'The course of the
path of the Moon is a light to the righteous’
In our multi-cultural society, let’s honour the
sacred moons of different cultures. The calendars
of the great religions were founded on the lunar
cycle, and lunar-based sacred calendars still have
the force of living custom among peoples of the
world. Many cultures begin their year on a New
Moon, which is the proper time for new beginnings.
Let’s look at these dates for five world religions
- Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism
- plus the Chinese State calendar. The honouring
these sacred moons of different cultures can be
a socially cohesive force in the modern world. The
months were originally lunar, and still are in
the Jewish and Muslim calendars. To keep in step
with the solar year, a thirteenth month is added
every third year.
Muslims don’t do this, their year has only 12 lunar
months, and it moves round by 11 days every year,
moving slowly backwards against the solar year.
In 2008, the Muslim year is entirely contained
within the solar year. A month later there
comes the New Moon of the Mardi Gras (‘fat Tuesday’)
which is a Tuesday-after-the-New Moon festival:
this is a time to party, and a climax of the carnival
season (NB, the British have pancake day instead). Ramadan,
the ninth month in the Muslim year, begins at the
September New Moon, as it will again do so thirty-three
years hence, for that is how long their year takes
to revolve against the four seasons.
Muslims are meant to experience the start of the
month, so that they begin one or two days after
the calendrical New Moons: they aim to see the
thin crescent of the New Moon in the evening sky,
when their month begins. Thus their New Year
stars on 10th January in 2008, after the New Moon
of the 8th.
The Chinese sensibly begin their year at the New
Moon nearest to the quarter-day of Imbolc or Candelmas,
and this falls on 7th February. Things start their
life in the darkness, as a seed germinates in the
dark womb of the Earth, and so the ‘dark’ time
of the month when no Moon is visible, in the dark
and cold time of the year (January/ February),
seems a right time to have this important celebration.
It will be their Year of the Rat – their sequence
of twelve years is the Chinese version of the Jupiter
cycle:
Jupiter spends one year in front of each of the
‘twelve constellations.’
The Chinese new year on the February New Moon is
just after Carnival Day ‘Mardi Gras.’ You have
to clear out your clutter, pay off debts and, with
the aid of a dragon, chase away the winter blues.
Buddhism does not impose a single New Year’s day,
because it didn’t conquer nations, so the day they
celebrate varies in different ‘Buddhist’ states.
However, they do have a major Full Moon festival
for Buddha’s birthday, called Wesak, which falls
on May 20th. This is two months after the Easter
Full Moon, and it’s a fortnight before the New
Moon which this year coincides with the pagan festival
of Beltane. The month-long fast of Ramadan begins
for Muslims on the same New Moon as the Jewish
new year, on the New Moon nearest to the autumn
Equinox, in September. Later in the year the big
Hindu New-Year festival of Diwali starts on the
New Moon of October 28th.
Christianity has rather suppressed the lunar calendar,
except for Easter, where Easter Sunday follows
the first Full Moon after the spring equinox. One
celebrates the burgeoning forces of spring and
renewal on Easter Sunday, 23rd of March. Easter
is so early this year, hard to believe isn’t it?
Its on the first Sunday after the Full Moon after
the equinox, and the relevant Full Moon falls just
one day after the Equinox.
Through these sacred events one can experience
the concept of the New Moon as a beginning. In
ancient Greece the wedding-month of Gamelia, January/February,
pertained especially to the New Moon of that month. ‘Monogamy’
derives from this old word. Thus marriages were
made in the dark time of the year and of the month.
Things start to grow in the darkness, like a seed
sprouting under the soil. In today’s electric-light
society one is hardly able to sense the significance
of this time of the month when the Moon cannot
be seen by day or night.
Mental health, balance in life and happiness are
all assisted by living more in tune with the lunar
month.
Sacred Moons of 2008
How early Easter comes this year! Also of interest,
is the way the entire Muslim year is contained
within the year 2008. It can do that, because it’s
11 days shorter. Here are the seven ‘sacred moons’
of 2008, i.e. the Full Moons of Easter and Wesak
(Buddhist) plus other New Moon festivals.
Here are the Sacred Moons of 2008
Muslim New Year
Chinese New Year
Easter Sunday
Hindu New Year
Buddhist Wesak
Start of Ramadan
Jewish New Year
Hindu Diwali
|
10th Jan
7th Feb
23rd March
6th April
20th May
2nd Sept
29-30th Sept
28th October |
new moon on 8th
new Moon on 7th
full Moon on 20th
new Moon on 7th
full Moon on 20th
new Moon on 30th Aug
new Moon on 30th Aug
new Moon on 27th Oct |
Nick Kollerstrom is a astrologer and astral philosopher
and produces a yearly Moon calendar - Gardening
& Planting by the Moon for 2008 which
is for sale on this site in our shop.
