On the Super Moon

What Is A Super Moon And What Is Its Spiritual Meaning?

November 13, 2016

What Is A Super Moon And What Is Its Spiritual Meaning?

by Melanie Beckler,

We’re quickly approaching a Super Full Moon on November 14th.

And in case you’re not familiar with the term…

A Super Moon is when the Full Moon is in direct alignment with the Sun, and is also at its closest point to Earth due to the Earth’s rotation.

The concept of a “Super Moon” was coined by Richard Nolle, an Astrologer who first came up with the term about 30 years ago!

It’s when the Moon is about 16,000 miles, or 6% closer to the Earth than normal…

This sounds rather unusual… But really, “Super Moons” happen several times a year, and the difference in brightness, and size isn’t incredibly noticeable to the naked eye.

There is however a size difference, and according to astronomers, the November 16th Super Full Moon will be the closest and brightest Full Moon since 1948…

And then the Moon won’t be as close to the Earth as it is now until November 25, 2034!

The Spiritual Meaning of A Super Full Moon

So what is the meaning of a Super Moon from a spiritual perspective?

Essentially… It equates to supercharged Full Moon energies.

Which when harnessed correctly can be an immensely positive thing… But can also lead to emotional turmoil, and the surfacing of old issues, drama, etc.

Think of it in terms of a really bright light shining towards the Earth…

The light is immensely beneficial, but in the process it reveals some of the lower vibrational, darker, and heavy energies that up until this point have been hidden.

But this is not a bad thing!

In fact, this specific upcoming Full Moon is one of the best of the year for emotional healing because of the fact that it is shining a light upon old and heavy energies still lurking in the shadows. It takes revealing what is hidden in the shadows before we’re able to release, transform, neutralize or dissolve these lower vibrational energies.

Alas, beneath the light of the Super Full Moon, expect deep desires, past hurts and wounds, as well as inner callings to rise up to the surface…

As a brilliant light exposes where you are in alignment with your highest values…

And where you’re not…

(This is playing out collectively as well…)

The lesson, is to allow what arises to be okay…

To love what arises within you, and what is rising up in the world during this powerful time of release and transformation.

And to then let it go…

Loosen your grip…

Be, breathe, observe, and allow the energies to heal and empower you.

To align with your true values…

And your true self.

More the topic of your “true self” in a few days…

Because I’m just putting the finishing touches on an incredible new channeling and frequency transmission that guides you on the path of more fully embodying your truth…

But in the mean time, join me in sending some love and light out into the world…

from:     http://in5d.com/what-is-a-super-moon-and-what-is-its-spiritual-meaning/

Super Moon Earthquake Connection Discussed

On Earthquakes, Eruptions and the Moon (Eruptions Revisited)

The Moon: Really, it is your friend. Image courtesy of NASA.

 

{This article was originally posted on March 11, 2011. I’ve reposted it today because of another so-called “Supermoon” on May 6, 2012}

I’ve had a number of questions lately about a couple of events coming up this month astronomically and how they might effect geologic events – namely earthquakes and volcanoes – on Earth. I can tell you right now, without much doubt, that the answer, even before I tell you the question, is very, very little.

Now, the questions: (1) How will the close passage of Comet Elenin and Earth cause geologic catastrophes on March 15 and (2) How will the so-called “Supermoon“, a full moon when the moon is closest to Earth in its orbit, cause geologic catastrophes?

 

I know there has long been a desire to show about the gravitational resonance of planets/comets/asteroids/the sun might play a role in Earth’s geologic activity – and with some logic. We see the interaction of the Earth’s surface with the Moon’s gravity (and to some extent the Sun’s) with the tides in the oceans. Water has low viscosity so the tidal tugging of the moon as it rotates around the Earth sloshes the oceans back and forth to create our tides. One could imagine that the Earth’s crust/mantle/core might feel some of that gravitational interaction as well – and they do. John Vidale, a seismologist at the University of Washington, mentions that during full and new moons – when the moon is oriented between or opposite the Earth and the sun – there is potentially as much as a 1% increase in earthquake activity worldwide (and a slightly higher effect on volcanic activity). Let me repeat that: 1%. In any natural, geologic process that is mostly distributed randomly through time like earthquakes, 1% or there about is well within the “noise” of processes, so would these alignments produce much of a discernable increase? Probably not and this is with the two bodies that play the largest role in tidal forcing on Earth. There are other studies that suggest that this tidal tugging and pulling can cause small shifts in fault systems like the San Andreas, but one might argue that the moon is, in fact, “passively” releasing seismic energy on the fault, thus preventing or delaying large earthquakes! Trying to say that any other astronomical body might, even in some specific alignment, might cause more than a 1% increase in the chance of activity is remote at best.

