysteries within. Yet it does so with a light that shows things differently than that of the sun. Colors change in its glow, and the surface of water takes upon a strange, magical nature when the Moon is reflected on its surface.
The Moon itself is transformed before the very eyes of the onlookers, growing to fullness and vanishing to nothing every month. It is an immortal shapeshifter, both keeper and revealer of secrets. It was plain to our ancestors that the Moon was a powerful entity, so they came to worship it just as they did the dark, chthonic deities from the Underworld that appeared to spawn it every night.
For modern Witches the Moon is a symbol of the Spiral Dance, just as the Wheel of the Year is. In the ever changing phases of the Moon we see the cycle of growth, maturity, age, and death in its four faces: First Quarter, Full Moon, Third Quarter, and New Moon. Repeating itself every month, this pattern reflects the same ebb and flow of life on Earth.
Because the Moon is always changing it face, it is a symbol of transformation and shapeshifting. The Moon is the shaper of itself, so it is only natural that it also be a symbol of Witches, who likewise are shapers of things magical and physical, including themselves. It is not hard to see why the Moon is such a powerful metaphor for both the religious and magical elements of Witchcraft.
For early humans the Moon was a light that dispelled the terrors of the night (considering that predators such as lions often hunt at night, their fears were well-founded). The Moon has also been linked to women and their reproductive cycles, because of how the lunar month often coincides with the human menstrual cycle. An ancient belief was that if a woman slept naked beneath the Moon and awoke covered in the morning dew, she could become pregnant.
The Dark of the Moon is traditionally given as the three days preceding the New Moon. In this context, the New Moon is intended to mean the night when the first crescent is visible to the unaided human eye, not the Astronomical New Moon. One must remember that on the night following the Astronomical New Moon the Moon is only visible at twilight, and its thin crescent is very difficult to see with the naked eye. Indeed, the Moon is not usually visible until the second night after the Astronomical New Moon. This would place the Dark of the Moon as beginning the night before the Astronomical New Moon and ending the night following it.
Poets and magicians both have seen the Moon as bearing properties of mystical power and inspiration. For example: the ancient Greeks associated the Moon with the goddess Hekate, and it was believed that she sent visions to people via its light. This is the root of the word "lunacy", which the Greeks considered a blessed condition where one could receive prophetic insight or perform magical work. However, by the early Christian era many thought that sleeping in the moonlight brought insanity, and the term came to mean insanity, as it still does today.
According to Plutarch, the Moon is where the souls of the dead traveled after death, while their bodies went to the Earth. The Sun would later impregnate the Moon with its energy, thereby reincarnating the souls back on Earth in new bodies.
Diana's Bow is the name given to the first sliver of Moon visible after a New Moon. Usually this occurs three days after the Moon has been dark.
The Moon is believed to generate magical energy by some. Others say it does not create the energy itself, but rather collects it, and then shines it down upon the Earth with its light. Still others insist that it does neither, but rather that just as its gravity pulls the tides of the oceans as it passes by overhead, it also draws tides of magical energy with it across the Earth.
The Moon is not just a symbol of magic in general, but each phase of the Moon is said to be influential upon specific aspects of magical work as well. The Waxing Moon is said to aid in the creation or growth of things. This would correspond with the planting of a seed. The Full Moon is the time of greatest power, and so this is a good time for all magical work. This is equivalent to your crop standing tall and mature in your field. The Waning Moon is the time of dissipation, so it will assist in the loss of things (such as losing weight, ridding yourself of pests, etc...) This is also the time of reaping the harvest you planted earlier, and thusly enjoying the benefits the things you have worked for. The New Moon is the time of transformation. Of death and rebirth. When the field lays fallow before the next planting. Some Witches will not use magic on the New Moon. Others like myself see it as the ideal time for the most potent transformational magic.
It has been noted that the Moon emanates microwaves. The highest levels of which are three days after the Full and New Moons. The number 3 is a symbol for manifestation, while we know that microwaves are transmitters. This is one way that some feel the Moon carries magical energy to the Earth, and why it is strongest during these times.
It is also thought by some that heat assists in the use of magic, just as we know that in physics that heat liberates energy in a magnetic field. So we see how the Moon's infrared light being highest at the time of the full Moon at the same time releases magical energy into the magnetic field of the Earth. In this formula, the infrared light present on the Moon releases magical energy stored there, and transmits it to the Earth via microwaves.