Full Moon - Impermanence

Friday 1/29/10 time 3:16 PM - Karuna

There are many different studies, opinions and perspectives on whether or not the moon, especially the full moon, affects humans.  Some speculate there are more births, deaths and erratic behavior during the full moon.  Other say judges are more lenient on full moons than other times during the month.

Whether or not you agree with any of the theories posited, there is one clear fact – the moon affects the earth.  The oceans’ tides are due to the gravity pull of the moon, and the tides are lower and higher when there is a full moon, even more so when the moon reaches perigee, or the closest point to the earth.

This month’s full moon – Wolf Moon – the moon is at perigee.  It will appear bigger and brighter because of its closeness.  It will also pull the waters of the oceans into greater high and low tides. 

These are scientific facts that are not disputed.  How then – if the moon’s gravity can pull the earth’s massive oceans – can we humans not be affected by the moon?  It may not matter how we are affected so much as, yes we are affected.  I know I am often more depressed and more irritable just before the full moon, and that those symptoms ease as the full moon wanes.  Other times I can be happier or contemplative as the moon waxes to fullness. 

We so often want to find the source of our unhappiness, irritability, moodiness and suffering.  We also want relief as soon as possible.  As with everything in life (yes, everything) the moon’s affect, my feelings, the suffering and even my happiness are all impermanent – all will change.  Grasping to the search for release or explanation limits our ability to be with what is happening, and what we are feeling.  Knowing it will pass can offer us a different kind of liberation, into the domain of the presence of the moment.  What the presence of the moment can offer us is a glimpse into ourselves that we can not get any other way.  We can see how our feelings shift, change and ease and intensify.  We can witness the ebbs and flow of our thoughts and judgments, and what triggers, exacerbates and frees them.  If we really allow ourselves to be in that domain of the present with curiosity instead of hoping for an answer and solution, then we can hold ourselves with greater compassion.

So, let yourself be affected by the moon in whatever way it happens for you.  Know that we all are waxing and waning and waxing again, ebbing and flowing in the tidal movement that is our life.  May we all experience compassion for ourselves and others in this full moon and throughout the year.  For the benefit of all beings!

Peace.