Lunar Code Final Layout

The
Lunar
Code
Lunar Code final layout.indd 1 8/29/06 12:11:13 PM

The
9
Lunar
Code
Ken Ring

National Library of New Zealand
Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
available on request
A RANDOM HOUSE BOOK
published by
Random House New Zealand
18 Poland Road, Glenfield, Auckland, New Zealand
www.randomhouse.co.nz
First published 2006
© 2006 Ken Ring
The moral rights of the author has been asserted
ISBN-13: 978 1 86941 853 3
ISBN-10: 1 86941 853 0
Cover and text design by Trevor Newman
Printed in Australia by Griffin Press

Contents
Acknowledgements 6
Introduction 7
1 The Big Picture 15

2 Moon Phases 27
3 Moon Tides 39
4 Declination 65
5 Perigees and Apogees 81
6 The Role of the Planets 101
7 Earthquakes 125
8 Making Forecasts 139
9 Equinoxes and Hurricanes 149
10 Cycle of the Seasons 155
11 A Brief History of Forecasting 169
Appendix 1 Apogees/Perigees 186
Appendix 2 Weather Folklore 190
Appendix 3 The Cycle of the Seasons —

both Hemispheres 194
Index 202

Acknowledgements
A project such as this has been does not result from the efforts of
one person. The initial vision of Steve Barnett to condense into a
single book the story of the cycle of the seasons has resulted in the
present work. I have drawn on 30 years of forecasting, collecting
and concluding, but I have been blessed with enormous help.
I would like to sincerely thank my late wife Jude, Harry and Dulce
Alcock, and John Daly of Australia, all now sadly gone from this
planet, but their invaluable assistance and input remains and without
them this work could not have materialised. My gratitude goes also
to telephone and email colleagues in many countries, who over the
past ten years have constituted a tiny peer group, namely Richard
Holle of Kansas, Carolyn Egan of Rhode Island, Bernard Boyd and
Carl Matthews of the UK, and Carl Smith of Australia, all of whom
have made important contributions here and who continue to
discuss and analyse (this being a work in progress that has and will
continue to span several lifetimes). In New Zealand, Neville Gibb of
Waiheke Island has always found time to assist with his wonderful
tireless concern for accuracy and willingness to research. Finally,
my immediate team of Glenys Dreyer and Vic Dreijer, working
together with Steve Barnett and Sue Lewis at Random House, have
enthusiastically pulled the whole project to completion. Thank you
all so much.
Ken Ring
Auckland, August 2006

I 7
Introduction
9
The Moon governs the Moisture, and Spirit of the Earth.
Johan Goad, Astrometeorlogica, 1686
The bus
B
efore going to live on the bus I had remembered from school
days that the Moon controlled the tides — but that had never
really been in doubt. I also had very vague inklings of it
having something to do with fishing according to ancient customs of
— what were they? — Solomon Islanders? And there was a school
of thought about biorhythms from my university days that I hoped
I had left well behind. But in the early 1970s I rediscovered the
Moon, or perhaps it was vice versa.
Around 1974 we lived a subsistence-level camping life on the East
Coast of the North Island of New Zealand — myself, wife Jude and
curly-headed son Keri, aged three. We were now three years into the
camping travelling life, and becoming well used to it. In the course
of time and after much exploring of inlets and deserted country
byways and paths, we were eventually befriended by local Maori,
and suspicion had turned to acceptance. Over the next six years we
shared fish and fishing experiences, and I gradually absorbed most,
if not all, of the traditional Maori fishing calendar. Jude absorbed
the planting calendar, which many Maori today don’t even know,
being a vestige of old life and customs before colonial contact.
So, even though you vaguely remember learning about the Moon
and its cycles at school, it means nothing until you are out there

I 8 The Lunar Code
alone under a blindingly beautiful, overhead Full Moon in a pristine

sky at midnight, where fish caught by the gills in a net flash and
gleam as you harvest them.
The life was uncomplicated and basic, and it was the 1970s. For
half a decade now, many of my generation had been leaving the city
and trying new ways of being, without nine-to-five jobs and even,
like us, without houses. By 1976, the birth of daughter Miri added
to our small unit and made the bus start to feel a little cramped.
Increasingly we wintered over at relatives’ baches or in the city, and
after ten years in bus mode, it became less romantic, too much time
spent away from doting grandparents and too hard managing in
a small space. On a personal level, by the time I returned to city
life I had indeed changed my outlook on many matters, including
the hippie lifestyle. It had become disingenuous, stacked against
characters we had met who really knew how to live in the country
and with the elements — swaggies, drovers, gypsies, farmers,
fishermen and women and hunters — all wily, fit, street-smart and
in tune with the land.
I had achieved what I had set out to do — living in a more natural
way and with more appreciation of natural rhythms. And although
I hadn’t known where it would lead me, if anywhere, I had returned
armed with something quite unexpected, the rudiments of a weather
prediction system. This I had stumbled across almost accidentally. It
had come from the need to fish at the right times, and having time
on my hands with only fish to catch and the running gear on a bus
to maintain. I more or less drifted into exploring it.
Many nights were spent staring at the country sky, for in the
country the sky is not just starry, it is alive. In the bus ceiling, above
the bed, I had installed a large, clear perspex dome, and when the
moon was out we could watch it until we both fell asleep. Under
its sparkle our daughter was conceived and we returned to its light
every night it was out.
Early on, it became clear that the position of the Moon kept
changing, even if the position of the bus did not. In my naivety I
wondered to what extent this had been noticed by others. I had
a complete vacuous ignorance that I was ashamed to admit to.
That I had been through the university science mill and had not
absorbed even the most basic knowledge of the workings of the

Introduction
I 9
nearest heavenly body to Earth was in need of fixing. I wanted to

teach it to Keri, whose first word three years ago had been moo
because he could not initially say Moon. On shopping trips I would
visit libraries and look in the index of weather books under ‘M’. The
Moon generally did not rate an entry.
Once in the many times sitting around staring at a fire, watching
waves break and re-form, it had dawned on me that, to get to earth-
bound things like tides and fish and vegetable gardens, the Moon
would have to pass through the air. It must therefore reasonably
affect the air also, and yet the notion of Moon-affected air had not
received mention from any one person or book I had yet encountered,
nor even the Maori elders knowledgeable about tides and fish, and
least of all, it seemed, the weather experts. So I resolved to try to get
to the bottom of this, even if it turned out to be an enigma. If I were
to find that I was happily wrong, I would want to find out why it
didn’t influence the air.
The wild and ruggedly beautiful East Coast between Papamoa and
Hicks Bay proved an ideal research base. The local Tuhoe kaumatua
had already told me what Maori knew about the Moon, and what I’d
learnt worked well. We spent most of those days fishing with either
locals or family, often finding ourselves alone on deserted beaches,
and planted small, secret vegetable gardens on hilltops away from
the sight of the road.
In all these pursuits we found that getting timing correct was
all-important. It seemed that time of day nearly always overrode
location. For example, trial and error taught us that fishing around
the mid-heaven transit of the Moon exactly between moonrise and
moonset was the key to a successful catch. The sea often came alive
at that time and it seemed to have less to do with tide times, which
varied from one beach to the next. Planting and pruning was better
done around moonrise or moonset. Perhaps it was our imagination
but, somehow, the soil seemed fresher. Never a prolific diarist
before, I now started keeping a journal and weather diaries, with
graphs each day matching weather to Moon phases and eventually
other information about the Moon’s movements which I was slowly
gleaning from old astrology books.
It was clear rather quickly that there definitely were patterns. More
questions arose — are they constant, does the pattern itself change,

I 10 The Lunar Code
was there an overriding one? The recording was rudimentary at

first, and became more detailed. I was given or bought instruments,
a twirling hygrometer (for humidity), a barometer, rain gauge,
thermometer. Readings were taken religiously each morning, rain or
shine, summer or winter.
After five years of keeping graphs, I was fairly convinced some
events were beginning to repeat or revert to an opposite. A summer
Full-Moon day was nearly always unbearably hot and a summer
Full-Moon evening and night would be crystal clear. The winter Full
Moon usually brought snow to the south of the country by day,
clearing again at night. Whenever the Moon came close (perigee) the
wind blew stronger, waves got bigger and storms arrived. Fishing
was good just before perigee, just before very high tides, hopeless
right on perigee and good again just after. If wind blew, it blew the
rain in and if the wind kept blowing, it blew the rain away again.
Cloud shapes had meaning. Fluffy clouds were a good weather
sign unless they were piled vertically high, which usually meant rain
dumps would soon arrive but would pass quickly. Clouds of any
other shape, in lines, layers, wisps or streaks, especially in some
nice pattern, meant rain in 36–48 hours. If there was a Full Moon a
day or so from a perigee, the bad weather straddled those two days.
The direction that the Moon was rising from seemed to correlate to
where wind was coming from. Over New Moon it nearly always
rained at night if rain was about.
What started off as a handful of adages gradually became quite
reliable. But there were many gaps, and some still remain. After I
returned to city life in 1980, for the next decade, I kept a watch on
world weather events. The Auckland Observatory turned out to be
surprisingly opposed to any ideas that astronomy affected weather
and TV stations were equally uninterested.
‘Oh,’ said one on the phone, ‘we know that stuff already.’
‘So why not tell the people?’ I asked.
‘Because it’s just folklore; besides, we’re here to entertain, not
educate.’
‘But if you know a storm is coming, shouldn’t you be warning
people?’
I could not believe how little the TV and weather folk actually did
know about this field. But they were very quick to deny it simply

Introduction
I 11
because it was foreign to their ears.

So, I began writing to various media. Quite often, like a giant
jigsaw, pieces began to appear from nowhere, unexpectedly. In 1997
I managed to convince a senior reporter of the country’s biggest
daily newspaper that I was onto something of news interest and,
consequently, one lengthy article was printed prominently, all over
the back page. It brought phone calls from around the country
from others who had also worked with lunar methods. One such
was veteran forecaster Harry Alcock of Hamilton. This began a
collaboration process that saw us every week pooling our resources
and discoveries.
Harry was an umbrella manufacturer, living less than an hour
and a half away. He had long ago chanced across a magazine article
about air tides, and realised that if he knew more about them it
could help him decide when best to put ads for umbrellas in local
newspapers. An ad on a sunny day would be a waste of money.
Harry was a bit of a rebel and didn’t care what people thought of
that. He was brave enough to express his views to all who would
listen, and, for 40 years, a small group of rural subscribers benefited
from seasonal forecasts he supplied. It was always a hobby alongside
his main occupation.
I found out everything by trial and error, and so did Harry. He
explained declination to me in ways I could understand. By now, I
knew about Stonehenge and other ancient stone sites, because I had
visited the UK five times and surveyed them.
A different bus
Our partnership was a fruitful one, if a little late in his life, and
if I was careful with my timing of our weekly connections I could
be lucky enough to also score lunch. We were both thrilled to
have found a fellow Moon enthusiast and, to this day, I miss our
sessions, in which we were like two kids in a backyard shed building
some racing machine that always required more tinkering. In a
way, it was like being back on the bus. There were intersections,
crossroads, new roads to go down and follow to the end and often
a retracing of steps. Sadly, Harry passed away in 2001. I very much
miss his company and clear wisdom. With uncluttered thinking and

I 12 The Lunar Code
a brilliant memory, even at 81, Harry should have received wider

recognition for his life. Wherever I go in the Waikato district there
are farming people who remember him with respect. I am proud to
call him fellow explorer, mentor and dear friend.
In the years since, I have come to highly distrust what is in textbooks.
Perhaps we should be reticent about ever concluding anything. In
particular, we should be cautious in talking about weather science,
because once we turn our inquiring eyes to the heavens, literally the
sky is the limit. Columbus carried with him eclipse charts of Mayan
and Persian origin, and it is said that maps of the world showing
its roundness were widely circulated amongst mariners, but kept
hidden from the authorities, who would rather have sailors praying
than planning. Undoubtedly many maps would have been originally
Chinese, copied many times by hand by generations of unknown
travellers. Secrets of coming eclipses, of Moon events foretelling
coming storms and earthquakes were always considered the domain
of prophets, heathens and mysterious magicians who somehow had
gained access to knowledge others didn’t have.
I feel that way about the Moon-weather subject. I desire it to be
widely shared, but attitudes towards it by mainstream science push
it into the loony fringe in an attempt to suppress it. This book may
make it available to a wider cross-section and clear away cobwebs
that have gathered over many generations. I think, in the light of
failed forecasting, for instance the freezing of the European winter
of 2005/06, the intensity of the North American and Australian
cyclones, and perhaps the unexpected snows of 2006 in New
Zealand, alternatives may have reawakened forecasters. The public
are dissatisfied, and western meteorologists realise that eastern
astrologers used to predict weather very successfully, without
expensive technology and, even today, using the old methods, can
still predict the day monsoons will arrive. The lunar calendar is still
in use in these countries, and a handle on weather seems to be the
result. I have often heard Indian taxi-drivers complaining that, in
the West, weather prediction seems to be appalling compared to
what they were used to in their homelands. Could it be that we have
lost a link to an old science that might still serve us well?
If you look at severe weather events, you will find that many, but
not all, of the most severe events occur within a few days of perigee

Introduction
I 13
(Moon closest to Earth for the month) or apogee (Moon furthest

from the Earth), or within a few days of Full Moon or New Moon.
Other times that seem to destabilise things are when the Moon
reverses declinational travel (going monthly from north to south and
back again) at maximum north or south position, when it crosses
the Equator, and to some extent within a day or so of the First- and
Third-Quarter phases. The more of these factors that occur around
the same time, the greater the chance of severe weather somewhere
around the globe. More major earthquakes happen around these
times too.
Another clue to a lunar weather connection is the fact that, in
temperate latitudes, cold fronts often march across our weather
maps at roughly seven-day intervals for many weeks before the cycle
breaks down, only to establish again some time down the track.
These regular fronts seem to pass through the same locations around
the same time interval from the four main Moon phases for any
location whilst a particular cycle is flowing. As tides can be predicted
many years in advance, there is no reason why weather cannot be
similarly computed, and why we might not plan our lives around
coming cyclones, earthquakes, famines, floods, droughts, snow and
hail dumps and wet or dry seasons. When that day comes, perhaps
we will no longer be calling the weather random and there will be
nothing to fear from extreme events — fear being mainly fear of the
unknown. Combining present day computer calculating technology
and a new focus on the planets and moons making up the heavens
will give us both the tools and the raw resources. Enlightenment will
be when we again look to the Moon for answers, and to what we
might call the lunar code.
Ken Ring, 2006

1
The Big Picture9
The range of what we think and do is limited by what we
fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to
notice, there is little we can do to change — until we notice
how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds.
R.D. Laing

I 16 The Lunar Code
W hen it comes to the cosmos and our own wee corner of it we

barely appreciate its scale. Nor do we realise that we do not
stand outside of it. There is so much we just don’t see. I am sitting
in a chair, writing, and I will, in 24 hours, have turned a gigantic
somersault. At the same time, due to the rotation of the planet
I am encircling Earth at 700 mph (1126 kph). I, chair and Earth
are also tearing through cosmic space around the Sun at 65,000
mph (105,000 kph or 18 metres/sec). I, chair, Earth and Sun are
racing through the heavens toward the star Vega at 43,000 mph
(70,000 kph or 12 m/s). All are wobbling around the centre of the
Milky Way in the outer universe at 600,000 mph (1 million kph or
170 m/s). In the time it has taken to read this, a few thousand more
miles have been traversed through interstellar space.
There is of course no stationary chair. Gravitational attraction
and celestial bodies constitute the physical universe, yet most of it
is empty space. A walk along the shore of any beach confronts one
with the endpoint of vast cosmic forces that began light years before
the lapping of the latest wavelet. A leaf falling from a tree may be
all that is left of a cyclonic wind that, in a tropical country near the
Equator, perhaps yesterday forced thousands of villagers to abandon
their homes.
It is easier to hold onto simpler truths, easier to imagine a Flat
Earth and that we are the centre of our universe. Mental health
professionals even recommend ‘centering’ ourselves. Confronted
with the idea that there might be strong Moon influences in our
own lives suggests a perversion of the notion of will and free
choice, and the idea of forces beyond anyone’s control makes us
uneasy. Also, some have made money from promising self-help
through pseudoscience, and incurred the wrath of those already
earning healthy incomes from regular science and conventional
medicine. But astrology has not always had a bad press and, to
this day, many cultures still embrace and endorse it in its older form.
The scale of planetary movements is rather beyond our
understanding, mentally tuned as we are to a paltry lifetime of, if we
are lucky, barely one century. The nearest star (meaning a sun and
planets) to us is four light-years away, meaning we would have to
travel at the speed of light for four years to reach it. To give an idea of
this distance, our fastest passenger jet, the now redundant Concorde,

The Big Picture
I
17
at 2400 kph, would take two million years to reach our next-door
star-neighbour, Alpha Centauri in Andromeda. Even to pop from
Earth up to our Sun would take the Concorde seven years.
9 Earth is slowing down and the days are getting longer.
When Earth was formed, 4.5 billion years ago, the day was about
7 hours per day/night cycle. Then, according to the leading theory,a
shortly after the solar system began forming, the Moon was created
when a rock the size of Mars slammed into Earth. A billion years
ago the Moon’s tighter orbit than now meant it took just 20 days
to go around us, to make a lunar month. A day on Earth back then
was 18 hours long. At 100 million years ago, its rotation period had
slowed to 23.6 hours, not that much different than the present rate.
In 5–10 billion years, what we now call a year will be a day shorter.
The Moon has also been drifting away, and each year it moves about
1.6 inches (4 centimetres) farther into space. 5000 years ago the
Southern Cross could be seen from England. Movement and change
is slow, it is natural, but it is nevertheless happening. And with it
comes a certain amount of climate change.
The Milankovitch Cycles

Within the last couple of million years, changes in the Earth’s
circumnavigation of the Sun have produced glacial periods that
we call Ice Ages, and the times between, which we call interglacial
periods, such as we are in now. There are three main cyclic changes
in the way the Earth orbits the Sun. Collectively the three are known
as the Milankovitch Cycles, named after Milutin Milankovitch, the
Serbian astronomer who is generally credited with calculating their
magnitude.
The first of the three Milankovich Cycles is the shape of the Earth’s
orbit around the Sun. This constantly fluctuating, orbital shape ranges
between more and less elliptic, on a cycle of about 100,000 years.
It is as if the Earth is on a slowly wobbling circle around its parent
star. A more elliptic to less elliptic path is of prime importance to
temperature on Earth and particularly to glaciation, in that it alters
the distance from the Earth to the Sun, thus changing the distance

I 18 The Lunar Code
the Sun’s short-wave radiation must travel to reach Earth. In turn, it

reduces or increases the amount of radiation received at the Earth’s
surface in different seasons. At present this orbital eccentricity is not
too far from the minimum of this cycle.
The second of the three Milankovitch Cycles is obliquity or
axial tilt; the inclination of the Earth’s axis in relation to its plane
of orbit around the Sun, i.e. 23.4 degrees from perpendicular. The
tilt changes from 21 degrees to 25 degrees and back to 21 degrees
over a 41,000-year cycle. We are about in the middle of that range
presently.
The third of the Milankovitch Cycles is Earth’s precession. Imagine
a child’s top slowing down and the top wobbling. As the Earth slows
down there is a slow wobble at the poles from pointing at Polaris
(North Star) to pointing at the star Vega. When this shift to the axis
pointing at Vega occurs, Vega would then be considered the North
Star. This top-like wobble has a periodicity of 25,000 years. Due to
this wobble, a climatically significant alteration must take place.
Compiled using data from Berger and Loutre, 1991.

The Big Picture
I 19
Natural cycles
At the time of writing, May 2006, winter is well underway in the
southern hemisphere at about the time in the solar year that the
Earth is becoming furthest from the Sun. In the northern hemisphere
winter, the Earth is closer to the Sun, by about three million miles,
than in their summer. The time of the year the Sun is closest to
Earth is called perihelion and, in the southern hemisphere, it varies
between 1 and 4 January each year, whilst aphelion (the Sun’s
farthest point from Earth) is between 1 and 4 July. Why the times of
our summer solstice and perihelion are so close is that the proximity
of the two dates is a coincidence of the particular century we live
in. The date of perihelion does not remain fixed but, over very long
periods of time, slowly regresses (moves later) within the year. This
long-term change in the date of perihelion slightly influences the
Earth’s climate. For half the year, the North Pole is nearer to the
Sun anyway than to the South Pole, and for the other half the South
Pole has its turn. Whichever half is closer to the Sun is having its
summer.
Today, a difference of only about three percent in distance occurs
between aphelion and perihelion. This three percent means that Earth
experiences a six to seven percent increase in received solar energy
in January than in July. This percentage range of variability is not
always the case, however. When the Earth’s orbit is most elliptical,
the amount of solar energy received at the perihelion would be in
the range of 20 –30 percent more than at aphelion. Any continually
altering amounts of received solar energy around the globe result in
changes in the Earth’s climate and glacial regimes. In the north, the
summer sun may appear to be larger and it is, by one minute eight
seconds of arc which can only be detected by instruments. Whatever
northerners might think, the northern winter is not as cold as the
southern one and the northern summer is generally not as hot.
9 In 10,000 years’ time, when the axis of Earth is tilted towards

Vega, the positions of the northern hemisphere winter and
summer solstices will coincide with the aphelion and perihelion,
respectively.
This means that the northern hemisphere will experience winter

I 20 The Lunar Code
when the Earth is furthest from the Sun, and summer when the Earth
is closest to the Sun. At present the reverse is the case — the Earth is
at perihelion very close to the northern winter solstice.
So the season/sun tilt mix is changing, such that migrants around
the globe in 12,500 years time will know a different climatic world.
In 1992 perihelion was on 3 January and aphelion 3 July. In 2020,
perihelion will be on 5 January and aphelion on 4 July. A 1- to 2-
day incremental advance every 72 years is not noticed in a lifetime.
But because perihelion will be at the northern hemisphere’s summer
solstice in 12,500 years’ time, Britain will then be enjoying the
climate of present-day New Zealand, and vice versa, meaning that
in year 14506 the UK will have a wine industry and New Zealand
will not. Hence, within this cycle, the northern hemisphere summer
is very gradually, due to the Sun, warming more, whilst the southern
hemisphere summer sun is for the same reason gradually cooling.
Natural cycles rule the world’s weather and climate but because
of the economic base of western world universities, many academic
departments in their cut-throat competition for funding have little
motivation to share research. For this reason very few climatologists
and meteorologists, and it seems MPs, are aware of even these most
basic natural cycles, yet they are well known in astronomy.
So far, in looking at planetary cycles, we have considered only
the Sun and some basic orbit variations. We will consider more,
much more — for instance the influence on the Earth of the planets,
especially the large, gaseous ones. There is the sunspot cycle which
controls electromagnetic radiation levels which in turn affect
electrical storms. There is the shift of the poles, which incrementally
relocates countries at different latitudes — for instance the
earthquake that caused the Asian tsunami in 2004 shifted the North
Pole over by an inch.
There is also a grand seasonal cycle caused by the Moon — and
within that, smaller harmonic cycles — that will be examined in the
last chapter of this book. Because of these shorter (less than 100,000
years) Moon cycles, we in the southern hemisphere are moving
into a warmer summers/colder winters phase, whilst the northern
hemisphere is presently moving towards warmer winters and milder
summers. By 2009/10 the latter hemisphere will be enjoying more
marked differences in the seasons — colder winters and longer

The Big Picture
I
21
hotter summers. The reason is the Moon’s change in declination,

which by 2010 will be similar to where it was in 1992, in which year
in New Zealand big snows paralysed Christchurch, about a million
stock died, buildings were damaged and the economic impact on
Canterbury was estimated at NZ$50–100 million. New Zealand’s
2006 winter cold spell matches the severity of winters in 1986,
1969, and 1932.
These climate changes are worldwide, because the whole Earth
rotates under the heavens every 24 hours. These immense cycles
were present at the beginning of the Earth’s formation four billion
years ago. The ratio of the size of the Sun to Earth is that of a
basketball to a peppercorn respectively. In the solar system we are
only the third rock away from our Sun.
The real perspective is that we are only a speck of dust compared
to the fifteenth brightest star in the sky, Antares (Alpha Scorpii) in
the Milky Way, 60,000 times brighter than our Sun. In size it is,
across, three-quarters the orbit of Jupiter. That’s big!
Relative planet sizes within the solar system.

