The moon and the paranormal

2nd August 2023. Reading Time: 11 minutes General, Paranormal Theories. 3916 page views. 0 comments.

Is there a connection between the moon and the paranormal? I look at the myth surrounding the moon as well as various theories that also connect it to paranormal activity.

Once a month, paranormal investigators get excited and believe they are in for an exciting and wild night of activity. Many believe that in the 3 days before and after a full moon that the possibility of paranormal activity is at its highest. I know myself I have had some amazing experiences under the light of a full moon that I still remember clearly to this day. One thing we can’t deny is that there is something about a full moon that makes us all go a little bit batty, so maybe there really is something to the moon and the paranormal? In order to understand it more, we first need to know what the moon actually does.

Like a lot of mysteries of the universe, no one really knows where the moon came from or why we have only one when the other planets have more. One of the many theories is that the moon was created when an object the size of Mars collided with Earth and the moon was basically the leftovers. While we don’t know its specific origins, we do know that it is important for us to have a moon. We know that the moon orbits around Earth and that the Earth slowly rotates. The side of Earth that is facing the moon feels a larger gravitational pull. This affects water and the tides are pulled in that direction, so we have what is called high tide twice a day and low tide around 6 hours later depending on what stage the Earth is at in its daily rotation. You know when you go to the beach and you are sitting on a sandbank and suddenly a few hours later it is completely immersed with water? This is the effect of high and low tide. Without the moon, there would not be such a large difference between the two. The moon also helps to stabilize the Earth's rotation too. It is thought that we might not actually survive without the moon but luckily in our lifetime it doesn't look like this is anything we need to worry about.

The moon itself goes through a monthly lunar cycle. It takes 27.3 days for the Moon to fully orbit Earth. At the beginning of the cycle, the moon is so close to the sun that the side of the moon facing Earth is not illuminated because the Moon is basically sitting in between the Sun and the Earth. By the time you reach the end of the cycle, the moon is sitting behind the Earth and you get a full moon. As the sun sets, the moon rises with that side fully exposed to the sunlight and this is why you have a full moon. The actual lunar cycle takes 29.5 to complete which is 2.2 days longer than it takes for the Moon to orbit Earth

Now that I have given your daily dose of Science for today, it is time to dive into mythology as this is where it is likely paranormal investigators inherited the beliefs that the moon influences paranormal activity. Here are some of the more well-known myths surrounding the moon:

The moon itself is known as Selene in Greek mythology who shines a light through the darkness. ‘Selas’ in Greek, commands the tide of the ocean with her magnetic pull. The lunar cycle allows her to visit the Earth 8 times a year beaming her ‘magnificent silver light’ from her ethereal silver chariot carried by two snow-white horses. Inspiring many poets, Selene makes a full moon a romantically enchanting experience.
The Roman goddess of the moon was called Luna riding her chariot in the darkness of night which is where words such as lunatic and lunacy are thought to have come from. Medical professionals for thousands of years believed that there was a strong connection between manic behaviour and the moon. In the 18th century in England, people on trial could plea for a lighter sentence by stating their behaviour was due to a full moon. During certain lunar cycles, patients in mental hospitals were shackled and restrained as a precaution as it was thought that the energy from the moon fueled their mania.
The moon is extremely relevant to Pagans and they often plan magical workings around different times of the lunar cycle and is thought to be connected to wisdom and intuition

Luna - Image Source Public Domain

There are many more links of different deities and the moon, these are some of the more popular I have selected.

There isn't an official link between the lunar cycle and paranormal activity however many paranormal investigators commonly believe that a full moon and the 3 days after it is when paranormal events are more likely to occur. Certain events such as a harvest moon, blue moon, blood-red moon and lunar eclipse, etc are also said to have an effect on influencing paranormal activity as well. So why could this be? A person could argue that the gravitational pull of the moon has an effect on the water on Earth. As humans, approximately 60% of our make-up is water. A lot of spiritual people will comment that the energy of the moon has a physical effect on them and a mental effect on their mood. Does this gravitational pull have an effect on our bodies as well? People often comment about a moon being particularly strong if there is a bright ring around it because it is so full and bright. Does this trace back to Selene shining her bright light down on us? It is also considered to be a very spiritual experience. What about the undeniable fact that emergency workers will tell you that whenever there is a full moon, emergency rooms are full and police have to deal with a lot of nuisances because we all go just a tad crazy around a full moon.

We all feel a strong pull be it gravitational or something else to the moon. We stand underneath a full moon and feel the energy or that pull. We put our crystals out and do rituals under the light of the moon. Does it influence the paranormal and increase activity? We know that in some way it changes us. We can’t say for sure that it gives spirits energy. Maybe it opens us up more or allows us to see or feel things we wouldn’t normally. Maybe we are just connecting dots that aren’t there and just expect something to happen. By expecting it to happen, are we making it happen? Instead of the weather, we are the common dominator here. If something is going to happen, maybe it will happen regardless of what point of the moon cycle it is or what the weather is forecasted to be that night. The moon could however play a part, and we could be the trigger object.

