Hmmm, is the moon the prosaic brother of the sibling rivals of the cosmos?
It is a sight to behold with reverence – that ghostly white orb holding court in a cloudless night sky. Hard to believe on such a night that the moon is 238,000 miles from earth. Then again, considering that its’ sister the sun is 91 million miles away, the moon is practically our next door neighbour in astrological terms.
Some might argue that the moon fades by comparison with its counterpart in the ying and yang of the day and night sky. How can it compete with sunrise splendour and sunset grandeur?
But I beg to differ. The sun’s bag of tricks is limited to rising and setting. The moon has a complex cycle of phases, as it circles the earth, which roughly correlates with one month. In simple terms, the moon transforms through four phases.
The new moon – not to be confused with the full moon – occurs when the moon is positioned between the earth and the sun. The illuminated portion of the moon at that time is on the back side which explains why a new moon is hazy and grayish.
The full moon occurs once again when the earth, sun and moon are in alignment. But it is on the opposite side of the earth now so that we see its entire sunlit face. Hence, the glowing white luminescence of the full moon.
In-between the full moon and the new moon, we see the first quarter moon or the third quarter moon. At these times, the moon is at a 90 degree angle with respect to the earth and the sun.
Moon phases break down further into crescent, gibbous, waxing and waning. Crescent refers to the phases when the moon is less than half illuminated. Gibbous refers to the phases when it is more than half illuminated. Waxing means growing in illumination and waning means decreasing in illumination.
So yes, the sun rises and sets in golden glory. But the monochromatic moon, waxing and waning in crescent or gibbous illumination, has much more claim to the poetic in my book.
There is, of course, the mythical association of the moon to odd or insane behaviour including the popular notion of werewolves howling at the moon. But madness has its own claim to poetic expression. The Roman goddess of the moon, Luna, rode her silver chariot across the dark sky each night, lending the moon its metaphorical association with lunacy.
And finally, there is the scientific principle of the moon’s effect on the tides. Gravitational pull keeps the ocean waters at equal levels as the earth spins on its axis. But the moon’s gravitational forces are mighty enough to disrupt this balance. The moon’s pull causes the waters to bulge and move resulting in the swings from high tide to low tide.
So I proclaim that the moon is truly the poetic ruler of the cosmos. If I have not won you over, consider the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson:
The man who has seen the rising moon break out of the clouds at midnight has been present like an archangel at the creation of light and the world.
~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.
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Tags: first quarter moon · full moon · Luna · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · moon · new moon · Ralph Waldo Emerson · third quarter moon · waning · waxingNo Comments