I 22 The Lunar Code
Relative planet sizes within the solar system.

The Big Picture
I
23
Relative star sizes within the solar system.

I 24 The Lunar Code
And yet there are even bigger behemoths. The biggest so far known,
gaspingly referred to only as LBV 1806-20, tips the scales of stellar
masses at about 150 times the weight of the Sun. It shines up to 40
million times brighter than the Sun and sits about 45,000 light-years
away, on the other side of the Milky Way.b By comparison, Sirius,
the brightest star in the sky, is only about twice the weight of our
Sun and sits eight to nine light-years away.
The gigantic movements of these vast cosmic giants must somehow
affect our Sun. Changes exerted on the Sun over tens of thousands
of years in turn do affect changed climates down here on Earth
as countries find themselves at changed latitudes. For instance,
it is known throughout geological history that New Zealand has
been completely submerged twice, was once joined at the head to
Australia and at another time by the foot to Antarctica. It has thus
found itself once at the Equator and once at the South Pole.
9 There is no reason to believe these natural cycles and geological

shifts will stop anytime soon.
None of these cycles can be seen because they are too slow. We
cannot see slow things, such as a child or a flower growing, and the
hour hand of a clock turning. Because our appreciation of time is
only adjusted to the length of human mortality, there is much that
we miss. It is time to look more closely at the Moon, and we will
return to Sun cycles later.
a www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/moon_making_010815-1.html.
b www.space.com/scienceastronomy/brightest_star_040106-1.html.

2
Moon Phases
9
The Full Moon eats clouds.
Old nautical saying

I 28 The Lunar Code
T he Moon’s phases are simply the changing angle of the Moon as

it is seen at different times between us and the Sun. The whole
phase process takes roughly 29.5 days. The moonrise and moonset
times, which advance about 48 minutes each day, constitute a
repeatable cycle — and weather changes can be tied to this cycle.
Early in the third century BC, Aristarchus of Samos accurately
determined the distance of the Moon from Earth by measuring Earth’s
shadow on the Moon during a lunar eclipse. It was Galileo who,
gazing through his telescopes at an imperfect Moon, realised that
real truths about celestial bodies were within man’s mathematical
reach.
Old wives’ tales abound about the Moon, and especially the Full
Moon. Perhaps this is a measure of the fascination of the sight of
a round moon on a clear night — most Full Moon nights being
clear — and it being more noticeable, causing it to be associated
with unexplained and mysterious events. Among some of the more
inaccurate adages were that a Full Moon on a Saturday foretold bad
weather, and that getting married under one was lucky. Two in one
month was said to bring floods and one at Christmas time foretold
a bad harvest. Yet enough evidence exists that some fairly accurate
weather predictions may be made by watching the phases.
It has been noted that students seem to do better in exams when
the Moon is in perigee, Full or New, and/or if gusty weather is
occurring outside the exam room. Just why this is so also seems to
be linked to the Moon’s often-recorded influence in battles. Plutarch
observed that a big battle is often followed by rain, and the notion
that warfare somehow causes rain has surfaced with every war. It
was still flourishing in the muddy trenches of World War I. The idea
used to be that the sweat of soldiers produces rising, rain-stimulating
vapours, or that the waters are shaken from the clouds by the noise
of cannon.
Could it not be that soldiers fight more when their adrenalin
systems are stimulated by the lunar cycle? The same gravitational
effect that the Moon exerts to produce a storm or weather change
may also produce a kind of micro-storm within a person’s head.
There would be a use, too, for a sympathetic climatic backdrop to
the drama and excitement of an imminent battle. 6 June 1944 proved
to have marginal weather, with choppy seas and overcast skies.

Moon Phases
I 29
It was the Allied invasion of Normandy. The Germans, doubting

an invasion in such inclement conditions, were caught completely
off guard. It was the week of the Moon’s perigee and the day of
the Full Moon. Full Moon weather does make some people perform
acts of craziness. That we are all not affected is not strange — not
all of us react the same way when we imbibe alcohol or watch a
play.
The monsoon is time-predictable (end of May and end of October)
and has always played an important part in the economy of the
Middle and Far East. It blew the frail craft of the first adventurous
traders from the east coast of Africa across the Indian Ocean to the
rich Malabar Coast of India. And in the first century AD, Arabian
mariners, trimming their sails to it, fared safely northeast across
the Gulf of Aden to the mouth of the Indus River. Three centuries
later, they rode the steady monsoon winds all the way to China.
Even today, India’s economy is at the mercy of the monsoon.
The country’s huge rice crop, the staple food for its teeming
millions, depends on moisture that the monsoon brings from the
Indian Ocean. In Greek, mene means Moon, while the words
monsoon, and season derive from mausim, the Arab word for
Moon.
One of the most familiar things about the Moon is that it goes
through phases from New (all shadow) to First Quarter (half of
it appears to be in shadow) to Full (all lit up) to Last Quarter
(opposite to the First Quarter) and back again to New. This cycle
takes 29.53 days and is known as the Moon’s synodic period. The
Moon moves through four visibly differentiated phases in about
four weeks; from New Moon proceeding to First Quarter, then Full
Moon, Last Quarter, and back to New Moon again, at nearly seven-
day intervals.
The following table gives a summary of when the Moon is visible
and where to look. This applies everywhere in the world at roughly
the same times of the local day.

I 30 The Lunar Code
Phase Rises Mid Moon Sets

In eastern sky Crosses southern In western sky
sky in northern
hemisphere and
northern sky in
southern hemisphere
New Moon Sunrise Noon Sunset
First Quarter Noon Sunset Midnight
Full Moon Sunset Midnight Sunrise
Third Quarter Midnight Sunrise Noon
Position of the Moon as seen in different phases.
Because the Moon is so familiar it is taken for granted, and in our

busy lives many people do not realise that it is only astronomically
possible for a Full Moon to be seen at night, between sunset and
sunrise, and never during the day. They are also not aware that
during each month there is one day near Last Quarter when the
Moon doesn’t rise until after midnight and therefore into the next
day, and one similar day near the First Quarter when the Moon
doesn’t set within that 24 hours.
The phases bring their own weather patterns. Cloudiness is
influenced by small-scale, local topography: ridges, bodies of water,
hills and cities. But atmospheric-tidal effects make cloud formations
predictable to some degree: the presence of clouds changing whether
or not the Moon is risen or has set. For instance, around a New
Moon, if rain is about (as in the colder months), we can expect rain
more between early evening and the following dawn, the skies being
generally clearer during the day.
At the beginning of its phase cycle (if you could imagine three
balls viewed from above, being the Earth, Moon and Sun), it would
be as if the Moon in the middle starts to move anti-clockwise away
from the Sun and around the Earth. Of course the Earth is spinning
all the while within the Moon’s orbit. Every time the Earth moves
360 degrees, the Moon moves 12 degrees.
In the southern hemisphere the Moon is reversed, so, just think
of it as the other way round. This is because to those in the north,
southern hemisphere folk are standing on their heads. In the northern

Moon Phases
I 31
hemisphere, the Moon moves from left sky to right sky (their east
to west) but, as viewed from the south, east to west is from
right to left.
New Moon
The New Moon cannot be seen during the day as the Sun’s glare is
too strong, nor at night, when it is on the other side of the world.
Trying to see extremely ‘young’ moons is in some places a sport in
itself. The record is at age 14.5 hours (two English housemaids in
1916). But at any age under 24 hours the Moon is breathtakingly
thin and barely brighter than the low dense sky around it. New
Moon rise always occurs early morning, 6.00–7.30 a.m.
The New Moon and First Quarter Moon are always over the
hemisphere experiencing summer. The New Moon is a day Moon,
meaning it is overhead during the daytime hours, which tends
to cause clear mornings and evenings, with any cloudiness being
mainly at midday. If the weather is unsettled and there is rain about,
the rain will be mostly in the period of early evening until dawn. As
the New Moon passes through a solstice or maximum declination
(22 June or 22 December) it tends to create a stationary weather
system. If it’s a winter New Moon, there is a likelihood of frost
at night. If accompanied by perigee, in summer expect a storm, in
autumn gusty winds and cloud. If the Moon is in apogee, in summer,
a heatwave is possible. The atmospheric tide is higher in day, lower
at night. A New Moon at the time of the March equinox brings
daytime gales.
Generally, New Moon brings pleasant hazy weather, not too hot
or cold. Winds can be strong in exposed places — in New Zealand
these are often westerlies, solid at water level.
Waxing Crescent
A day or two after New Moon, the Moon appears as a thin sharp-
horned crescent shape suspended above the western horizon, its
cusps always pointing away from the Sun which has already set. At
this stage it sets shortly after sunset. It is two or three days out from
New Moon. At this time, any cloud around breakfast time may clear
by 10.00 a.m. and stay clear until early evening. Waxing Crescent
is sometimes seen as a ‘cup holding water’. It must be remembered

I 32 The Lunar Code
that because the illumination is tracking the Sun, the Moon only
appears as a cup with horns sticking up each side when the Moon
is rising and setting near, or at, the Equator. This will only be seen
around autumn and spring for both hemispheres.
First Quarter
The Moon rises a bit less than an hour later each day and, in about
a week after New Moon, appears as the familiar ‘half-moon’ shape,
the First Quarter, which is overhead at sunset. The First-Quarter
Moon is the Moon you see in daylight in the afternoon. Its glare
(nearly four times fainter than that of the Full Moon) is in the sky
in the evening, and if you wait up until about midnight you will see
it set then. Typical of the First Quarter is cloud or rain (if about)
before lunch, with clearer skies from lunchtime to midnight. In an
overhead view from above, the Moon would be to the right of Earth,
and forming a Moon-Earth-Sun right-angle. Because the Moon is
sitting on our orbital path around the Sun, three and a half hours
previously the Earth would have been where the Moon is now.
In the northern hemisphere, the First Quarter appears, when
viewed from ground-level on Earth, as a D shape, but is reversed
‘down under’ in the southern hemisphere because viewers are
viewing it moving in the opposite direction. Writing from the
southern hemisphere, the little reminder I use is that when the Moon
is approaching Full it is Coming and I think of the C shape. When it
is on the other side of Full and approaching New it is Departing and
I think of the D shape. As it is the reverse in the northern hemisphere,
I would suggest adopting Developing and Collapsing.
First-Quarter Moon rises just after lunch, and sets just after
midnight. This is the most settled phase, storms occurring least
between this phase and Full Moon. It is commonly a time of
weakened, poleward, upper air heat flow. Because of the magnetic
shielding effect from the Sun, there is some diminished electrical
presence. If a tornado occurs in the early morning hours and up to
midday, it is usually when the Moon is in the First Quarter. This is
the time of the month referred to by the adage ‘rain before seven,
over by eleven’.
There should be cloud and rain, if about, usually before lunch.
Because the atmospheric tide is thinner in the morning during this

Moon Phases
I 33
phase, early morning you might see a tornado, rain or cloudiness.

Rain is less likely in the evening. After midnight there may be
some lightning and electrical storms. If it is a First-Quarter Moon
in perigee, hurricanes are possible. In the summer, expect clear
mornings with dew on the ground, and in winter, cold mornings
accompanied by frost and snow.
Waxing Gibbous
A few days later in the month, more than half the Moon’s visible
disk is lighted, and this is called Waxing Gibbous. It can be seen high
in the east late in the afternoon, and skies are more likely to remain
clear until the wee small hours of the next morning. Any cloud or
inclement weather generally appears in the early morning and could
last until just after lunch. There is most fog in this phase.
Full Moon
When it reaches Full Moon phase, the Moon is most prominent,
rising opposite the setting Sun and illuminating the sky all night long
with a pale yellow light. It is in the sky all night and so bright that
it is difficult to see any other stars except the major constellations.
There are more superstitions about this phase than any other.
It was even said to be bad luck to view the Full Moon through
the branches of a tree, and in India there is a cure for nervous
disorders which involves drinking water that has reflected the light
of the Full Moon from a silver bowl. The presence of the Moon
in or on the water was considered a source of magic for good and
evil. Statistics have shown that violent storms are prevalent just
after the Full and New Moons. From above and looking down, it
would look as if the Moon was on the opposite side of the Earth to
the Sun. When we gaze up at the Full Moon and see the night sky
beyond it, we are gazing into the far reaches of the universe, beyond
the limit of our orbit around the Sun, into space that planet Earth
never enters.
Full Moon is a night Moon, because that is the only time it is in
the sky. It rises around sunset and sets around sunrise. When the
Full Moon becomes a couple of days old, it is still visible in the west
in the early morning, but although it is still quite full looking, it is
no longer really a Full Moon. Over the Full Moon phase, cloud and

I 34 The Lunar Code
rain, if about, will come mainly during the day, clearing by evening
with the night staying mostly clear, except for low cloud until sunrise
the next day. If a barbecue is to be held, picking the full moon
night of the month will usually guarantee clear late evening/night
skies.
Around Full Moon there is a strong, poleward transfer of heat to
the upper atmosphere, which makes the warmest daily temperature
on Earth 0.20 degrees warmer than at New Moon. Also, after Full
Moon, as the Moon enters Earth’s magnetic tail there begins more
interference with cosmic radiation. Thunderstorms are frequently up
to two days after the Full Moon. Most tornadoes in the month occur
from Full Moon until Last Quarter, because this is the time when
the Sun applies most heat to the ground. There is more likelihood of
storm activity in general, that is, hurricanes, tropical cyclones and
typhoons, between Full and Last Quarter than between New and
Full Moon.
This is a time for mainly daytime cloud and rain. Effects are
notoriously extreme, and Full Moon has been described as the time
the weather is either too hot or too cold, whatever the season. When
the Sun is out, it is too hot, and when the Sun goes behind a cloud,
everybody starts to shiver. In summer, Full Moon to Last Quarter is
the burn time. Being lower in the sky in summer, the Moon creates
an atmospheric tide that has less height in summer, and especially in
the afternoon. It may rain in the early morning, as the Moon sets.
Midday may be cloudy and the afternoon may be a tornado time in
some broad flat areas. Whirlwinds, waterspouts and heat waves are
high possibilities just before summer Full Moon. In the winter, one
can look forward to the prospect of daytime snowstorms. When the
summer Full Moon is in perigee or apogee very warm temperatures
may result.
Waning Gibbous
A few days out from Full Moon, the Moon has become Waning
Gibbous. The Moon’s appearance is now an exact mirror-image of
the Waxing Crescent. From just before lunch until just before dinner
is the likely period for cloud, whilst the skies are more likely to be
clearer from an hour or two before midnight until morning tea the
next day.

Moon Phases
I 35
Third (Last) Quarter

A week after Full Moon, the Moon is overhead at sunrise. It now
looks like a C in the northern hemisphere and a D in the southern
hemisphere. A mirror-image of the First Quarter, it is said now to
be ‘on the wane’. The Last-Quarter Moon rises around midnight
12.00–1.00 a.m. Having risen progressively later during the night
since Full Moon, it remains in the morning sky well after the
Sun has come up. It is the Moon seen before lunch. Now, its
position marks where Earth (on our orbit around the Sun) will be
in space in three and a half hours’ time. At Last Quarter, one can
typically expect any cloud or rain that may be about to be in the sky
in the afternoon and early evening, clearing somewhat after midnight.
Skies are often reasonably clear until lunchtime. The Last-Quarter
Moon in perigee brings an extra-low atmospheric tide in the
afternoon.
There is a greater tendency for electrical storms at Last Quarter than
at any other Moon phase. The reason why probably has something
to do with the Van Allen Belt, which is the protective magnetic
field encircling Earth from pole to pole, which shields Earth from
too much electrical energy from the Sun. Because the Full/Last-
Quarter Moon is a night Moon, and over the opposite hemisphere
during the day, by gravitational attraction it pulls the Van Allen
Belt towards itself and so, because Earth is in the way, those
charged particles are pulled closer to Earth’s atmosphere. During
the day, the charged particles potentially electrify the clouds which,
with ice nuclei, have formed due to the cold of space entering the
lowered, daytime atmosphere. The Last Quarter is a time of cloudy
afternoons, early evening cloud and possible rain. There is also
increased ozone (more electrical activity on the upper oxygen), and
more meteoric dust, which the Moon pulls from the Sun towards
Earth. This can generate auroras, although most auroras are visible
around New Moon phase. A possible time for tornadoes and
electrical storms is in the afternoon/evening with rain less likely
after midnight. If summer, the Last-Quarter Moon can make
the day very hot, and if winter the day very cold, especially if the
wind comes from the northeast or northwest in the
northern hemisphere or southwest to southeast in the southern
hemisphere.

I 36 The Lunar Code
Waning Crescent
Two or three days after Last Quarter, the cloudiness appears mainly
in the evening through midnight. Some time in the night, the skies
are more likely to clear and stay clear until late afternoon the next
day. This is Waning Crescent. In this phase, the Moon appears as
a mirror image of the Waxing Crescent. Reduced to a thin banana
shape, the gradually vanishing sliver can be glimpsed rising low in
the east before sunrise, before vanishing altogether for a couple of
days as it becomes lost in the glow of the Sun’s light. We are at the
month’s end now, the disk is gone.
9 If the Moon is in the sky it is less likely to rain.

The higher the Moon, the higher the clouds.
The higher the clouds, the finer the weather.

3
Moon Tides 9
There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at
the flood, leads on to fortune.
William Shakespeare

I 40 The Lunar Code
O ur word ‘tide’ comes from the Indo European root dai which
originally meant ‘to divide’. Derivatives are tidy — the state of
being in proper time and on time; tidings — present happenings and
occurrings;a till — with reference to working a field, meaning as far
as, up to (until); and time — a beginning, a period in which an event
is occurring.
In essence, this chapter describes how the combination of the
gravitational pull of the Sun and the Moon generates an atmospheric
tide similar to, and more or less synchronised with, the ocean tides.
The effect of this tidal cycle is to alternately raise and lower the height
of the atmosphere in a similar manner to the way ocean tides raise
and lower sea level, although it has only a small effect on surface
atmospheric pressure. This tide is difficult to measure adequately
from the Earth’s surface as it affects atmospheric height more than
surface pressure — there is a similar mass of air in a column above
any barometer at both high and low tide — although you will see its
signature in barograph readouts if you look.
Using a barometer to measure the atmospheric tide is a bit like
trying to measure the ocean tide with a pressure device at the bottom
of an ocean — you will see its signature in a graphic readout but it
will only be small. The effect is more obvious to mountain climbers,
some of whom have noticed that they can go rather higher without
oxygen at atmospheric high tide when the Moon is high in the sky.
Mostly we think of tides as forces generated by the Sun and the
Moon, yet the latter has nearly three times as much power as the
former. The Moon has about one-sixth of the Earth’s gravitational
force. From only a couple of hundred thousand miles away, changes
in its orbital patterns will have major effects on Earth. Between a
quarter and a third the size of Earth, the Moon is equivalent in size to
a smaller person running around and around an adult, all day every
day. One might ask, would that affect me? Perhaps better still, ask any
young mother of a two-year-old child. Accordingly, there are at least
four tides caused by lunar gravitation; the sea tide, tides affecting the
molten core of the earth (core tide), the crust of the Earth (earth tide)
and the tide affecting the height of the atmosphere (air tide).
As masses of flexible matter, there is no reason why most things
should not be tidal that can be acted upon by the pull of a large
gravitational, celestial object such as a close Moon. This flexible

Moon Tides
I 41
matter is strongly held to the Earth’s gravity and so remains on the

Earth’s surface rather than flying off into space toward the Moon.
But the inconstant Moon causes air, land and water to move. The
Sun, too, has a tidal pull on these movable bodies but, being much
further away, has a pull less than half that of the Moon. Each Moon
phase has a changing effect on the weather, whether in the form of
droughts, hurricanes, tornadoes or lightning. And as the atmosphere
has its daily tide, the air density too is forever changing. If it did not,
barometric pressures would always remain constant. But when it
comes to gravitational pull, anything the Sun can do, the Moon
does more so, as it is closer. As a tidal force, the Moon exerts its
influence on almost everything on our planet, including the air. This
atmospheric tidal effect is greatest when the Moon is at perigee and
near axial alignment with the Sun (New Moon or Full Moon). It is
least when the Moon is near apogee and near right angles to the Sun
(First or Third Quarter).
A traveller from space approaching planet Earth would pass by
several dead planets pitted with craters, gouged by the impacts of
meteorites and space debris over infinite time. As he approached
Earth he would feel that an invisible fence surrounds the planet and
that he must slow in order that he doesn’t burn up from the heat
of friction. Otherwise he would go the same way as every other
meteorite — in the millions that streak in every hour — only to
vanish as a white flash of flame against the black, cosmic void. He
would enter the atmosphere just as one enters a swimming pool.
The atmosphere is our protection against bodies from other
worlds and universes, also against the searing heat of the Sun and
the freezing cold of space. It consists of three main layers that differ
in thickness and chemistry. The thickness of the innermost layer, the
troposphere, decreases from the Equator to the poles. The greatest
amounts of ozone occur in the stratosphere. The thickness of the
lower part, the troposphere, varies with latitude such that near the
Equator it is about 18 km high, but at the poles it shortens to only
8 km high.
Gases make up the atmosphere, all of which are vital to the life
and food chains of all species of plant and animal. Many of these
gases are heavier than air, but are kept high above the Earth by
upper-level turbulence. This pile of gases is about 320 km thick and,

I 42 The Lunar Code
along with the body of water we call the sea, it is held to the Earth
by our own gravity. Without this gravity all the oceans would fly
off into space. The atmosphere would go too. The total weight of
Earth’s atmosphere is about 4.5 x 1018 kg, or nearly five thousand
million million tonnes. The weight of the atmosphere per unit area,
or its pressure, is about a tonne per square foot at sea level. This is a
weight of fifteen pounds on every square inch (1 kg per sq cm) of the
Earth’s 197 million square miles of surface (500 sq megametres); six
quadrillion tonnes all told, equivalent to a 33 foot (10 m) depth of
water weighing ten tonnes sitting on your and my head and shoulders,
and this would exert the same pressure at the Earth’s surface as does
the atmosphere. We don’t feel this because the weight is equalised
throughout our bodies, in all directions, in the same way that deep-
sea fish are internally pressurised to counteract the extreme weight of
water on their skin surface deep beneath the ocean.
When bottom-dweller fish are brought to the surface too quickly
they explode. We get short of breath only a little more than 5,000
feet (1.5 km) up. At 10,000 feet (3 km) we are panting hard and
at 20,000 feet (6 km), where now half the atmosphere lies below,
we can start to choke. At 35–45 thousand feet (10–13 km), where
aeroplanes travel, our lungs would burst if we were to try to breathe.
This is still only eight miles up, and the useful atmosphere is said to
be about 15 miles (25 km) high altogether.
The scale of size of the atmosphere is incredible. Just as the seas
are free to move, so is the atmosphere, which is less dense and able to
move quicker. Water is 800 times heavier than air. We have no trouble
accepting that the Moon moves the seas. Moving the air is easier,
and move it does. The imagination can only boggle at something
weighing so much that can move so fast. There is no ocean remotely
like it. On a hot afternoon, the atmosphere can pick up water from
the Gulf of Mexico at the rate of 5.5 billion tonnes an hour, hoist
it up and carry it northeast by the millions of tonnes, to release it
later as rain over New York and southern New England. A single,
small, fluffy cloud may hold from 100 to 1000 tonnes of moisture.
A summer thunderstorm may unleash as much energy in its short
life as a dozen Hiroshima-style bombs, and 45,000 thunderstorms
are brewed around the Earth every day. Yet one hurricane releases
almost as much energy in one second.

