Moonscape.
Study #5
“The moon I have known all my life, that two-dimensional small yellow disk in the sky, has gone away somewhere, to be replaced by the most awesome sphere I have ever seen...The belly of it bulges out toward us in such a pronounced fashion that I almost feel I can reach out and touch it.”
Michael Collins, Apollo 11 Command Module Pilot
The moon was created 4.5 billion years ago when a floating mass collided with earth, causing debris to fracture off in a molten state and then accumulate together via gravitational pull. The moon’s shape is not actually round, but an oblate spheroid: a slightly flattened version of a circle.
Circles are symbols of wholeness, no start and no finish, the unknowable origin of time. The eternal. Source of life, destination of uncertainty. It signals repetition, movement within constancy, gateway, the center of focus. A signifier of equality, equidistance. Oneness.
“On Circles” by Leigh Patterson
Art Deco moonstone ring, circa 1920.
According to Hindu mythology, moonstone is made of solidified moonbeams and you can see the future if you hold a moonstone in your mouth during a full moon. In reality, the unearthly glow is caused by light scattering through microscopic layers of feldspar.
Sun and Moon, 1951. George Rickey.
In the 5th century, Hippocrates linked madness to the influence of the full moon. The word lunatic derives from the Latin word, Luna, who was considered the goddess of the moon. In the 18th century, criminals could argue for lighter sentences if their crime occurred during a full moon, and mental health asylums took precautions against frenetic activity during certain moon cycles.
Victor Hugo, Anish Kapoor
Moonlight is a misnomer, as the moon doesn’t emit light but instead reflects sunlight back (defined as albedo).
In tarot symbology the Moon card represents intuition and implies that everything is not as it seems. It reminds you to trust your instinct, look to your subconscious, and take caution in your endeavors.
11,000 year old stone sculptures from Gobekli Tepe, Turkey.