The Roman Goddess Luna
Luna - which is the Latin name for the Moon and from which we have derived the term lunatic - has almost reached its highest peak of being a 100% full as I begin to type this article. And with the Moon in the Astrological sign of Gemini (as the Moon is always in the sign opposite of the sign on the Zodiac wheel the Sun finds itself in), the sign of communication and this being the last Supermoon this year this seems like an excellent opportunity to take a closer look into what is described as the Lunar effect.
The Lunar effect is the effect of the Moon on living organisms, in particularly during Moon phases like Full Moon and New Moon, Blue Moon, Supermoon, Moon-eclipses, Bloodmoons etc. While we have some evidence of the Moon having an effect on animals, the effects of the Moon on humans have not yet sufficiently been proven by wider Science.
"Full moon is the height of our coming together; it's when crocodiles are most alert because the fish, all the other animals are most active, it's the hunting time for crocs." -- Chito and his pet crocodile from the documentary: "The man who swims with a crocodile: the story of Chito and Pocho"
There are some published studies which do seem to rule in favor of the Lunar effect. A 2013 study for example showed that a study group consisting of of 33 volunteers, slept on avarage 20 minutes a night less during Full Moon.* There are a couple more studies which show similar effects. But for every study which exists proving the effects of the Moon on us humans there are countless others which find no discernable effect.
But still there are many people today who show a strong believe in the Lunar effect, and who claim to be either subjects themselves of the effects of the Moon or who are convinced to be able to see the Moon's "magical" energies work on others. So what are some of the symptoms and experiences people claim to undergo during a Full Moon? And are there any reasons to believe the Moon has an effect on us as human beings?
Some of the claims being made are the following:
On an individual level
- Insomnia
- Less sleep
- Lighter sleep
- Lighter dreams and or a greater chance of lucid dreaming.
- Increased mania in individuals with Bipolar Disorder
- Experiencing visions and hallucinations
- Increased energy and hyperactivity
- Menstruation in women
- Erratic behaviour
On a societal level
- Increased birthrates
- Higher crime rates
- Increased risk of accidents occuring
- Increased psychiatric hospital admissions
- Higher suicide rates
Especially the societal effects are obviously easy to disprove by simple observation of the recorded numbers. But is this enough reason to brush aside the individual effects which the Moon is reported to have on people? Or could it maybe be that humanity has lost touch with its inner as well as outer nature so that only the most sensitive among us can feel and experience the effects of the Moon, and science has until now passed up on the idea of actually researching those individuals who claim to experience these effects on a personal level?
To discover more about this it would help to find out who the most sensitive among us are, and if they share common characteristics. As the Moon has for as long as we can look back been associated with lunacy it might be a good idea to focus our efforts of finding an answer to this question on people with observable mental problems. However up until now we have not much more evidence other than 1.8 % of schizophrenic patients showing an increase in violent and aggressive behavior during Full Moon. In a system however which does not work as it should and which believes that administering heave dosis of drugs combined with taking part in programs in unnatural corporate environments (and in which one mentally ill person can easily trigger another) while the patient should be resting, healing and strengthening in an environment of quiet sollitude (and support should it be needed), is a long term solution to the problem of mental illness, it of course follows that the desensitization on the one hand and the triggering of patients who are not yet ready to receive treatment (which leads them to experience symptoms all year round and possibly longer without a distinct pattern in which symptoms appear and disappear) makes the effect which the Moon would have on these patients unobservable.
This means that only two groups of highly sensitive individuals remain: Mystics and werewolves. Unfortunately we don't have much evidence of werewolves existing or having ever existed and lycanthropes, which are the closest we can get to the hairy mythological creatures are too small in number and hard to get a hold of (also they have been confirmed mentally ill which means we would run into the same problems we did before), so here we have not much of an option. This leaves us with the Mystics.
A mystic is usually defined as a person who has made it his or her mission to achieve unity with God. To attain this lofty goal a mystic practices techniques like, intense forms of prayer, meditation, sacred music and dance, dream and visionary work, lengthy rituals, communication with Gods or saints, or other spirits of nature or making use of raw natural forces and a whole bunch of other techniques in the context of things like cultural-, religious- and or non-religious background, tradition or non-tradition said mystic choses to be part of, often in a process of constant experimentation, to find the tradition and/or techniques with which he or she will be the most capable of growing toward his or her fullest potential (as a mystic).
From Shamans, Magickians, Monks both east and west, Sufi's, Thelemites, Daoists, Wiccans and Witches, devout religious people, or wherever you can find someone who has as his or her main intention to seek unity with the Divine or Highest Source of Being, even if this means that the paths they walk toward this goal may be vastly different. The goal however is the same.
Diana, Roman Goddess of the Hunt, the Moon and Nature -- The Diana of Versailles, a 2nd-century Roman version in the Greek tradition of iconography (Louvre Museum, Paris).
But not only do mystics share an identical goal the "symptoms", or changes which occur within themselves together with the completion of every stage of Spiritual Development as a result of mystical practices, are also mostly very similar. Some of these symptoms include: Greater compassion, actual brainchanges which we can measure, open-mindedness, a greater ability to accept and adapt to change, feelings of ecstacy and being able to operate on and endure higher frequencies of consciousness, feeling compassion and love toward every human being, animal, plant and everything which lives, achieving and experiencing wholesomeness through unification of duality within themselves, and feelings of strong connection with Nature and The Universe so much so that the boundaries between subject and object tend to disappear and the mystic feels at One with everything which exists, often resulting in a belief in (or rather experiencing of) Pantheism: The view that Nature, The Universe, All which exists including the potential Multiverse is, in fact, God (or Divine).
As we have here individuals, with highly trained sensitivity who have seemingly found their way back to, or are at a minimum a whole lot closer to The Nature which created us, is then the next logical step for us not to consult their wisdom and maybe use this wisdom to find our own ways back, not only just to have some more Moon in our own lives, but some more Sun, Stars, and what lies beyond deep within us as well?
As we look down upon the animals we have gotten so used to look down upon, who are still aware of their nature and that cyclicality within Nature which is represented by the Moon above all, have we not actually digressed once we began to remove ourselves from nature and The Moon which in many an Occult and Mystery Tradition represents our own deepest emotions and unconscious mind? Would society not be better off if we were less fragmented and more in touch with Nature? Would we as individuals not be better off if our minds and being would be less fragmented and more in touch with Nature?
Are the ever rising numbers of people with mental disorders in the West not an indication of Nature within us rising up and out of the great cultural repression of that same Nature resulting in a conscious awareness of the devastating dichotomy between It and the artificial flatland, natureless and spiritless lives we have constructed for ourselves?
As the Moon is a giant mirror which reflects the light of the Sun, my suggestion is that we take a good look at it so that it can illumine and show us those parts of ourselves deep beneath the surface of our being. So that it can bring those parts into our conscious awareness at our own pace before the dams crash and the waters of the unconscious comes crushing in destroying everything it finds in its way.
And may that archetype of the dark and the down-below, personified in Greek religion as The Goddess Hekate, be our guide and guardian during our scary underworld adventure, and light with her twin torches our way below, as the Moon shines from above.
Hekate, Greek Goddess of Magick, Witchcraft, Darkness and the Moon
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*http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982213007549