Over the Moon, Religiously Speaking

 

 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
    praise him in the heights!
² Praise him, all his angels;
    praise him, all his host!

³ Praise him, sun and moon;
    praise him, all you shining stars!
⁴ Praise him, you highest heavens,
    and you waters above the heavens!

⁵ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for he commanded and they were created.
⁶ He established them forever and ever;
    he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed

Psalm 148: 1-6

This is the first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the forecast says in will be sunny and hold the promise of the season with a modest but hopeful high of 8 degrees celsius. We will also experience a full moon tonight, a so-called supermoon, the final supermoon of 2019, don't you know. In case you care about these things, the equinox (equal daytime and night-time) occurs around 6:00 this evening and the full moon at roughly 10:00.





Leaders of the Sanhedrin proclaim full moon with trumpets

Judaism has traditionally observed each month's full moon as a minor religious holiday and there is a blessing which is still used in orthodox Jewish communities to mark the occasion. 

The moon is also important in Islam and there is currently an exhibit at the Aga Khan museum in Toronto which includes artifacts from different centuries. I plan to take it in and will report on my experience later.

And once again, I'll mention that Christian Easter is always on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring equinox...got that? This year Good Friday is the day of that full moon (April 19th), so Easter is April 21st.




Moon Sculpture Luke Jerram -- Aga Khan Museum