I just found this great page for all kinds of astronomical data from the United States Naval Observatory and added it to the sidebar. What a fantastic reference! There’s even a daily photo of the moon, which I find damn practical and potentially life-altering. The moon is dependable, like God. It punctuates its phases with recognizable icons (circle, half-circle, crescent, nothing). There aren’t short moons (lunations) and long moons, all moons are the same (28 days + a couple heartbeats). You can take that to the bank. Your children can take it to the bank. Your childrens’ children can take it to the bank. In the forever department, this is about as good as it gets for us humans, yet I’ll wager the vast majority of people in the northern hemisphere went to bed tonight without either seeing the moon or knowing which phase it was in.
That’s why the more I think about how stupid our calendar is, the madder I get: a mangy, cobwebby net of barely-recognized pagan gods and old astrology in 12 sections stretched awkwardly over an honest orbit of the sun with 13 lunar cycles. One of these is arbitrary, irregular, recent, and beset upon by priests; the other effectively delivered from up on high for all eternity. You know the one we picked.
No wonder we’re all screwed up. Human beings have walked the earth for maybe a million years, and for all but the last thousand or two, we pivoted around the stars. We knew the moons and what each one meant. Our clocks were plugged in. Now, who even cares? Meanwhile, the living world goes on and on as if nothing had happened, and why shouldn’t it? After all, we’re the only ones out of sync. Is it any wonder we don’t recognize our mother?
Comment by Byron
1 September 17, 2007, 10:01 am o'clock |
John, the information provided by the Naval Observatory is indeed fascinating. However, like like all work and information emanating from government agencies there are flaws. The feedback I received after completing Form B had the name of the city I live in listed in an adjacent county…it makes me wonder if they can’t be accurate about earthly locations how accurate are they in their astral projections?
Yea I know-picky picky.
Comment by david in maine
2 September 18, 2007, 10:55 pm o'clock |
On clear nights, i notice the moon over Casco Bay in Portland, Maine on evening commutes home from the office. do you remember, as a child, the first time you noticed the moon, while looking out of the window from the back seat of an automobile - it seemed as though it was following you. no matter the speed of the automobile, the moon kept up the pace.
Comment by John H. Farr
3 September 19, 2007, 12:08 am o'clock |
You’re right! It does follow the car, and I do remember that.
The moon over water, ah yes. Haven’t seen that since we moved from the Eastern Shore (MD).