The Moon will be one day old - cyclically speaking - at sunset today. See if you can find the slimmest of crescents hiding in the twilight glow.
As I was writing Baseball in the Sky, I found myself wishing in vain for better astronomy charts that actually visualized the movements of the Earth, Moon, and planets. Yesterday I finally found them, thanks to the incredible astronomer, geometer, artist, and wordsmith Guy Ottewell. He has been producing his annual 140-page astronomical calendar for the past 50 years, and his poster-sized wall chart knocks the socks off of any alternative. He’s also a master of visualizing and describing motions in three dimensions, and his Astronomical Companion guidebook is now out of print for the 21st time with older editions selling online for over $200. I added my name to the waitlist for the 22nd printing.
Speaking of planetary motions, we’re heading for a rather remarkable alignment that astronomers and astrologers alike are not paying much attention to. Jupiter and Venus, the two brightest planets, are symmetrically converging on the Sun from opposite directions on their way to changing places in the morning and evening skies, and from our perspective Venus will pass in front of Jupiter on May 23rd. At this point both of them will be almost directly behind the Sun, as viewed from Earth. May 23rd is also a full Moon, completing a line of five. Also very near this line, behind the Sun, are the planet Uranus, the Pleiades, and the red giant star Aldebaran. Close to the line on the Earth-Moon side is the red supergiant star Antares, with whom the Moon will dance later that day, creating a stellar eclipse (or occultation) visible from the opposite side of Earth.
So, we will have an alignment of four planets, one Sun, and one Moon, on an axis between two dying giant red stars, with the Seven Sisters looking on. This would be visually impressive if the Sun and daylight sky weren’t so dang bright. As it is, all we will get to see is the full Moon rising just below Antares that night.
What does this mean? Astrologically, I have no idea. Scientifically, there is growing consensus that solar activity is influenced by the tidal forces of planetary motions - especially Earth, Venus, and Jupiter. We’re approaching solar maximum, and the Sun has been popping off big flares from giant sunspots almost daily of late, so perhaps we will see this intensify in the weeks ahead as all of the gravity wells align - in the same way that we see the highest ocean tides during the alignments of new and full Moons.
Speaking of the full Moon, last month I attended an event I recently discovered: a full Moon walk to a local high point featuring recitation of an 800-year-old poem. The walk was beautiful and contemplative, and we were treated to the most magnificent moonrise, but the overall experience did not especially resonate with me.
The poem turned out to be the Mountains and Waters Sutra, which is a deep meditation on the intrinsic nature of mountains and waters but which also felt a bit like a scripture reading with its embedded reminders: this is the way, that is not the way, those other people think they are following the way but they are not, they are stupid.
I see wisdom, insight, and helpful practice in most spiritual traditions, but any mention of The Way or The Truth, any distinctions between masters and followers or teachers and students, any comparisons between believers and unbelievers or enlightened and unenlightened people, detracts from the experience for me. And while recitation may pull us out of our minds and into contemplation, for me it is still a step below the pure experience of being. I found myself wishing to ignore the text - especially its preachy parts - and climb higher on the hill to gaze at the slowly flowing eastern mountains and await the Moon’s arrival.
The experience did leave me wanting to revive my father’s tradition of watching the full Moon rise each month, and yesterday I was scouting nearby places with a clear view of the eastern horizon. Perhaps in time I will invite others to join, and it will be primarily quiet, contemplative, immersive. If there are songs or poems shared they will not be recited or performed but will flow through and from the hearts of those present.