Tonight is a blood moon🌒
I made a short overview of what people usually associate the Moon with in movies and in real life.
Tides
Interstellar
In the movie there is a planet with enormous waves. This is a hypertrophied version of what the Moon does on Earth. Its gravity lifts oceans by meters. For ancient people the sea that obeys the Moon was pure magic. Without physics there was no other way to explain it.
Moonlight
Harry Potter (Lupin)
Werewolves always react to the full moon. Physics explains it: brightness reaches 0.25 lux which is 250 times brighter than a dark night. Normally the night sky without the Moon is about 0.001 lux. For the brain and hormonal system this is a real trigger. Lupin was also freaking out about it.
Cycles
All stories about female magic
The lunar cycle is 29.5 days which almost coincides with the menstrual cycle. In culture this turned into the image of the Moon as a patroness of female power magic and witchcraft. Physics is simple here: celestial mechanics matched biology. By the way this is also a stereotype because not all women have the same cycle. But on average yes about 29 days.
Stability of Earth
Melancholia (von Trier)
A movie about a planet that destroys orbits. We do not have this problem because the Moon stabilizes Earth’s axis. Otherwise climate would change chaotically. In fact the Moon makes civilization possible. In myths this became the image of the guardian of balance.
Madness of full moon
Horrors and thrillers
The word lunatic is not accidental. During full moon melatonin levels drop and sleep gets worse. In general sleep is worse if you sleep with light around because melatonin is produced in darkness. People actually become more irritable and impulsive. Movies use this as a mystical motif: the night of the full moon equals the night of chaos.
So?
Did you guess?🌚
Ana
2025-09-11 10:32:14 +0000 UTCJiří Bloch
2025-09-08 03:47:52 +0000 UTCAna
2025-09-07 20:59:54 +0000 UTCPendolino70
2025-09-07 20:59:00 +0000 UTC