Difference between revisions of "Lunar Calendar"

Latest revision as of 21:25, 13 November 2017

Unlike the constant light of the Most High, the light of Luna’s Celestial Body is inconstant, as befitting the god of Chaos, and yet its shifts and turns follow patterns, as befitting a functionary of the Celestial Bureaucracy. Every month, Luna progresses through his phases from the first day to the last.

On the first day of the month, the Waxing Crescent of Luna appears, growing to reach the First Quarter on the sixth day, Waxing Gibbous until Luna’s full face emerges on the 12th, remaining for the 13th and 14th, The moon then moves Waning Gibbous to its Third Quarter on the 20th (another neap tide), Waning Crescent through to the 26th where the silver is gone and the moon remains barely visible until the beginning of a new month, another period of powerful spring tides. While sightings with magnifying lenses and astrologic instruments have confirmed Luna’s presence in the sky on the 26th and 27th, there remains conjecture that on the 28th day of a month, Luna vanishes entirely to illuminate the Wylds beyond Creation’s edges.

The Tides

Of Creation's Five Elements, that of Water is said to be closest to the chaos of the Wyld, and of the Incarnae Luna is said to be the god who works most closely with that Chaos by his efforts and his nature. The tangles of essence flows might be the stuff of savants, but all mariners on the oceans well know that this relationship reflects in the movement of the waters as the Moon progresses through its phases.

When Luna rests at the beginning or the midpoint of his cycle, the New Moon and the Full Moon, the tides of Creation rise their highest and ebb their lowest, springing forth in the 'spring tide'. While he journeys between those phases, through the First Quarter and Third Quarter, Creation experiences the 'neap tide', where the tides remain close in level and the waters calmer across Creation.

(when the ocean tides respond by falling to their weakest point as a neap tide)

Full Moons

Each of the Full Moons in a given month bears a poetic name, in some cases little more than tradition but in most reflecting the unique hue or nature of the Moon on its three nights.

Ascending Air - The Snow Moon, whose lights and shadows are said to show drifts and flakes playing across its surface.

Resplendent Air - The Ice Moon, blue-tinged and glassy.

Descending Air - The Shimmering Moon, whose silver glow is said by some to carry hints of iridescence when looked at from the corner of one’s eye, like Starmetal patina upon polished Moonsilver.

Ascending Water - The Glittering Moon, said to gleam like a diamond in the sky.

Resplendent Water - The Silver Moon, shining bright and pure.

Descending Water - The Mud Moon, sometimes known as the Bruised Moon, grey shadows mottled with browns and purples.

Ascending Earth - The Fey Moon, which seems to waver and sometimes double in the sky, as if out of focus.

Resplendent Earth - The Harvest Moon, the pale ivory-yellow of wheat and other grains.

Descending Earth - The Darking Moon, shadowed and offering little light.

Ascending Wood - The Planting Moon, said to bear the rows and paddies of a farmer’s field within its lights and shadows.

Resplendent Wood - The Flowering Moon, whose light and shadow are said to reminisce of an Orchid blooming as the night flows on.

Descending Wood - The Green Moon, tinged a greenish hue.

Ascending Fire - The Hare Moon, in whose light and shadow many claim a rabbit can be seen. At present in the Realm, this is sometimes jokingly referred to as the ‘Magistrate’s Moon’.

Resplendent Fire - The Flame Moon, tinged flickering orange. Some say this is the Kissing Moon, Luna’s colour the twilight kiss of the Unconquered Sun, though (outside the themed Moon Viewing soirees of Some Great Houses) such tales are suppressed where the Immaculate Order holds sway.

Descending Fire - The Wolves’ Moon, cutting through clouds like fangs through flesh. Wolves have reputation for howling their praise to Luna, and it is said that on the Wolves’ Moon their calls are longest and loudest of all, with even domesticated dogs sometimes compelled to join their choir.

Calibration - There is no moon on Calibration, for the sky is devoid of Celestial bodies at this time.

Moonshadow

The Moonshadow is a rare sight in the Age of Sorrows, a time when in any phase Luna’s light is suddenly cut short for a time, perhaps moments, perhaps hours. Some tribes at the edge of Creation tell tales that during the Moonshadow Luna weeps for things long lost, for things yet to come, for the necessary harshness of life.

As mortals can often be, they are wrong. The Moonshadow is in fact the will of the Most High Sol Invictus reaching out into the night. His holy light is not shared, for this would not be proper during darkness, but nevertheless when his Unconquerable will turns upon even one as potent as the Incarna Luna, the Moon cannot help but bow to it.

In the First Age, some tales say the Unconquered Sun would force the Moonshadow to remind the second amongst the Incarnae of its place. Some even whisper, the victories of Luna in the Games of Divinity might light the skies of Heaven with her light, but in Creation the Moonshadow would hide it from the mortal world to express Sol’s irritation.

Whatever the reason, it is certainly evident from astrological accounts that Moonshadows were far more common in earlier Eras than they have been since the Unconquered Sun turned his face from Creation and his Chosen. They occur, however, in a way even the ancient records speak of, as reflection of the times the light of the Sun is lost to Creation for a moment. For each Eclipse, there is always a Moonshadow, sometimes presaging it and sometimes following, within the month.

Blood Moon

The Blood Moon is an event that occurs during any Lunar Phase, usually briefly, where the face of the Moon takes on a blood red hue. The appearance of the Blood Moon is unpredictable, its causes unknown… Luna dismisses all inquiries, though both the most ancient records and the memories of the gods do not recall its like before the Primordial War.

To many civilizations in Creation, the Blood Moon is a sign of ill-fortune, but to the barbarian tribes of the fringes it is more often celebrated as a signal to prepare for grand raids into Creation.