Moon Tides
I 43
The very size of the atmosphere offers protection, or shielding,

between the Earth’s surface and space. Without the shielding of
the atmosphere, life could not continue on Earth; and without the
atmosphere life could not have developed on Earth, at least in the
form in which we know it. The Sun emits high energy radiations,
ultraviolet and X rays and even more energetic radiations like cosmic
rays which pervade space, their radiations capable of killing all living
things. We know that they enter the atmosphere in lethal amounts but
are stopped long before reaching Earth’s surface. The absorption by the
atmosphere of these powerful forms of radiation accounts for many of
the properties, particularly electrical, of the higher atmosphere.
The atmosphere shelters us from the fierce heat and cold of space,
filters out damaging rays of sunlight and burns several million billion
meteors each day to harmless cinders before they reach the Earth’s
surface. It pulls up water from the ocean surface and recycles it to
nourish life all across the planet. By volume, 97 percent of the world’s
water is in the oceans. Of the other three percent, 77 percent is locked
up in icecaps and glaciers and 22 percent is ground water. Of the
other one percent, the atmosphere and soil moisture constitute 39
percent and lakes 61 percent. By percentage of volume of water in
the world, one part in 1,000 is in the air. Ten percent more water is
in the air at any one time than in all the rivers of the world, as can be
seen in this table.b
Water source Water volume (cubic miles) Percentage of

total water
Oceans 317,000,000 97.24%
Icecaps, glaciers 7,000,000 2.14%
Ground water 2,000,000 0.61%
Fresh water lakes 30,000 0.009%
Inland seas 25,000 0.008%
Soil moisture 16,000 0.005%
Atmosphere 3100 0.001%
Rivers 300 0.0001%
Total water volume 326,000,000 100%
The location of water on Earth. Source: Nace, U.S. Geological Survey, 1967.

I 44 The Lunar Code
Air is a mixture of gases. Its main constituents are nitrogen and

oxygen, in a ratio of about four to one.
Percentage in dry air Gas

78.08 Nitrogen (N2)
20.95 Oxygen (O2)
0.93 Argon (Ar)
0.03 Carbon dioxide (CO2)
0.0018 Neon (Ne)
0.0005 Helium (He)
0.0001 Krypton (Kr)
0.00005 Hydrogen (H2)
0.000009 Xenon (X)
Composition of the atmosphere.
By molecular weight, measured in g/mol, water vapour is 18 and

is the lightest component. Then comes nitrogen at 28, air 29, oxygen
32, argon 40, carbon dioxide 44, ozone 48, and CFCs the heaviest
at over 100. Carbon dioxide and CFCs are heavier than air and sink
to the ground. The ozone, too, should sink yet the composition of
the lowest 100 km of the atmosphere is observed to be uniform. The
reason is that the atmosphere in the lowest 100 km is turbulent and
the gravitational separation is simply overwhelmed by this relatively
high-level turbulence. Above 100 km, there isn’t so much turbulence,
and the atmosphere does separate gravitationally. There is only 350
parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at any one
time, 3 parts in 100,000. Most is at either ground level or beneath
the oceans.
Weather, as it affects humans, is mostly confined to the lowest 15
to 25 km of the atmosphere, for it is in this lowest part that most of
the mass of air is contained. (To convert kilometres to approximate
number of miles, multiply by 0.6.) There is also weather in the upper
part of the atmosphere from about 60 km above the Earth to a
height of 300 to 1000 km. Strong winds, storms, and great electrical
manifestations such as auroral displays occur there. The atmosphere
extends from the Earth’s surface outward, becoming less dense.

Moon Tides
I 45
The Sun, too, has what we call an atmosphere, streaming out

into space far beyond the orbit of the Earth, well into the outer
reaches of the solar system. This solar wind flows around the Earth’s
magnetic field, creating an elongated electrically-charged cavity
within which the Earth’s atmosphere is confined. The outer limit
of the Sun’s heliosphere is at least 120 AU or 11 billion miles (17
billion km) and may be more.c At the speed of light (670,616,629
mph, 1,080,000,000 kph) it would take a traveller most of a day
to travel that far. As light from the Sun reaches us in eight minutes,
the properties of the heliosphere have to have some effect on our
environment.
From space, the atmosphere looks very thin. If the Earth was a
round party balloon, the atmosphere would be only as thick as the
rubber enclosing the air. If the Earth was the size of a medicine ball,
the atmosphere would be only 1 mm more in diameter. Moreover,
on that scale the amount of water in the seas would be only a
tablespoonful, tipped onto that medicine ball. This seems surprising,
but if the seas covered the earth uniformly, they would only average
between 1 and 2 km in depth.
The side of Earth nearest the Moon always gets tugged more than
the other side, by about 6 percent, yet there are two high tides on
opposite sides of the Earth to each other at any given moment. The
centre of the Earth orbits around the barycentre, once a month.
On the side of Earth opposite the Moon, the force of the Moon’s
gravity is less than at the centre of the Earth, because of the greater
distance. It can actually be thought of as a negative force, in essence
allowing the water to drift away from the Moon and away from
Earth’s surface — a second high tide.
The Sun, too, has a tidal effect on Earth, but because of its great
distance, it is responsible for only about one-third of the range in
tides. When the Earth, Moon and Sun are aligned (at Full or New
Moon), tides can be unusually dramatic, on both the high and low
ends. When the Moon is at a 90-degree angle to the Sun in our sky (at
First Quarter or Last Quarter) tides tend to be mellower. The high-
tide bulges are pulled just ahead of an imaginary line connecting
the centres of Earth and the Moon. It might seem rather amazing,
but a terrestrial bulge of water has enough mass to push back at
the Moon. The effect is to constantly prod the Moon into a higher

I 46 The Lunar Code
orbit. The water, down where it meets the ocean floor, rubs against
Earth. This slows the planet down in its rotation speed, explaining
why there are 24 hours in a day instead of the mere 18-hour day of
a billion years ago.
Land and air tide
The effect of the Moon’s transition on land and air heights.
More than just water is pulled upwards by the Moon. Earth’s solid
matter actually rises and falls too. These are the land tides, in which
all land rises to meet the transiting Moon, between 8 inches and
20 inches (20–50 cm) depending on where you are, only to lower
again as the Moon sets. As there is nothing to compare it to, the
effect is invisible. And in return, Earth’s gravity lifts tides on the
Moon, raising relatively small bulges in the seemingly solid satellite.
(Similarly, Jupiter’s gravity raises tides on its icy moons in the frigid
outer region of the solar system, stretching some so dramatically
that the action generates enough heat to maintain liquid oceans
under their frozen shells, scientists believe.) More of the Moon’s
mass, about 56 percent, is on the Earth’s side due to Earth’s constant
pull.
The air on Earth also rises and falls, stretched each day upwards
by the Moon as the Moon crosses the sky from one horizon to the
other. By changing the height of air throughout the day atmospheric
tides are generated, and the weather is what results. The idea that
atmospheric tides are gravitationally pulled around by the Moon

Moon Tides
I 47
will be a new one to some readers. Just like the ocean tide, the
atmospheric tide comes ‘in’ and goes ‘out’ every day. Rather, it is
more like higher and lower, with a stretched atmosphere extending
higher into the heavens when the air tide is in, and the air height
coming lower towards Earth ground level when the air tide is out.
One can liken the atmosphere to a fat rubber band, the top of which
can stretch toward the Moon as the Moon goes overhead and then
contract again when the Moon goes below the horizon. Because the
weight of a rubber band remains constant, either stretched or at rest,
the barometer, which only measures the weight of the atmosphere,
cannot detect when the atmosphere changes height. That is why
very often a barometer will seem to stay the same even though the
weather might change.
Atmospheric tides were written about in 1807 and rediscovered
in 1939 by British scientists Appleton and Weekes, who were
investigating the strange phenomenon that shortwave radio signals
reached around the world more clearly at New and Full Moon
phases. They concluded that if the atmosphere (or ‘stratosphere’)
made radio waves change clarity because of the phase of the Moon,
then there must be a tidal effect in the air. There are scientific
measurements of the atmospheric tide attributable to the Moon.d
9 Whenever the Moon is above the horizon it has two bulges

beneath it. These are pulled by gravitational attraction. One is of
water and the other is a bulge of air. The ever-changing replacement
of the water bulge results in the sea tide, and the replacement of air
within the air bulge results in the weather.
When the Moon is above the horizon, it is stretching the air and
attracting, by gravitational pull, more atmosphere to higher levels
in the sky, so creating a larger-volumed gaseous environment. The
atmosphere is now fractionally higher and the amount can be up to
25 percent between phases.
The highest it gets is on a Full Moon night. If the useful atmosphere
is 5 miles (8 km) thick, then this stretch could be 1.25 miles (2
km), or for an accepted total depth of atmosphere of 60 miles (97
km), the atmospheric tidal difference between high and low could
be up to 15 miles (24 km). The result of a higher atmosphere in the

I 48 The Lunar Code
daytime is to keep the extreme heat of the Sun away from ground
level, and at night time to keep the cold of space further away from
Earth. When the air height is lower because the Moon has set below
the horizon and taken the air bulge with it, the cold of space can
come closer to Earth and the subsequent drop in temperature can
cause clouds to condense at this time. That will happen during the
day of a Full Moon, and this is why it often clouds up on that day
around noon. If there are no clouds and it is summer time, the heat
of the Sun will probably be stronger. When the Moon sets before
nightfall and is gone from the night sky the rain may be overnight
— this happens around New Moon.
When the Moon is below the horizon it is therefore more likely to
rain, providing rain is about. If no rain is about, the temperatures
will probably drop. Very often rain will also fall an hour or so on
either side of moonset. At the time of the New Moon, when the
Moon is overhead during the day, rain is less likely. Conversely, at
Full Moon, the nights will nearly always be clear. Why we see the
Full Moon in all its shining glory is because it makes us see it, by
clearing the sky. In old weatherlore there is a nautical saying: ‘the
Full Moon eats clouds’.
Do air tides affect mountaineers?

Because the Moon attracts more air after moonrise, one wonders if
climbing high mountains around New Moon days results in more
oxygen being made available at higher altitudes. I spoke to one man
who should know — Sir Edmund Hillary. He told me that he often
shared discussions in huts with fellow mountaineers who wondered
why sometimes it was possible to breathe at 16,000 feet (4.9 km)
and not at other times. They always concluded that the weather
played some part.
Sir Edmund kindly put me in touch with 76-year-old Elizabeth
Lawson in Kathmandu who keeps records of oxygen-less ascents.
One local identity called Sherpa Anghrita has made 10 oxygen-less
ascents. Most were on or within a couple of days of the New Moon.
Perhaps the Nepalese know something about Moon-phase climbing
that may be of interest to mountaineering clubs. On a later occasion
I was interviewed by Chris Moore, reporter for the Christchurch

Moon Tides
I 49
newspaper The Press. Upon my mentioning the Nepali factor he

promptly said, ‘Oh, I can help you there. I lived in northern China
for a while. They always said not to climb mountains before New
Moon.’
In climbing the world’s highest mountains, more fatalities occur
on descents than on ascents. The reason is that climbers are more
fatigued and are prone to be less careful. Descents are often more
physically taxing than ascents. Oxygen-depletion at that time can
be disastrous. Presumably one would be descending late afternoon/
early evening, and would want available oxygen then, only there is
more quantity at higher levels when the Moon phase is New Moon
to First Quarter. To be safest, two or three days onwards after New
Moon would be preferable for an oxygen-less climb.
Then there are the unexplained light aeroplane accidents, once
quite numerous in New Zealand among topdressing pilots. When a
fully-laden plane tries to take off during a low air tide, there is not
much air for the propellers to get a grip on. They should not take
off in the morning of the First Quarter or Full Moon, but wait until
the Moon has risen by late afternoon or evening. The mornings of
Last-Quarter Moons or New Moons would be safer. This research
is begging to be done. John Kennedy Jun. and singer John Denver
mysteriously met their deaths in small propeller-driven planes. The
crash of Ansett 708 and the NAC fatality of 1963 remain in this
country’s historical memory. Then there was the Columbia Shuttle
disaster over East Texas. These were all accidents during low air-tide
times. This is not to say that the Moon directly causes air accidents,
but it may provide conditions that supply extra turbulence, making
aircraft more difficult to control if they get into a difficulty for other
reasons.
On atmospheric tides science is oddly quiet. The atmospheric
tide is factored out by modern meteorology because of the need to
compare atmospheric pressures at sea-level, and so any changing
air-height does not appear in any weather models. But a yachtie will
report that sometimes a mainsail is slack and other times full even
though at both times the anemometer (measuring wind speed) will
be observed to spin at the same rate. This is because when the air
tide is ‘out’ the sail will be slack, but when the air tide is ‘in’ the sail
will be full, but a lower volume of air may still be moving just as fast

I 50 The Lunar Code
as a fuller volume.
The Moon serves as our protection. Burn times in summer are
nearly always during the Full Moon to Last Quarter phase. Summer
marathon events held at this time are in danger of incurring heat
exhaustion.
The effect of air tides on air travel

On the afternoon of 9 June 1995 in atrocious weather, Ansett 708,
Flight 703 piloted by Gary Sotheran approached the hilly Tararua
Ranges that back Palmerston North in New Zealand and, from
16 km away, started to descend to Palmerston North airport. The
plane never reached the airport. Later in court, Sotheran said he
observed his altimeter to suddenly drop 1000 feet even as he looked
at it. This statement was ridiculed by the prosecuting lawyer, as were
historical reports of similar experiences by other pilots, as submitted
by the defence team. In a lengthy, expensive and completely
unnecessary court case in which the Crown blamed pilot error for
the fatal crash, pilot Sotheran was acquitted. Whatever caused it
was never satisfactorily established, as no mechanical fault was ever
found in the examination of the plane.
Perhaps the Moon was at least partly the culprit. It is still
considered the domain of astronomers, and the latter are not remotely
interested in investigating air accidents — because most funding for
research is for the discovery and naming of invisible planets millions
of light-years away, which brings kudos and more funding to the
observatories that discover them. There are few or no research grants
for the common old Moon. But if they were to examine our nearest
celestial neighbour a little more carefully perhaps astronomers could
find plenty to glorify their names forever.
There are times in the day and month when air density can
suddenly, and without warning, get thinner. This density is
dependent on air height and volume. Periods such as these are
potentially dangerous for propeller-driven aircraft that rely on
a mass of air for their propellers to pull on. In such a vacuum
hole of air, the propellers may fail to create forward thrust, so
putting the plane in potential danger of falling out of the sky.
Such changes in atmosphere are not monitored in meteorology,

Moon Tides
I 51
because pressure is not necessarily involved. Weather-balloons and

satellites are only programmed to monitor barometric pressure-
related disparities. Besides, in this case, pressure was not relevant.
Nor does today’s science attend to the notion that the atmosphere is
an enclosed gas, held by gravity to a fixed location just as if it was
in a closed container. If they did, then Boyles Law, and the Ideal
Gas Law which we all learnt about in school, and which set out the
dependencies of volume, temperature and pressure upon each other
in an enclosed gas situation, would require researchers to consider
other factors besides pressure. Air is a gas. Therefore at all times we
should be considering volume and temperature as well as pressure.
It is this third factor, volume — the least measurable yet the most
potent — that might better explain weather dynamics. Just like
the water coming in and out of a harbour, the atmosphere over a
particular location is subject to daily incomings and outgoings. We
are alluding to what is virtually a sea chasing around above our
heads. There is no reason such a sea would not be tidal. Anything
tidal is under the control of the Moon.
Satellites have measured the Earth or land tides.e There is also
a tide in the molten core inside the Earth, a contributing factor
to earthquakes. On a micro-scale there is a monthly tide in the
endocrine system of half the human inhabitants of this planet — the
menstrual 28-day cycle. Except for a small solar component, all
tides are caused by the Moon, yet the Moon is generally thought of
as having little influence on anything except beaches and poets.
Bill Waters is a long-retired topdressing pilot now living in
Auckland. There was one day he remembers vividly because he was
convinced he was going to crash. It was 12 August 1958. Flying
under load to Opotiki in the mid afternoon he found there was
suddenly no air to gain height, so, with some anxiety, he headed
back to Tauranga to land. But he couldn’t even get over the small
hills and had to go through them, very low. He circled around and
around the Tauranga harbour in an effort to sort out the problem,
before finally managing to get to the airport. Inspection checks
revealed no mechanical problems. Bill was convinced the atmosphere
had something to do with it. Unbeknownst to Bill the Last-Quarter
Moon was setting that day over Tauranga at 3 p.m. The air tide
would have been rushing out because the moon was at that moment

I 52 The Lunar Code
on the horizon in the northwest. A day past the northernmost point,

it was effectively at its northern declination, causing an extra-low
air tide in the opposite (southern) hemisphere. Bill reports that after
he reached home in the evening and was outside fixing his car, he
felt an earthquake. Perhaps it could have been more than
coincidence.
In looking carefully at the dates and times of many light plane
crashes, I have found a significant correlation with Moon event times.
In a month, these are just before a combined Full or New Moon + a
perigee and, in a day, they match the tide of the atmosphere, which
also matches the time of the local tide at the coast. Danger times are
moonset, moonrise, IC position (Moon directly beneath Earth) and
MH position (Moon directly overhead). Of course I have also found
some propeller-driven light-plane crashes that fall outside of these
times. Granted, I have not studied them all, and it remains a study
still to be done at research level.
In the case of Ansett 708 Flight 703, the day was significant —
three days before Full Moon and perigee, the perigee being 1995’s
biggest, meaning the Moon was closest to earth for that whole year
which would have exaggerated the atmospheric tide effect. The
time of the day was important too, being 9 a.m. over the Tararua
Ranges, near enough to the exact moment that the Moon hit the IC
position, or low atmospheric tide (Moon underfoot and in opposite
hemisphere).
So what may do the damage? Vacuum pockets of air may develop
as a local atmosphere rushes towards a rising or setting Moon. The
effect may be analogous to the rush of water into a bay. Vacuum
pockets in the flow of water can be seen on an incoming tide as
water rushes past rocks to get up an inlet, or on the other side of
those rocks when the estuary empties. The protrusions cause the
areas of lower density. As the giant Moon dips below the horizon,
sucking air towards itself, it can affect air over a large area. When
hills are in the way, they can act in the same way as rocks in a
stream, creating pockets in the density of air currents on either side
of these hills that deepen over the space of an hour until the Moon
event is over and equilibrium is restored. It is no coincidence that
these sudden drops in altitude are generally reported in hill country,
and most light-plane and helicopter crashes occur in mountainous

Moon Tides
I 53
terrain. Then why aren’t all planes in danger? Perhaps they are, but
not all road vehicles come to grief in the same pothole, especially if
that pothole is only momentary and highly transient.
At 0909 hours on 3 July 1963 over the Kaimai Ranges (specifically
Mt Ngatamahinerua), a National Airways DC3 crashed with the loss
of three crew and 20 passengers. The probable cause was put down
to severe downdrafts in the lee of the ranges. Yet this wind shear
may have occurred too with Captain Sotheran’s aircraft, because the
Moon factors at the time were almost identical. Wednesday 3 July
1963 was three days after Full Moon but, more importantly, 0909
hours was the exact moment of IC at that location. It was the day of
a king tide due to a Full Moon, in air as in water, and the air tide at
that moment was right out.
On 6 August 1997, at 1.43 a.m., 5 km from Guam Airport, Korean
Air flight 801 crashed into Nimmetts Hill killing 200. Where was the
Moon? Exactly at IC position; air tide right out. Weather reportedly
suddenly worsened prior to impact. No mechanical fault was found.
Ansett 708, NAC in 1963 and KA801 all occurred within minutes
of the Moon’s IC. Coincidence?
On 12 October 1997 John Denver crashed, three days before a
combined Full Moon and perigee, at 1728 hours. Moonrise at that
locality on that day was 1750 hours. Granted, he ran out of fuel
and didn’t know his plane very well, but the closeness of moonrise
is at least noteworthy. On 16 July 1999 it was John Kennedy’s light
plane that succumbed, three days after New Moon and perigee (one
day difference between), at 2141 hours. Moonset that day was 2158
hours. A helicopter crash on the Auckland Southern Motorway on
26 January 2001 occurred two days before New Moon, at 1650
hours — the exact time of the Moon’s IC. 21 May 1996 saw the
crash of James Beggs in his Piper Cherokee in the Ureweras, three
days after New Moon and at 1530 hours — the exact time of the
Moon’s MH position (Moon overhead). Veteran New Zealand flyer
Bryan Knight was killed in Brisbane on 24 November 2000, the
day before New Moon. He crashed at 1600 hours. Moonset was
exactly 1647 hours. And on 9 June 1995, Ansett 708 crashed, three
days before combined Full Moon and giant perigee occurring on
the same day. Impact time: 0900 hours; Moon’s IC position: 9.04
a.m. In most of these, no mechanical fault was ever found and the

I 54 The Lunar Code
episodes were just written off as either mysteries or ‘pilot error’.

