A Cosmic and Religious Experience

For the next couple of nights the August moon will appear full -- if we can see it through the cloud. Imagine, it has actually rained today! According to the Farmer's Almanac this is the Sturgeon Moon, a reference to the harvesting of once plentiful and now rare sturgeon fish by Indigenous peoples in an earlier time. It's likely to be orangey in colour, if visible, and will probably be clearest near noon tomorrow morning -- really. 

I love that there celestial sightings such as the phases of the moon have been auspicious for various reasons in different cultures for millenia. They mark key times for basic human survival but they have been observed for religious reasons. As I've written often enough before, both the Jewish Passover and Christian Easter are set according to the first full moon of the Spring Equinox. Jesus may have been visible to those who searched him out in the Garden of Gethsemane because he was bathed in moonlight. 

A few days ago I came upon a card I had on my church study bulletin board for years. It's a woodcut by a Jewish printer from Holland published in 1707. It's called Blessing of the New Moon, a nod to the practice of the elders.

In our age of light pollution looking skyward to create a sense of solemnity and wonder may be even more important than ever, even though we may not realize what we're missing because we never see it.

While it's not likely you'll be doing any sturgeon fishing, look for that full moon over the next couple of days, and perhaps search out the Perseid Meteor Shower while you're at it. It could be a cosmic and religious experience.  

Paul Gauguin as Christ on the Mount of Olives  1889