Forum

1. Introduction.

Over the decades there have been many scientific reports for and against the effect of the moon on human behaviour. The reports analysed heightened mind activity, increased visits to general or psychiatric emergency departments and people complaining of higher levels of physical and mental distress.

The Spiritual Science Research Foundation (SSRF) examined the effect of the moon on human behaviour using spiritual research methodologies. In the spiritual research that we conducted to ascertain the effect of moon on human behaviour the short answer was yes, it does have an effect. The following are the various aspects on how the moon affects our life.

2. The generic subtle (intangible) effect of the moon

All objects including stars, planets and satellite bodies along with their gross (tangible) attributes emanate subtle (intangible) frequencies. These physical attributes and subtle-frequencies affect us in varying degrees at a physical and subtle-level.

The frequencies emanating from the Moon affect the frequencies of the mental body, i.e. mind of human beings. By ‘mind’ we mean our feelings, emotions and desires. The mind consists of the conscious mind and the sub-conscious mind. Within the sub-conscious mind we have a number of impressions that are embedded that decide our basic nature and personality. We are however not aware of the thoughts or impressions in our sub-conscious mind. These impressions get collected over a number of lifetimes.

These impressions in our mind are the catalysts for all our thoughts and subsequent actions. Both the impressions and our thoughts have their own subtle-frequencies.

Refer to the article on, ‘How the impressions in our mind make us act’.

The moon frequencies are slightly more subtle (intangible) than the subtle-frequencies of our thoughts but are less subtle than the frequencies of the impressions in our mind. The moon frequencies have the capacity to make the thought frequencies from the impressions in our sub-conscious mind to surface to the conscious mind. Once in the conscious mind we become aware of them. Thus one will be influenced as per the predominant impressions in one’s mind. We have explained this in more detail in the next section.

Similarly the moon also affects the mind of animals. However as the sub-conscious mind of animals consists of impressions related only to basic desires such as hunger, sex, sleep etc., the heightened thoughts are related to these basic instincts only.

3. Effect based on illumination or phase of the moon

On new moon day, the non-illuminated, i.e. dark side of the Moon faces towards Earth. Darkness emanates Raja-Tama predominant frequencies. Hence compared to when the illuminated side faces Earth, more subtle basic Raja-Tama predominant frequencies are transmitted towards Earth.

Refer to the article on Sattva, Raja and Tama, the three subtle basic components.

Alternatively, on a full moon day there is a decrease in the Raja-Tama because of the increased illumination. However on a full moon day as the moon frequencies are more active, a heightened activity of the mind is observed as explained above in point 2. Depending on the types of impressions from the sub-conscious mind that are activated, the heightened activity can range from heightened random thoughts to heightened mind activity of specific thoughts.

For example, a person who is a writer and is focusing on some book that he is writing is more likely to get heightened thought activity mainly pertaining to the book and creativity in writing style. These types of thoughts will arise out of the talent centre. Hence he may find that he can write prolifically on a full moon day.

However for most people the thoughts are random. If there are a number of dominant personality defects such as anger, greed, etc. then they too may surface and dominate our thoughts during this period. For example an alcoholic will get more thoughts about the need to drink alcohol on this day.

It is also possible to awaken thoughts about Spirituality that lie inert in the sub-conscious mind of a spiritual person by taking advantage of the heightened mind activity and by increasing spiritual practice on a full moon day.

4. Effect based on gravitational pull of the moon

When the moon is full or new, the gravitational pull of the moon and sun are combined. The moon exerts a pull on the Earth on other days too, but it is not as powerful as on the days of full moon and new moon.

Suppose we were to take in a deep breath, the air sucked into our mouth is three times as much as a normal breath. Now let’s translate this analogy to the Moon and its pull on the Earth. During full moon and new moon days the whole Moon is pulling Earth and the effect is as if in the earlier analogy the Moon is taking a deep breath. We find that the circular atmosphere of three times the size of the moon is attracted from the Earth.

At the time of full Moon and new Moon days the Absolute Cosmic Principles (Panchatattva) on Earth such as the Absolute Earth (Pruthvī), Absolute Water (Āpa) and Absolute Air (Vāyu) are pulled towards the Moon. This creates a type of subtle very high-pressure belt.  

