Man and the Moon

Magritte's Le Maître d’École

I recently read a fascinating article examining the occurrence of lion attacks on Tanzanian villagers. It turns out that humans are most vulnerable to lion attacks following a full moon. As the moon wanes to a slither and appears further and further after dusk, prides who would otherwise risk detection by their prey under well-lit conditions step up their hunts. But of more interest is the insight it provides in human attitudes towards the moon.

Long associated with irrationality, insanity and feared for its power in releasing our inner wild side, the comings and goings of the full moon also benefited early human populations by providing them with a measure of time. Aristotle claimed that like the changing tides, the satellite impacted on our metal capacity since it altered the balance of water content in the brain. Whilst this has been refuted, recent studies have also shown that schizophrenic patients experience declines in metal well being, and epileptic patients suffer a greater number of fits when the moon is at its fullest.The new findings in Tanzania help to explain the influence of the moon over global cultures, given that early hunter gatherers often coexisted with large predators such as lions in Africa, tigers in Asia and wolves in Europe.

Both spiritual and supernatural outlooks have long played a role in our attitudes to nature, from reverence to hatred. Scientific discovery can help to enlighten us with regards to certain aspects, but I would discourage those of the view that it is the only way to explore our relations with nature. After all, a superstitious view of the moon may have preserved many a life when scientific evidence was not available.