Before the moon

There is a certain power in the moon. I am not trying to describe her geological attributes, nor the physical forces coupled with gravitation. I am talking about the phases of the moon and the times of the year. It impacts on most people more than they think -and in fact the majority of citizens don't think that much about it at all. This is not because they have no concern for this but because of ignorance and a lifetime of propaganda in the form of science. Good science is based mainly on observation of natural phenomena; which about covers everything. Bad science is about trying to find a rational for prejudice. The moon and its effects on life are subjects that are not favoured by the institutions that claim to study the human mind. It may be that the obvious effects of the moon's phases on life on this planet have little to do with humans, or at least their mental condition. It could also be a co-incidence that a woman's cycle, for example, is timed to the moons. But I doubt that even the most misogynist scholar would deny that her moods and emotions are coloured by this cycle.

About this time of year, just before the full-moon, I have observed a strange current of energy that pulses through society. To me it appears as a definite trend. A manifestation of a behaviour that many folks exhibit - a common attitude, as it were. To try a nail this down to a precise description, following succinct laws and rules, is impossible. Perhaps this is why it is never quantified by scientists and falls therefore into the realm of speculation. But exist it does and it is not a positive feeling. Around me and in my life I have watched perfectly normal and usually forward thinking people become critical and, not to pull any punches, self-destructive. Now, I realise that there is a good well of self-destructive urges that afflict humans all the time. Iraq and pollution are but two, albeit on a huge scale. These changes are not on a huge scale but only on a turn of phrase, a mere sentence can express them. They occur on bar-stools and in kitchens, in fact in the most un-looked for everyday places of our lives. It is almost as if the moon loosens the ties that hold our fears in place, and out of the gaps creeps the rage that is the smoke of disillusionment. Big words, but not big enough to explain this horrible sensation with any clarity, for what follows is an unprovoked attack on anyone who is trying to help, making creative things happen, or is just a little successful with their projects. This is so pronounced that it can lead to whole communities burning their accomplishments and trashing their, otherwise erstwhile, community efforts. Drink, drugs and other desperate ploys to escape the tortured paths of thought appear in profusion, and when those are not available, hostile withdrawal is often the order of the day. Alcohol, a recognised remover of social constraints, allows us to look deeper into this social suicide. Around the bars of the country, when the December moon has yet to reach maturity, are men and women realising the tensions of their anxiety on everything that is beautiful and forward thinking. What is found in the community, is here magnified, and anyone who is famous, good, or just plain decent is, metaphorically assassinated. Correspondingly, any famous figure -or for that matter infamous, locally or globally, is supported. Pinocchio becomes a victim and the local drunk a hero.

No single human is immune from this psychic manifestation of the moons energy -be they presidents or peasants. The president of Iran, for example. At this point I feel compelled to state, for the record, that I do not support Israel's policy on creating peace in the Middle East, nor would I add any succour to America's drive for world dominance; all forms of political terror are abhorrent to me. That said, it is plainly an irrational act to declare that the holocaust never existed; an act that deepens divisions and creates confusion and distrust at all levels of society. It is also an act that destroys the lesson of the holocaust. The recognition that such an appalling episode can happen is the driving force behind those who struggle for world peace. 'Never again' is the slogan that glues together the many disparate groups of peace protestors. From those who feel sickened by the thought, to those who take part in an active struggle to create a better world; to make sure that such a thing will never happen again is a strong uniting current.

To issue a denial that this ever took place is to leave a vacuum of truth, and into this void will flood the full force of monstrous prejudice. To take the only good thing that emerged from the dark horrors of the Nazi attempts at genocide and to destroy it is to attack something that is positive and creative. The reason is the same for each individual, on a bar-stool or not -and it is no different for presidents, our deep-seated fears rising to a troubled surface to emerge as acts of vandalism. Why this is a part of our makeup is plainly because it is part of our society. But why it is consciously articulated and even broadcast to a waiting world, instead of being recognised for what it is, could easily be a simple as a winter full moon.