the day moon

[wolf_moon]

today when I went outside sometime in the morning I saw the moon and it made me think if there are real werewolfs out there and if the full moon trigers the transformation would they transform if that day moon was full? or is the tranformation just a night kind of thing?

[lordragoon]

The moonlight transformation thing is mostly a Hollywood myth, but the few legends having to deal with it imply that it depends totally on the moon, not the time of day. Of course, there isn't that much accurate literature...

And the full moon does have a direct effect on humans - look at any monthly chart of crime or accidents. They're highest during the full moon. Might be because of increased light; who knows.

[LV426]

The full moon has been linked to crime, suicide, mental illness, disasters, accidents, birthrates, fertility, and werewolves, among other things. Some people even buy and sell stocks according to phases of the moon, a method probably as successful as many others. Numerous studies have tried to find lunar effects. So far, the studies have failed to establish anything of interest, except that the idea of the full moon definitely sends some lunatics (after luna, the Latin word for moon) over the edge. (Lunar effects that have been found have little or nothing to do with human behavior, e.g., the discovery of a slight effect of the moon on global temperature,* which in turn might have an effect on the growth of plants.*)

Ivan Kelly, James Rotton and Roger Culver examined over 100 studies on lunar effects and concluded that the studies have failed to show a reliable and significant correlation (i.e., one not likely due to chance) between the full moon, or any other phase of the moon, and each of the following:


-the homicide rate
-traffic accidents
-crisis calls to police or fire stations
-domestic violence
-births of babies
-suicide
-major disasters
-casino payout rates
-assassinations
-kidnappings
-aggression by professional hockey players
-violence in prisons
-psychiatric admissions
-agitated behavior by nursing home residents
-assaults
-gunshot wounds
-stabbings
-emergency room admissions
-behavioral outbursts of psychologically challenged rural adults
-lycanthropy
-vampirism
-alcoholism
-sleep walking
-epilepsy

If so many studies have failed to prove a significant correlation between the full moon and anything, why do so many people believe in these lunar myths? Kelly, Rotton, and Culver suspect four factors: media effects, folklore and tradition, misconceptions, and cognitive biases.

Media Perpetuation
Kelly, et al., note that lunar myths are frequently presented in films and works of fiction. "With the constant media repetition of an association between the full moon and human behavior it is not surprising that such beliefs are widespread in the general public," they say. Reporters also "favor those who claim that the full moon influences behavior." It wouldn't be much of a story if the moon was full and nothing happened, they note. Anecdotal evidence for lunar effects is not hard to find and reporters lap it up, even though such evidence is unreliable for establishing significant correlations. Relying on personal experience ignores the possibility of self-deception and confirmation bias. Such evidence may be unreliable, but it is nonetheless persuasive to the uncritical mind.

Folklore and Tradition

Many lunar myths are rooted in folklore. For example, an ancient Assyrian/Babylonian fragment stated that "A woman is fertile according to the moon." Such notions have been turned into widespread misconceptions about fertility and birthrates. For example, Eugen Jonas, a Slovakian psychiatrist, was inspired by this bit of folklore to create a method of birth control and fertility largely rooted in astrological superstitions. The belief that there are more births during a full moon persists today among many educated people. Scientific studies, however, have failed to find any significant correlation between the full moon and number of births (See "Lunar phase and birth rate: A fifty-year critical review," by R. Martens, I. Kelly, and D. H. Saklofske, Psychological Reports, 1988, 63, 923-934, "Lunar phase and birthrate: An update," by I. Kelly and R. Martens, Psychological Reports, 1994,75, 507-511). In 1991, Benski and Gerin reported that they had analyzed birthdays of 4,256 babies born in a clinic in France and "found them equally distributed throughout the synodic (phase) lunar cycle" (Kelly, et al. 1996, 19). In 1994, Italian researchers Periti and Biagiotti reported on their study of 7,842 spontaneous deliveries over a 5-year period at a clinic in Florence. They found "no relationship between moon phase and number of spontaneous deliveries" (Kelly, et al. 1996, 19).

