Alacazem 2010.11.04
November 4 to 11, 2010
Visible Planets: Morning: Venus and Saturn Evening: Mercury, Mars and Jupiter
The Birth and Rebirth of the Scorpio New MoonThis morning I awoke to a deep, blue-black sky, the twinkling lights of our tiny western cow town glimmering beneath the almost invisible horizon of the eastern San Juan skyline. Above and west of zenith, Sirius - the faithful “dog star” of mighty Orion the Hunter - shimmered its bright-white light like a beacon from heaven to earthlings below. In the north, the arcing handle of the Big Dipper pointed gracefully to stellar Arcturus in the east, rising above the thin, mountain horizon-line of dawn.
I put on the coffee and walked outside. The thermometer read 40º, which was noticeably warm for early November at 6:00 a.m. And then, I noticed the newly risen Moon. A brilliant, delicate slip of a slender crescent was cusping the faintly shining lunar ball as sunlight bounced back off Earth, hanging like an ornament on an invisible celestial tree. The sight was so phenomenally simple and serene, and yet so stunning and magnificently beautiful, I found myself feeling blessed and humbled, awed and inspired. How can an astronomical event that takes place each and every lunar month, costs nothing and is free to all, be so rich and rewarding, deep and divine?