| . | Lithuanian Ethnoastronomy 4. The Moon and the Weather In the attempt to guess the weather for each month people would watch the crescent of the waxing Moon. If the crescent on the third day would turn pink, the month would be rough and windy, if it turned dark rain was expected. If the crescent was white and curved and it’s both ends sharp and small the weather would be nice. If the crescent were almost straight the month would come overcast and foggy. But if around the new Moon there would be visible light sphere the month was expected to have a storm and bad weather. Also it was known that the weather on the forth night with the new Moon would be about the same as the rest of the month (DSPO 203). Also it was noted that on the fifth day of the new Moon the weather was very windy (SUKB 49). The weather prognosis was also determined from the Moon crescent inclination in relation to the horizon line. If the crescent appears to stand perpendicular then the good weather is expected. If the crescent is inclined towards the horizon then the weather will be rainy. There exists the view that the weather changes in accordance with the Moon phase. It is said that the newborn Moon has to wash itself. Therefore the new Moon brings rain. If there is no change of the weather when the phase of the Moon changes then the same weather pattern may keep for the whole of the next phase. If the Moon is wrapped in the light circle (wreath, halo) it is said that the Moon is fenced ‘‘apsitvëræs’‘ or the Moon is surrounded by a circle ‘‘ratilas’‘. Then the precipitation is expected soon. If the circle is close to the Moon, then the precipitation will come soon, if it is in some distance from the Moon the precipitation will come later in about 3-day period. Judging from the records of the 19th century there were a difference between the wreath and the halo. If the wreath showed the good weather was predicted, if the halo single-folded or double-folded - precipitation will come (SUKB 48). Some records lead us to believe that the Moon was held the Sun's antipodes. If the Sun getting higher in the sky during the summer day would heat the soil, the Moon getting high during the long winter nights casts cold on the Earth (TD III, 59-60).
|
. |
| PREVIOUS |