I remember in fifth grade, I watched a movie called Practical Magic, with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. There was a scene in which there is a red moon, and Nicole Kidman says it's "blood on the moon," and it seems to be a bad omen. Nevertheless, I don't think the red moon is a bad omen, but there definitely is something a bit freaky about it. Supposedly hundreds of studies have shown that there is no correlation between phases of the moon and disasters or homicide rates. The red color comes from light being refracted around the Earth, but in some myths is said to signify coming change; eclipses could be seen as a challenge to the normal order of things. In some cultures, eclipses are seen as an "attack" on the moon, and a bad thing, while in other cultures eclipses are seen as a time for the moon to heal. The moon yesterday was supposed to be the first time that there would be a blood moon and a super moon at the same time in 18 years.
This weekend was Mid Autumn Festival, a Chinese Holiday in which families are supposed to look at the moon together, and eat mooncake. The tradition comes from some tyrant Emperor, and people trying to organize a rebellion. Since they were afraid to communicate openly, they hid an egg yolk in a cake to signify that they would attack on the full moon. The coordination was successful, and thus this holiday continues to be celebrated. According to my mom, there is now a new tradition of barbecuing meat too.
Thus this year, we grilled meat at night, and were looking for the moon. We couldn't find it, and my mom kept insisting that there was supposed to be a great eclipse from 7:00 ish to 8:30 or so. As it turns out, the eclipse had happened, so we could not see the moon. As the moon was coming out of the eclipse however, we saw a sliver of white, and the rest of the moon illuminated in a deep shade or rust red. It was a really cool experience, because we were able to see the moon coming out of the eclipse, gradually growing larger, and then turning from that rust red to a brilliant silver white. When the moon was at it's fullest, it hung heavy in the sky, so bright that it outshone the lights of the various helicopters that had gone into the sky with people who were smart enough (or rich enough) to plan ahead and take a helicopter to see this phenomenon.
Here is a photo of the red moon.
On another note, here is a video from a Kawehi performance that I should have posted back then, but it's a nice song and worth posting now. Enjoy!
This weekend was Mid Autumn Festival, a Chinese Holiday in which families are supposed to look at the moon together, and eat mooncake. The tradition comes from some tyrant Emperor, and people trying to organize a rebellion. Since they were afraid to communicate openly, they hid an egg yolk in a cake to signify that they would attack on the full moon. The coordination was successful, and thus this holiday continues to be celebrated. According to my mom, there is now a new tradition of barbecuing meat too.
Thus this year, we grilled meat at night, and were looking for the moon. We couldn't find it, and my mom kept insisting that there was supposed to be a great eclipse from 7:00 ish to 8:30 or so. As it turns out, the eclipse had happened, so we could not see the moon. As the moon was coming out of the eclipse however, we saw a sliver of white, and the rest of the moon illuminated in a deep shade or rust red. It was a really cool experience, because we were able to see the moon coming out of the eclipse, gradually growing larger, and then turning from that rust red to a brilliant silver white. When the moon was at it's fullest, it hung heavy in the sky, so bright that it outshone the lights of the various helicopters that had gone into the sky with people who were smart enough (or rich enough) to plan ahead and take a helicopter to see this phenomenon.
Here is a photo of the red moon.
On another note, here is a video from a Kawehi performance that I should have posted back then, but it's a nice song and worth posting now. Enjoy!
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