December 30, 2010--Lunacy
Here, with windows facing east and south and west and the swing of the tides visible right over the dune line, we live with the moon.
Last week's final full moon of the declined year rose in our east-facing window as far south as we are to see it for some months; and as the earth early the next morning moved in perfect synchronization with the sun and our only natural satellite, the moon was fully eclipsed by the earth's dark shadow.
No wonder, etymologically, lunacy followed as we for a few minutes were transformed, gape-mouthed, by the wonders of La Luna.
So I can't wait to get my hands on Bernd Brunner's new book, Moon: A Brief History. In a review that appeared in Tuesday's New York Times (linked), we learn that our moon formed four and a half billion years ago when a sizable chuck of the earth was jarred loose after a collision with a celestial object the size of Mars. Repeat, the size of Mars!
But beyond a recounting of celestial science, the book, more interestingly, is devoted to how the very existence of the moon has fired the imagination of all of earth's peoples from before historic times to the present, has contributed to the myth hoard of all religions, and haunted the spirits of writers and visual artists. Marcel Proust, our greatest observer, famously wrote of the moon's capacity to inspire, of "the ancient unalterable splendor of a Moon cruelly and mysteriously serene."
A moon that to Siberian shamans adds magical powers while to the Aztecs the moon in its dark phase was thought to bring death. And how both are still true for us today. In spite of our advanced knowledge, regardless of what we know from our science, on a dark and chilly night as the moon breeches the distant horizon, how many of us have not thought about magic and death?
Last week's final full moon of the declined year rose in our east-facing window as far south as we are to see it for some months; and as the earth early the next morning moved in perfect synchronization with the sun and our only natural satellite, the moon was fully eclipsed by the earth's dark shadow.
No wonder, etymologically, lunacy followed as we for a few minutes were transformed, gape-mouthed, by the wonders of La Luna.
So I can't wait to get my hands on Bernd Brunner's new book, Moon: A Brief History. In a review that appeared in Tuesday's New York Times (linked), we learn that our moon formed four and a half billion years ago when a sizable chuck of the earth was jarred loose after a collision with a celestial object the size of Mars. Repeat, the size of Mars!
But beyond a recounting of celestial science, the book, more interestingly, is devoted to how the very existence of the moon has fired the imagination of all of earth's peoples from before historic times to the present, has contributed to the myth hoard of all religions, and haunted the spirits of writers and visual artists. Marcel Proust, our greatest observer, famously wrote of the moon's capacity to inspire, of "the ancient unalterable splendor of a Moon cruelly and mysteriously serene."
A moon that to Siberian shamans adds magical powers while to the Aztecs the moon in its dark phase was thought to bring death. And how both are still true for us today. In spite of our advanced knowledge, regardless of what we know from our science, on a dark and chilly night as the moon breeches the distant horizon, how many of us have not thought about magic and death?
posted by Steven Zwerling at
5:08 AM
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