Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Autumnal Icon
You know those old-time Halloween illustrations showing a witch silhouetted in front of a huge full moon? You'll get a chance to see a huge full moon later this week, but if you see a witch gliding in front of it I'd like to hear about it.
I swear the full moons are bigger in the midwest, but perhaps it's just the way it looks over the flat horizon there. I've read about the moon illusion, but it's more fun to just look at it and believe it's bigger when lower in the sky. However, this month's full moon (aka the Hunter's Moon) really is going to be larger. The moon makes its closest approach to Earth this calendar year very close to the time of the full moon.
So far, our autumn has been hardly distinguishable from summer. I'm not complaining (too much) but I'm ready to start cleaning up the garden and planting bulbs, and my weather cues tell me it's too soon for those tasks. Maybe the full moon will bring a change.
4 Comments:
Did you ever cut out silhouettes of a witch from black construction paper to paste on a yellow paper moon at school? That was probably no longer allowed by the time you were there, Entangled ;-]
Maybe the Moon Illusion accounts for the way it looks in the movie Moonstruck? Time to get out the DVD.
I'll hope for a clear night when the Hunter's Moon rises, and wish that an owl flies across its face.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Full moons always bring change, don't they? I hope it clears up so we can see it nice and big here in the midwest. I'll watch for witches on broom sticks and wise old owls to fly by and give a full report.
Carol at May Dreams Gardens
Look carefully, you may see Annie...I mean Glinda gliding across the full moon's face. ;) The huge orange moon at the horizon are quite a sight. Quite interesting that the moons orbit around the earth doesn't have any deviation at all, none whatsoever so we only see one face.
Interesting too that different cultures see either a man (western/European) /woman (Chinese) or rabbit in the moon. The Aztec, Chinese and Japanese see a rabbit. Other cultures see a frog, moose, buffalo etc. All examples of Pareidolia, essentially an illusion seen as something distinct. Like seeing an image of the madonna in a burnt piece of toast. :)
Annie: Hmmm, I remember doing a lot of things with construction paper in grade school, but I don't really remember exactly what they were - maybe turkeys at Thanksgiving? I don't think we did any witches though.
You know, I've never seen Moonstruck all the way through - just parts of it while flipping channels. Another one to add to the Netflix queue.
Carol: My grandfather always believed that the weather changes at the full moon - it's a day early, but we're getting rain today. I miss watching the moon rise over the cornfields.
Ki: How could I have forgotten about Annie's other persona? Thanks for reminding me. (Sorry, Annie.)
OK, now I have to go look up Pareidolia. I knew about the East Asians seeing a rabbit there, but didn't realize the Aztecs did as well. I just barely remember that I used to see a face in the moon when I was young and imaginative, but now I just see lava and craters. <sigh>
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