The Moon

Abstract

The Moon is the Earth’s only natural satellite. To the naked eye it is one of the most splendid of the heavenly bodies and it has held the fascination of mankind for thousands of years. It has long been known that the tides were related to the position of the Moon, and the highwaymen of old certainly concentrated their activities around the time of full Moon, when the illumination that it provided was at its greatest. Various gods have been associated with the Moon since ancient times. Many superstitions are connected with the Moon. It is supposed to be unlucky to look at the crescent Moon through glass (some people say “the new Moon”, but the new Moon cannot be seen at all — they really mean the thin crescent Moon!). It is commonly held that insanity increases at the time of the full Moon. Probably connected with this is the legend of lycanthropy!