The Hunter’s Moon – Does It Really Affect Us?
For the past few days, I'm sure we've all seen the full moon out and about. This one is called the Hunter's Moon, and it comes after the Harvest Moon. When I looked it up, I saw that it's been called all kinds of things. Falling Leaves Moon, Dying Grass Moon, Blood Moon or Sanguine Moon, even the Travel Moon.
I don't know anything about all that, but I do know that people always have something to say about it. I was out on Wednesday, and our group went outside for a moment. Several comments were made, by more than one person, about how the full moon "brings out the crazies"! I guess I'm not the right kind of crazy, 'cos it doesn't seem to affect me at all. But then I thought, "Well, you do read a lot of Sedalia Police Reports. See if anything was strange this week."
..... Nope. Nothing too crazy. Nobody threw a rack of ribs at Wal Mart....nobody sprayed their neighbor with bug spray..... nobody left an anthropomorphic mouse on someone else's porch. Everything was kind of tame this week. The typical stuff, actually. And most of it was kind of light this week. Maybe six to eight reports a day when normally, it's more like ten to fifteen. Maybe this time the moon decided to prove us wrong! Maybe this time, the moon kept "the crazies" inside!
Or maybe they don't come out til after the full moon? Maybe they just took a pass on this one? I decided to turn to someone who actually knows if the moon really does affect us. According to Healthline.com (which is a site I like that has actual medical doctors review and vet the articles they publish), it does and it doesn't.
For the most part, a full moon doesn’t cause people to become more aggressive, violent, anxious, or depressed. There does seem to be a link between the phases of the moon and changes in symptoms of bipolar disorder. There’s also some evidence that a full moon can lead to less deep sleep and a delay in entering into REM sleep. In addition, some studies have shown a slight change in cardiovascular conditions during a full moon. Scientists continue to study how the moon influences various physiological and psychological systems. For now, though, it appears the effect of this heavenly body on your body is less powerful than once believed.
Well. Now I'm conflicted. What do you think? Do you see changes in behavior around you on the full moon? Do you feel different when it's a full moon?
Fully yours,
Behka