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Moonlight Madnessby Traute Klein, AKA biogardener
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All my life, I had heard stories of full moon madness. I classified them along with folktales and legends which contain a measure of truth but cannot be taken literally. Never having experienced a reaction to a full moon myself, I found it difficult to imagine that other people might suffer emotional upheaval during any particular phase.
My mother introduced me to German folktales in my early childhood, but she was careful to avoid those which would have frightened a child who was already exposed to far too much wartime violence. My favorite moon story was that of "The Man in the Moon." The poor fellow tried to gather firewood in a forbidden area. He is forever condemned to carry his bundle of wood on his back and can be clearly seen in profile in the full moon.
I love the full moon. It allows me to see the poor man who was punished for trying to provide warmth for his family in tough times. I can identify with him. In the chaos of postwar Germany, we too had to scrounge whatever we could in order to survive. I clearly remember the time when a Russian occupation soldier would pretend not to see the little girl who was stealing poppy seeds from a burnt warehouse. Maybe he had a hungry child at home somewhere in the Soviet Union.
Seeing the man in the moon reminds me that there is no shame in stealing to survive.
My aged mother-in-law had just been taken to a nursing home after a lengthy stay in the hospital. The experience had been traumatic for her, because no one had prepared her for the move. She was simply shoved into an ambulance and driven to what she thought would be an open grave in a cemetery. Not even my husband and I had been informed until after the move. To calm her troubled soul, Ernie and I spent time with her every evening for several weeks. We got to know many of the other residents of the home during our daily visits.
One evening, we noticed a marked change in the atmosphere of the home. My mother-in-law was as upset as she had been the first evening there. The other seniors also were highly irritable. Nothing we did or said made any difference. The nurse on duty was rushing from room to room trying to calm down seniors who were noisy way past the hour when they would normally have been asleep. She administered sedative injections to some of them. I asked her what had transpired during the day to cause such turmoil. Her reply: "Nothing. This happens every full moon."
Oh? I had not even noticed the full moon, but I have certainly kept track of it ever since.
During the years that I have watched for evidence of full moon madness, I have noticed a definite increase in the number of accidents reported in the media around the full moon phase. Police officers whom I have questioned about the subject have confirmed my observations. They have told me that they prepare for the increase in accidents. I now avoid driving during that time of the month whenever possible.The material on this site may be reproduced or republished only by special arrangement with the webmaster.
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