At Auckland airport on 12 March 2003, a Singapore Airlines
plane scraped its tailgate on the airport tarmac during takeoff. The
incident happened at 3.28 p.m. Moonrise that day was 3.30 p.m.
Two days later in Whakatane, a Cessna 185B tipped over during
the landing roll (no one was injured) and in Pomerangi, a Fletcher
FU24-950 M’s tailskid area of the rear fuselage also made contact
with the ground while landing on a steep airstrip.
The NASA Shuttle ‘Columbia’ came to grief on 31 January 2003.
On 31 January, several C and one minor M Class solar flares were
observed. The solar wind striking the Earth increased from 390 km/
sec to over 1000 km/sec. This increase in solar wind hit the Earth
precisely at the time of the tragic Columbia Space Shuttle accident.
Right at the time of the Columbia explosion a SUDDEN IMPULSE
WARNING was issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA).f
One might ask why. In East Texas at the exact time of the tragedy
the Moon was rising. It was also the very day of the New Moon.
Could perhaps the shuttle have been sharply hit by an incoming
‘king air tide’ within the hour of a rising New Moon, which had
the potential to produce huge turbulence? This is not to say
that the Moon directly caused it, but if the shuttle was already
teetering, almost out of control for some other reason, the
extra turbulence from both Moon and Sun may have made it
unmanoeuvrable.
Analysis of air tides, in relation to Moon events

and air crashes
It occurred to me that if one could prove atmospheric tides; given
that low air tides would be dangerous times, then it could be shown
that NAC and Ansett 708 Flight 703’s crash would have been right
in some danger-time area. I decided to look at hourly wind-direction
and wind-speed readings at a location that was devoid of hills and
coastal sea. With no hills to alter it, the wind direction would be
purer, and an inland location would be unaffected by the sea tide. I
would plot these observations against moonrise and moonset times
for that exact location, to see if the wind altered in any appreciable
way just during the hour of the rising or setting. If cause and effect

Moon Tides
I 55
could be established, then, like the sea tide which causes the water
to flow in a particular direction and speed when incoming and
outgoing, so too would the air, if indeed that air was tidal.
I selected Hamilton Airport as the test location, with 1 January
2001 to 31 March 2001 as the time frame. I figured that, if there
was a pattern, it would surely show up over three whole months,
altogether covering 206 moonrises and sets. Accordingly, I purchased
the data from National Climate Centre (NIWA) and worked out
the local moonrise and moonset times for that location (Hamilton
Airport) to plot them against.
The graphs that follow were for all of January 2001 and plotted
at Hamilton Airport every hour around the clock for three months.
There is little need to show February and March on these pages
as they displayed a similar pattern. My hunch was that when
the Moon is at or near the horizon (in the hour of moonrise and
moonset) both wind speed and wind direction would undergo a
change. I thought speed might increase or decrease, accompanied
by a direction shift.
Result: in all but ten cases out of 260, the wind dramatically
altered in some way during (and only during) each moonrise and
moonset hour. In the hour that the Moon was on the horizon, on
some occasions there was a complete lull and on others a decrease or
increase in wind speed or direction reversal. Speed often did increase
or decrease, accompanied by a direction shift to a more westerly
or northerly source. This experiment should be easy to duplicate
anywhere and anytime.
See graphs on pp. 56–59.

I 56 The Lunar Code

Moon Tides
I
57

I 58 The Lunar Code

Moon Tides
I
59

I 60 The Lunar Code
Let us look now to the wind-speed and wind-direction changes in

the hour of the Ansett crash. The location was the Tararua Ranges 16
km east of Palmerston North airport. The day was 9 June. Moonset
on that day was at 0337 hours and moonrise was at 1431 hours,
making mid-moon at 9.04 a.m. The crash was timed at 9 a.m. So
what did the wind do over that hour? Here are the results obtained
from NIWA data gathered at Palmerston North airport.
The most telling figures are those of the wind speed, which reached
a screaming peak at the airport right at the time of the rising of the
Moon. We can assume this would also have been the case 16 km
away in the Tararua Ranges. At the time of the crash the wind had
increased in speed by 40 percent over the previous hour. In the hour
before the crash the northerly wind swung 20 degrees further to
the west and at the time of the crash switched back to the north
again. The moonrise itself held the wind well to the west and on
the following moonset it returned to a northerly state. Immediately
after moonset on the 10th it switched about immediately to blow
from due east.

Moon Tides
I 61
Day/Month Hr Dir Spd Moon Event

9 June 0100 340 5.1477
9 June 0200 340 5.1477
9 June 0300 340 6.1772 moonset
9 June 0400 340 5.1477
9 June 0500 340 5.1477
9 June 0600 330 3.6034
9 June 0700 330 4.6329
9 June 0800 310 7.2068 IC of Moon
9 June 0900 320 7.7216 crash
9 June 1000 320 7.2068
9 June 1100 330 8.2363
9 June 1200 300 10.8102
9 June 1300 290 12.8693
9 June 1400 290 13.8988 moonrise
9 June 1500 290 12.8693
9 June 1600 290 11.8397
9 June 1700 290 10.2954
9 June 1800 290 11.3249
9 June 1900 290 11.3249
9 June 2000 280 10.2954
9 June 2100 280 8.7511
9 June 2200 290 7.7216
9 June 2300 290 6.1772
9 June 2400 290 6.1772
10 June 0000 290 6.1772
10 June 0100. 300 5.1477
10 June 0200 310 4.6329
10 June 0300 340 3.6034 moonset
10 June 0400 90 3.6034
10 June 0500 60 3.0886
Observations of Moon phases and wind around the time of the air crash of Ansett Flight
703. Dir = direction wind was coming from. Spd = wind speed, measured in m/sec.

I 62 The Lunar Code
Let’s take another look at conditions during the 1963 NAC crash.
Day/Month Hr Dir Spd Moon Event

3 July 0700 160 7
3 July 0800 140 8
3 July 0900 160 12 crash
3 July 1000 160 16 ......(IC)
3 July 1100 160 12
3 July 1200 var 2
3 July 1300 20 10
3 July 1400 10 15
3 July 1500 30 15 moonrise
3 July 1600 40 13
3 July 1700 50 10
3 July 1800 40 13
3 July 1900 60 8
3 July 2000 60 7
3 July 2100 50 9
3 July 2200 50 9
3 July 2300 40 9
Observations of Moon phases and wind around the time of the 1963 NAC crash
Dir = direction wind was coming from. Spd = wind speed, measured in m/sec.
We see a two-fold increase in wind speed for the mid-moon (IC)

position and another, almost as big an increase, on moonrise. When
the crash occurred the wind had just increased by half as much
again. These wind speed factors occurred in a parallel scenario to the
Ansett 708 situation. The two crashes occurred just after IC. There
have been many at this moon-time, the latest being on 30 December
2004 with the crash of a tandem paraglider in the Christchurch Port
Hills at 1045 NZDT at about 2.5 hours after IC. The results suggest
that a just-rising Moon can cause significant changes in wind speed.
If the wind is significantly pulled around by the Moon, then the
atmosphere must also be, therefore affecting the weather. Downdraft
is not the problem. If downdrafts were all we were looking at, then

Moon Tides
I 63
all aircraft in these areas should have similarly crashed. Something

else, perhaps some form of atmospheric vacuum holes, may be the
cause. They would appear to form mainly over hill country, mainly
at moonrise, less often at moonset, sometimes at midpoints between;
and more so at times of the month of a large perigee or declination-
exaggerated air tide when the air tide is ‘out’. We will only know
for sure if the aircraft industry tackles the problem with a proper
research base, out of which may come technology in the form of an
air-density detector for all commercial aircraft. Such an invention
will earn its inventor millions because every plane will want one.
I have a correspondence with a fisherman in the UK who described
his own verification of the wind-speed increase. He writes:
When I read about your theories of lightweight planes crashing

with no apparent reason, you monitored pick-ups in wind.
These pick-ups in wind were what first got me started on my
own moon ‘journey’ as I almost invariably caught fish when
it occurred (mainly barbel and mainly decent sized ones). The
first night it happened was just past 1st quarter in July 93,
and I was in a position to see the moon set. From 21.00 (so
called ‘prime time’, dusk) we never had a touch until at 01.15
the moon started to drop over the horizon, a strong breeze
started up and I felt it was going to happen, a feeling that
I have always had since fishing as a child but never linked to
the moon. It happened — three barbel all over 7lb in about 10
minutes, the moon went, the wind stopped and the fishing died
a death . . . I instantly knew the trigger of the fish feeding was
the moonset. So I had found the same moon induced pick-ups
in wind as you did thousands of miles away.
a www.onlinedictionary.datasegment.com/word/tidings.
b Source: Nace, U.S. Geological Survey, 1967.
c www.oulu.fi/~spaceweb/textbook/heliosphere.html.
d e.g. www.gi.alaska.edu/chapman/meteorology.html.
e www.science@NASA.com.
f www.sec.noaa.gov/alerts/alerts_timeline.html.

4
Declination 9
FulI Moon, when she rise far in the north, foretells a harsh winter.
Folklore, northern hemisphere

I 66 The Lunar Code
A lthough the Moon appears to daily circulate the Earth, giving

rise to moonrise and moonset for any one location, this is an
illusion. In fact, Earth rotates once a day beneath the Moon that is
very slowly also rotating around the Earth (the month). The Earth
rotates around the Sun (the year) on an imaginary plane called the
ecliptic. The Moon is also on the same plane around the Sun as the
Earth. In fact it may even be said that the Moon really orbits the Sun
but the Earth keeps getting in its way. The fact remains that Earth
is on a lean. If it was straight up and down like a spinning top the
Moon would always stay above the same latitude line, the Equator,
and never vary. But due to the tilt of the Earth but not of the Moon,
the Moon does appear to vary, and finds itself, over the course of
a month, above a point on the spinning Earth that is at one time
below the Equator and then two weeks later, because the Moon is
slowly circuiting the Earth in a month, above a point on the Earth’s
surface that is above the Equator. As all points on Earth revolve
under the Moon once per day, all countries receive a southern Moon
on the same day, then a fortnight later all are witness to the Moon
in a northern position.
Viewed from space we would see the Earth rotate 360 degrees
once a day beneath the Moon, while the Moon moved eastwards 13
degrees per day around the Earth. Down on the ground, marking the
point on the horizon where the Moon rises each day, one will notice
that, except for the two or three days in the month of New Moon
when it can’t be seen, the rising locations move along the eastern
horizon and back, month in and month out, 13 times in a year.
This is the monthly declination cycle, and being purely a function of
Earth’s tilt should not really be blamed on the poor Moon.
Kansas long-range forecaster Richard Holle (www.aerology.
com) points out that the north to south declinational movement of
the Moon is in phase with the magnetic rotation of the Sun (27.32
days). The variation of the magnetic-field polarity shifts in the
solar wind joining the declinational tidal effects are hard to see if
you look for a pressure- or a height-change signal. Surges in air
flow are driven by these lunar declinational forces. Whilst the
thermal energy of the sun drives global convection, the starting and
stopping in the global circulation of solar-generated heat is influenced
by the Moon.

Declination
I 67
Weather effects of monthly declination

As the Moon moves from north to south, tidal forces move air masses
in phase. Magnetic fields generate static charges on the leading edges
of the air masses. The clouds have a positive static charge and this
helps prevent rapid condensation because positive ions repel and
water can only be formed when positives meet negatives. These static
charges also help to maintain uniform size of droplets, aid in super-
cooling, and result in rapid precipitation when meeting air masses
from more polar regions which carry a residual negative static charge
— which also, so far, has prevented rapid condensation by repulsion
inside of the clouds in the polar air masses. These electrical charges
are generated by the Moon moving north to south just as a dynamo
produces an electrical field when a smaller disturbing force like a
coil revolves inside a magnetic system with a north and south pole.
The electrical generator so produced is influenced by its rotational
speed, and how the Moon changes speed during the course of the
27-day declination beat varies the field strength. There are other
considerations too, like interplanetary magnetic field strength, and
studies of the length of day change showing a seasonal speeding
up of the Earth as we pass between the Sun and the centre of the
Galaxy, due to the increased magnetic field couplings there.
The main effect on the weather is that, when the Moon rises due
east, it is moving fastest in the declination cycle, rather like the
midpoint of a pendulum, which results in faster-moving weather
systems that are more quickly changeable. Air flows will generally
follow the Moon’s direction. On the weather maps at this time the
weather will be pulled towards the north-east or the south-east.
But when the rising of the Moon is about the end points, called
the declination points — which are as far north or south along the
eastern horizon the Moon rises from, in the month of daily risings
— weather will slow down and persist, whatever it is doing, without
too much drastic change in situation. When the Moon rises around
the declination points its orbit is parallel to that of the Earth, and
weather maps may typically show winds being dragged in the
direction of latitude lines rather than diagonally from north-west to
south-east or south-west to north-east.
Thunderstorms and electrical activity occur more often when the
Moon is crossing the Equator roughly at the midpoint, while steady

I 68 The Lunar Code
drawn-out rain occurs more when the Moon is at north or south

declination points.
As well, surges in the magnetic-field flux intensity can result in
inductive heating in the core/mantle of the Earth, increasing the rise-
rate of heated plumes of magma and contributing to earthquakes,
volcanoes and both undersea and land-surface eruptions. Perhaps
that is why many earthquakes are observed around declinations
north and south (more around north due to more land mass in the
northern hemisphere), and more quakes when the Moon is crossing
the Equator.
Ancient people clearly knew that the declination position of
the Moon foretold much about the weather. Stone circles show
a preoccupation with the measurement and prediction of both
declination and eclipses. It is tempting to think they were aware
of grand-scale electrical effects, especially as there is evidence
that ancient batteries may have existed.a It is certainly probable
they knew the Moon caused wind-flow direction. In the northern
hemisphere, northerlies and northwesterlies bring cold winds down
from the poles, whilst southerlies and southwesterlies bring warm
winds from the Equator. In the southern hemisphere this is reversed:
southwesterlies heralding a cool change and northwesterlies serving
up drying conditions in, for instance, the south of New Zealand
and Australia, but warm wet winds in the northern regions of those
countries. The Moon contributes to the cause of both, depending on
where it is in the month — and also what its phase is.
9 Changing barometric pressure is caused by the Moon changing

from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere.
Perigee and apogee heighten the effect. Of course hills can also
change the direction of air flows to create localised winds peculiar
to a location.
At the point of Moon crossing the Equator there is a meeting
of an ascending pattern of southerlies with northerlies that are
still drifting down. The result is one system rolling over another,
warm over cold, or vice versa, and ensuing thunderstorms. Since
the work of Alexander Thom and, particularly, Gerald Hawkin’s
book Stonehenge Decoded, we know Stonehenge was aligned to all

Declination
I 69
orbits of the Moon. It would be very strange if the people who built
Stonehenge knew all about declination but didn’t apply it to weather
changes, especially as their livelihoods would have depended on such
a knowledge advantage. The ancients were probably also aware of
the increased earthquake potential that came with eclipses. It is hard
to accept that people who walked on this Earth perhaps 15,000
years ago might have known more about what causes weather than
we do today.
The maximum declination cycle

Viewed again from the ground, the declination cycle causes the
moonrise point to swing more north than south along the east
horizon each month, but instead of reaching the same northerly
and southerly points each time, it travels incrementally more or
less distance north and south on each swing depending on where
it is in this cycle. As it is only about a thirteenth of a degree per
month, this change is nearly imperceptible, but more noticeable
over a longer period. Whereas the Sun has a regular cycle, year in
and year out, the Moon’s declination range changes by increasing
or decreasing over nine years, to the extent that its northernmost
and southernmost positions of rising along the eastern horizon
can increase by up to about a degree a year. Viewed from space it
would appear that, as the Earth spins merrily beneath it 365 times
per year, the Moon marks out a very slow sine wave around
the Earth, moving above the ecliptic by 5 degrees then below the
ecliptic by another 5 degrees and back up again. Once above, below
and back again takes 18.613 years. In that time, as viewed from the
ground, the Moon has done 249 declination cycles, up and back
along the eastern horizon. Accordingly, during this cycle of 18.613
years the world’s grander weather patterns change, then change
back again. This near-18-year cycle of declination is also called the
nodal cycle.
The nodal cycle swings between two positions. The first is 5
degrees above the ecliptic, which added to the Earth’s tilt of 23.5
degrees makes 28.5 degrees. This is called maximum declination or
‘major standstill’ and means the Moon at this point in its cycle sits
above the latitude on Earth of 28.5 degrees north. One half-nodal

I 70 The Lunar Code
cycle, or nine years later, the Moon is at 5 degrees below the ecliptic
which, subtracted from the Earth’s tilt, means it is now positioned
over the latitude line of 18.5 degrees south.
To recap, the Moon circulates, changing in appearance from New
Moon to Full Moon and back to New again. It moves to a northern
latitude, then to a southern latitude and back every 27.3 days. From
year to year, the maximum northern and southern extent from due
east of the Moon’s rising point during each lunar month increases
until it reaches a maximum after nine years, and decreases during the
following nine years until it reaches a minimum before repeating the
cycle again.
Perigee and apogee

The Moon also comes in closer once a month and further away
again some 13.6 days later. This is called perigee and apogee.
On perigee day the Moon appears bigger because it can be up to
20 percent closer. Throughout the year this closeness itself also varies,
with one month in the year having a closer perigee than all the other
months that year. The Moon’s furthest point out (apogee) also varies,
but not by as much. To make things a little more complicated, the
whole perigee/apogee orbit shifts around. The Moon also speeds and
slows at different times of the month, and at different times of the year.
All these factors have a hand in determining weather, from rainfall,
to droughts, to balmy summer days, tornadoes, fog, gale-force winds,
earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and everything between.
Height changes over seasons

Unlike the Sun, which is regular year after year, the 12 or 13 Full
Moons over the course of the year do not rise and set in the same
positions on the horizon, because declination and the phase cycle are
separate, although they do peak and trough together at various times.
Full Moons in summer rise and set much further to the south (in the
northern hemisphere) and therefore lower in the sky, compared with
Full Moons in winter, which always occur in the hemisphere of the
country enjoying winter. This means that the Full Moons of northern
summer are in the sky for a shorter period than those of winter, and

Declination
I 71
Full Moons in the southern hemisphere winter are higher in the

southern sky than they are in the southern hemisphere summer. For
an ancient society, it would seem very lucky that the winter Full
Moons rose earlier and set later, providing light for night travellers
through the long winter nights just when it would have been needed
most. The Full Moon nearest to midwinter is always the highest
and longest shining Full Moon of the year (traditionally called Long
Night Moon) and many people have experienced bright moonlit
frosty nights around a winter holiday.
While the Moon is at the 28-degree declination (major standstill)
the differences in its arc in the sky on rising and crossing from east
to west is therefore best seen during either the summer or winter
solstice, 21 June or 22 December. It is at this time that the New and
Full Moons are at their maximum declination points, either north
or south of the Equator.
In the northern hemisphere, the New Moon in the summer rises
well to the north-east almost perpendicular to its zenith and sets
well to the north-west, while the Full Moon rises in the south-east
and sets in the south-west. These rising and setting points will slowly
move towards the Equator as the Moon’s declination reduces to the
18-degree declination after about nine years.
In the southern hemisphere summer the directions are reversed;
the New Moon will rise well to the south-east, climb high in the sky,
and set well to the south-west as does the sun. The Full Moon, in the
same month, will rise to the north-east and rise about as high as the
winter sun, then set in the north-west. The crescent moon high in the
west on a spring evening is the first crescent, soon to set also. In the
east in autumn it is just after April New Moon, skimming low, being
further north in the north-west in the evenings. Low in the spring
in the north-east in the mornings are the August and September
moons, just before New Moon.
Phases and declinations

The Moon is in a phase/declination coupling at the same season-
time of the year for the same hemispheres. Otherwise there would
not be seasonal winds like the monsoons. Over the 18.6-year cycle
of the nodes there is variation only in that at the 28-degree end of

I 72 The Lunar Code
the cycle a larger latitudinal range is covered, making for quicker

weather systems, but it is not enough variation to upset seasonal
patterns.
North Crossing South Crossing

declination Equator declination Equator
heading south heading north
New Moon NH summer NH autumn NH winter NH spring
SH winter SH spring SH summer SH autumn
First NH spring NH summer NH autumn NH winter
Quarter SH autumn SH winter SH spring SH summer
Full Moon NH winter NH spring NH summer NH autumn
SH summer SH autumn SH winter SH spring
Last NH autumn NH winter NH spring NH summer
Quarter SH spring SH summer SH autumn SH winter
NH: northern hemisphere, SH: southern hemisphere.
Full Moons rise at the northern declination during northern

hemisphere winters, and at the southern declination during northern
hemisphere summers. On the other hand, Full Moons rise over
northern declinations during southern hemisphere summers and at
southern declinations for southern hemisphere winters. Note that
Moon phases are mainly a function of moon-rising times. Seen this
way it will be evident that ancient peoples counted one weather cycle
as an 18- to 19-year event. Each day in that period had a number
and a weather pattern to it that was predictable and repeatable one
Moon cycle hence. From the table above it can be seen that Full and
New Moons move in opposite directions and each of the Moon’s
phases change hemispheres with the season. The Full Moon is
over the southern hemisphere during its winter and the New Moon
is over the southern hemisphere in the summer. Each Quarter Moon
moves in a similar manner, and each is at the maximum monthly
northern or southern declination around the time the Sun is in
the equinox positions. Hours of daylight affect weather too —
for instance tornadoes come on long summer days when heat
can build up — and equinoxes are also factors in weather
prediction.

Declination
I 73
Comparing seasons
Weather of a type can be seasonal, and a comparison can be made
from one year to the next and to the nearest phase of the Moon as
well. Actually there are about 13 lunar orbits in a year. To arrive
at the nearest phase of the Moon after exactly 12 months, it is
necessary to go forward another 19 days, but this is only one aspect
where there is a change within the lunar orbit. Perigee/apogee also
will have changed. The declination dates also will change so that the
southernmost or northernmost point reached in the Moon’s orbit
will have moved forward by about 17 days. In fact, every position
of importance on the orbit will have changed in relationship to the
same date of a previous year — but not the seasons.
Nodes
The point where the Moon’s orbit crosses over, going north or south
of the Earth’s ecliptic, is called the ascending or descending node,
and these crossing points will shift regularly to a new position on
the ecliptic in each of the Moon’s orbits of the Earth, moving an
average distance of a little over 19 degrees west per year. This ever-
slowly-changing 5 degree tilt of the Moon to the ecliptic means that
the nodes work their way backwards around the Earth in the course
of the 18.613 years, a movement we call a precession. In practice, as
the ecliptic is tilted around 23.5 degrees to the Earth’s equator, the
tilt of the Moon’s orbital inclination to the Earth’s equator slowly
increases and decreases in a cyclic manner by up to around 5 degrees
from the average tilt of about 23.5 degrees, causing the maximum
declination cycle described earlier. The effect on the Moon will be
that from maximum declination after nine years, half the cycle,
when the nodes are 180 degrees away from where they started off,
the Moon is now reaching only 18 degrees north and south, being
at minimum declination. The New Moon in either hemisphere’s
summer and while at the solstice positions will not rise as high in
the sky as the Sun does during the summer months, and the Full
Moon in the same summer month will arc across the sky 5 degrees
lower than a winter’s Sun. This will be for each phase of the Moon
while it is at a solstice position at the right time of the year for
that phase, and again this will be for each lunar month. The nodes’

I 74 The Lunar Code
crossings will still be at the same points as when the Moon was at
maximum declination — at the equinox position, which is also the
nodes’ crossing of the ecliptic — but the ascending and descending
nodes will be in opposite positions, 180 degrees apart. So in between
the maximum and minimum declination periods of the Moon the
nodes move to a different position around the Moon’s orbit, until
the declination of 28-degrees maximum reduces to the 18-degree
minimum.
On noticing the standstills

Another way of describing the nodes’ movement is that once the
seasonal difference in the Full Moons had been noticed by ancient
peoples, a further fact would probably have been observed as well as
the years passed. This is that from year to year the rising and setting
positions of these winter and summer solstice moons themselves
changed. The change from one winter solstice or summer solstice to
its equivalent a year later is about 3 degrees, the same as the width
of six Moon diameters. The Moon thus goes through a cycle of
horizon positions which repeats itself every 18.6 years. Climatically
this is the range from the narrow band years where it stays between
the Tropics, to being outside the Tropics nine years later, the whole
being the range of movement of the Moon.
The standstill or declination cycle is a nine-year widening or
narrowing band of rising in the east (between north-east and south-
east) and setting positions in the west (between north-west and
south-west) which the Moon at any phase will reach. The diagrams
opposite illustrate the very different paths of the Full Moon across
the horizon at the winter solstice and the summer solstice, during
the lunar major standstill period. During major standstill (maximum
declination) the Moon at phases other than Full will swing between
the two limits shown; in other words a waxing or waning moon
could appear in the extreme positions to north or to south. But the
only Full Moons which attain the extreme positions shown in the
diagrams are those closest to the summer and winter solstices. The
arcs depict the view from the northern hemisphere observer.
Major standstill (i.e. maximum declination) years are 1932, 1950,
1969, 1987, 2006 and 2025.

