July 23, 2021 (Friday)
Some people believe so much folklore about human behavior associated with a full moon that they find it difficult to give up faulty notions about it, even when confronted with facts.
Many people believe that a full moon causes a kind of madness. Hence, the word “lunar” becomes “looney.” Therefore, we have animated cartoons called, “Looney Tunes.” That expression has passed over into our vocabulary to let us say, “he is Looney Tunes,” meaning he has severe mental problems.
Some folks go beyond conjecture about the moon’s influence and move on to faith in astrological signs. “What’s your sign?” we are asked. Some people are so deeply committed to those beliefs that they plan every day according to horoscopes.
Aside from the Scriptural admonitions about sorcery and magic, we need to rely on common sense. Most of the stars of the constellations are unrelated to each other and separated by distances so great they must be measured in light years. Some people look into the sky and put meaning into the patterns of the stars they see from their vantage point on earth. The fact is that almost all the patterns seen by us as we view the heavens exist only in our minds. Calling them Leo, Taurus, Gemini, etc. is much like what we did when we were children and looked for doggies and bunnies in the clouds.
The stars interest us because of what the astronomers see, and not because of what the astrologers say. Astronomy is science; Astrology is almost a religion.
Shakespeare, in his play, “Julius Caesar,” gave us the truth: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves..”
Our help and hope, dear reader, is not in stars, but in God.