Supernatural Friday: Moon Superstitions

A full moon rising on Friday the 13 is a very rare occurrence, with the next predicted to happen by NASA in August 2049. The last Friday the 13 full moon happened in October 2000.

                        Full Moon rising over Old Town Petersburg in July.

This past June 2014 we had what is called a strawberry moon. The “strawberry” moon, gets its name from the reddish color, and according to the Farmer’s Almanac, June is strawberry season.

In folklore, there are many myths concerning full moons and Friday the 13 that have led to superstitions surrounding the full moon. An ancient Babylonian manuscript prescribes that women are more fertile during a full moon. Many women today believe that their menstrual cycles correspond to the moon. There are stories that more women go into labor during the full moon. This belief has not been confirmed by scientific studies. In ancient Greece, Diana the Goddess of the Hunt was associated with both the moon and child-birth, demonstrating that this is an ancient association held by humans for centuries.

The most common myth surrounding the full moon is that it evokes madness. The word “lunacy” stems from the root “lunar.” From werewolves to myths about a higher rate of insanity homicide, and suicide, lunacy affected by the full moon appears frequently in old folklore.  There is no significant relationship between the full moon and insane or anti-social behavior though. Because the moon is such a powerful astronomical force that affects the earth’s tides and allows humans to track their lives according to a lunar monthly cycle, these kind of superstitions about the full moon are still popular.

Like there is the one that some people believe that there is a link between the full moon and seizures. Another tells about the full moon and the appearance of black cats. Some people believe that there must be a strong link between the moon and human behavior because of how much the moon affects the earth from a physical standpoint.

When I did an investigation in July on the full moon night, my group and I had some interesting paranormal results. Whether that was due to the moon as some think, it is hard to prove.

In Ireland it was believed to be bad luck to see the full moon reflected in a mirror. The worse luck happened if a person stared at the moon through the branches of a tree. The worst luck of all was if the light of the full moon shone on your face as you slept. If this happened, it meant that you were going to die.

A blood moon (like one happened in April 3014) signals a certain foreboding. Like the portent of the apocalypse. Though the moon has turned “into blood” several times before, and nothing apocalyptic happened.

Mothers refused to hang their baby’s nappies out in the moonlight for fear of bad luck.” A 1621 guide to healthy living helpfully offers the following advice: “When thou goest to thy bed… draw close the curtaines to shut out the Moone-light, which is very offensive and hurtfull to the braine, especially to those that sleepe.”

Those careless enough to sleep under a full moon risked insanity, blindness, or even being turned into a werewolf (but only if it happened to be a Friday night).

Pointing at the moon has been considered unlucky. Some say that the “man in the moon” residing there, considers it rude. A superstition from the British Isles says that anyone who points at the moon nine times cannot enter heaven, no matter how pious he or she has been.

It was believed in ancient times, that moon’s silvery glow was made of silver. That is the reason the metal became one of its symbols.

The commonest superstitions connected with the new moon are: seeing the thin crescent over the left shoulder is lucky.  Seeing it straight before you will signify good luck to the end of the season. Any wish made at the first sight of the new moon will come true, Superstitious persons believe that the time of the new moon is propitious to planting, courtship, the starting of new business ventures or trips, cutting the hair or fingernails to effect better growth, and many other things to be done.

Supernatural Friday: Demons-Part 2

Last week I talked about demons, and how they are a part of Judaic and Christianity. Today, demons of other rleigions and races get their chance.

Assyrians may have had the first demon tales. Besides having the public and official cult of the "twelve great gods and subordinate divinities," they also did sorcery and magic. Below the upper gods, there was a huge lore of spirits, some good, others evil and hurtful. Interestingly enough, these spirits were classified with same methods and more to the choirs and orders of Judaic and Christian angelic hierarchy.

There were three books (most likely clay tablets) that had a great magical work. Each of these tablets ends with the title, Tablet #--of Evil Spirits. Besides known as udukku (spirit), a demon was also called ecimmu, or maskimmu.On of these was a special class called sedu--divine bull. It is represented as a man-headed bull (not unlike the Greek myth of the Minotaur--maybe even the Christian devil represented with horn and a forked tail?). No doubt the name was the source for the Hebrew word for demon. Though it was also a beneficient or tutelary spirit, to rival nation it can be corrupted to an evil being.

Demon lore in Mesopotamia was rich; the Mesopotamians feeling they were under constant attack from evil on all sides. Demonic entities usually were spirits caused by natural forces such as fire, plagues, droughts, infants dying from crib deaths and diseases. They assumed fantastically-shaped creatures made up from several parts of living things like scorpions, lions, serpents and hawks. One example of this was the Sumerian demon, Pazuzu, who was made famous by the horror film, "The Exorcist." It had four wings, clawed feet of a hawk, and a snarling lion-like face.

Mesopotamians fought these demons back with magic. Placing special bowls inscribed with special word charms upside down under their houses' foundations, they hoped to catch these demos and prevent them from entering their homes through the ground. Amulets with avertive verses against certain demons (like those who attack the lives of women giving birth) also were made.

After Babylonians were captured, ancient Hebrews assorbed much of Sumerian demons and lore into their own folklore. Over time, these became Jewish demons, like Lilith, who strangled children in their cribs and visited solitary men in their beds to seduce and caused nocturnal emissions. Lilith began life as a Babylonian demon known as the lilitu. She mutated into the first wife of Adam, who refused obedience to God.

Another source of demonologies is presented in the Avesta, the sacred book of the Mazdean religion of Zoroaster. Zoroastrianism is the doctrine teaching of Zarathustra, also known as Mazdaism, Bah Din, Parasiism, and Fire-worship.

This doctrine was founded by the Persian prophet, Zoroaster of Zarathustra around 720-541 B.C. He claimed he received these revelations when conversing with Ahura Mazda (Lord of Wisdom). These ancient religion, not popular like the Assyrians, still exists in the Parsee community. It talks about the war between light and dark, that good and evil is eternal. This myth is based on the Persian worship of the ahuras, good deities eternally at war with evil daevas. Is this not sound like Christian doctrine of eternal struggles between Heaven and Hell? What Zoroaster's system did is do away with a single deity in favor os a cosmic struggle between the good Ahura Mazda (Ormzad) and Ahriman (Anro Mainya), the cruel Evil Spirit, the Demon of Demons (Daevanam Daeva).

Though differences prevailed between the Avesta and the devil in Scripture and Christian theology, the essential fight between good and evil is similar in both cases. Also the pictures of the holiness and fidelity of Zoroaster when assailed by the temptations and persecutions of Anro Mainyus and his demonic entities is faintly close to the scene of the temptation of Jesus Christ in the desert.

Demons in Greek mythology may have gotten their heritage from the former civilizations of the Indus. Some of the creatures from Greek mythology are integrated into Jewish and Christian demonology--the hydra, Titans, Pan, and mermaids.

Tibetan demonology integrated into Buddhism and the main local branches. Though often misunderstood or misinterpreted, the scope of the still-know iconography is living proof that the pre-Buddhist Bon-Po tradition gave birth to their terrifying monsters. Today they are considered as an angry form of divinities and pure emptiness, before they were considered fearsome demons and gods who ruled the mysterious heights of the planet.