Declination
I
75
Just over nine years after each maximum declination year, during
the ‘minor declination or standstill’, the limits of the Moon’s path
have contracted. Now there is less of a contrast between the summer
and winter Full Moon positions, though the winter Full Moon is still
in the sky for a much longer period than the summer Full Moon. Of
course at other times of year during the minor standstill the Moon’s
phases will move between those limits, with a waxing or waning
moon capable of reaching the limiting positions. Minor standstill
years are 1922, 1941, 1959, 1978, 1997 and 2015.
Moon declination in relation to summer and winter.

I 76 The Lunar Code
What happens between? El Nino

Between 18 degrees and 28 degrees is the midpoint, the 23-degree
years. Every time this has occurred in recent recorded history, that
is around years 1964, 1974, 1982 and 1992, a phenomenon has
occurred that has confused meteorologists. Ocean currents moving
up on the west coast of South America come to a standstill, meaning
that fish cease their migration and bird populations reliant on them
starve in their thousands. The waters stay warm locally and, by not
bringing equatorial heat to higher latitude seas, cause the northern
waters to cool more, thus inducing changed northerly seasons. Called
El Nino in the South Americas in 1983, so much media attention
was gained that people forgot that a similar set of circumstances had
occurred in 1965/66 and then in 1974/75, which, at the time, had
been referred to as the Humboldt Current. Because sea currents were
observed to reverse, still others called it the Southern Oscillation.
Sea temperatures fell on the east coast of the North Island of New
Zealand during the summer months and persistent westerlies left the
east coasts sheltered, which allowed algal bloom to develop. Now,
every quirk of nature is called ‘coming up to’, ‘being in’ or ‘just
leaving’ an El Nino year.
The oscillation occurs approximately every nine years at the
23-degree mark in the nodal cycle. Always reluctant to attribute
anything to the Moon, meteorologists remain mystified to this day.
Now El Nino has come to refer to the changes in ocean temperatures,
and these are about every 4.5 years, and so maximum and minimum
years have also been included under the El Nino label. If we go
by the 4.5-year definition, the last El Nino would have occurred
around Christmas in the southern hemisphere summer of 2001, and
will after that in 2007, then 2011. The current definition is that
which occurs just after solar minimums — but more on this later.
As to the original, truer El Nino, after 4.5 years the nodal crossing
of the ecliptic will occur at a point 90 degrees further around the
Moon’s orbit. This also happens to be summer or winter solstice for
either hemisphere. The Moon’s declination at this time is reduced to
about 23 degrees north and south of the Equator which is the midpoint
between maximum and minimum declinations. The ecliptic is also
where the 23.5-degree midpoint between declinations is measured
from, because it is not only the point where the crossings take

Declination
I 77
place on the ecliptic, it is also halfway between each of the equinox

positions. The tilt of the Moon’s orbit is now north and south of the
equinox positions, so at the March equinox position about half of
the Moon’s orbit will be slanted north of that point while the other
half of the orbit will be on the opposite side and slanting south of that
point that relates to the September equinox. About nine years later
the precession of the nodes will take them to the position previously
occupied by each other, 180 degrees away. Then the inclination of the
Moon’s orbit with respect to the ecliptic will be south of the position
of the March equinox and slanted north of the September equinox.
The first years the oscillations were noted were 1955/56, 1965/66,
1974/75. They were in the following pattern:
22 December 1956 the S node was 18 deg N and the N node 18 deg S
22 June 1966 the S node was 18 deg S and the N node 18 deg N
22 December 1975 the S node was 18 deg N and the N node 18 deg S
22 June 1983 the S node was 23 deg S and the N node 23 deg N
The Moon’s nodal crossings were at or near solstice position which

was also on the same plane as the ecliptic. The weather was described
everywhere as crazy, mixed up. Could El Nino be just part of the
Moon’s declination pattern, tied to node position? 22 June 2001 was
exactly the same, and was the month that the seven-month drought
broke in Marlborough, New Zealand. In every one of these El Nino
centre-of-focus dates mentioned, perigee was at the day or nearby.
On 22 June 2011 the S node will again be 23 deg N and the N node
23 deg S. Will this again be a crazy weather year?
An alternation does occur between hemispheres, probably
attributable to current reversal and its far-reaching effects, such that, in
1983 the effects were mainly felt in the southern hemisphere, in 1992
in the northern hemisphere and in 2001 in the southern hemisphere,
causing droughts, floods and storms in that hemisphere’s summer. By
the same token 2011 should see more extreme weather events in the
northern hemisphere. 22 June in that year is midway between perigee
and apogee. As most large earthquakes occur between perigee and
apogee, perhaps we are looking at some kind of terrestrial disturbance
in the northern hemisphere in that year.

I 78 The Lunar Code
Weather differences around maximum and

minimum declination
Changing barometric pressure is caused by the Moon changing
from northern hemisphere to southern hemisphere each month. The
speed and intensity of changes are caused by the Moon changing
from maximum to minimum declination over 18.613 years.
From 18 degrees up to 28 degrees the Moon starts changing its
angular velocity as it crosses the Equator and increasingly must
travel further in the same 13.6-day time-period from its monthly
southern to northern point of travel. This means that climate slightly
alters on a beat of 18.6 years, because the changing angular speed of
the Moon ensures longer drier summers alternate with seasons that,
with a faster Moon, are shorter, wetter or milder.
Declination Distance in 13 days Daily advance Weather

systems
Max. yrs 56 deg 370 miles/day 6 deg Quicker, more
1950, 1969, noticeably at
1986, 2006 crossing Equator
More aggressive
Repeat of extreme
events
Min. yrs 36 deg 230 miles/day 4 deg Longer lasting

1959, 1978, More wearying
1997, 2015 Repeat of extreme
events
9 28-degree maximum declination

New Moon: summer: rises higher than the summer sun
Full Moon: summer: rises only as high as winter sun
9 18-degree minimum declination

New Moon: summer: rises not as high as summer sun
Full Moon: summer: rises lower than the winter sun
To recap, the effect of declination is to change the direction of air

flow. When descending from the northern declination, the Moon

Declination
I 79
will be dragging warm moist air from the equatorial regions which
will mainly affect the northern halves of Australia and New Zealand
and that part of the world, bringing extra warm and wet conditions
during summer, and milder winter weather.
For the south of New Zealand, the northern declinations bring
shallow anticyclones and drying periods. When crossing the Equator,
the Moon is travelling at a greater speed, and turbulence is increased
with winds and electrical storms likely. The southern declination
typically brings deeper anticyclones, southerlies and cold wintry
conditions to the South Island, and crisp dry weather to the north of
the country. South Australia may be similarly affected.
In the northern hemisphere, countries nearest the North Pole
respond like the far south of New Zealand, but to opposite
declinations. The northern declination bring cold snows in winter
to Scotland and Canada, and the southern declination in summer
brings warmth and heat waves to the south of the UK, Europe and
the southern states of the US. In maximum declination years, all of
these effects are exaggerated.
At the time of writing, 2006, the South Island of New Zealand has
just experienced the coldest June for 34 years, even perhaps 71 years.
These are close to 36 and 72 years, two 36-year cycles. The coldest
time was 12 June, the day the Moon was at southern declination.
The month before that saw southern declination on May 16, the
coldest day in the country then as well. Tekapo town went down to
-6°C. In the first week of August, the Moon was again at southern
declination and the country experienced another cold snap.
As already mentioned, maximum declinations bring a faster
moon, so weather systems are over fairly quickly. Minimum
declination years bring slower systems, halcyon summer days and
week-long frosts and snowstorms. Also in maximum declination
years, earthquakes of greater magnitudes occur. Around the time of
writing, 2005–7, perigees are closer and apogees further away than
usual. In 2005 the perigee of 10 January was the closest the Moon
had come to Earth since March 1993, and it won’t be significantly
bettered until 2016.
a www.world-mysteries.com/sar_11.htm, www.geocities.com/tasosmit2001/
electricity.htm.

5
Perigees and Apogees 9
What has been will be again, what has been done will be
done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:9–14 NIV

I 82 The Lunar Code
T he perigee is when the Moon comes closest to Earth for that

month. It does so, on average, every 27.32166 days. Apogee
is the other end of this cycle. The maximum orbital variation in
distance from perigee to apogee is about 50,000 km (31,000 miles)
out of a maximum apogee distance of nearly 407,000 km (253,000
miles), which means that the gravitational pushing and pulling on
the crust can vary by up to about 23 percent each month. This is
a large amount of variation and partially explains the variations in
tectonic activity. The July 1969 Apollo moon landing occurred a
few days before the July perigee, saving the mission some 50,000
km worth of fuel. By going that month they also saved a further
10,000 km worth of fuel, because July saw the closest perigee for
the whole year.
As well as being a major factor in ancient solunar fishing calendars
(because fish feed ravenously just before and after it), perigee was
always known and feared by ancient sailors because of the stormy
weather and gales that invariably arrived. By far the greater number
of cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons, volcanic eruptions, floods, heat
waves and earthquakes in recorded history has been associated with
a perigee or apogee.
For instance, one storm on 15 February 2004 affected Auckland
and the south of the North Island. The Moon was closest to Earth
for the month shortly before 9 a.m. on the morning of 16 February,
after which the weather cleared and most gales abated as the Moon
started to move away from the perigee position. I was once standing
on the lip of a ravine called the Hanging Rock Escarpment at Pleasant
Point near Timaru, as a perigee wind raged so hard it held me fast
against a fence. Suddenly the wind stopped completely — there one
minute and gone in an instant. When I reached home and was able
to look up times I was amazed to find that the peak of a perigee had
occurred and abated whilst I was out there.
Changing speed of the Moon

Perigee has kinetic energy or energy of motion, but at apogee the
Moon has greater potential energy, because its location is far from
the Earth. In the Moon’s monthly movement around the Earth, in
perigee it is typically 14.5 degrees per day and in apogee around

Perigees and Apogees
I 83
12 degrees per day. Perigees and apogees vary between each other,
as does the number of days perigee to perigee, perigee to apogee,
and apogee to perigee. The Moon’s speed averages out to 12 to 13
degrees per day.
About every 4.4 years apogee and perigee swap positions. In
1997, January, February and March, New Moons coincided with
perigees, but in 2001 these months coincided with apogees. In
2005 New Moons in January, February and March again coincided
with perigees. The peaks and troughs of the perigee/apogee cycle
sometimes coincide with Full or New Moon cycles, which then can
result in more gales and heavy rain and extra-high tides, which
can then lead to flooding. When perigee is closer to a particular
hemisphere, which happens in about three out of every 8.85 years, the
effects are greater. 2003 was the first full year of perigeal closeness to
the southern hemisphere since 1997. The perigee Moon occurred
in the southern hemisphere until 2005. It crosses the equator 2006–
2007. Perigees themselves vary, some months bringing a closer Moon
than others. This, itself, constitutes its own cycle, that of perigee-
closeness for a particular month, roughly equating to four years. As
can be seen in the table below, perigee dates for 1991 nearly match
those in 1995; those in 1992 nearly match those in 1996, etc.
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

Jan 28 19 10 6/31 27 19 10 3/30 26
Feb 25 17 7 27 23 17 7 27 20
Mar 22 16 8 28 20 16 8 28 20
Apr 17 13 5 25 17 11 5 25 17
May 15 8 4/31 24 15 6 3/29 24 15
Jun 13 4 25 21 13 3 24 20 13
Jul 11 1/30 22 18 11 1/30 21 16 11
Aug 8 27 19 12 8 27 19 11 7
Sep 5 25 16 8 5/30 24 16 8 2
Oct 2/27 23 15 6 26 22 15 6 26
Nov 24 18 12 3 23 16 12 4 23
Dec 22 13 10 2/30 22 13 9 2/30 22
Dates of perigee, 1991 to 1999.

I 84 The Lunar Code
Moreover, the position of perigee and apogee on the Moon’s orbit

is also variable and occurs progressively in different positions on the
Moon’s orbit around the Earth, within a cycle of 8.85 years. This
means that perigee will occur when the Moon is over the southern
hemisphere for about 4.4 years and through all Moon phases
occurring during that time. Perigee will then move into the northern
hemisphere for the remainder of the 8.85-year cycle. The perigee does
spend some time around the Equator when it is between hemisphere
changes. During this time, the Moon at perigee comes closest of
all to the surface of the Earth because the diameter of the Earth is
about 40 km greater at the Equator than along the polar axis, so
decreasing the distance from the surface of the Earth to the Moon.
These are years of most severe cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons.
When there are combinations of phase, perigee or apogee date
and declination north and south, we can expect unusual weather
somewhere in the southern hemisphere on this pulse of 14 days.
Each location will receive its own differing amounts, according to
the history of the weather cycles in that area.
Approximately once every 14 days weather systems requiring ‘severe
weather warnings’ are often issued by a country’s meteorological
service. In Appendix 1 there are some examples of Severe Weather
Warnings sent out by the New Zealand Metservice in 2004 that
depicted bad weather. A look at the dates will show they occurred
roughly every 14 days — the distance between apogee and perigee.
Some might say severe weather warnings happen all the time. Yes,
they do happen often, but a simple analysis will show how they
cluster more around perigees and apogees. Since the beginning of
2004 and running the whole course of that year, the (roughly) 14-
day pattern is listed.a
Perigee and air tide: cycle of the seasons

A closer (perigee) Moon has more gravitational pull on the air than
when it is further away (apogee), a difference of up to about 23
percent, and this factor adds to the air height (i.e. air tide) when the
Moon is in the sky, and leads to a decrease in air height 12 hours
later when the Moon sets, because after moonset the perigee Moon
is pulling the air to the other hemisphere.

I 85
How seasons are determined by the combinations of perigee

and phase
Summer heat is driven by what is likely to happen in daylight hours
and how much sunshine can get through to the ground. Because
perigee exaggerates the air tide and its effects, it follows if perigee
accompanies lower air tide more of the Sun’s heat can approach
Earth.
A hotter summer is more likely when perigee days are at or near
Full Moon days over the months of summer. In New Zealand the
summer of 2001 saw droughts across the whole country. Full Moon
days coincided with perigee days from November 2000 to April
2001. The drought broke around May 2001, when perigee started
to move away from Full Moon. There was an equally bad drought in
1982 in the Waimea Valley near the top of the South Island. Perigees
accompanied Full Moons from September 1981 to February 1982.
However, in the summer of 2004/2005, the Full Moon days coincided
with apogee, with perigees coinciding with New Moon days. This
is the opposite of the requirements for a really hot summer, because
with the Moon in the sky in the daytime, being the New Moon, the
atmosphere is drawn higher and so the Sun’s summer heat cannot
get through as strongly. Hence a mild summer eventuated.
Why New Zealand’s 2005 winter was warmer than average
was the other side of the coin. Where days are the engine of the
heat of summer, nights are the engine room of the cold of winter.
When the cold air descends after the Sun has gone down it cools
the ground. The next day the air in contact with the ground tries to
heat under the weak winter Sun. But, if the ground is cold enough,
the daytime winter Sun will not heat it much. What will make the
night-cold colder in winter? A colder winter will be driven by New
Moon coinciding with perigee. At New Moon the Moon goes below
the horizon at sunset. The cold at night is even colder during New
Moon because the air height is lowered, with the Moon absent from
the sky, and so the air cooled by the cold of space, having no air in
the way, can more freely descend lower towards the ground. Perigee
adds to the decrease in air height because the Moon is pulling up
the air on the opposite hemisphere. Skiers want a winter season with
coinciding New Moons and perigees so it can really snow at night.
But May through to November of 2005 saw Full Moons

I 86 The Lunar Code
accompanying perigees. This was predicted to bring heat waves

and droughts to the northern hemisphere because those are the
requirements for a hotter summer. But for the southern half of the
world it meant that the cold of winter during New Moon nights
would not be as cold because the apogee Moon did not lower the
night air much, which otherwise would have allowed the colder
air of space through. Therefore winter nights and temperature
minimums were predictably milder. Winter daytime temperatures
will be somewhat warmer than nights because the Sun is always out
during the day whatever the season, but if the cold air that descends
over winter nights is not as cold as usual then it will be easier for the
winter Sun to heat the winter day. In 2005 in New Zealand, warm
winter nights made for milder days which were disastrous for the
ski season. June and July were the months predicted to be best of
the season and it was expected that some skifields would close in
August through lack of snow. May to August was predicted to be
drier than normal which meant less precipitation, which is required
for snow to form. This turned out to be the case.
A colder winter is more likely when perigee nights are at or near
New Moon nights over months of winter. So for all countries,
whatever the hemisphere, the following applies.
Moon + perigee Summer trend Winter trend

Full Moon + perigee Hot summer, drought, Milder winter
(New Moon + apogee) heatwaves, thunderstorms
Full Moon + apogee Cooler summer Colder winter
(New Moon + perigee)
The effects of Full Moon, perigee and apogee on seasonal trends.
When do Full Moons + perigee (F+Ps) replace New Moons +

perigee (N+Ps)? This cycle of seasonal temperatures is 8.85, nearly
nine years. However, declination must also be considered to make
the cycle of the seasons complete. But wait, declination is not
exactly twice 8.85, which would be 17.7 years, but 18.613 years.
For instance, maximum declination occurred on 18/3/1876. Five
maximum declinations later landed on 25/3/1969. 93 years divided
by 5 = 18.6. This means that declination gets incrementally out of

I 87
phase with combinations of F+P and N+P. To find the Grand Cycle
whereby maximum declination years coincide with the cycle of
F+P or N+P summers or winters we must go to 186 years.
For instance:
Declination Year Jan–Feb Jun–Aug Closest P

Max 1783 P+N P+F June
Max +93 1876 P+F P+N June
Max +186 1969 P+N P+F June
In the 186 years from 1783 to 1969, P+N recycled 21 times, or

once every 8.85 years. Every half-Grand Cycle of 93 years, P+N
recycles 10.5 times and flips to an opposite season. Here is another
example, closer to current.
Declination Year Jan–Feb Jun–Aug Closest P

Max 1820 P+N P+F Feb
Max +93 1913 P+F P+N Feb
Max +186 2006 P+N P+F Feb
186 years is something climatologists seem to have missed, in their

campaign to boost their case for global warming so they can qualify
for their research funds. The real cause of climate fluctuations is
arguably the Moon, in the relatively short <1000-year term. At 186
years all the significant Moon cycles repeat: perigees, declinations
and phases. 186 years is ten maximum declinations.
The Australian drought

Around northern declination time the top half of Australia receives
winds from the north, which are hot and moist. For instance, on 29
November 2004, Sydney struck a record-breaking maximum of 42º
C. It was the exact day of northern declination and I happened to
be in that city on that day. In fact, knowing the north declination
was on that day I planned to be there, just in case an event was to
occur.b It was so hot that even hardened Sydneyites were suffering
in it. The very next day the Moon began to shift away from the

I 88 The Lunar Code
northern declination position and the temperature dropped by 20

degrees.
Because between 2004 and 2007 (which are maximum
declination years) every 27 days the Moon is almost at the furthest
north it ever gets, drought in the northern half of Australia gets
reinforced. Maximum northern declination drives up temperatures
in the northern half of Australia because that area is closer to the
Equator. Fourteen days after every northern declination comes
southern declination, and when southern declinations are at their
maximum latitude too, temperatures can be unseasonably cooler
in the southern half of the country but bring little difference to the
dryness in the more northern regions. The Melbourne hills received
snow on southern declination day of April 2005. Sydney is affected
by both northern and southern declinations, so there the situation
evens out more, producing a gentler and milder climate; the summer
Sun cooled somewhat from southeasterly sea breezes.
As a general rule of thumb, we can expect lower and high rainfall
peaks, alternating every four to five years. Let’s take one dry area,
Canberra, as an example. Canberra’s average annual rainfall is
around 630 mm. The lowest rainfall in recent years was 260 mm in
1982, and four years later, in 1986, there was another low overall
total of 500 mm, coincidentally the maximum declination year.
The second-lowest recorded rainfall total was 38 years earlier in
1944 when only 305 mm fell all year. 38 years is two 19-year Moon
cycles. As maximum declination periods pass by, the droughts ease
off. Droughts occur in the same place about every nine years. For
instance South Canterbury in New Zealand had a dry year in 1998,
before that, 1990, and before that, 1981/82. The next in that area is
due during the second half of 2006.
Many Australian farmers were disturbed by a report issued
by their government in 2005. Apparently the land was forever
droughting-up, with the rain-line shifting further north, and nearly
all of Australia would eventually become a fire risk.c According to
this report the States of Victoria and New South Wales were getting
hotter and drier while Tasmania was becoming warmer and wetter.
But it must be said that while it is true that 1996 to 2006 saw drier
conditions, lack of awareness of cycles governing weather leads to
such unhelpful scaremongering.

