The Moon is Weird
weirder than you think
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Are you a moon person? I bet a lot of you are.
If you are mesmerized, captivated, and enchanted by her, then you’re definitely a moon person. You love a full moon and are regularly aware of her phases. Many, many people find the moon beautiful and fascinating.
But do you know how weird the moon is? Let's look at some of the very unusual things about the moon.
Our moon is the largest moon in relation to its host planet in this or any solar system we know. The moon's orbit is extremely and unusually close to Earth.
Solar eclipses are only possible because of the astounding coincidence of the sizes and distances of the earth, moon, and sun.
There is no astronomical reason why the moon and the Sun fit so well together. It's the sheerest of coincidences, and only the Earth among all the planets is blessed in this fashion,
Isaac Asimov
The moon is too close and big compared to other moons and planets. Comparisons to other planets and moons suggest that our moon should only be forty miles in diameter, yet it is much larger at 2,000 miles wide.
The barycenter or center of gravity between the earth and the moon is inside the earth, which means the moon's orbit should wobble. While there is a slight wobble in the moon's orbit, its orbit is the most circular orbit ever seen.
Some scientists speculate that the moon doesn't wobble much in orbit because it's not very dense. But if the moon and earth formed simultaneously, the leading theory about how the moon formed, why is the Earth so much more dense?
The moon is also locked in orbit, so the same side always faces earth. This is highly unusual among moons and planets.
The Moon May Be Hollow
The Lunar Orbiter experiments vastly improved our knowledge of the moon's gravitational field, indicating the frightening possibility that the moon might be hollow.
Dr. Sean C. Solomon MIT
During the 1969 Apollo mission, seismometers were placed on the moon, and the Ascent stage module was intentionally crashed into the moon to gather seismic data. To NASA scientists' surprise, the moon rang like a bell for over an hour. We may never get an answer to the question "Why does the moon ring like a bell?" because the next mission to investigate this phenomenon, Apollo 17 and the Chapel Bell project, remains classified to this day.
In 1970, two Soviet scientists proposed that the moon is an artificially created spacecraft brought to Earth long ago. For real, this is not science fiction; it's legit scientific speculation.
Craters on the moon are weird, too. Usually, when an asteroid collides with a planet, it leaves a crater. The bigger the asteroid, the deeper the crater. But on the moon, no matter the object's size that impacted it, the crater is never more than a couple of miles deep.
We also know from data collected that the moon's outer shell is denser than its inner core, the exact opposite of every other celestial body ever studied. Even odder is that the moon dust and soil on the moon's surface are older than the rock and soil from the moon's interior. It should be the other way around.
Looking at all the anomalies and unanswered questions about the moon, the best explanation for the moon is an observational error, it doesn't exist.
Irwin Shapiro, Astrophysicist, Harvard University
It's easier to explain the non-existence of the moon, than its existence.
Robin Brett NASA
We cannot help but come to the conclusion that the moon, by rights, ought not to be there. The fact that it is, is one of those strokes of luck almost too good to accept.
Isaac Asimov
There's an interesting thread among ancient texts that remembers a time before there was a moon in the sky and how the moon's arrival changed things on Earth.
The ancient Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh and an ancient Zulu legend reference this. Aristotle talks about an ancient people who lived in a time before the moon. Apollonius of Rhodes writes about a time before the moon was in the sky. Plutarch described the Arcadians as a pre-lunar people. Ovid also described the Arcadians as "folk older than the moon." In Bolivia, at Tiwanaku, there are ancient carvings depicting the moon coming into orbit around the Earth thousands of years ago.
For such a common sight in the night sky, something we take for granted and often ignore, there are undoubtedly many unusual things about the moon. This may explain some of our fascination with her.
Do we, at an intuitive level, sense her mysterious qualities? Do we possess a remnant of an ancient ancestral memory about the moon?
I have a long history of loving the moon. I've explored many of the myths around moon goddesses from various cultures. I've included imagery of the moon in many of my intuitively created collages.
The moon is often considered a feminine or yin symbol, but not always.
The moon in alchemy is the White Queen, and her counterpart is the Red King, the Sun. In Greek mythology, Apollo and Artemis are twins, He the Sun and She the Moon.
There's plenty of mythology about the moon to explore and many ways to enter into the symbolic and archetypal energies and patterns that correspond to the moon. In Tarot, the Moon card symbolizes deception, distortion, and shadowy power. Yet, when you cross reference Tarot and Astrology, the moon as a planet is represented by The High Priestess.
The weirdness of the moon makes her all the more potent for inner work.
If you're a moon person, take this opportunity to share in the comments what the moon means to you, how you work with her, and what kinds of experiences you have had. I'd love to hear!
The comments section is a safe and welcoming space to share your insights and experiences.
Comments and conversation are always appreciated and enjoyed, so feel free to let your voice be heard. I read them all and try to respond to each one.
Thank you for reading Hedge Mystic and participating in this vibrant and growing community of creative, spiritual humans. You are always welcome here, appreciated, and loved.
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Discussion is encouraged. Leave your reactions and insights in the comments.
she is weird because in Italy where i live agriculture is practiced according to her cycles: to sow specific plants, to prune fruit trees, to bottle up wine or oil you should wait for a waning moon.
People who inhabited the Earth before the Moon is such a fun concept.