Despite the fact that there is no evidence of a significant correlation between phases of the moon and fertility, some people not only maintain that there is, they have a "scientific" explanation for the non-existent correlation. According to "Angela" of AstraConceptions at fertilityrhythms.com ,

...photic (light) signals sent by the lens and retina of the eyes are converted into hormone signals by the pineal gland. It is the pineal gland which signals the onset of puberty in humans and plays a part in the fertility rhythms of all species.

In animals which reproduce seasonally, it is the changing light patterns which trigger the fertility cycle. The gradual change in both the length of day and the changing angle of the sun in the sky (caused by earth's motion) is interpreted by the pineal gland as a signal to commence the fertility season.

Of course, humans do not reproduce seasonally. Our fertility cycles exhibit an obvious monthly rhythm. The light source which has a monthly periodicity is, of course, the Moon.

It is interesting to note that menstruation is actually a shedding process. Just as the average menstrual cycle is 28 days in length, the human body sheds a layer of skin approximately every 28 days.

Yes, that is very interesting to note...if you are interested in sympathetic magic. (The author also finds it noteworthy that animals which reproduce seasonally also shed their coats seasonally.) The author continues

...it is not only the changing day length but also the changing angular position of the sun which triggers this process; the pineal gland receives photic (light) impressions and converts these into hormonal messages which signal the onset of these cycles.

With humans the cycles of fertility (and shedding) are triggered by photic impressions as well. Yet our cycles have a monthly periodicity which is obviously synchronized with fluctuations of the lunar light.

Obviously. However, the light of the moon is a very minor source of light in most women's lives, and is no more likely than the moon's gravitational force to have a significant effect upon a woman's ovulation. Furthermore, the average menstrual cycle is 28 days but varies from woman to woman and month to month, while the length of the lunar month is a consistent 29.53 days.* Some of us have noticed that these cycles are not identical. Furthermore, it would seem odd that natural selection would favor a method of reproduction for a species like ours that depended on the weather. Clouds are bound to be irregularly and frequently blocking moonlight, which would seem to hinder rather than enhance our species' chance for survival.

Some mythmakers believe that long ago women all bled in sync with the moon, but civilization and indoor electric lighting (or even the discovery of fire by primitive humans) has messed up their rhythmic cycle. This theory may seem plausible until one remembers that there are quite a few other mammals on the planet which have not been affected by firelight or civilization's indoor lighting and whose cycles aren't in harmony with the moon. In short, given the large number of types of mammals on our planet, one would expect that by chance some species' estrus and menstrual cycles would harmonize with lunar cycles (e.g., the lemur). It is doubtful that there is anything of metaphysical significance in this.

What we do know is that there has been very little research on hormonal or neurochemical changes during lunar phases. James Rotton's search of the literature "failed to uncover any studies linking lunar cycles to substances that have been implicated as possible correlates of stress and aggression (e.g., serotonin, melatonin, epinephrine, norepinephrine, testosterone, cortisol, vasopressin [directly relevant to fluid content], growth hormone, pH, 17-OHCS, adrenocrotropic hormone)."* One would think that this area would be well-studied, since hormones and neurochemicals are known to affect menstruation and behavior.

[LV426]

misconceptions

Kelly et al. note that misconceptions about such things as the moon's effect on tides have contributed to lunar mythology. Many people seem to think that since the moon affects the ocean's tides, it must be so powerful that it affects the human body as well. It is actually a very weak tidal force. A mother holding her child "will exert 12 million times as much tidal force on her child as the moon" (Kelly et al., 1996, 25). Astronomer George O. Abell claims that the moon's gravitational pull is less than that of a mosquito (Abell 1979). Despite these physical facts, there is still widespread belief that the moon can cause earthquakes. It doesn't; nor does the sun, which exerts much less tidal force on the earth than the moon.*

The fact that the human body is mostly water largely contributes to the notion that the moon should have a powerful effect upon the human body and therefore an effect upon behavior. It is claimed by many that the earth and the human body both are 80% water. This is false. Eighty percent of the surface of the earth is water. Furthermore, the moon only affects unbounded bodies of water, while the water in the human body is bounded.