In this process at a physical level when water is attracted towards moon, rather than the water, the gaseous elements in water (water vapour) come above water and enter the subtle high-pressure belt. Since negative energies are predominantly in gaseous form they get pulled into the subtle high-pressure belt. Here they group together and get added strength in numbers from each other. They therefore attack humanity to a larger extent on these days. The impact of this is that the attacks ofghosts on humans both at a physical and mind level can be as much as three times more.

In the hermitages (ashrams) of SSRF around the world, an increase in negative energy attacks and subtle negative pressure has been observed on full moon and new moon days. It starts two days prior to full moon or new moon and ends two days after.

5. Consequences of increased effect of the moon on full moon and new moon.

On new moon days, the Raja-Tama spreading ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.), people engaged in occult rituals and predominantly rājasik and tāmasik people are strongly influenced and receive black energy for their Raja-Tama activities. As it is a day conducive for negative activities, it is considered an inauspicious day for any positive activities. As the Raja-Tama from the moon affects the mind, the incidence of Raja-Tama tendencies like running away, suicide or possession by ghosts is highest on new moon. Especially during the night, as the otherwise naturally available purification by the Absolute Cosmic Fire Principle (Tējtattva) through the Sun being absent, new moon night is a golden opportunity for the ghosts to cause distress to man.

On a full moon night, as the illuminated side of the moon faces Earth, minimal subtle basic Raja-Tama is transmitted on this night compared to other nights. Hence on this night minimal Raja-Tama energy is available for ghosts, Raja-Tama predominant people or practitioners of occult rituals. However, ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.) take advantage of the effect of the gravitational pull on a full moon day and cause heightened distress.

Spiritual research has further revealed that there are some finer differences between the effect of new moon and full moon on man. Overall the distressing effect of moon on man is more on new moon than on full moon. The adverse effect of full moon is more on the physical or gross body (sthūladēha) whereas that of new moon is more on the mind. The effect of full moon is more apparent whereas the effect on new moon is more intangible (subtle). As the effect of new moon is not apparent to the person, it is even more dangerous. This is because as he is not aware of the distress, no step is taken to overcome it.

Between new moon and full moon the effects of new moon are less noticeable to us. However the negative effect is more on new moon. The reason for this is that on new moon the effect on man is more at a subtle-level as opposed to the full moon where one is aware of the increase in thoughts.

Seekers who do a lot of spiritual practice as per the six basic principles of spiritual practice are primarily sāttvik in nature. As a result they are more sensitive to changes in the Raja-Tama in the environment as compared to an average person who is himself Raja-Tama predominant. The upside is that seekers of God are better equipped to access protection of God from negative energy. Refer to the article ‘How much does spiritual level provide a protective sheath against ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.)?’

6. Why are recent reports unable to find evidence of the effect of the moon on human behaviour?

Some earlier medical/psychological studies had documented the effect of the moon on human behaviour. But studies conducted in the recent years have failed to correlate this effect. The reason for this is that in the last decade there has been an unprecedented increase in the overall Raja-Tama in the world. This excess in Raja-Tama has been primarily orchestrated by ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.).

Refer to the article on the Battle between good and evil.

This overall increase in the Raja-Tama component has widespread effect on all aspects of the world. The problems range from increased mental issues at an individual level to increased fights in families to terrorism to natural disasters. As a result of the underlying overall increase in erratic behaviour throughout the month, the additional effect of the new and full moon that is still present goes largely unnoticed in statistical studies.

7. What can we do to protect ourselves from any harmful effects?

Since the harmful effect of the new and full moon is due to a spiritual reason, only spiritual remedies or spiritual practice can help in giving protection.

At a worldly level, it is best to avoid taking important decisions or buying-selling on these days as ghosts can affect through these media. Increase the quantity and quality of spiritual practice from 2 days prior to and continue for 2 days after full moon and new moon days. It is also beneficial to chant Name of God as per religion and the spiritual protection 

During the waning phase of the moon, i.e. the period between full moon day and new moon day, as the size of the moon progressively reduces, the subtle basic Raja-Tama frequencies emanating from it progressively rise. This is because the darker side of the moon progressively increases. Hence to protect oneself from the adverse influence of this enhanced Raja-Tama, it is important that we step up our spiritual practice during this period.

During the waning phase of the moon, we should at least try to stabilise the increased efforts we had put in, in the earlier fortnight. This is so that we can again renew our efforts at enhanced spiritual practice in the next waning phase of the moon.