Today is the 30th day of the lunar cycle and unless I see the new moon tonight it will be the first day of the new lunar cycle tomorrow. If I see the New Moon tonight then today is the first day of the new lunar cycle but we shall see. I’ve been keeping track of the lunar cycles since we have been in lockdown and particularly because I started to read the story of Noah and the Flood in Genesis and I was struck by all the references to particular days of the lunar cycle and events that occurred which led me to the conclusion that the ancient Hebrews saw the lunar cycle as having 30 days. I would like to discuss some of my thoughts about this with other biblical scholars as I also get a sense that the story of Noah relates to the agricultural year and the Earth’s journey around the sun. So if you have any thoughts on this then feel free to get back to me about it. Also if you are Muslim Happy Eid al-Fitr!
Tag: Lunar Cycle
Happy Earth Day! The place where I’m staying just now has an excellent view over a river and I’ve been watching the fish swim in it, some of which must be about half a metre in length, maybe more, as they can be seen from my room in the top floor. As the window is also West facing I have had some quite amazing views of Venus after the Sun has set and the new moon when that happened. I’ve been keeping a count of the days since I first saw it and today is day 28. This means that Saturday should be the 31st day and therefore the new moon should be visible again on that day resetting the cycle back to day 1. It would be wonderful if we could all keep on remembering our Mother Earth not just today but for the whole of the next lunar cycle, for the Moon is our closest partner in the heavens and orbits with the Earth round the Sun. It is not money that makes the world go round but something else beginning with M.
I also had an article shared with me reporting that we may have the largest ever single year drop in Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions as a percentage in 2020 due to the global lockdown caused by the coronavirus. We need to keep this trend going and even make it greater after the lockdown is lifted in order to reach the target of reduction in CO2 emissions required to limit global temperature rise to that agreed in Paris (1.5 degrees from pre-industrial levels). The recent situation shows what a radical change that would be, but if we think about what’s at stake then we might have the encouragement to keep going. We are capable of great change as a global society if it is a matter of life and death and that is also what we face in terms of the climate. And it’s not just CO2 emissions we have to think about but habitat destruction also. The pressures on biodiversity due to habitat loss even increase our chances of further pandemics according to another article I read. This is why it is important that we keep our Mother Earth in mind not just today but in the coming month, by which I mean lunar cycle.
Here is the link to the first article I mentioned on the drop in CO2 emissions: