La luna del lupo.

Posted on by Tra Italia e Finlandia

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La luna piena di gennaio 2019 è stata chiamata la Luna di sangue del Lupo.  Cosa ha deteterminato un nome tanto pittoresco?  E’ presto detto:  “di sangue” a causa dell’eclisse che l’ha fatta apparire rossa;  alcuni popoli antichi,  come le civiltà precolombiane del sudamerica,  pensavano che durante l’eclisse la luna fosse inghiottita da un qualche mostro o creatura gigantesca,  di qui il sangue.

Mentre “del lupo” perchè tutte le lune nuove di gennaio ogni anno portano questo nome:  ci deriva dai popoli antichi che scandivano il loro tempo contando i cicli della luna piuttosto che del sole.  I lupi,  animali notturni come le volpi e tanti altri,  sono soliti ululare maggiormente in questo periodo dell’anno;  istintivamente i lupi ululano puntando il muso verso il cielo per far arrivare più lontano possibile il loro messaggio di appartenenza ad un certo gruppo,  di minaccia nei confronti di un altro,  per lamentare la scarsità di cibo o durante la stagione dell’accoppiamento.  Il fatto che i lupi ululano sovente nel mese di gennaio ce lo dicono le civiltà antiche che vivevano in simbiosi con la natura,  a cominciare dai nativi americani,  da alcune etnie europee come i Sami della Lapponia,  ma anche la scienza.   (fonte:  National Geographic).

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Nelle mie foto:  la luna piena del mese scorso mentre sta sorgendo dietro un campanile.  Quella di gennaio 2019 è stata anche una superluna,  così chiamata per il suo apparire più grande del solito a causa della sua posizione ravvicinata alla Terra.

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The Wolf moon.            Last January 2019’s full moon was named the Blood Wolf Moon,  to be precise – “blood” comes from the red colour appearance as a result of the total eclypse that took place on Jan 20th;  some ancient populations,  as the Incan civilization,  believed that the moon was swallowed by some monster during an eclypse…hence the blood.

Why Wolf?   Actually the full moon of every january every year has this name:  simply because through the centuries man has accounted time relying on the moon cycles,  rather than the sun and every full moon has a name.  Wolves are night animals (like foxes and others) and they are known to howl particularly intensely in this time of year – just to confirm their belonging to a certain pack,  or to scare another;  to lament the scarcity of food or for the mating season.  Wolves instinctly howl with muzzle up,  to the sky,  to make their cry arrive the farthest.  We come to know that wolves howl more in winter from ancient cultures who lived in constant contact with nature,  such as the American Natives or the Sami in Lapland and from modern science  (source:  National Geographic). 

Last January moon was moreover a supermoon,   as it looked bigger than usual due to its reduced distance from the Earth.  In my shots:  the supermoon rising behind a bell tower.

 

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Linked to:  Makrotex Challenge…Moon-light.  My Corner of the World.  WATW.  Skywatch Friday.  All Seasons.

46 thoughts on “La luna del lupo.”

  3. Wonderful photos, Luisella… and really interesting texts.
    Wolves howling to lament the scarcity of food. ..This is fascinating, but isn’t it counterproductive, the food escapes even further when hears the wolves. 😀
    Baci!

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Haha, Sara! 🙂 You are right. So I found in the NG… Or maybe it is just man’s impression that wolves howl more in January! Anyway if a wolf comes by night to our courtyard he will find lots of food…you will see what in a few posts’ time! 😉 Hugs!

    Like

  6. Beautiful! We don’t have wolves in New England, but we have coyotes, which are closely related. They sometimes howl for the reasons you mentioned, although they live in families (like people), rather than packs. We love to hear them “sing” to each other at night.

    Liked by 1 person

  42. According to Jewish literature (Johnathan Cahn) the blood moons are harbingers of judgment to come (more so for Israel than the rest of the world.The wolf moon sounds ominous, eh? We missed it because it rained that day and night and the sky had a thick cloud cover, so we were not able to see it.
    Happy you could, and your images are fabulous! Many thanks for sharing them with All Seasons! Have a great week!

    Liked by 1 person

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