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| Major lunar standstill: northernmost and southernmost moonrise and moonset are farthest apart |
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A ‘major lunar standstill’ is happening this year—and Friday’s full Strawberry Moon offers ‘dramatic’ view
From now through much of next year, the moon will periodically rise and set at its most extreme points, thanks to a rare celestial phenomenon that only occurs every 18.6 years
Another rare celestial spectacle is now happening.
Called a “major lunar standstill,” this natural phenomenon only occurs every 18.6 years.
The standstill is not just one day, but a period of about two years when the moon rises and sets at more northerly and southerly spots along the horizon than normal.
In addition, from our perspective on Earth, the moon will appear to reach its highest and lowest altitudes during this time.
The major lunar standstill will peak in January 2025. But it can be seen through the middle of next year.
“Throughout the roughly two-year standstill ‘season,’ the moon will rise at the northernmost and southernmost extreme every 27 days,”
Fabio Silva, an archeologist at Bournemouth University in England, tells
Smithsonian magazine in an email.
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| The Moon is Earth's calendar. |
“But this will occur at different phases of the moon, not all of which will be visible or dramatic. It is on or very close to the solstices that this will coincide with a full moon, making for very dramatic displays.”
On Friday, just one day after the summer solstice, the full moon is expected to offer some of the most extreme views of the lunar phenomenon.
It will rise and set at its southernmost points, and it will travel very low across the sky.
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Why do Buddhists care what the moon does?
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| The Buddha of Gandhara/Scythia |
The Buddha, in following an ancient subcontinental tradition, advised lay Buddhist to "keep the
Sabbath day." This may sound strange until we understand that he did not call it the
sabbath (Hebrew
Shabbat)
. That Western word means "Saturday" "cessation," the biblical holy rest day. It originally honored Saturn, as all the days of the week get their name from some pagan god.
Of course, only Jews and neighboring Semites seem to know or remember this. Thank goodness
Seventh-day Adventist Christians observe it on the correct day. Most Christians, particularly Catholics under Vatican control with the new Gregorian Calendar (urged by powerful empires such as ancient Rome and the modern USA), observe it on the wrong day of the week,
Sunday.
The Buddha was talking about the
Uposatha (Sanskrit
Upavasatha)
, which a linguist might argue could be an Indo-European forerunner, predecessor, or root of our word
Sabbath because
upo- (
upa-) might be acting as an intensifier and
satha (like
satta, "seven") for something like "
super seventh day." But we are not linguists and not saying that this is the correct etymology, only speculating about the possible origins of the term.
This weekly day (based on the unfailing phases of the moon) is a Buddhist day of observance. It was in existence since before the Buddha's time (600 BCE), and it is still being kept today by Buddhist practitioners [1, 2].
The Buddha taught that this observance day is for "the cleansing of the defiled mind/heart," resulting in inner calm and joy [3].
On this day, both lay and monastic members of the spiritual community (Sangha) intensify their practice, deepen their knowledge, and express communal commitment through millennia-old acts of lay-monastic reciprocity.
On these days, lay followers make a conscious effort to keep the
Eight Precepts or as the tradition suggests the
Ten Precepts rather than the
Five Precepts adhered to every other day of the year.
It is a day of practicing the Buddha's teachings by cultivating meditation (bringing into being) what is good and useful.
Observance days
Depending on the culture and time period, observance days have been kept from two to six days each lunar month.
Theravada Buddhist countries
In general, Theravada countries are committed to the ancient teachings of the historical Buddha Siddhartha Gautama. The tradition, distinct from the much more popular Mahayana tradition of northern Asia, is a back-to-basics movement.
Uposatha is observed about once a week in Theravada countries [4] in accordance with the four lunar phases:
- the new moon,
- the full moon,
- the two quarter
- moons in between [5].
In some communities, such as in Sri Lanka, an overwhelmingly Theravada Buddhist country, only the new moon and full moon are observed as
uposatha or
poya days [6].
In Theravada Buddhist Burmese (once the most pious country of all Theravadan countries), Uposatha (called ubot nei) is observed by more pious Buddhists on the following days:
- waxing moon (la hsan),
- full moon (la pyei nei),
- waning moon (la hsote),
- new moon (la kwe nei) [7].
The most common days of observance are on the full moon and the new moon. In precolonial Burma (before the British invaded, ruined, exploited, and attempted to convert it to Christianity),
Uposatha was a legal holiday observed primarily in urban areas, where secular activities like business transactions came to a halt [7].
However, since foreign colonial rule was established, Sunday has replaced Uposatha as the legal day of rest.
All major Burmese Buddhist holidays occur on Uposathas, namely Thingyan, the beginning of the Rains Retreat (Vassa, beginning on the full moon of Waso, around July, to the full moon of Thadingyut, around October).
During this period, Uposatha is more commonly observed by Buddhists than during the rest of the year.
During
Uposatha days, Buddhist monks at each monastery assemble to confess wrongdoings and recite the
Patimokkha, a concise compilation of the Monastic Disciplinary Code (
Vinaya) [8].
- Ten Precept nuns (called sayalay in Burma, mae chi in neighboring Theravada Buddhist Thailand, and some derivation of the term in the two other neighboring Theravadan countries of Cambodia and Laos) do not chant the 227 rules of the Patimokkha ("Path to Liberation"). They maintain their precepts, which are more numerous than the ten major vows to abstain from draws one toward worry and confusion and away from stillness and insight. The many other rules are about etiquette, and their numbers vary with cultural influences.
- In the time of the Buddha, lay disciples dressed in white and came to monastic complex or park (vihara or aranya) to study under nuns (in nunneries), or monks, or with the Buddha himself, eating only before noon (fasting the rest of the time), hearing the Dharma being taught and explained, asking questions, receiving meditation instructions, and remaining for 24 hours, from the morning of one day to the morning of the next.
Mahayana countries
In Mahayana countries that use the Chinese [lunar] calendar, the Uposatha days are observed [in a modified way] ten times a month, on the 1st, 8th, 14th, 15th, 18th, 23rd, 24th, and final three days of each lunar month.
Alternatively, one can only observe Uposatha days six times a month: on the 8th, 14th, 15th, 23rd, and final two days of each lunar month [9].
In Japan, these six days are known as the roku sainichi (六斎日, Six Days of Fasting).
Names of full moon Uposatha days
The Pali names of the
Uposatha days are based on the Sanskrit names of the
nakśatra (Pali
nakkhatta), the constellations or lunar mansions through which the moon passes within a lunar month [10].
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