I 89
For instance in Cobar, a fairly dry place, where the yearly average
rain total over 60 years is about 360 mm, total rain amount for
year 2000 was a whopping 730 mm. How did that happen? If a
trend is a trend, surely there can’t be bothersome exceptions.
Taking Cobar as an example again, a 36-year cycle is revealing. The
eight years total between 1960 and 1967 shows 2534 mm, and 36
years later between 1996 and 2003 shows 2422 mm. Pretty close,
one has to admit. Moreover, look at these roughly 36-year-gap
approximate match-ups:
1960 (350 mm) and 1996 (234 mm)

1961 (367mm) and 1997 (329 mm)
1962 (625 mm) and 1998 (566 mm)
Going back further, the decades of data over 72 years (two 36-
year cycles) reveal:
1891 (689 mm) to 1901 (219 mm) = 3756 mm

1962 (625 mm) to 1972 (235 mm) = 3463 mm
So in all the cases above, rainfall in that location is getting slightly

less as the years progress. But suddenly a catch-up year like 2000
comes along. Cycles take legwork to uncover but they are there.
However, what is happening in Cobar is by no means the pattern
for all of Australia. Let’s look at a city. For Sydney, over the 146
years from 1858 to 2004 the average yearly total for rain was 1220
mm. For the first half, 73 years, the average total was 1200 mm. In
the second half, the 73 years between 1931 and 2004, the yearly
average was 1233 mm, so about 34 mm per year more rain, over
the second 73 years. 34 mm per year is not a lot, and many places
can get that in one day. But it is worth considering and asking why.
Perhaps a city growing in size will be gradually warming more, due
to asphalt and reflective glass, and warmer afternoons will suck
cooler offshore air from the sea than happened before, which would
be cloud-forming and rain-bearing. Yet there is variation within
this. In the 10 years between 1994 and 2004, 1995, 1998, 1999
and 2001 were all above-average rain years for Sydney. 1994, 1996,
1997, 2000 and 2002 were below average. In other words roughly

I 90 The Lunar Code
even. The danger is to jump to conclusions based on data that is not

very long term.
Geographically there will always be cold bits at the top and
bottom of the world and a hot part in the middle. The reason is the
higher atmosphere at the Equator, about 15 miles (24 km), and the
lower atmosphere at the poles, about 3 to 4 miles (5–6 km), because
Sun and Moon are on the ecliptic that straddles the Equator. The
cold of space comes down almost to ground level at the poles and
freezes everything in sight. The Equator will always be warmer than
the poles, whatever countries are at those positions. Australia is not
going anywhere, neither are the ocean, Sun, Moon or planets which
make up the big cycles. The only factor which will make a climate
change is for a latitude change to a location or a radical change in
Sun, Moon or planet motion.
Cars running around puffing exhausts won’t get a look in.
Anyone who claims the climate for a town is drying up must first
provide proof that the town in question has now relocated to a GPS
position further north or that the Equator has moved south. It is
too easy to spread fear, and this process seems to be part of a global
attempt to prove the land inefficient and unworkable and eventually
disenfranchise poor farmers, thus bringing land values down, which
suits some large corporates who are waiting in the wings with their
own take-over agendas. If one does not find a cycle, it does not
mean one is not there. Cyclone Monica brought tides that have
not been as high since times before white settlement, and only old
aborigine markers several hundred years old give any clue to the
long-forgotten cycle of past tide-heights.
Polar shift
There is something that will change a country’s latitude and there-
fore its climate. Polar shift is such a phenomenon. In his book Path
of The Poles (1958),d Charles Hapgood, friend and contemporary of
Albert Einstein, describes how polar shift forces countries to slowly
change latitude. The axis of rotation of earth relative to the sun is
always the same but the polar locations will change over time, af-
fecting changes in climate in other countries. During the last glacia-
tion in North America, the North Pole stood in Hudson Bay (at 60

I 91
deg N and Long 83 deg W), closer to California than it is now, the
Wisconsin Icecap. Snow covered most of Mexico. 25,000 years ago
the North Pole was over Ohio. The pole shifted to its present site in
the middle of the Arctic Ocean in a move that began 18,000 years
ago and was completed about 12,000 years ago.
According to radioactive dating, the pole came to Hudson Bay
50,000 years ago from the Greenland Sea and 30,000 years before
that it was north of Norway. While the North Pole was over North
America, South Africa was 10 degrees further south than it is
now and therefore cooler, and the South Pole seven times further
away from the head of the Ross Sea than now and close enough to
Tasmania that Western Australia was snow covered. Ross Sea was
not then glaciated and Antarctica possessed a climate much more
genial to that of England. Great fossil forests found in Antarctica
by geologists are the same type that grew on the Pacific coast of the
United States 20 million years ago.
During the Jurassic Period the floras of Antarctica, England, North
America and India had many plants in common. The deglaciation of
the Ross Sea is confirmed by an old map that has somehow survived
for many thousands of years, and is the subject of an entire book
called Maps of the Ancient Seakings(1966),e published in 1531 by
French geographer Oronce Fine. In 1531 Antarctica was unknown.
It was rediscovered in 1818 and not mapped until 1920. Yet the
ancient Oronteus Finaeus map shows a continent free of snow,
looking as it would have done in 4000BC. The map is in the Libary
of Congress.
Are glaciations cyclic? Many geologists seem to think so. Icecaps
retreat and advance and this may be tied to crust displacement
and volcanism which may be affected by astronomical events.
Displacements of the Earth’s crust at intervals of about 20,000–
50,000 years indicate a cycle, and J. Marvin Wellerf calculates cycles
of 75,000 and 250,000 years, and perhaps even 400,000 years.
Perigee and nutation

The poles wobble like a child’s spinning top. This is caused by gravity
of the Moon and Sun acting on the distorted and spinning Earth. It
is called nutation (nodding). The complex interactions between the

I 92 The Lunar Code
Earth, Sun and Moon produce a motion that is wobbly rather than
completely smooth. The chief cause of nutation is the Moon moving
in an orbit that is inclined (by 5 degrees) to the ecliptic. This lunar
nutation amounts to a back-and-forth jiggling of Earth’s poles every
18.6 years (the time it takes for the Moon’s orbit to walk around
to the same relative position again). The net result is that, instead
of describing a perfectly circular path in the sky, every 25,800 years
or so, due to precession, the path of the Earth’s axis is more like
the crinkly shape of a cookie cutter. There is therefore a connection
between precession and orbit cycles. Other planets as well have an
effect on the plane of Earth’s orbit, causing the vernal point to move
by 0.114 inches per year. The precession cycle was first noticed by
the Greek astronomer, Hipparcus, in the second century BC.
The nutation periodic oscillation of the Earth’s poles is related to
the perigee. 8.85 years is the length of time for F+P and N+P to come
around again, causing an extra cold or an extra mild winter, and a
hotter- or cooler-than-average summer. As already mentioned, it is
also the time the perigee cycle takes to complete, and because the
full precession cycle of the nodes is 18.6 years, it is the reason why
the two cycles get out of step with one another. The two cycles move
in opposite directions around the Moon’s orbit so a gap will be left
between a nodal crossing of the precession cycle after two complete
perigee cycles, if each cycle commences from a nodal crossing as a
common starting point.
For each successive 18.6-year cycle completed, the double perigee
cycle will be further away from the original starting point of the
nodal crossing. For this example the perigee cycle has been doubled
to compare it to a single precession cycle, but as the ‘oscillation’
is nearer nine years, then the single perigee cycle becomes more
relevant. In June of 1955 the crossings were near the solstice
positions, perigee occurred at the northern declination point, and
the perigee remained near or at the northern declination until about
August 1956.
Perigee on the move

Perigee slowly moves between hemispheres and can herald extreme
weather when about the Equator or at northern and southern

I 93
hemisphere peaks. Let us consider a sample city: Gisborne, North

Island, New Zealand, and begin in a year that perigee was around
the Equator and heading slowly northwards. From 1954 to1956 was
one of the wettest periods in Gisborne’s history. On 21 December
1954 (day of apogee) 94 mm of rain fell in a single day and on 23
March 1955, 105 mm fell.
23 March 1955 was a day of New Moon, a lunar equinox day
before north node and two days before perigee. Also, 1955 was
the year of the descending 23-degree midpoint in the declination
cycle. In January 1965 the crossings were past the solstice position,
while perigee had arrived at northern declination position. It was
to remain there until February 1966 before commencing to move
towards the Equator where perigee took place about November
1966. 1965 was another very high rainfall year for Gisborne, with
120 mm recorded on 11 February, the day of nodal crossing, one
day prior to northern declination, three days before perigee and less
than one month after the closest perigee for the year. Jumping a full
perigee cycle ahead, in September 1973, the nodes were crossing
at or near the solstice position and perigee began taking place at
northern declination, remaining there until about July 1974, before
moving towards the Equator and occurring about there from March
1975. 1974 was again a very wet year. 85 mm fell over two days of
27–28 September, when the Moon was at north node and later that
day crossed the Equator. Another cycle ahead and in January 1982
the crossings were approaching the solstice position and passed
that position by December 1983. The Moon was at perigee in the
northern declination position throughout this period. In Gisborne
on 9 April 1982, 101 mm of rain fell. The day was Full Moon, north
node and lunar equinox.
In each instance when the oscillations occurred, the Moon’s nodes
were at or near the solstice positions, but the Moon was also at
perigee at or near the northern declination point, which in itself
appears to be a significant factor in the true cause of the oscillations.
But it must be remembered that the inclination of the Moon’s orbit
was leaning in opposite directions in each period, which could
alter the weather patterns for each of the years involved in the
oscillations.
From about November 2002 the perigee occurred in the southern

I 94 The Lunar Code
hemisphere and until July 2005 it continued from time to time to

coincide with southern declinations. Rain varied depending on the
closeness of perigee and the season. About 200 mm of rain fell in
Gisborne in the week beginning 24 July 2005 following the lethal
combination on almost the same day of southern declination, second
closest perigee for the year and Full Moon.
Future perigee weather for Gisborne

The perigee does not finally leave the southern hemisphere until
March 2007. Entering the northern hemisphere it will reach a peak
whereby perigee and northern declination will first coincide in April
and May of 2009. After that, perigees and New Moon coincide
but drift slowly south. By around mid 2010 perigee sits around
the Equator as it prepares to change hemispheres, increasing the
potential at this time for tropical cyclones which form at or near the
Equator. Such a storm is likely south of the Equator around the end
of November or beginning of December 2010.
After March 2011 the perigeal moon is again firmly in the southern
hemisphere and, continuing to drift slowly south, coincides again
with southern declination in July 2012. On 23 June 2013, the
combination of closest perigee for that year plus Full Moon plus
southern declination will herald a week of stormy weather and
snow in the North Island of New Zealand. Mid July 2014 sees the
same weather repeated. By August 2014 the perigee will start to
drift northwards away from the southern declination and sit astride
the Equator around March 2015, and vicious late summer cyclonic
weather in Gisborne can be expected 17–23 March, around 10
June and in the second week in July of year 2015. By the winter of
2016 the perigee is past the Equator and heading north, although it
backtracks slightly toward the Equator in July of that year bringing
bad weather in the first week of August 2016. In the first week
of January 2018 the closest perigee for that year plus Full Moon
will coincide with northern declination, again causing cyclonic
conditions. The second-closest perigee that year coincides with New
Moon and northern declination on 13 July and another round of
gales, snow and mayhem will occupy the third week of that month.
By summer of 2018/19 perigee will leave the north and again be
level with the Equator by November 2019. It will pass that point
and again have entered the southern hemisphere by the following
summer.

I
95
Graph showing changes in the perigee from 1974 to 2020.
NOAA Satellite graph of temperatures versus closeness of perigee.
We can see that 2005 was not a close-perigee year. The last closest
was 2003 and the next will be 2006–07. Closer Moon distances are
in 1984, 1989, 1993, 1997, 2001–02, 2006–07, 2011, 2015 and
2020. Least threatening perigee years are 1986, 1990, 1995, 2000,
2004, 2008, 2012 and 2017.
Underlaying an indication of when the perigee changes
hemispheres, as shown by the bottom bar V ^ ^
V , we can see
how perigee-closeness varies with perigee latitude. Clearly closer
perigees coincide with times the perigee is changing hemispheres,

I 96 The Lunar Code
which would be somewhat expected, if only for the fact that the
equatorial latitudes stick out more into space, closer to the Moon.
Overlaying the NOAA satellite graph of temperatures reveals that
in the northern hemisphere there are larger swings in temperature
than is the case in the southern hemisphere. This is probably due to
the much larger proportion of land in the north relative to the oceans.
The oceans represent about 85 percent of the southern hemisphere
and are thus the dominating influence on the climate there, causing
a dampening of any large swings. They do this by absorption, rather
than reflection. Note particularly the sharp, but temporary, drop
in northern hemisphere temperature in 1992 subsequent to the
eruption of Mount Pinatubo and the equally sharp temporary rise
in 1998 during the big El Nino of that year.
It is interesting to note too that when the Moon enters the
southern hemisphere both hemispheres cool. When the Moon enters
the northern hemisphere, both hemispheres heat. This mirrors the
polarisation of night and day; of winter and summer of the solar
tides, and of south declination to north declination. It is a yin-yang
repeated so much to achieve nature’s balance. In the same way, the
Moon goes from IC (underfoot) to MH (overhead) and from New
Moon to Full Moon in space. It is simply the climatic pulse, relative
to all the other pulses. In 2002 we also had an El Nino, its main
impact this time being in the southern hemisphere. Such sharp swings
in global temperature in response to perturbations like El Nino
indicate that ‘thermal inertia’ — a theory often used to explain away
the lack of sufficient warming suggested by the models — amounts
to only a few months, not decades as claimed by the greenhouse
industry. A further problem for the greenhouse scenario here is the
long-term trend in both hemispheres. Greenhouse scientists blame
the lack of warming this century (compared with what the models
predict) on ‘sulphate aerosols’ from industrial emissions causing
greater reflection of sunlight, thus putting a cooling brake on the
predicted warming. However, if that were true, the cleaner air of the
southern hemisphere should allow a warming to take place there,
even if the northern hemisphere air (where most of the industrial
aerosols originate) is cooled relative to the southern hemisphere
due to such aerosols. Even the 1998 El Nino-induced warming was
more pronounced in the northern hemisphere than in the south, yet

I 97
the southern hemisphere is relatively free of cooling aerosols.
9 Perigee is not to be ignored and stands alongside declination

as a fundamental lunar consideration, more so than Full or New
Moon.
It seems that the latter two jostle to arrange themselves close to

perigees or apogees if ‘within earshot’. In the centuries-long history
of forecasting some observers, like Tycho Brahe, made perigee
their prime focus, whereas others, such as George Saxby, thought
declinations held more sway. Whereas apogees are the most regular
in terms of days apart, Full Moons and New Moons appear less so.
In my development of long-range forecasting I toyed for a time with
the idea of spanning my considered month from perigee to perigee,
assuming it would be more indicative. My thinking was that in the
solar calendar we go from perihelion to perihelion. My conclusion
was that the solar calendar was not set up with forecasting in mind
and so I opted for the old lunar month so widely used by the old
world cultures, which starts on the day of New Moon. Thousands of
years of lunar forecasting would indicate that, if there was a better
system, no doubt at least one old world culture would have found it
long ago. But almost all measure lunar month from New Moon to
the next New Moon.
Apogee
Apogee deserves some notes of its own. Where perigee is Moon-
closest, apogee is Moon-furthest-away about two weeks later.
Closest perigees are usually immediately followed half a month
later by furthest-away apogees. There are three times during the
average month when the Moon slows; apogee northern or southern
declination and the Full Moon. All three coinciding within three
days can mean a more stable weather pattern. One would expect
this in summer days, but in winter it occurred in New Zealand on
4–18 May 1990, 30 May–5 June 1990, and 24–28 July 1991.
The stillness of the atmosphere during apogee is interesting. From
an astrological point of view that would mean that the aspects the
Moon makes are taking longer to form and separate. Since the Moon

I 98
is a trigger, a slow build to action is important. Also, when apogee

occurs at the time of maximum declination, the Moon hovers longer
and with stronger presence, much as the longest day in summer
may be hotter than other days. A similar phenomenon is noted by
astrologers when a planet is stationary.
On apogee day, 27 October 2001, an earthquake hit New York
City. On 3 July 2002, a 30-minute hail storm struck Massey, West
Auckland, with some hail stones as large as golf balls. Apogee was
the previous day. And in the US, an almighty snowfall occurred on
apogee of 15 February 1959. Arguably the most talked-about date
in weather history was apogee (and Full Moon) day 26 December
2004 when a giant earthquake struck Sumatra and unleashed the
Asian tsunami killing an estimated 190,000 people.
At apogee, the Moon has a smaller amount of kinetic energy, or
energy of motion. It has more potential energy because its location is
far from the Earth. It is also equivalent to an extended lever out into
space and lever dynamics is about magnified forces. At perigee, the
Moon has a greater amount of kinetic energy and a lower amount
of potential energy. The Moon’s velocity in perigee is typically 14.5
degrees per day and in apogee about 12 degrees per day, averaging
13.2 degrees per day through the 27.3-day perigee month.
Apogee is curious, and behaves like perigee, bringing either
mayhem or complete calm. Apogee and perigee are akin to opposing
tent ropes to the north and to the south. If one rope is made much
tighter (perigee), the tent will be pulled over to that side. But if the
opposite rope is slackened (apogee), the tent will also be pulled to
the other side. You could say it gives energy (i.e. potential energy)
to the other rope.
In astrology, one planet is said to ‘give energy to’ another. It is
likely that apogee gives energy to other current aspects of the Moon
or to all other planets in positive aspects to it.
Apogee 26–27 November 1703

Violent gale swept across UK, France, Benelux, Denmark and Sweden.
Apogee 8 September 1900
Galveston, USA
This was the US’s greatest hurricane disaster. The huge storm-surge swept in from
the Gulf of Mexico.

I 99
Apogee 10 July 1913

Death Valley, California
The US’s highest temperature recorded at 56.7ºC.
Apogee 27 June 1915
Fort Yukon, Alaska
Record temperature of 38ºC.
Apogee 6 July 1928
Warsaw, Poland
A rare tornado tore through the city.
a See Appendix 3.
b In particular, I was expecting a dolphin stranding, and as perverse luck would
have it dolphins did strand that day, but about 500 miles away on Tasmania.
c www.cmar.csiro.au/e-print/open/hennessykj_2005b.pdf.
d Hapgood, Charles H. (1958) The Path of the Poles. Illinois: Adventures
Unlimited Press.
e Hapgood, Charles H. (1966) Maps of the Ancient Seakings. Illinois:
Adventures Unlimited Press.
f Weller, J. Marvin (February/March 1930) Cyclical Sedimentation of the
Pennsylvanian Period and its Significance. Journal of Geology, v.XXXVIII,
No. 2.

6
The Role of the Planets 9
They say it is observed in the low countries that every five and
thirty years, the same kind and sute of years and weathers
comes about again; as great frosts, great wet, great droughts,
warm summers, summers and little heat, and the like; and
they call it the prime: it is a thing I do rather mention because,
computing backwards, I have found some concurrence.
Bacon’s essays, No. LVII, Of Vicissitudes of Things

I 102 The Lunar Code
T he Sun is affected by the planets of our solar system. In turn the

Moon is affected by the Sun. Finally the weather is affected by
the Moon. Sunspots indicate the cycles on the Sun, which in turn
affect weather on Earth. But what causes sunspots?
When the Earth formed there must have been large fluxes of
gravitational, tidal, and magnetic forces that required the formation
of the two-body Earth/Moon system. The Moon ended up with
particular resultant orbital dynamics needed to maintain stability.
There are field lines from the Sun to every particle that remains
inside the ionic sphere of its domain. When the solar nebula
was uncluttered with planets, the fields were evenly distributed.
Richard Holle has shown there are magnetic couplings between
the Sun and the planets, representative of their size and magnetic
content. When planets come into alignment around the Sun their
magnetic fields couple through each other, producing a momentary
peak in field strength at these conjunctions, which pulls out loops
of magnetic fields from inside the Sun. Solar prominences of
particles form as they follow the field lines, which we call sunspots.
The timing duration, and intensity of these pulses depends
upon which and how many planets are having a
conjunction, and how close together the alignment is at the peak of
coupling.a
In 1939 a Norwegian astronomer, K.G. Meldahl, suggested
that sunspots are started by external forces, namely the planets.b
Although sunspots were discovered by European scientists in 1611,
sunspot records are now known in Chinese literature at least back
to 28 BC. The Incas, too, knew about the blemishes on the face of
Inti, their Sun-god.
Typically, sunspots are the size of the Earth and frequently appear
in groups or solar active regions. The sunspots start near the Sun’s
poles and gradually move on to the equatorial regions where they
diminish about two weeks later. The number of sunspots on the
Sun’s surface rises and falls between a maximum and a minimum
over an 11-year cycle. When the cycle recommences in about 11
years’ time the magnetic charge appears to change polarity, so the
sunspots will be charged negatively or positively alternately for each
successive cycle. Thus although the cycle is said to be 11 years, it is
more often nine to 15 years and sometimes longer.

The Role of the Planets
I
103
Solar maximum
Whenever the two largest gas planets, Jupiter and Saturn, form a
conjunction around the Sun, the amount of coupling is high enough
to cause large solar storms, and when the Earth is in the line of fire,
it inducts huge magnetic storms into the atmosphere. The Moon
is magnetically and gravitationally locked to the Earth, and the
extension of fields between the Earth and Moon produces a bulge
that rotates with the Moon. At solar maximum there may be as
many as 200 spots on the Sun’s surface whereas at solar minimum
there may be none at all. The next sunspot maximum is predicted to
take place in 2012. Periods of low solar activity are characterised by
relative calm, stability and economic growth (for example, the early
1960s, 1975–79, 1984–89, or 1994–98). Since 1950, sunspot peak
and recession periods have been 1957/58 (also 1960), 1969/70, 1980
(also 1981/82), 1990/91 and 2000/2001). There have been other
periods of low or no sunspot activity, and these periods have all been
connected to long spells of cooler global temperatures, although it
must be said that the indicator has in the past been glacier advance
or retreat and it is now known that while some are in retreat others
are advancing. Early records of sunspots indicate that the Sun went
through a period of inactivity in the late seventeenth century. Very
few sunspots were seen on the Sun from about 1645 to 1715 and
a ‘mini Ice Age’ resulted, during which rivers that are normally ice-
free froze and snow fields remained year-round at lower altitudes.
Sunspot numbers from 1985 to 2005.

Source: www.angelfire.com/or/truthfinder/index21.html.

When sunspots do hit maximums, for instance around 2000/2001,

astronomers and meteorologists currently believe they can cause
droughts. The sunspots are associated with strong electrically
charged solar winds which some think act on the Earth’s magnetic
field which, in turn, may bring increased depressions to high
latitudes.
The average sunspot cycle of about 11 years almost coincides
with the planet Jupiter’s orbit around the sun, which takes 11.86
years. As Jupiter and Saturn are gas giants it is reasonably likely
that both have the greatest influence on sunspots; especially Jupiter,
as Saturn is mostly gas and little mass. There are indeed seven other
planets orbiting the sun but they are far smaller than the two gas
giants. Saturn is still the second-largest planet orbiting the sun by
a considerable amount. Saturn takes 29.46 years to orbit the sun,
which means Jupiter orbits the sun 2.5 times to one orbit of Saturn.
In the one orbit of Jupiter, Saturn will have advanced about 158
degrees along its own orbit. To overtake the 158 degrees Saturn has
moved forward will take Jupiter, in its next orbit, another six years.
The important point is that the total time it will take Jupiter to
Sunspot numbers.

I 105
catch up to Saturn, assuming each was in the same starting position

in relation to the other at first, would be about 18 years, which is
more than the time taken for one orbit of Jupiter. eighteen years is
too long to equate to the sunspot cycle, but nine years is closer, and
is the half orbit between Jupiter and Saturn. The time it takes Saturn
to lap Neptune is about 36 years.
9 The Sun has nine planets and many thousands (perhaps

millions) of lesser bodies orbiting around it. The Sun determines
seasons on the Earth and the Moon generates tides that affect
weather systems. The Sun, too, has tides.
It was even noticed by ancient humans that the planets have

potential effects on the Earth’s weather. At times of the year when the
Earth comes into alignment with other planets, there are magnetic
flux changes, which are felt as changes in the global weather patterns.
It is incorrect to say that the combined gravitational effects of the
planets are too small to have any effect on the Sun.
Professor Karl D. Wood of the University of Colorado has studied
the effects of the nearer planets on the Sun and found that when
Earth, Venus and Jupiter are in conjunction or opposition they can
raise tides on the Sun up to 50 percent greater than the largest tide
raised by Jupiter alone. As to how high such planetary tides could
be, astronomer Ernst Opik has calculated a tidal flow on the Sun
with a velocity of 93 km/sec, compared with 300 km/sec for lunar
tides on Earth. This is not at all negligible, especially as the Sun has
27.6 times the gravity acceleration of Earth.
In this calculation the outer planets have not even been considered.
It is hard to imagine how an object as far away as Uranus, let alone
Neptune or Pluto, can possibly have an effect at all. Yet this, too,
seems to be a mistake. It can’t be repetitive coincidence that Uranus
and Neptune square each other at observed times of solar maximum
and are in either conjunction or opposition at solar minimums.
Conjunctions of other planets around the Sun also affect the Earth’s
global circuit to some degree, depending on the planets’ sizes and
angular proximity to the Earth. As the solar and lunar declination
come into synch at 23.5 degrees, their primary and secondary
declinational tidal bulges can enhance each other.

