The full moon due on the 25th (of March) was called the Maple
Sugar Moon by the Chippewas because that’s when the sap flowed
the freest. According to the Celts, it’s the Nuinne, whose
purpose is The Weighing of Truth.
Our ancestors were vitally interested in the celestial bodies
and studied them carefully because they needed to know when to
plant and when to harvest. Some cultures, like the Chinese and
the Celts, even based their calendar on the lunar year.
Full moons always had particular fascination – if nothing else,
they’re hard to miss – and they figure in folklore from many
cultures. They’re associated with everything from werewolves, to
the pull of the tides, to increased crimes of violence, to the
lunacy of falling in love and other aberrant behavior. Well,
“lunatic” comes from the Latin word for the moon, “luna.”
The full moon is also thought to bring on childbirth. According
to at least one hospital administrator, it’s not a myth. In
“Moonstruck?” written by reporter Robert Lovinger, Debbie
Raposo, director of women’s and children’s health at St. Luke’s
Hospital in New Bedford, at the time the article was written,
said she’d actually tried to staff her maternity unit with that
in mind.
“Clearly, more babies are born around the full moon,” Raposo was
quoted as saying.
A statistical analysis of her hospital showed a correlation,
though other studies have not found statistical relevance. See:
http://www.s-t.com/daily/01-99/01-31-99/e01li135.htm . In fact,
most scientific research disproves any lunar effects on
behavior. I. W. Kelly, professor of educational psychology at
the U. of Saskatchewan and chairman of the Committee for the
Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal did some
research back in 1986 on the lunar effect in collaboration with
an astronomer from Colorado State University. His meta-analysis
(a study of studies) found too many statistical errors in the
original studies. Back Kelly came in 1996, along with Rotton and
Culver, to study the lunar effects on the homicide rate, traffic
accident, calls to the police and fire department, domestic
violence, birth of babies, suicides, assassinations, casino
payout rates, kidnappings, aggression by pro hockey players,
violence in prisons, major disasters, agitated behavior by
nursing home residents, assaults, alcoholism, and more. They
found no significant correlations. See:
http://skepdic.com/fullmoon.html .
Why is it, then, that people in the trenches, like bartenders,
ER physicians, maternity nurses, policemen and psychiatrists (at
least one has written a book called “The Lunar Effect”), and my
next door neighbor all attest to the fact that things hop up
around the time of a full moon? And why is it in the folklore?
Is there something we know intuitively about it?
Raposo said the psychiatric ward at her hospital noticed the
same effect, and the local police captain at the time, one Capt.
Paul Cardalino, noted that “during full moons, it seems there
are more problems with family disputes domestic violence, and
people who are unstable.”
A minister friend of mine said she “knew” the full moon affected
people because she’d worked in an old folks’ home. “They kept
trying to get out when there was a full moon,” she told me, “and
we’d find them wandering the streets if we didn’t lock the
doors.”
There’s at least one study confirming -- Dr. Leiber’s study (J
Clin Psychiatry. 1978. May 39(5): 385-92), postulates “the
existence of a biological rhythm of human aggression which
resonates with the lunar synodic cycle.” Interesting that this
is the study that finds that psychiatric emergency room visits
decline around the full moon. (This isn’t necessarily good news
though, folks; those who enter the P-ER are there to get help.
If they aren’t there, where are they and what are they doing?)
Alan Hirshfeld, professor of physics and astronomy at the
University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, also felt it’s been
disproven, but added, I assume without prompting, “People may
tend to get more romantically inclined…”
There are also all those theories about the tides and the fact
that we humans are 80% water. Cecil Adams, in his “The Straight
Dope” (
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_337.html )
points out that other things besides the moon exert influence on
us: “Researchers have calculated that a mother holding her baby
exerts 12 million times the tide-raising force on the child that
the moon does, simply by virtue of being closer.”
It sounds like the researchers were talking about physical
movement. We’re talking about emotions, very watery things
indeed. But who exerts more emotional pull on an infant than the
mother holding it? You see how complex it all is …
It also should be noted that the nearness of the moon affects
the tides, not the phase of the moon. Kelly, Rotton, and Culver
attributed the persistent myths to four things: (1) media
effects; (2) folkore and tradition; (3) misconception (i.e., the
tidal force of the moon depends on its distance from earth, not
its phase), and (4) cognitive biases (all bad events don’t occur
during the full moon and all events that occur during the full
moon aren’t bad!).
So where does Emotional Intelligence come in? Emotions are
strong and they’re also contagious. Some of us are more open to
“suggestions” than others, and more effected by the emotions of
those around us, and by tradition, the media, and so forth. EQ
is about self-awareness. I invite you to observe things around
this full moon. Self-management is key to emotional
intelligence, and related to success in relationships, career,
and life, as well as to our wellness. Here’s how it works. IF
the full moon exerts pressure on us to act irrationally, so do
other things, like PMS, heat, toxic people, crowded conditions
and stress. IF others around you were to start acting more
looney than usual, they also do during conflict, bankruptcy,
stock market fluctuations, personal crises, and stress; and,
IF other people ‘believe in’ the lunar effect, it’s part of
reality. No matter what ‘effects’ are going, using your EQ can
help you function at your best, and manage your environment
positively.
The werewolf, metaphorically, is about letting your reptilian
brain take over and hijack your reasoning. You get too tired,
too hungry, too stressed, or are assaulted, and you turn into a
‘beast,’ yes??
We have to cope with emotional “pulls” all the time. Because of
our limbic connection with other humans, which is what makes our
bonding possible, we can tell what others feel, and it can get
to us. Being aware of how you’re affected by other things –
people, circumstances, your own emotions, and possibly full
moons – is knowledge you can use for better self- and
other-management. Then you can respond to circumstances, not
just react to them in a knee-jerk, sometimes beastly, fashion,
yes?
Does the full moon cause aberrant behavior, including that
craziest behavior of all – falling in love? We don’t know. We do
know the full moon is beautiful.
I think of a cruise I took during a full moon not long ago. Who
wouldn’t fall in love standing on the deck of a ship watching
the full moon rise over the endless ocean with no signs of
civilization in sight – fall in love with the person standing
next to you, the one you left back home, with the night, with
life, with the wonder of it all? “And all the night’s magic
seems to whisper and hush. And all the soft moonlight seems to
shine in your blush.” (Van Morrison, “Moondance”)
It’s your full moon. Make it a good one! Use your EQ.
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