Paranormal investigators often refer to what is called 'The Stone tape Theory'. It works on the premise that certain materials such as stone could 'record' energy, especially if something is traumatic (such as a murder). When the conditions are just right such as humidity, temperature, barometric pressure, etc, it could set in wheels an event where the energy is somehow released from the stone and it goes through a playback. It is thought this could be where residual energy comes from. Residual energy is like a playback in time. You may witness a spirit for example walking down a hallway at the same time every day. This energy or spirit is unaware you are there. You cannot communicate as you are watching a playback. This is a basic idea of the stone tape theory. (If you would like to know more about the stone tape theory in detail, you can read my article "The Stonetape Theory". So when we talk about the stone tape theory where we would need all of the conditions such as the moon cycle to be just right for an event to ‘replay’, hypothetically, if this information was in fact true, what are the chances then that the exact same conditions would occur again? Given the number of variables involved, the answer would be slim to none. Does this then mean that these aspects actually have no influence on the paranormal event itself? If we look at the common element that occurs in every reported paranormal event there is some sort of human element. There is always a witness or person who has reported or experienced the phenomena. Maybe it is the person we should be looking at instead of the conditions in which the phenomena occurred.

We know that the moon can have an effect on a person from its gravitational pull. Other elements affect our bodies as well. From low-level frequencies through to atmospheric pressure, our bodies react in many different ways to different elements. Interestingly, it reacts to many of these things in a way to suggest or mimic what we think is paranormal. It makes us see things, hear things or even just feel like we are being watched. I personally find this really interesting myself. If you want to look back at the stone tape theory again where certain elements have to be just right for the paranormal event to occur, maybe we are looking at it from the wrong angle. Instead of stone, what if in fact, we are the key here? Maybe these factors all have to be in place for us to be able to experience or truly see the world as it is? Frequency light etc is all around us all of the time and we do not see it. Maybe these things unlock something within us to be able to have the experience or see or hear something we wouldn't normally. Our bodies all have different thresholds and react to elements in different ways depending on our age, sex, health conditions, and just our general make-up. Maybe this is why some people have an experience in any given moment while others don't? I don't know any answers here of course, it is just me thinking out loud.

So where do we go from here? Start a journal. Map out each moon cycle in it (if it isn't already there). Make a special note of any moon events such as a blue moon or a supermoon. Every time you feel like you are extra sensitive or even have a paranormal experience, write it down. After 6 months to a year, here you have now some data you can look at. Are you finding that things are heightened around the time of a full moon? Are your paranormal experiences lining up with the full moon theory or are they scattered randomly? The only way we as paranormal investigators are going to get any sort of information on this one is to start to collect the data. If you are a follower of this blog, you will know I have an online Zener Card Platform. If you are new to the site, there is an online Zener Card test you can conduct to test your ESP. While it is currently still in its testing phase, eventually I am going to be linking the results up to a database. This database is going to include moon cycles etc so we will be able to see if there is any sort of spike during moon cycles.

I also want to quickly make a note of something I have been thinking about over the last few days. I have been researching female hormones and their link to psychic ability for a while now and recently published the results of a survey. A lot of women seem to feel like they have heightened experiences at certain times of the month which is linked to their hormones. What if there is a connection or even misunderstanding between this and the moon? In one way, maybe we are getting it wrong with the moon and it could be our hormones that make us feel a certain way? While my studies have been specifically on female hormones, males have hormones, as well as these, which could have an impact too. Or perhaps it could be that this gravitational pull that affects our bodies, affects our hormones and causes these fluctuations? When you start thinking at this level, there are actually quite a lot of possibilities! It all starts with that data, so please get your journal out and start writing this down. In 6 months and 12 months down the track, I will be taking some surveys and collecting your results.

Here are the moon phases for 2023. I will be doing some more work on this later this year which I briefly mentioned last year but as a start, begin to track your results. Pop these in your diary and write down anything that is happening in your investigations or anything you are experiencing in daily life. Are there days where you feel your senses are heightened? Once we have some data we can start to really see what is actually happening.

https://www.vertex42.com/calendars/moon-phase-calendar.html

So to sum up, we don't know for sure if there is a connection between the moon and the paranormal. What we do know, however, is that there is nothing spookier than investigating under the light of the full moon!

If you enjoy LLIFS, consider buying me a book (otherwise known as buy me a coffee but I don't drink coffee and I LOVE books). Your donation helps to fund the LLIFS website so everyone can continue to access great paranormal content and resources for FREE!