Some of the so-called evidence for this moon-earthquake relationship is specious at best. From aNational Geographic article on the “lunar connection” back in 2005: “At least two major quakes may support [James A.] Berkland’s theory. The December 26, 2004, magnitude 9.1 in Sumatra, Indonesia, occurred on the day of a full moon. Likewise, the March 27, 1964, magnitude 9.2 earthquake in Alaska occurred on the day of maximum high tide. According to Berkland, such correlations are more than coincidences. They demonstrate a true connection between the moon and earthquake activity.” First off, two earthquakes coinciding with full moons is hardly scientific, statistically-sound evidence. How many “large” earthquakes (and who defines that anyway?) occur when it isn’t a full moon? And how many full moons have we had when there wasn’t a “large” earthquake? I’ve said this before, but it is an easy trap – correlation does not mean causation. Full moons happen 12 (maybe 13) times a year, so if you randomly sprinkle earthquakes through time, many large ones are bound to coincide with the full moon. USGS seismologist Dr. John Bellini followed up on Berkland’s theories: “Bellini questioned the scientific validity of Berkland’s predictions. He said they appear to be “self-selected statistical analysis of historical seismicity rates and are so vague in time and location that they are certain to be correct.

Now, as for the Moon’s relative position to Earth and its effect, the Moon when it is at least closest is 356,401 km from the Earth’s surface and at its furthest, it is 406,700 km (with an average distance of 384,401 km. That is a difference of ~50,300 km ~ in other words, when the Moon is closest to Earth, it is ~12% closer than it is at its furthest. Newtonian physics tells us that the attraction between the Earth and the Moon is dictated by F = GM1M2/R2, where M1 and M2 are the masses of the Earth and Moon, G is the gravitational constant and R is the distance between the two bodies. Even a ~12% change in that value means that the force of gravity, in Newtons, only changes by ~30% at maximum (and only ~11% difference from average), a change that happens gradually as the Moon moves around its orbit. We see this fairly small change with different sized tides, but even those changes are not “disastrous”. When you consider the energy needed to move tectonic plates (or even the oceans), this change in gravitational energy from the Earth-Moon system is small. Remember, that the Moon is at its closest once a month, so just because it happens during a full moon doesn’t mean that the gravitational pull from the Moon is any stronger than it would be at any other perigee. Remember, the Moon reaches perigee every month and you don’t see massive earthquakes and eruptions every time this happens.

Some planetary bodies do see a profound effect of tidal forces. The moons of Jupiter areconstantly being tugged by the high gravity of Jupiter as the whiz around the gas giant. You can see that constant, frictional energy being imparted on the rocks of the moons in the relative geologic activity on the Galilean satellites – closest to Jupiter lies Io (at ~420,000 km), the most volcanically active body in the solar system. It gets tugged by a force 300% more than the Moon pulls on Earth. Next comes Europa (at ~664,000 km), where there are suggestions that liquid or slushy subsurface water exists due to tidal heating. Ganymede and Callisto, even further from Jupiter, show much fewer signs of liquid water or extensive tidal heating. The gravity of Jupiter is the direct cause for the geologic activity on these small planetary bodies.

The lava flow from the Kamoamoa Fissure snaking around an old crater on Kilauea, as seen on March 10, 2011. This eruption did not start during a full/new moon. Image courtesy of HVO/USGS.

As I mentioned before, this sort of “correlation” of astronomical alignments and geologic disasters have been predicted before – with results that were coincidental at best. Back in 2006, there was rampant speculation about how a full moon was going to trigger an eruption of Mayon in the Philippines … and it didn’t. In a USGS article about volcanoes and the moon, they make the point that it does appear that activity at some volcanoes, like Kilauea, are effected by lunar cycles – however, this does not mean that an eruption at any specific volcano worldwide can be predicted using lunar cycles. There are just too many other variables, so unless the volcano is already erupting, such as Kilauea (see above from an eruption that didn’t start on a new/full moon), don’t expect the Moon to bring volcanoes to life. Even if the volcano is predisposed to be close to eruption (and even defining that is difficult), there is no data to support this (to borrow a quote from a paper that Chris Rowan’s uses in a post on the subject): “We found no conclusive evidence for a general correlation between volcanic activity and lunar tidal phase. This result is consistent with recent work which indicates that diurnal and fortnightly tidal stresses may be too short-lived and strain rates too high to effect a significant viscous response in partially molten regions of the Earth’s subsurface.” (Mason et al., 2004)During this Mayon hype in 2006, Phil Plait also took on these predictions and points out the biggest flaw with many of these “correlations”: It’s small number statistics, like flipping a coin three times and having it come up heads each time. It’s rare, but it does happen on average one out of every eight times. You need bigger samples to get good statistics.”Science requires data that can show a valid correlation, not picking what fits best to your ideas. UPDATE: Phil takes on the “Supermoon” as well.

