Hobbies And Interests
Earliest Lunar Calendar
Mankind has been attempting to chart and plot the moon phases for thousands of years. Ancient cave paintings found in France and Germany are the primitive records left behind by certain Paleolithic cultures as they tried to tie the moon phases with the changing seasons. Numerous curved shapes of varying degrees of thickness represent the moon and its phases. These marks were found carved on animal bones as well as on cave walls.
Measuring Modern Time
In the present day, science has determined that the moon has an erratic orbit and the way that scientists measure its monthly and seasonal cycle has changed. The reference point used to measure the moon phases ending in a complete monthly cycle is the new moon. From this point, each moon phase is measured until it returns to the same point in the sky as the new moon.
Lunar New Year
The everyday calendar that you use to keep track of the days, months and years is a solar calendar. Asia has a calendar known as the Lunar Calendar that measures the months and seasons using the moon instead of the sun. The calendar is based on strict calculations that include observing the moon phases. The Hebrew calendar is similar. Both calendars are used to record feast days and festivals.
Gardening Moon
When agriculture was a new field, fledgling farmers used the signals that the moon phases gave them. Open up The Old Farmer's Almanac and you will see an entire section devoted to the moon and its phases. Gardeners take the moon phases and related folklore very seriously, like never planting during the waning moon. Gardeners use the moon phases as well as its rising and setting times to determine the best times to seed, tend, water or plant.