by Rick Johnson 
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
RikJohnson@juno.com
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Note: Definitions are at the bottom of this page
It occurred to me one evening while training an acting HPS that Urban Dwellers know woefully little about astronomy. This was brought out when I mentioned, casually, that we only saw the Full Moon at night and the woman in question stated that she rememberd seeing the Full Moon during the day, especially on TV.
Well, I tried to explain to her why this was impossible but she didn’t understand so I finally resorted to having to treat her like a child and brought out some toys to prove my point.
This series of papers is for those Pagans who watch TV and see nothing wrong with watching James West and Artemis Gordon ride that giant tarantula into the sunset on their way to Washington D.C. Bad astronomy hinders our understanding of why we celebrate the Esbats and Sabbats.
Generally speaking, Humanity went through a series of stages. First we believed in a Geocentric universe which changed during Classical Pagan Times to a Heliocentric Universe which then changed back under xianity to a Geocentric Universe then post-Gallelio which eventually changed us back to a Heliocentric universe.
The Earth takes a little more than 24 hours to rotate 360 degrees which makes one day.
The Moon takes a little less than 24 hours to rotate on it’s axis and the same amount of time to revolve around the Earth.
That is why the Moon features that you see are always the same. We never see the back-side of the Moon because of this.
If the Moon were to rotate and revolve at different speeds, we would see the back side. But, relative to the earth, the speeds are the same.
The Moon takes a little more than 28 days to change it’s phases from New to New. The Moon always changes from New (dark) to First Quarter (crescent) to Full (bright and round) to Third Quarter (crescent) to New again and each phase takes about 7 days.
The New Moon ALWAYS happens at Sunrise when the Moon and Sun are next to each other. So the New Moon is always up during the day.
The Full Moon ALWAYS happens at Sunset when the Moon is Rising as the Sun Sets and they are exactly opposite from each other on the Horizon. So the Full Moon is always up at night and never during the day.
WHY?
Now that I have bored you with the facts of the Solar System, I’ll show you why this is the way it is. And rather than bore you with a lot of dry technical stuff, I’ll show you how to prove it to yourself and your student using common household items.
DEMO I
For this you will a flashlight for the Sun and a globe of the earth.
If you don’t have a globe, buy a decent sized child’s ball (like a basketball) and draw the continents onto it. The drawing need not be good or accurate, just so the student can see where they live.
What we will do is show you show you how Sunrise and Sunset works.
Place the student on the floor with the globe in front of them. Rotate the globe so that the students home (i.e. Tucson) faces them.
Move behind the globe with the flashlight so that if you shine the flashlight onto the globe, the globe will hide the flashlight from the student.
Now turn the lights off and the flashlight on.
What the student sees is the Earth in darkness and the Sun below the horizon. It is night and their home is in darkness.
Now slowly walk around the globe Deosil keeping the flashlight onto the globe at all times.
What the student sees is the Sun rising in the east (over the East Coast of the US) and slowly the light moves towards the students home. When the edge of the light touches the student’s home on the globe, tell them that it is now Sunrise.
Keep moving until the Sun is over the home and pointing directly to it. Tell the student that this is Noon.
Continue to move until the light leaves the Student’s home and tell them that this is Sunset.
Continue until the sun is at it’s starting point and tell them that this is Midnight.
Repeat a few times to let them see the Cycle of day-night.
You will notice that in this Demo, the Sun is revolving around the Earth in a Geocentric fashion. But it still does in your Demo what happens in real life. If the student argues that the Earth rotates and the Sun remains still (which I hope they will), move onto Demo II
DEMO II
Ok, we all know (unless you are in Alabama) that the Sun doesn’t really move around the Earth. So have the student play the Earth and you sit with the Sun shining on the Earth.
Have the student slowly turn the Earth Deosil and watch the light illuminate the earth as it spins.
When the student’s home just comes into the light, tell them that this is Sunrise. When the home is pointing directly at the Sun, tell them that this is Noon and when the home leaves the light and becomes dark, tell them that this is sunset.
Repeat this a few times to see the cycle.
Notice also that it really doesn’t matter to the guy on the Earth if the Sun moves around the Earth or the Earth spins and revolves around the Sun. It’s all a matter of viewpoint. So to make matters easier, we will work from a Geocentric Universe.
DEMO III
Now for this Demo, you need another ball to be the Moon. You also need another helper to be the Moon as you be the Sun.
Imagine the room as a large watch face. Place the Earth and student in the center so that the student can see their home and the Moon and Sun.
Place the Sun on the edge of the Watch Circle pointing to the Earth and hold the Moon on a smaller circle but between the Sun and Earth.
Both Sun and Moon slowly circle the Earth so that the Moon is always between the Earth and Sun. Walk so that the Sun & Moon are always in the same position to each other. The Sun is shining on the Moon and the Earth but from the Earth, you can’t see the bright part of the Moon, you only see the shadow.
What the student sees is the Moon always dark. This is the New Moon. The also see the Sun and Moon near each other.
The New Moon appears at Sunrise and Noon and Sunset. In other words, the New Moon happens during the Day but never at night.
If the Sun and Moon always traveled at the same speeds relative to each other the Moon Phase would always be New. BUT, what the Moon and Sun circle the earth at slightly different speeds.
So now as the Sun and Moon circle the Earth, have the Moon walk slower or faster so that when the Sun returns to position 12, the Moon is at either 1 or 11. To make it easier, have the Moon end at 11. It really doesn’t matter which for our purposes but be consistant. The next revolution when the Sun reaches 12 the Moon will be at 10 then the next revolution the Moon will be at 9 and so on and on and on.
What the student sees is the New Moon next to the Sun during the Day at Morning, Noon and Night. But then the Moon and Sun slowly separate. The student sees that when the Sun is at 12 (noon) and the Moon is at 11, they see a sliver of Moon, the Crescent Moon. By the time the Moon is at 9 when the Sun is at 12, they see that the Sun rises with no moon, then at Noon, the First Quarter Moon rises. And when the Sun sets, the Quarter Moon is overhead. And you see the quarter Moon from overhead to Moonset at Midnight.
Now a few revolutions later when the Sun is at 12 and the Moon is at 6, the student sees the Moon and Sun exactly opposite each other. When the Sun Rises, the Moon Sets. There is no Moon while the Sun is up. BUT, when he Sun sets, the Moon rises and The Sun shines full on it to show the Full Moon. The Full Moon rises and is overhead when the Sun is beneath the Earth at Midnight. Then when the Sun rises the next Morning, the Moon is at 5 and is less than Full.
What the student sees is that the Sun is always shining completely on one half of the Sun and Moon at all times. But from someone sitting on the Earth, they can only see a part of the shining. The rest is in shadow. This is very important.
What the student has seen is a full Lunar Cycle of phases based on shadow and position of the bodies relative to each other.
DEMO IV
Place the flashlight in the center of the circle for the Sun. Place the student next to the Earth on the watch Circle at position 12 and place the Moon between the Earth and the Sun.
What the student sees is the Moon next to the Sun and in shadow as the New Moon.
Slowly turn the Earth to show the day-night cycle. The student will ‘see’ the Sun Rise and Set.
Now very slowly walk around the Earth with the Moon so that although the Sun is at position 12, when the Earth faces the Sun again, the Moon is at position 11. The student will see a Crescent Moon. The next time the Earth rotates to face the Sun, the Moon should be at position 10 then 9 then 8 then…..
As the Student sees the Moon with each rotation, they will see the moon go through each of it’s Phases until when the Earth is between the Sun and Moon (Moon at 6), the Student will see the Full Moon rise at Sunset, remain overhead all night then set at sunrise.
Again, at our level of understanding, it doesn’t matter if the universe is Geo or Helio-centric. This situation only becomes important for higher Astronomy. Not the Basic stuff we are covering here.
Now, you can understand how the position of the Sun and Moon relative to the Earth makes the Lunar Phases.
If you want to look at this in a religious context. Consider that when the Sun and Moon are next to each other in the sky, They (the God and Goddess) are together, making love, talking, etc. So since The Gods are next to each other, and the Sun is brighter than the Moon so this must be important and we celebrate it with an Esbat.
When the Moon and Sun are apart, the Moon is at Her brightest ad this is also important as the Goddess is in Her prime. So we hold an Esbat here too. It all relates to the Goddess and where She is at any point in time.
It also shows how the Moon starts out New (Maiden) but She ages as She becomes fuller until at Full Moon She is the brightest (Mother) then She ages and weakens as She becomes the Crescent (Crone) then at New Moon She is revitalized by the passion of the Horned God (Sun) and returns to being the Maiden again.
SIMPLE DEFINITIONS
Astronomy- How the stars and planets move and why they look and act the way that they do
Deosil- Clockwise. Look at a clock that has hands and numbers (not a digital one). The direction the numbers run and hands move is clockwise or Deosil.
Geocentric Universe- The idea that the Sun, Moon, planets and stars revolve around the Earth
Heliocentric Universe- The idea that the Moon revolves around the Earth but that the Earth revolves around the Sun and the stars revolve around the Galactic core.
Horizon- Where the Sky meets the Ground when you look at the edge of the earth in the distance when there isn’t anything in the way. Like where the sun sets and rises.
Revolve- To stand in one place and turn in a circle, like a spinning top.
Rotate- To travel in a circle around an object, like when you walk around the edge of the Magick Circle.
Rural Dweller- Someone who lives in the country. Trees usually get in the way of the horizon.
Urban Dweller- Someone who lives in the city. Buildings usually get in he way of the horizon
Widdershins- Counter-clockwise. Look at a clock that has hands and numbers (not a digital one). The direction the numbers opposite normal from 12, 11, 10, 9, etc or when the hands move backwards is counter-clockwise or Widdershins
90 degrees- One quarter of a circle. From North to East or East to South or…
360 degrees- One full Circle. From North to North.
To contact me or to request topics to be covered, send to mailto:RikJohnson@juno.com
by: Rick Johnson
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
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