Barycentre
A barycentre is a common point of pivot of two encircling bodies.
Two pirouetting dancers holding hands will spin around an invisible
axis, the central point of which is closer to whoever is the heavier
dancer. Consider the centre of mass of a system of bodies, such as
the solar system. When a comet, for example, is well outside the
orbit of Neptune (the farthest major planet), it sees the Sun and
major planets essentially as a single object of summed mass, and the
centre of this mass (called SSB, the barycentre of the solar system)
is offset somewhat from the Sun. It is the Earth/Moon barycentre,
not the centre of mass of the Earth alone that carves out the smooth
elliptical orbit of the Earth/Moon system on the ecliptic plane.
Around this, the centre of mass of the Earth follows a spiralling
path, as the Moon’s declinational and rotational movement gets
levered accordingly. With the spiralling of the centre of mass of the
Earth above and below the ecliptic plane, the Moon’s declination
goes from 18.5 degrees to a maximum of 28.5 degrees in the 18.6-
year cycle, displacing the centre of mass of the Earth 800 km to
1400 km either side of the ecliptic plane. Thus with Earth 81 times
Earth/Moon barycentre.

I 107
the mass of the Moon, the barycentre of the Earth-Moon system

lies inside the Earth approximately 1000 miles (1700 km) beneath
the Earth’s surface, on the side towards the Moon, and along a line
connecting the individual centres of mass of Earth and Moon.
However, at local points on, above or within the Earth these two
forces of mutual planetary attraction are not in equilibrium, and
oceanic, atmospheric and Earth tides are the result. If you look
at the Earth and Moon in isolation, the two revolve around the
barycentre but if you plot their movement around the Sun, the two
paths gently weave across each other to produce a ‘braided’ pattern.
Imagine two speed-skaters taking turns to overtake each other on
the outside, roughly 12 times each per lap of the stadium.
The SSB is the imaginary centre of gravity of the combined orbits
of the planets. The distance between the Sun’s centre and the SSB
varies from near zero to over two solar radii — which is definitely
not an insignificant, thus ignorable, gravitational effect of the
planets — all bodies in the solar system contribute to the SSB, so
the barycentre is thus the true centre of our solar system, rather
than the Sun itself. An interesting facet of this is that the powerful
gravitational pull of the Sun effectively splits the solar system into
two groups of planets, with the smaller, faster-moving inner planets
— Mercury, Venus, Earth-Moon and Mars — all orbiting the Sun
which takes them along for the ride in its orbit around SSB, while
the giant, slower-moving outer planets are all directly orbiting the
SSB.
The plane of the ecliptic.
The high amplitude cycles involved are as short as nine years,

which can see great changes occurring. In a 120-year time span,
the maximum deviation from the solar centre is 1,459,358 km,
or about one percent of the mean distance from the Earth to the
SSB. Depending on the direction of this SSB offset, in relation to

the direction of the Earth, and the phase of the cycle of the transfer
of energy (angular momentum) back and forth between the Sun
and the planets via the SSB, which at times causes greatly increased
solar activity on the side of the Sun opposite the direction of the
SSB, so the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth due to
this effect, when averaged over time may vary significantly, with
the Earth being less exposed to the heating effects of the sudden
outbursts of radiation and charged particles, such as solar flares and
CMEs (Coronal Mass Ejections) during some periods of increased
solar activity, whilst being more exposed at other times, which has
profound implications for mean global temperatures. But what is
particularly interesting is that the SSB has travelled through the solar
body eight times in a 120-year period covered, giving an average
perihelion passage periodicity of about 14.4 years. Late in 1989 and
over most of 1990 the SSB was actually moving retrograde. Also
of interest is the current cycle beginning 12 July 2003 and ending
2 April 2010, where the SSB is very close to the surface of the Sun
throughout the full cycle.
This current solar period (actually beginning late 2002 as the SSB
approached the surface of the Sun, and ending late 2010 or early
2011 as the Sun moves further in from the surface) has so far been
one of the most active on record, in terms of frequency and intensity
of solar flares, even though we are supposedly near a solar minimum.
It corresponds to a period of record-breaking weather extremes and
increased seismic activity expected to continue until beyond 2010.
Whenever the SSB enters or leaves the Sun, or hovers near the solar
surface as it is currently doing, it disrupts the normally more or less
smooth rotation of the Sun, causing great gravitational stresses to be
transmitted through the solar body, which in turn causes a marked
increase in solar flare activity on the opposite side of the Sun to the
SSB, and an increase in total solar radiation. Other times that have
marked solar activity effects are changes of polarity from towards
to away from the centre of the Sun and vice versa.
This has all been well documented.
A hotter Sun means a hotter Earth, and increased solar storm
activity means the likelihood of severe weather on Earth is increased
for a period of time after each big outburst. An alignment of the
inner planets to the major planets on the other side of the solar

I 109
Distance of solar system barycentre from the centre of the Sun.

Source: www.qldnet.com.au/~carls/ephemerides/SSB-Sun-distance.gif: derived
using NASA-JPL Horizons data.
system (heliocentrically) can cause a tidal bulge on Earth that can

result in a barometric low.
9 Relative to the Sun, the positions of the planets have a

significant effect on the Earth’s climate and weather.
These relationships are well worth meteorological research —

in light of the current human-induced global warming hysteria
sweeping the globe. Solar-planetary climate effects should be
allowed for.
It is the combined effect of many interactions over thousands
of years that causes the Earth’s orbit procession and the Sun’s
procession about the SSB. We are not dealing with Earth’s orbital
precession, as that is a completely different issue. What we are
looking at is significant perturbations of the Sun around the SSB,
which is the sum of radial gravitational vector components of every
planet occurring in real time. The result is an overall cycle.
The biggest contribution is from Jupiter (11.86 years), with large
amplitude contributions from Saturn (29.42 years), Uranus (83.75
years), and Neptune (163.72 years), although all the planets make

a contribution. These are not millennia scale cycles. The Earth’s

orbit is not circular, but elliptical. Maximum distance to the Sun
is 152,104,980 km, and minimum 147,085,800 km.d The Sun
deviates by 2 solar radii from the SSB, which equals 696000 *2 =
1.4 million km. Compared to the yearly variation in distance of the
Earth’s own orbit — about 5 million km — it is not insignificant.
The Sun is slightly closer at one time of year (perihelion) but further
away at another. If perihelion is a consideration in seasonal weather,
and if perihelial shift is not discounted in consideration of potential
climate change, then the vagaries of SSB must also be capable of
considerable influence.
The proportionality of this influence is a function of the relative
size of the planets of the solar system. Both Jupiter and Saturn, the
biggest planets, are together on the same side of the sun, and again
when they are 180 degrees apart every 18 years, and these two taken
together are the main catalyst for the beat of the SSB crossing the
centre of the sun.
Inigo Jones, a well-known long-range weather forecaster in
Australia, through the Longrange Weather Forecasting Trust, issued
a booklet around 1949 covering droughts based on astrological
predictions of planetary movement, covering the period from about
1949–2008. In his booklet he pointed out that Jupiter and Saturn, in
combination, were the cause of a cycle of 35 or 36 years. He goes on
to describe a main cycle of 71.172 years, or 71 years and two months,
derived from six revolutions of Jupiter. This, he claims, consists of
two alternating cycles of 35 and 36 years, meaning the weather of
1950 would be a repeat of the weather of 1915. The single Bruckner
Cycle, named after Anton Bruckner who first identified it in 1890, is
35.586 years in length.d Consequently Inigo Jones’ prediction was
for a Jupiter/Saturn moderate drought in Australia over 2007/08,
which would be a repeat of the severe drought that affected eastern
Australia during1972/73.
Putting things a little more simply, it appears that the average
frequency by which the SSB crosses the Sun is close to 36 years. In
other words, solar activity increases in frequency each thirty-sixth
year when calculated as a long term average. That gives smaller
maximums every 18 years as well. And yet we find that 36 is the
multiple common to all Moon factors.

I 111
9 Large scale events occur every 36 years in the same place, declinations
occur close to each 18 years, perigees close to nine years between
hemispheres, extreme weather events each nine years at the same place,
ocean temperatures fluctuate each 4.5 years, tides are about every 18
years, etc. So could it be that the Moon is linked to the Sun?
Moon–Sun connection
To put it simply, the planets go around the Sun, averaging 36 years as
their orbit centre. This causes, every 36 years, the Sun to throw out
increased solar energy, electromagnetism or whatever, constituting a
cycle. The Moon is bouncing 5 degrees above and below the ecliptic.
Being pegged to the ecliptic, the Moon is therefore in orbit around
the Sun rather than the Earth. It is also moving towards the Sun at a
rate of 3.8 cm per year and, as such, can be considered to ‘belong’ to
the Sun. Focused therefore on the Sun, the Moon is sensitive to solar
cycles and so is tuned to 36-year beats, which get reflected back
to Earth in all lunar orbits — much as one’s immediate family has
more influence than one’s friends. Being the nearest celestial body
to Earth, the Moon has the greatest effects on its atmosphere and
weather, which it delivers in lots of and parts of 36. Moon orbits are
ultimately responsive to sunspot cycles.
The next question is, do lunar cycles match sunspot cycles, and
lunar orbit graphs find commonality with sunspot numbers?
See table on p. 112.

Major Australian Effect

drought years
1864–1866 All States affected except Tasmania.
1880–1886 Southern and eastern States affected.
1895–1903 Sheep numbers halved and more than 40
percent loss of cattle. Most devastating
drought in terms of stock losses.
1911–1916 Loss of 19 million sheep and 2 million
cattle.
1918–1920 Only parts of Western Australia free from drought.
1939–1945 Loss of nearly 30 million sheep between

1942 and 1945.
1963–1968 Widespread drought. Also longest drought
in arid central Australia.
1958–1967 The last two years saw a 40 percent drop in wheat harvest,
a loss of 20 million sheep, and a decrease in farm income
of $300–500 million.
1972–1973 Mainly in eastern Australia.
1982–1983 Total loss estimated in excess of $3000 million. Most
intense drought in terms of vast areas affected.
1991–1995 Average production by rural industries fell about 10
percent, resulting in possible $5 billion cost to the
Australian economy; $590 million drought relief provided
by the Commonwealth Government between September
1992 and December 1995.
The effect of drought years on Australian geography, economy and agriculture.

I
113
At this point let us revisit declination. Taking maximum

declinations as a reference point, it is clear they repeat about twice
in 36 years.
Moon declinations.
Maximum declination years have been 2006, 1986, 1969 and

1950. Weather patterns often repeat on such declination years. The
New Zealand cold winter of 2006 was a repeat of cold winters last
seen in 1986 and 1969. In fact 1969 was called the coldest winter
for 20 years. Perhaps they meant 18–19 years.
Storms on Earth in relation to the Moon’s declination.

Returning to El Nino
We can now revisit El Nino and see where the phenomenon fits
motions of the Sun and Moon. How does El Nino coincide with
sunspot cycles?
9 The overall pattern is that El Ninos can occur just after sunspot
minimums and around maximum, midpoint and minimum declinations.
Coincidence of El Nino with sunspot cycles.

I 115
Relation of storms on Earth to the Moon’s declination and occurance of El Nino.

El Nino years can be shown to occur regularly around maximum and minimum
declination years.
Relation of solar sunspots to El Nino years.

El Nino Years Declination Closest To

1902–1903 Minimum
1905–1906 Minimum
1911–1912 Maximum
1914–1915 Maximum
1918–1919 Midpoint
1923–1924 Minimum
1930–1931 Maximum
1932–1933 Maximum
1939–1940 Minimum
1941–1842 Minimum
1951–1952 Maximum
1957–1958 Minimum
1969–1970 Maximum
1976–1977 Minimum
1986–1987 Maximum
1997–1998 Minimum
El Nino years and the Moon’s declination.

I 117
Minimum Midpoint Maximum Midpoint

18 deg 09 23 deg 27 28 deg 45 23 deg 27
18/3/1811 15/4/1815 21/3/1820 26/3/1825
20/9/1829 30/11/1833 26/9/1838 10/11/1843
27/3/1848 25/8/1852 26/9/1857 5/8/1862
30/9/1866 15/3/1871 18/3/1876 22/2/1881
16/9/1885 16/10/1889 22/9/1894 25/9/1899
24/3/1904 5/5/1908 28/3/1913 15/4/1918
27/9/1922 12/2/1997 15/3/1932 23/1/1937
20/3/1941 16/9/1945 19/9/1950 26/8/1955
24/9/1959 4/4/1964 25/3/1969 15/3/1974
24/9/1978 5/11/1982 29/9/1987 1/10/1992
16/3/1997 1/8/2001 22/3/2006 6/5/2011
21/9/2015 5/3/2020 22/3/2025 12/2/2030
Table of declination years.
The three previous maximum declination years have been 1986,

1969 and 1950. Overlaying sunspot maximums shows that sunspot
maximums do tend to coincide with maximum declination years of
1876, 1894, 1913, 1932, 1950 and 1969.
More storms occur around declinations of 28 degrees, with a
smaller peak at 19 degrees.
More storms at 19 and 28 degree maximum declination.

The planet-Sun-Moon connection should not

surprise
The SSB is not a new idea but has remained lesser known, perhaps
lest astrology be given any credence and planets be considered
capable of exerting significant influence on the Sun or life in general.
For the past 2000 years much has been brought against astrologers,
labelling them false prophets, shamans and medicine men, for daring
to suggest that extraterrestrial forces may somehow impact on our
earthly existence. The threat to religion is that if the Moon and Sun
are in any positions of control, then people would spend their time
Moon and planet watching rather than in church.
That the movements of Moon, planets and the Sun might work
together is more than logical. From a vantage platform outside the
cosmos their mutual proximity, given the vastness of space, would
immediately suggest some sort of familial influence. All the celestial
bodies are part of a giant interactive clock-type mechanism, and if
they could be put on celestial gear-wheels with cogs at their interface,
these would intermesh. Their orbits are describable using earthly
mathematics and they are regular. Astronomers are able to construct
working planetaria and computer programs which describe their
motion. So the claim by some meteorologists and climatologists that
only the Sun has a small effect on the weather, and the rest is random
or chaos, is unhelpful and misleading. Whilst it might allow a good
god to keep his job, nevertheless it shuts out the real perspective.
Meteorology textbooks talk about the ‘atmospheric heat engine’
in which the Sun at the Equator heats air which rises, drawing in
cooler air at the poles and thus creating the winds of the world. But
old cultures have long employed the patterns of either planets or
Moon or both, such was the focus of the village priest/astronomer.
Whether Sun, planets or Moon, each must lead eventually to the
same grand cycles. To witness the Sun’s patterns needs specialised
safety equipment to protect the eyes. Monitoring the planets depends
on cloudless skies and recognition skills. As well, half the night sky
is always hidden from the viewer who must rely on memory to keep
track of what is beneath the horizon. Watching the Moon is easier
and more recognisable, being the closest, and it also experiences the
quickest of daily changes. Its ease of recognition must have been
why ancient cultures chose it as their yardstick. There are only three

I 119
nights in the month when the Moon is not visible above latitudes
that most of the world’s people inhabit.
Sun, Moon and business

Assuming that a case for a unified weather/climate can be established,
the next thing to ponder is how to capitalise in a market economy.
If GDP is dependent on agriculture, agriculture is dependent on
weather, and weather is dependent on Sun and Moon, then noting
cycles of these should be a useful start in forward business planning.
It can be easily demonstrated that sunspots, lunar declination and El
Ninos do match cycles in the world of economics.
Sunspot numbers.
Graphs showing Commodity Price Index and sunspot numbers. The arrows
indicate El Ninos.

Graphs showing the relationship between declination and Commodity Price Index.
Arrows indicate maximum and minimum declinations. Courtesy of Westpac Bank.

I 121
The exchange rate may also be pinned to El Ninos.
Graphs showing the relationship between dollar value and sunspots. New Zealand
dollar value courtesy of Westpac Bank. Arrows indicate El Ninos.
Without expertise in economics, if making an important decision

it would be unwise to trust what is seen here without checking
back to previous years. One always seeks a second doctor’s
opinion. The correlation is there, though, and it would be equally
unwise to brush it off as coincidental. Climatologists have tended
to put all eggs in just the El Nino basket. When a true match has
failed some have thrown out everything and declared that only
chaos rules. In addition, sunspots do not occur day in and day out
to a perfectly exact rhythm. They can be frequent and regular
for long periods and sometimes absent for long periods, as they
were when spanning the years that contained the 1666 Great Fire
of London.

Solar minimums and the Titanic

The Titanic tragically went down on 15 April 1912. This was a year
prior to a maximum declination year, in the part of the month two
days before the midpoint of perigee and apogee, two days before
New Moon, and two days before the Moon crossed the Equator
heading north. Being almost at a maximum declination, we can
expect icebergs further south and a colder winter. As the Moon
was coming up from a more southerly Moon than normal, bringing
warm air, we can expect pack ice to have begun melting and,
therefore, there to be more floating ice around shipping channels.
The iceberg was what you would call a black berg, or a blue berg.
This is an iceberg where the centre of gravity, because of melting,
has shifted and has slowly turned turtle in the water, so that now
there is clear ice above the water: not the white snowy thing you
would imagine polar bears romping around on. Clearly warmer air
from a northbound warm southern moon contributed to this. That
night, nearly New Moon, the sea would have been virtually invisible
because it was a pitch black night with no light from the sky. It
was a year of minimum sunspot activity, virtually an El Nino year,
although El Ninos weren’t named then. It was the midway point of
perigee and apogee and the water was incredibly smooth, making
it difficult to see icebergs ahead because of the lack of white caps at
the base of the icebergs.
An interesting article from the Weather (Royal Meteorological
Society) magazine, entitled ‘The Titanic disaster — a Meteorologist’s
Perspective’, notes that low mean sunspot activity and the lower
than normal sea temperature linked with unusual southern iceberg
sightings. There was excessive sea-icing in years 1903–05. Extreme
southern iceberg drifts occurred in 1907, 1912, 1921 and 1935. The
three years when more than 1000 icebergs were counted crossing 48
degrees N in the North Atlantic were 1909 (1042), 1912 (1032) and
1929 (1350). The dates of all these ice events came within the low
mean sunspot regime which started around 1880. Comparably, on
a larger scale, the Little Ice Age around the 1690s coincided with a
record period of almost no sunspots, emphasising both the ice link
with, and the ice hazard inherent in, a low mean sunspot regime.
As solar cycles go, the Titanic picked a hazardous sailing period
and an iceberg minefield to try and cross. As the Moon goes, it

was guaranteed to be a particularly black and a warmer night, both
factors that cause icebergs to become less visible.
9 The southern hemisphere winter of 2006 is in the year of solar

minimum (cooler temperatures exacerbated by a maximum declination
year).
a Richard Holle, www.aerology.com

b Meldahl, K.G. (1938) Tidal Forces in the Sun’s Corona Due To Planets,
Copenhagen: Berlingske Forlag.
c From: www.noblemind.com/search.exe?keyword=Earth+Distance+from+Sun+
Minimum<www.noblemind.com/search.exe?keyword=Earth+Distance+from+
Sun+Mi imum&var=1> &var=1.
d www.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2000sctc.proc.517R.

7
Earthquakes 9
The only time you’re standing still is during an earthquake.
Unknown origin

W atching where the eyes of lows form on synoptic weather charts

often gives a guide to where eruptions and volcanoes might
strike. In 2006, cyclone twins Larry and Wati correlated with two
5+ magnitude shakes nearby (5.6 in Tonga on 17 March and 5.8
in Vanuatu on 19 March), and an eruption in Raoul Island (on 18
March). Most active faults can be found at plate boundaries, where
the pressure from moving plates causes ruptures in the brittle rock.
About 95 percent of recorded earthquakes occur at plate boundaries.
Of these, 80 percent occur along the boundaries of the Pacific plate,
along the ‘Ring of Fire’. Only 15 percent occur along the boundaries
of the Eurasian and Indo-Australian plates, and 5 percent occur
either at spreading centres or are ‘intraplate’ (due to compressional
forces on plates as they move along a curved surface).
When do earthquakes occur?

The Sun seems to have at least some influence on the timing of
earthquakes. Strong earthquakes take place when the Earth crosses
the central meridian of the Sun. There appears to be a 22-year
solar cycle in San Andreas Fault earthquakes, and an 11-year solar
cycle in large earthquakes in southern California.a A maximum in
earthquakes in some regions can occur shortly after very low sunspot
activity.
Moscow researchers studied the catalogue of earthquakes from
1964 to 1992. They found that most severe earthquakes in the
region of the Pacific seismic ring started at the days of New Moon or
Full Moon, or a couple of days earlier or later.b Because the Moon
orbits the Earth in about a month and goes from apogee to perigee
every two weeks, every 14 days we see a change in gravitational
effects from the Moon more than 10 times greater than all the other
planets combined. For instance the average person weighs an extra
half a gram (0.0009 pounds) when the Moon is under their feet than
when it is on the horizon. When the Sun, Earth and the Moon all
lie along a straight line, as at New and Full Moon, the Sun’s and the
Moon’s tidal forces pull in the same direction and cause high tides
to be higher than average, and low tides to be lower than average.
Parts of continents may rise and fall as much as 0.40 m (16 inches)
when the Moon passes overhead.

