Can you believe it is almost the end of February?
The weather has been uncooperative this weekend, but I'm not really complaining. The winter-like weather out here in the desert Southwest is a welcome respite from the normal hot and dry days that are offered up by the Sonoran Desert. Black rolling clouds in the sky give way to wonderfully blustery winds that caress your face, and an occasional sprinkle or two. The evening cools down significantly and brings a quiet darkness that envelops the cacti and other desert flora. Friday evening's Full Moon hid behind this blackened curtain and shone brightly as the Full Snow Moon (well, as close to snow as you can get out here in the Southwest, I guess.) Remember I mentioned that I'd keep you in the know about the monthly Full Moon names? Well, February's moon is the full snow moon, since the heaviest snows were known to usually fall during this month to the native tribes. Some tribes also knew this moon as the Full Hunger Moon, since harsh weather conditions made hunting very difficult.
I thought also that it would be fun to discuss a few of the myths of the Full Moon this month, as company is visiting and I am not as able to disappear into the night on star strolls or stargazing expeditions. My in-laws, wife Cassandra, and I watched The Wolfman the night of the Full Moon and this sparked my curiosity as to how a myth such as werewolves came to be. So, I imagine that the symbolism of the moon certainly has some bearing on this. The moon truly idealizes the time of sleep and dreaming, of darkness and mysticism, and of the secrets of the unseen and unconscious. So the dark night brought about the imagination, the focus on the unknown and secret, and was known as an eerie mystic eyeglass to the spiritual nature of humankind.
The moon also was seen as a time piece; the changing of phases of the moon was certainly of great interest to past civilizations, which saw this large white orb in the sky and made many tales out of the phases of the moon, from a great monster swallowing the moon and regurgitating it, to a great clock in the sky which told the stories of the swift changes of life (from birth, to fullness and fertility in the Full Moon, to death in the dark or New Moon.) It was seen as the feminine counterpart of the Sun, and was also positioned in many tales of powerful pairs in the celestial myths. The twin god and goddess Apollo and Artemis is the Greek counterpart of these new bright orbs in the sky, the two celestial beings that herald in and excuse the Sun and Moon in the daily dance of the day. It has also been personified as "the Man in the Moon," looking above and seeing what appears to be a human face smiling down back at us.
The Moon was also known to sway the tides, and was given the distinction of having great influence on human behavior. The human body, comprised of a good amount of water, has been suggested to be swayed by the Moon. This is supposedly shown as true by studies identifying swiftly changing behaviors, such as madness, lunacy, and aggression. There is the idea that crimes committed become more aggressive. The psychiatric hospitals become fuller. That more babies are born because of the Moon's influence. It is funny because many studies have been conducted that show no conclusive truthful evidence, but I am a believer as I have worked in a psychiatric hospital and seen first-hand that there appears to be some coincidental pattern of acuity becoming greater during a full moon.
Ancient cultures adopted the idea of superstitions that gave the Moon such power as being able to drive a person mad, and become sick with moon-madness, or moonstruck. The Moon was able to not only strike madness in a person, but intense love and beauty and romance as well. "When the Moon hits your eye...like a big pizza pie...THAT'S AMORE!" All I can think of is either Cher in the movie or Lady and the Tramp sitting and eating spaghetti!
So, put these Moon myths together and we get the synthesis of the werewolf: darkness of the spirit in the human condition (aggression and bestial and primal tendencies that are secret and hidden during the day), being struck by the Moon with a curse (being turned into a wolf beast, based on the changing cycle of the Moon), and lastly of creatures of the night (a fascination with the mystic, grotesque, and misunderstood.) We humans have quite the imaginations, don't we?
Be careful of that Moon friend!
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