Also, the tidal force of the moon on the earth depends on its distance from earth, not its phase. Whereas the synodic period is 29.53 days, it takes 27.5 days for the moon to move in its elliptical orbit from perigee to perigee (or apogee to apogee). Perigee (when the moon is closest to earth) "can occur at any phase of the synodic cycle" (Kelly et al. 1990, 989). Higher tides do occur at new and full moons, but not because the moon's gravitational pull is stronger at those times. Rather, the tides are higher then because "the sun, earth, and moon are in a line and the tidal force of the sun joins that of the moon at those times to produce higher tides" (Kelly et al. 1990, 989).

Many of the misconceptions about the moon's gravitational effect on the tides, as well as several other lunar misconceptions, seem to have been generated by Arnold Lieber in The Lunar Effect (1978), republished in 1996 as How the Moon Affects You. Leiber incorrectly predicted a catastrophic earthquake would hit California in 1982 due to the coincidental alignment of the moon and planets.

cognitive biases and communal reinforcement

Finally, many believe in lunar myths because they have heard them repeated many times by members of the mass media, by police officers, nurses, doctors, social workers, and other people with influence. Once many people believe something and enjoy a significant amount of communal reinforcement, they get very selective about the type of data they pay attention to in the future. If one believes that during a full moon there is an increase in accidents, one will notice when accidents occur during a full moon, but be inattentive to the moon when accidents occur at other times. If something strange happens and there is a full moon at the time, a causal connection will be assumed. If something strange happens and there is no full moon, no connection is made, but the event is not seen as counterevidence to the belief in full moon causality. Memories get selective, and perhaps even distorted, to favor a full moon hypothesis. A tendency to do this over time strengthens one's belief in the relationship between the full moon and a host of unrelated effects.

the moon, madness and suicide

Probably the most widely believed myth about the full moon is that it is associated with madness. However, in examining over 100 studies, Kelly, Rotton and Culver found that "phases of the moon accounted for no more than 3/100 of 1 percent of the variability in activities usually termed lunacy" (1996, 18). According to James Rotton, "such a small percentage is too close to zero to be of any theoretical, practical, or statistical interest or significance."*

Finally, the notion that there is a lunar influence on suicide is also unsubstantiated. Martin, Kelly and Saklofske reviewed numerous studies done over nearly three decades and found no significant association between phases of the moon and suicide deaths, attempted suicides, or suicide threats. In 1997, Gutiérrez-García and Tusell studied 897 suicide deaths in Madrid and found "no significant relationship between the synodic cycle and the suicide rate" (1997, 248). These studies, like others which have failed to find anything interesting happening during the full moon, have gone largely, but not completely*, unreported in the press.

Source (http://skepdic.com/fullmoon.html)

[ThrasherCub]

I don't trust those studies. I believe in Luna and so believe she would have a different effect on each of us. Again, anyone read into the W:tA game? I noticed my attitude tends to go along with the Auspices (moon phases). And this isn't me being some Uber-fan who's really obsessed or something. I noticed this long ago, and so when I read about it in the Core book I nearly shat myself because it was so weird. During the new moon I'm even sneakier and gigglier and trouble-making than usual, during the crescent moon I have a creepy enigmatic way of thinking. I have given the best advice ever and made the best judgements during the half moon. I was born under the Gibbous moon which is the Artisans moon. I live up to that quite well and am generaly in a better mood then. The full moon, of course, is the warrior's moon. During the full moon you can tell I'm an Ares from clear across town... and if it's a full moon in Hockey Season you can tell I'm an Ares from clear across the international date line.

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