If anything, we should be concentrating on terrestrial forcing for “predicting” earthquakes. It could be that changes in the strength of the Earth’s magnetic field, due to the thickness and composition of the Earth, but might help find earthquake-prone locations. A study in Science by Song and Simons from 2003examined the gravity anomaly (how much the gravitational field from the Earth varies from the norm) along a subduction and then compared it to a long historical record of seismicity. It found that “within a given subduction zone, areas with negative gravity anomalies correlated with increased large earthquake activity. Areas with relatively high gravity anomalies experienced fewer large earthquakes.” However, how we can use the changes in gravity anomaly to predict earthquakes is still very unclear.

So, what can we take away from all this?

  • The Moon plays a very small role in increasing seismicity and volcanic activity on Earth – potentially increasing activity ~1% during full/new moons.
  • The change in the gravitational pull from the Moon during apogee and perigee is small.
  • Beyond this, there is no statistically-sound evidence that geologic disasters can be predicted based on lunar alignments or distance (or any other astronomical phenomena).
  • The keys to understanding how to predict earthquakes or eruptions (if at all possible) lie within the Earth, not deep in space.
  • From Chris Rowan: “The moon does not magically load up plate boundary faults or fill magma chambers … The most the moon can do is slightly alter the timing of an earthquake or eruption that was on the verge of happening anyway.”
  • from:    http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/05/on-earthquakes-eruptions-and-the-moon-eruptions-revisited/#more-109115

Super Moon 9/27

A waxing crescent moon seen from Logan Pass in Montana.

A crescent moon is barely visible as the sun sets over Montana in a 2008 picture.

Photograph by Michael Melford, National Geographic

Andrew Fazekas

for National Geographic News

Published September 26, 2011

Tomorrow night the new moon will make a close approach to Earth, giving rise to the second supermoon of the year—but this one will have the power of invisibility.

Because the moon’s orbit is egg shaped, there are times in the roughly monthlong lunar cycle when the moon is at perigee—its closest distance to Earth—or at apogee, its farthest distance from Earth.

“A supermoon occurs when the moon is at perigee and it’s in either a full or new phase,” said Raminder Singh Samra, an astronomer at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre in Vancouver, Canada.

In March sky-watchers were treated to a full moon at perigee, which made for the biggest full moon seen in 18 years.

A new moon happens when the lunar orb positions itself between Earth and the sun, so that the side of the moon that faces Earth is unlighted.

“The upcoming moon on September 27, 2011, is set to be at perigee and at the new phase,” Samra said, “so we won’t be able to witness the event, as the moon and sun will be in the same region of the sky” and the lunar disk will be entirely dark.

Supermoon to Affect Earth’s Tides?

Because the size of the moon’s orbit also varies slightly, each perigee is not always the same distance from Earth.

When at perigee, the moon is about 18,640 miles (30,000 kilometers) closer to Earth than its average distance of roughly 240,000 miles (385,000 kilometers). When perigee occurs during a full moon, the lunar disk can appear about 14 percent bigger in the sky, Samra said.

Tuesday’s dark supermoon will be just 222,175 miles (357,557 kilometers) away from Earth.

Some people have speculated that this lunar proximity can have unusual gravitational effects on Earth, triggering dramatic events such as earthquakes.

But the truth is that there’s only a very small correlation between full or new moons and seismic stresses, said Jim Todd, planetarium manager at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

“Stronger tidal forces caused by the alignment of the sun and moon may put added stress on tectonic plates,” Todd said.

“However, seismologists have found no evidence connecting lunar perigees to heightened seismic activity. Instead the Earth constantly stores up energy and releases it any time the built-up energy becomes too great.”

Lunar close encounters are well known to cause slightly higher ocean tides, so any localized flooding during a supermoon would be most noticeable around beaches and other low-lying areas.

But linking the supermoon to effects beyond that is far-fetched, the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre’s Samra said.

“While the supermoon is thought to provoke various natural disasters on the Earth,” he said, “such claims are exaggerations, as there is simply no scientific evidence for them.”

from:    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/09/110926-new-moon-closest-earth-dark-supermoon-dark-space-science/