Can the phases of the moon affect mood?”
The earth is surrounded by an ionosphere. It is above the ‘sky’ where the clouds are. In this picture you can see approximately how small the earth is compared to the ionized plasma which surrounds it. Between the earth’s surface and the D layer is the earth-to-ionosphere cavity. When disturbed, this cavity can ring like a bell, at seven cycles per second. This is the same frequency as our alpha brain waves. When the moon is full, it is on one side of the earth and the sun is on the other. There is a gravitational ‘tugging’ that takes place and the cavity starts the ringing. Some people’s brains are extremely susceptible to this effect. Everyone probably is to some extent, but that is the cause and it is a real phenomena. It was confirmed by an incident that happened in the South Pacific in the 1960’s. My husband can’t remember the exact date, but the incident was noted very strongly in Sydney, Australia. The French were testing an atomic bomb and they refused to say the day or time. H
One study in Florida found that murder rates increase when there’s a full moon. The Moon and Murder Ever heard the term “lunacy”? It’s actually defined in the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary as “intermittent insanity once believed to be related to phases of the moon.” In fact, in England in the 18th century, a person who committed a murder during a full moon could plead “lunacy” and get a lighter sentence. Back in the 1970s, a study was published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry that found some interesting results. Homicides in Dade County, Florida appeared to rise and fall with the phases of the moon over a 15-year period. In other words, the murder rate rose with the full or new moon. The study’s author, psychiatrist Arnold Lieber, theorized that since humans are composed mostly of water (like the earth), our bodies might have “biological tides” that influence our emotions. He even wrote a book about it called “
Scientifically, there is not enough evidence to support this claim… Based on faith and folklore, some people believe this is true. No, socialogically (and possibly instinctually) speaking, this could be a product of that fact that way back when, when we were still in small societies or even pre-society, when it was dark at night, we could not accomplish much at all. But, one those dark nights, when the sky was clear and the moon was full, sometimes that provided enough light to get some things done, but also just enough darkness to still be sneaky. People and society might have evolved with this in mind. On those moonlit nights, it is a time for some mischief, it is a time that we had a good shot to get away with sometime.
Probably someone will find a study on this. I think some truth to it. The moon negates some of Earth’s gravity by countering it with a pull of its own. The oceans swell on the side closest to the Moon. Haven’t heard of an effect on menstral cycles but that would be interesting. I do know when you have a household of woman their cycles match up if they live together for a while… they become in sync… the Sultan’s Curse I think they call it. Not linked to Moon phases though. I know every time there is a full Moon I crave a big juicy rare steak and then go out in my back yard to bay just a bit. Other than that… nothing really out of the ordinary.
