The Moon Festival

Amidst the darkness the full moon makes its ascent into the evening sky. Families gather as the sky illuminates with a brilliant glow. Sweethearts hold each other. Friends drink a toast to the moon. The moon is believed to be at its biggest and brightest this one night.

The Moon Festival, also know as the Mid-Autumn and Mooncake Festival, is held on the fifteenth night of the eighth lunar month.

There are multiple legends about the origin of the Moon Festival. The general idea is that a woman was punished and banished to the moon. She was an incredibly beautiful woman and her beauty brighten the moon. The moon is Yin, which is female, giving this night special meaning and strength to women.

Another legend tells how the beginning of a new dynasty was established. Invading Mongolians from the north had destroyed the Song Dynasty establishing the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1280-1368). The people of China were treated like slaves; they were oppressed and persecuted. In a daring attempt to overthrow the Mongolian rule, rebel leaders sent hidden messages to each household baked in mooncakes. The mooncakes were part of the harvest festival and so the Mongolians would never partake of these pastries. The message instructed everyone to strike and kill the Mongolians during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The attack was successful and the Ming Dynasty was established.

Today, families eat together and watch the moon rise. Round foods are served like grapefruit, pomegranates, apples, grapes, and mooncakes. Rice, wine, and tea are served as well. The highlight of the festival is the Children's Lantern Parade. Hundreds of children with beautifully colorful lanterns march through the streets.

The Vietnamese have a corresponding Mid-Autumn Festival called Tet Trung Thu. Similar traditions are followed and mooncakes are eaten and given as gifts. Children create lanterns and light them after dark then parade through town.

Certain full moon occurences and certain powerful places, like Kataragama, are still believed to provide favourable 'windows of opportunity' for subtle information-gathering and even for passage to parallel worlds. Buddha's visits to ancient Lanka, for example, are associated with the full moon of Duthuru (January).

Lunar eclipses

For ancient people, full moon lunar eclipses were odd and inexplicable, even terrifying. Some cultures saw lunar eclipses as signs of celestial wrath that portended famine or disease.

The Chinese word for eclipse is chih, which means "to eat." One can imagine that the bloody cast of the Moon in some eclipses only added to the fear of what was going on. Even into the 19th Century, the Chinese navy fired cannons to scare off the dragon they imagined was eating the Moon.

Myths die hard. In Japan, some people still cover wells to avoid being poisoned by the disease of the Moon during an eclipse. Native residents of Arctic regions are known to turn over their utensils to avoid contamination.

In other cultures, people yell at the Moon during an eclipse, or they bang pots or even shoot into the air.