Tag: selenophile

Apollo 11 & Artemis II : Selenophilia

Selenophilia

I moped around one evening. The thing is, as much as I love cloudy days and rainy days, I don’t like them to intersect with full-moon days. It feels like the waxing-full-moon is meant to bathe all of the Earth in its glow, and encourage mooning-about. It is not meant for sighing and trying to see if the moon can finally peek out of the clouds.

I had not quite realized the thing that was keeping me up that night. I blamed it on the ill-timed coffee, but it could not have been that. Not when I fell asleep moments after the near-full-moon peeked out of the clouds, and I sighed happily at it.

The day after, the moon looked full in the sky, bathing the Earth with its luminous glow. The clouds flitted, but never enough to hide the moon. I took off – after the eternally present tasks that even robots and AI-based beings do not consider worth doing: clearing up and the cleaning up.

“Where’re you going?” “Out!” I said, and ignored the chuckle that followed me out. The golden moon was waiting, and I wanted nothing more than to gaze at it. The word unblemished came to mind, but that does not quite describe the moon, does it? The pockmarks and craters on the moon looked plenty blemished, yet the feeling it invokes in one is unblemished.

This fascination for our celestial neighbor, Selenophilia, is a beautiful term that is derived from the Greek language, denoting a love of the moon. Meaning for centuries, folks have finished up their chores and headed out to the admire the moon. Hopefully, for centuries more, they will continue to do so.

Apollo & Artemis

The previous day, Artemis II had taken flight into the skies with 3 astronauts aboard: to the other side of the moon. I was in an elementary school classroom introducing books about space travel that day, and I remembered the excitement the discussion about Artemis II had generated. The class sent all the astronauts a fond good luck as they listened to the brief loss in communication with the spaceship. 

That night as I sat gazing at the moon, I thought of the planet watching and praying: united in its excitement as Artemis II left the Earth. Did the Artemis II crew ( Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen) feel the good vibes? I hope they did. 

Then, I thought of Apollo 11.  The astronauts: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins making the trip almost 3 decades ago. The entire planet fascinated, and enthralled.  Did they feel the companionship of the planet even as they left? The moon itself was in its waxing moon phase that day, and thousands must’ve gazed up that day abuzz with excitement.

Magic of the Moon

There are a few things that humanize us, and the magic of the moon is, I believe firmly, one of them. Something that can evoke wonder, awe, a yearning to attempt great things, set difficult targets, and above all, work together to achieve it, is Magic, isn’t it? 

Moon Magic

A few weeks ago, I got the incredible chance to see the full moon rise along with the sunset. One of those serendipitous things that the Covid-19 shelter-in-place has given me. I did not realize that it was the golden moon – the day the 🌝 moon comes closest to the Earth, and maybe  it was better that I hadn’t prepared for it. For, out on the walk, I stood mesmerized as  I saw the moon rise slowly in the East, as the sun set slowly in the West.

A better time or combination of light I could not imagine. A golden orb that rose from behind the green hills, and bathed the beautiful Earth with its benevolent beams, while the glittering sun bowed out graciously throwing pinks, oranges and purples with abandon against the blue skies. I watched the geese fly on over, ducks swim against the moonbeams on the lake, squirrels stopping to take in the surrounding beauty, and blackbirds swarming low over the lake waters. 

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I turned around to share  the beautiful marvel of the time with my  fellow beings when I realized I was quite physically distant from my fellow beings – human or otherwise. Do other sentient beings feel the same overwhelming sense of being at moments like these? Do dolphins take the time to gaze at the full moon like we do, do polar bears and penguins do the same from their respective poles? What a great unifying experience we all have with the celestial shows the universe throws at us?! 

Oh! To quiver with excitement with the Earth’s beauty has become my wont. 

The blue skies turned inky, and the golden moon turned silver, and  yet I could not pluck myself from the beauty of the evening. 

The giant glittering orb slowly peeked out from behind the green hills, and then rose steadily in a few minutes. We stood a few feet from a lake, socially distancing ourselves. How many times I have felt my heart flutter by catching a glimpse of the moon unexpectedly in the skies? How many lovers have gazed at the moon wistfully, dreamily, lovingly or yearningly through the ages? What a great unifying experience we all have across the pages of time?! 

I am so glad for our  nearest cosmic neighbor – I remember a few years ago when  we were moon-gazing awestruck at the beauty of the reflected sunlight, the son said, “Can you imagine how beautiful nights  on Jupiter must be? Imagine looking up and seeing 64  moons in the sky!”

I was taken aback at the statement, but also thankful for the one moon we do have. 

A known Selenophile if there was one, I picked up the book Music for Mister Moon by Philip Stead with a song in my heart that evening.  The beaming moon has always attracted me, whether it is catching a fleeting glimpse of it as it appears and reappears amidst scudding clouds, or the waxing and waning of it during its reliable moon cycles or even when I catch an unexpected glimpse of it when the sun is bright and high above in the sky. 

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The story of  a shy young girl who plays her instrument for no one but herself gently tugs us along for a ride as she accidentally pulls the moon right out of the sky. The moon’s revelation to know what it must be  like to float on the waters it is always reflected upon brings a little smile to your own lips, and slowly, but surely  you cheer for the little shy girl who opens her talent up to share with the moon.

The book does its  best to capture the magic of the moon, but probably the best gift of all is the dream I had after writing this post: I woke up thinking I was on a boat mesmerized by the floating moon near me.

🌙 🌝 Moon Magic. ✨ ✨