Earthquakes
I 127
The alignment of the solar system on the day of the Asian tsunami, 26 December
2004.
So while the Moon has a greater influence on tidal forces, the time
around 0059 a.m. GMT on 26 December 2004, the day of the Asian
tsunami, the Sun also had a higher percentage tidal influence than
under normal circumstances. This tug of war on our tides between
the Sun and the Moon was stronger between the two at this point and
may have contributed to the extra stress to trigger the large quake.
But not only were the Sun and Moon in line on that day. Other
planets were also aligned, in fact some of our celestial neighbours
were arguably close to being in a straight line, resembling a tug-of-
war with Earth at the receiving end. Earthquakes also occur when
the Moon is either at declination or crossing the Equator, within one
or two days. Look at any earthquake-information-gathering station
and you may find that around these dates the numbers of quakes
rise steeply and then drop off afterwards as the Moon moves out of
those declination zones.
There can be surges of activity coming just after maximum
northern declination for up to four days, then just after maximum
southern declination for three days, globally. Quakes produced
on compressive north/south-oriented faults tend to occur around

maximum declination in the other hemisphere, with rifting areas/

expansive faults in the same hemisphere. East/west-oriented faults,
e.g. in Turkey, tend to concentrate around the Equator crossings.c
The effects are generally cumulative, with two or more significant
Moon factors going on at the time.
In an analysis using the astrological program ‘Jigsaw’, of 2581
earthquakes analysed, the most common factor for earthquakes
amongst planets was Venus in the first House (coming up to
rise).d Isolating quakes that were at latitudes between 50 degrees
N and 60 degrees N, (6.9 percent, numbering 178), of those, 18.5
percent occurred with the Moon in the twelfth House, just after
moonrise, and 11.8 percent had the Moon in the first House, which
implicates moonrise time for 30.3 percent of all the quakes at
extreme northern latitudes. Taking a wider sweep and isolating all
the quakes from 40 degrees N to 60 degrees N, we have the Sun in
the 12th (sunrise) 20 percent of the time for the 434 earthquakes
in that ‘band’. This concurs with many other observations that
earthquakes, including the Asian tsunami, take place around dawn,
late afternoon and midnight.
So is perigee or apogee more powerful? Normally at perigee the
Moon is about 363,000 km away, and at apogee, about 405,000 km
away. According to tsinoy.come major earthquakes with magnitude
above 7.0 mostly happen near apogee at above 406,000 km and on
perigee, or closest approach, only a few manage to go above 7.0.
Another researcher has found that after studying 1000 quakes, there
were 84 earthquakes at apogee and only five at perigee.f I would
suggest Full and New Moons coupling with either perigee or apogee
would give good tally figures, more so for the southern hemisphere
when Moon is in southern declination, and northern hemisphere
for northern declination. Perihelion would add to that again.
Between 1969 and 1972, Apollo astronauts placed seismometers
at their landing sites around the Moon. The Apollo 12, 14, 15
and 16 instruments faithfully sent data back to Earth until they
were switched off in 1977. The results are an even weighting of
moonquake clusters when the Moon was at apogee and 14 days
later when the moon was at perigee.g
There is also the effect of the barycentre between the Earth and
the Moon. When the Moon is in perigee, the barycentre is closer to

Earthquakes
I 129
the centre of the Earth and thus farther from the Earth’s surface than
normal. And when the Moon is at apogee, the barycentre would
be closer to the Earth’s surface than average. Apogee is implicated
when there seem to be more earthquakes when the barycentre is
closer to the Earth’s surface than when it is farther from the Earth’s
surface. Even if a more extensive analysis indicates that the results
are no better than chance, the idea that the barycentre might have
some connection suggests doing another analysis to see where
the Moon was in relation to the locations of earthquakes (i.e.,
overhead, underfoot, rising in the east, setting in the west, etc.)
or, more properly, what were the geocentric angles between the
barycentre and the earthquakes’ epicentres? The shallowness of the
26 December Asian tsunami earthquake does corroborate this, with
apogee on 28 December being at 406,487 km away, the second-
furthest-away apogee for the year.
Crossing of magnetic fields

L.Kh. Shatashvili, D.I. Sikharulidze, and N.G. Khazaradze
demonstrated an electrical component that may or may not be
associated with gravitational pull.h They showed that, of all
cosmophysical phenomena associated with large destructive
earthquakes, the crossing of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF)
neutral sheet by the Earth plays an important role as a triggering
mechanism in providing the conditions for earthquakes and in
occurrence of the earthquakes with a magnitude 6.0. To that may
be added the crossing of the Earth’s magnetic field by the changing
Moon moving between hemispheres. The effect on the Earth’s
magnetosphere possibly propagates through its surface to reach
the upper layers of the atmosphere and interact with it. We can
reasonably suppose that the crossing of the IMF neutral sheet by the
Earth — that is, when there is a drastic change in the IMF direction
— would significantly affect the stability of the Earth’s magnetic
field. It is quite probable that tectonic plate displacements may take
place. Shatashvili et al. found that in nearly 75 percent of cases,
large destructive earthquakes occurred a day before the crossing
of the IMF neutral sheet by the Earth or on the day of crossing.
Moreover, large destructive earthquakes correlating with crossings

of the IMF neutral sheet by the Earth show a tendency to have 11-
year periodic cycles.
Of the approximately 70,000 earthquakes of magnitude 1–8+
per year, lunar researcher Anthony Cross of the Manchester
Astronomical Society calculated this frequency.i
Description Magnitude Average annually

Great >8 1
Major 7–7.9 18
Strong 6–6.9 120
Moderate 5–5.9 800
Light 4–4.9 6200 (estimated)
Minor 3–3.9 49,000 (estimated)
Very minor <3 9000 per day
In his study, the New Moon was the most potent. What makes it
confusing is that it seems whichever researcher is doing the study
produces a different result. Of them all, Shatashvili’s identifying
lunar equinox (Moon crossing Equator) fits in with the first described
(Moon rising). These two are midway positions, almost overlooked
in the discussion of perigee or apogee. Auckland researcher Neville
Gibb has a theory that Wellington earthquakes always happen at
or about a Full Moon day. So far he seems to be uncannily correct.
That aside, he has found something more interesting. Looking more
closely at the 35 above-magnitude-7.0 earthquakes recorded around
New Zealand since 1900, it seems that:
16 percent fell within 2 days of perigee (expected average 14 percent)

16 percent fell within 2 days of apogee (expected average 14 percent)
29 percent fell within 3.5 days of perigee (expected average 25 percent)
23 percent fell within 3.5 days of apogee (expected average 25 percent)
48 percent fell within 3.5 days of either midway point (expected average 50 percent)
Neville then increased his data-base of New Zealand quakes by

including all those above magnitude 6.5, giving him 81 events. Of
the 81 above-magnitude-6.5 quakes recorded around New Zealand
since 1900:

Earthquakes
I 131
15 percent fell within 2 days of perigee (expected average 14 percent)

14 percent fell within 2 days of apogee (expected average 14 percent)
26 percent fell within 3.5 days of perigee (expected average 25 percent)
22 percent fell within 3.5 days of apogee (expected average 25 percent)
52 percent fell within 3.5 days of either midway point (expected average 50 percent)
The astrological midpoint

Although the sampling was small it would appear that it is the midway
point between apogee and perigee that might be more earthquake
prone. Full and rigorous studies need to be done by different teams.
Astrologically, the midway point is the time the Moon changes
speed, from fast to slow or vice versa. Midway point corresponds to
the midpoint of the pendulum, when a swinging body has greatest
momentum. It may be likened in concept to the Moon’s declination
midway point of 23 degrees in the 18.613 nodal cycle which brings
its own turbulent weather patterns such as El Ninos, and the daily
midway points (between IC and MH) of moonrise and moonset,
which seem to serve up stronger winds. The equinoxes are another
mid-pendulum result, when the Earth is moving faster relative to
the Sun, giving rise to a distortion in the air. Equinoctial gales and
cyclones are the well-known result. We can carry the analogy to
that bane of swimmers and surfers, the unpredictable tide-rips,
which happen when a stretch of water is roughened by the meeting
of opposing tides or currents. This mostly occurs after low tide,
coming up to the midway tide.
On this subject, astrology has a lot more to contribute, if only
mainstream science was prepared to listen. Cosmobiology is the
name of the branch of astrology largely devoted to the study of
midpoints, which are defined as two points exactly opposite each
other on the ecliptic forming an axis corresponding to the exact half
way point between two planets in the both the shorter and longer
arcs between them. These are considered such a potent force by some
that midpoints, as well as nodal crossings, are thought to act in a
similar manner to planets. After a build-up of energies the midpoint
is the turning time, the period of greatest force before energy starts
to wane. Many earthquakes occur quite close to or during eclipses,
and aside from being accompanied by conjunctions of the Sun and

Moon with the north and/or south nodes, a solar eclipse is also
accompanied by a conjunction of the north and south nodes with
the Sun and Moon midpoint, and a lunar eclipse a conjunction of
the Sun and Moon midpoint with the north node and south-node
midpoint.
In astrometeorology a common observation is that when a
switchover of zodiac sign occurs there is agitation in the atmosphere
and a weather change. The theory is that a planet at a midpoint
between two others acts as a focal point or filter for the combined
energies of all three. This happens approximately every 30 days
based on the Ascendant changing signs every 30 degrees of arc
around the wheel. Rain in a chart will generally happen at the point
of flip-over. All these give weight to the midway point theory.
Let’s consider perigee and apogee from another light. As already
mentioned apogee is akin to an extended lever, and lever dynamics
dictate stronger potential forces. The short end of the lever (perigee)
requires more exertion but has most power. All things considered,
the midway point on a lever may be the most efficient power spot.
Using the same analogy, a long lever may correspond to a powerful
trigger position but, being too far away, could be applied to the
tightest tectonic plates being moved just a small fraction. A perigee,
on the other hand, may correspond to easy-to-move plates (which
are always on the go) having a bigger-than-normal movement, and
the midway point having more success through the moderation
principle of average forces on average-difficulty plates.
9 My own view of what triggers earthquakes brings together

barycentre and midway point.
When two dancers pirouette holding hands they are analogous

to Moon and Earth spinning around each other with a common
barypoint. When one slows, the other is induced to speed up, because
nature always seeks equilibrium. Moon in perigee is going faster
than average as it does its Earth-flyby. Because of bary-dynamics,
that point on the surface of the Earth of nearest Moon-Earth
distance would respond to the faster perigee Moon by attempting
to slow down, just like the other dancer. But the rest of the planet
wants to keep going. The result: a flexing which would mostly affect

Earthquakes
I 133
the tectonic plates nearest to the location of closest perigee pass-

over. The flexing would loosen the relevant tectonic plates, much
as CRC acts to free rusted hinges but doesn’t act immediately. The
gun is now cocked and by the time the Moon reaches midway point
about seven days later, maximum energy release point is reached.
The only way to test this is for astronomers, astrologers,
vulcanologists and meteorologists to sit down at the same table
together with geologists. It hasn’t happened so far but I suppose we
can dream.
Tsunamis
Since the Asian event in December 2004 near Sumatra, tsunamis are
in the news. Now every earthquake is a potential tsunami, but the
threat is no greater or lesser than ever it has been before. A tsunami
is usually caused by an undersea earthquake at a shallow depth.
The Asian event, magnitude 9.1, struck at 10 km below the Earth’s
surface, below the ocean floor. The ripples went into the water rather
than the crust of the Earth. The speed at which both tsunamis travel
varies as the square root of the water depth. Therefore the deep-
ocean tsunami travels faster than the local tsunami near shore.
Any undersea quake from 10 km to 50 km down may cause a
sizeable tsunami but 20 percent of all earthquakes are deep focus
earthquakes which can strike at almost 700 km down and scarcely
be felt anywhere. For example the great Bolivia deep earthquake of
9 June 1994 (day of New Moon, two days from apogee) occurred at
a magnitude of 8.3 and at a depth of 636 km. It was felt throughout
much of South America, but it caused only minor damage. It was
also felt in North American cities at distances of 50–80 degrees from
the epicentre.
The 19 greatest tsunamis with known dates are listed in the table
that follows, together with the Moon events that may have triggered
them.

Year Date Place Event Moon Perigee/ Phase

Apogee
1700 26 Jan Honshu cresting five meters Midway Midway 1st Q
Island, (16 feet) P/A
Japan Ist Q
1755 1 Nov Lisbon, killing between 3 days Perigee New

Portugal 60,000 and 100,000 before
people closest
P+N
1762 2 April Arakan 1st Q moon, Perigee Ist Q
Coast, 3 days <P
Myanmar
1819 16 June Gujarat, Midway Midway LQ
India P on 9th
and A of
25th, + LQ
1847 31 Oct India LQ, 4 days Apogee LQ
before A
1881 31 Dec Nicobar Midway Midway 1st Q
Island, P on 23rd
India and A on
Jan 8,
1st Q+3
1883 26 Aug Krakatoa Volcanic eruption LQ (O), Midway LQ
P+5, A-11,
closer to
midway
than P or A,
but right
on LQ
1946 1 April Hawaii killed 165 people P-2, N-1 Perigee New
within two
days of
both
P and NM
1929 18 Nov Canada earthquake of P-1, F-1, Perigee Full
magnitude 7.2, P+FM
resulting tsunami combination
measured over 7 m
in height

Earthquakes
I 135

Apogee
1945 28 Nov Mekran A-3, F+1 Apogee Full
coast, Full moon
Balochistan and apogee
1960 22 May Chile magnitude 9.5 Great mid P12th, Midway New
Chilean Earthquake A28th, N-3
strongest earthquake
ever recorded
1964 27 Alaska Great Alaska midway Pon Midway Full

March Earthquake, most 17th, A on
powerful earthquake Apr 2, F-1
in US and North Day before
American history, full moon
magnitude 9.2, 131
deaths
1976 16 Mindanao, magnitude 7.9, A(0), LQ Apogee LQ
August Philippines tsunami that Apogee the
devastated more than main factor
700 km of coastline,
5,000 dead, 2,200
missing or presumed
dead, more than
9,500 injured and a
total of 93,500 people
were left homeless
1979 12 Dec coast of tsunami caused the A(0), LQ Apogee LQ
Colombia destruction of at least Apogee the
six fishing villages 259 main factor
dead, 798 wounded
and 95 missing
1983 May 26 western 104 people killed by midway, P Midway Full
Japan a tsunami spawned on 16th, A
from a nearby on June 1,
earthquake F(0) day
of FM
1993 12 July Hokkaido, 202 people on the A+2, LQ Apogee LQ
Japan small island of Last Q the
Okushiri killed main factor
1998 17 July Papua New 2200 people killed, P(0), LQ Perigee LQ
Guinea magnitude 7.1 Perigee and
earthquake followed Last Quarter
by tsunami 12 m tall


Apogee
2004 26 Dec Banda Asian tsunami A#2 -1, F(0) Apogee Full
Aceh, Full moon
Indonesia and strong
Apogee
2006 17 July Java, six-foot high tsunami P+3, LQ Perigee LQ
Indonesia killed 300 people Last Q in
Perigee
The score in this small sample was six on perigee, six on apogee
and seven at midway between the two.
New Moon accounted for three, First Quarter for three, Full
Moon for five, and Last Quarter for eight.
In this window, midway and Last Quarter show the beginnings
of a trend of greater significance. It is the concept of the midway
point yet again, and a Quarter Moon is arguably a phase midway
point. Interestingly, thunderstorm frequency reaches a maximum
two days after Full Moon and remains high for most of the Third
Quarter. Is it possible that extraterrestrial forces on land, sea and air
all perhaps maximise closer to midway points?
a www.livingcosmos.com/unity.htm.
b www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010405/science.htm.
c Richard Holle, www.aerology.com.
d abhi*NOSPAM*@horozcope.com.
e www.tsinoy.com/forum/printthread.php?t=3134&page=4&pp=15.
f www.astrologyforum.net/astrology/Earthquakes_at_Lunar_Apogee_and_
Perigree_63741.html.
g www.vibrationdata.com/Newsletters/March2002_NL.pdf.
h IMF: Dynamics of changes in the IMF sector structure in the vicinity of the
Earth and the problem of earthquakes.
L.Kh. Shatashvili, D.I. Sikharulidze, and N.G. Khazaradze, Geophysical
Institute, Tbilisi, Georgia,
www.izmiran.rssi.ru/magnetism/SSIMF/PAPERS/GAI99329/GAI99329.HTM.
i www.manastro.co.uk/members/current_notes/may2001/may2001_page5.htm.

8
Making Forecasts
For I fear a hurricane
9
Last night the Moon had a golden ring
And tonight no Moon we see.
Longfellow, Wreck of Hespereus

W as December 2005 to February 2006 going to be a cold UK

winter? Putting out their media projections for an eagerly
waiting public, back in October 2005, official forecasters were say-
ing yes, the coldest winter ever was imminent. As a result, the coun-
try was sent into a gloomy spin. But I thought not. What I wrote in
October and distributed widely was:
With December promising to be quite mild, the UK winter will

mainly occupy January through to March and will not be as cold
or colder than the last winter (2004/5). The reason for this is the
upcoming positioning of lunar perigees, which will be closest
for the New Year in February 2006. The November perigee
on the 10th of the month will be #13 for 2005, meaning that
the moon is the 13th closest to Earth that month, and at that
distance its power will be relatively diminished. Perigee #13
seldom brings really severe weather and, unless coupled with
a maximum declination or full or new moon, can often pass
unnoticed. November will deliver precipitation for most from
19th–27th and in some areas extending to 4 December. These
will be afternoon and evening showers, cold with some sleet in
northern districts to begin with, but after 26th any rain will be
warmer, with less chance of snow or hail. Coastal locations will
experience milder conditions than elevated inland parts.
Perigee #10 on 5 December comes close on the heels of a
southern declination, bringing relatively warm rains for
December in the week before. The full moon of December
16th will not hold the promise of snow, only frosts and mostly
clear days. Because 2005’s December full moon couples with
northern declination closer to apogee than perigee, after the
4th most of December should be more dry than wet. The next
period of significantly increased precipitation is likely to be over
the last few days of the month. Therefore a white Xmas for
anywhere in the UK is not likely. Snow is not far away however,
and together with rain may start falling mainly at night on or
just after Boxing Day. January is going to have two perigees, #8
for 2006 on 2 January, meaning the eighth closest for the year,
and #4 on 30 January. Thus the last few days of December and
spilling into the New Year will see cold winter rain/snow but the

Making Forecasts
I 141
coldest part of January will be in the last few days of the month.
In Ireland the first three days of the year will be more dry than
wet. Northern Scotland, Wales and Cornwall and greater part
of England should see clearer weather about the 3rd–4th. For all
except Lancashire eastwards morning rain will arrive from 6th
onwards. Around the full moon on 14th daytime snow will come
thick and fast perhaps even reaching S England and Suffolk,
with falls easing in the south around 18th and easing for the
rest of the country around 25th 29th. Around 30 January most
regions may get a return of snow and bad winter weather, with
falls again overnight.
The coldest winter month will be February, with perigee #1
combining with new moon on the 28th, making days around this
day the expected worst of the month. March may also turn colder
around the last week, with perigee #5 on 28 March. Winter
snowfalls will continue as far down as Cumbria into April, but
only until the middle of the month. On 13 April winter showers
will dramatically cease for most, and clearer weather will arrive.
From mid April onwards there will be widespread speculation
that winter is finished.
I also sent my forecast to an internet discussion channel for those

with an interest in meteorology, together with my reasons why,
which got me banned from that forum. It is strange how many,
including scientists, feel more at home with uncertainty. It also
sells more newspapers. A machine capable of forecasting weather
to year 2036 has just been developed in Japan, according to the
morning newspaper, but the makers will not commit to any level of
confidence, saying instead that the hardware is still being developed.
Well, by looking at declination tables we can say 2036 will display
roughly similar trends as year 1999. That was very quick and did not
cost anybody a dime. Yet we seem to be in an age that loves creating
complexity and impossible problems that have solutions only a few
have the keys to. Luckily for me my UK forecast was picked up by
some radio stations. Afterwards my predictions were described as
uncannily accurate. Yet all that I wrote were my conclusions based
on looking at those three main cycles and how, in months to come,
they appeared to be interweaving.

To recap, winter cool is driven by cooler temperatures at night.

Therefore the coldest winter will be when New Moons, which bring
cold night air because the Moon is out of the sky, coincide with
perigees. The perigee, adding and subtracting more height from the
daily air tide, means cold at night is even colder because air has
descended lower allowing the cold of space to come further down with
no air buffer keeping it away. Extra close perigees such as December
2005 and February 2006 exaggerated the air-tide effect even more.
The heat from the Sun during the winter day isn’t enough to restore
warmth and the next night brings further cold temperatures. The
other reason it would have been colder for regions further north is
northern declination. At time of writing, 2006, northern declination
is the furthest north for about 19 years, so one could reasonably
expect considerably colder-than-average winter winds. Areas furthest
north receive the brunt of the effects of northern declination, and
areas further south the brunt of southern declination, which would
include such areas as the south of England and Florida. When the
Moon reaches southern declination, winter becomes momentarily
warmer in those places with the result that temperatures throughout
the season may not cool down properly. The close perigees add to
that, making winter potentially less severe.
Summer heat is going to be driven by the Sun during the day, and
the hottest summers are going to be when the Full Moon coincides
with perigees during summer months with the Moon in the north
for the southern hemisphere and in the south for the northern
hemisphere during those months. As the Full Moon is always in the
opposite hemisphere anyway during the summer it is the date during
the month of the perigees that will make the difference between a
warm summer month and a milder one.
Apsidal difference
One of the older methods of forecasting was to subtract the Full
Moon date from the nearest perigee date. This is the apsidal
difference. When the apsidal difference is up to two and a half
days the weather will remain fine. Where the apsidal point shows a
difference of from two and a half days up to seven the weather will
be wet, increasing as the difference in days becomes greater up to
seven. Thus a difference of seven days can mean very heavy rain.

Making Forecasts
I 143
Geographic factors
The geographical area must also be taken into consideration. A
storm may come from Victoria or New South Wales onto New
Zealand, but may not reach to the east coast because of intervening
mountains. Also, warm tidal waters run into harbours, which reduce
the temperature, and after about two hours when the tides are full,
showers of rain may be experienced.
During the third quarter of the month of Full Moon to Last
Quarter, because the Moon is not in the afternoon sky, air height
is lowered and the Sun’s heat can come down more easily. So in
the US, the summer of 2005 was like 1995/96, where summer-
month Full Moon days were accompanied by perigees. Because Full
Moon was set to coincide with deep southern declination, 2005 was
expected to be a drought summer for many places. The south of
the southern hemisphere in New Zealand had a mild summer in
2005/06. The Full Moon was in apogee at this time, and perigees
accompanied New Moon. So the heat from the summer sun was
not nearly as powerful because the Moon was in the sky during
the half of the month when the Moon comes closer — the perigee
half of the month. The extra air was shielding the Sun’s heat so that
less was going to reach the ground. That is one reason why, for
New Zealand, the summer of 2005/06 was cooler. The other reason
was again the deep declination, because at southern declination
New Zealand, being the neighbour to the South Pole, gets belted
with frequent cold southerlies. In a maximum declination year the
cooler southern winds around New Moon ensure summer daytime
temperatures never really significantly warm up for long before
there’s another cool lot arriving. In the southern hemisphere the
summer of 2009/10 will be like 2000/01 where summer Full Moon
periods will again accompany the perigee periods.
Forecasting in Australia
Australia is in a different situation being nearer the Equator. The
top half of Australia is not much affected by southern declinations.
The southern states can be affected by southern declination but
over summer, when the Moon reaches the northern declination, it
gets much hotter up there and never really cools down. Any close
perigees in summer add to that, meaning a continuation of drought

conditions in the more northern states of Queensland and Northern

Territory that normally expect more rain at this time of year.
Spring and autumn months sit between summer and winter
extremes but have equinoxes in their midst. These are the bane
of forecasting and should always be considered prone to unkind
weather especially for exposed and coastal regions facing west.
Equinoxes are unkind to weather forecasters as they produce faster
weather systems which change daily. Forecasters relying too much
on satellite photography have difficulty being accurate. When the
Moon is crossing the Equator heading north, historically this period
of time is when the five- to seven-day forecasts can fare the worst,
because the inertial effects the models run on reverse direction as the
Moon crosses the Equator.
It will be found that the time periods when the Moon’s phase,
declination, and apsides (perigee-apogee) are all in synch is a useful
indicator of times to watch for severe weather outbreaks, the nature
of which depends on the time of the year. Times when two of
these cycles are in sync but the other is not are also useful, but not
quite as reliable. There is also solar activity to consider in this, for
example when the Sun is more active this seems to enhance storm
activity. Australian meteorologist Carl Smith has noticed that tropical
cyclones and hurricanes are more likely to become very intense during
the week or so, following strong solar storms that impact the Earth’s
magnetosphere and ionosphere. He claims examples of this are
that, early in 2006, in the Australian cyclone season, Larry exploded
into a very severe cyclone just before hitting the Queensland coast
within days of a strong solar storm, Monica likewise became one
of the most intense Australian cyclones ever recorded after a very
powerful solar storm, and in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season,
Katrina, Rita, and Wilma all unleashed their fury soon after solar
storms. He also says that research by Dr Theodor Landscheidt,
Schroeter Institute for Research in Cycles of Solar Activity, Nova
Scotia, Canada, into the effects of the combined gravitational
pull of the planets on the Sun shows that, among other things, the
most energetic solar flare events that cause the most intense solar
storms can be predicted with a high degree of confidence well
in advance (see www.john-daly.com/solar/solar.htm) so adding
another potentially useful tool to the long-range forecasters kit.

Making Forecasts
I 145
The Metonic eclipse cycle of 19 years combines the Moon’s phase

and nodal cycles, and knowledge of this cycle was actually taken to
Greece from Britain, according to Sir Fred Hoyle, and from there
came down to modern times. Hoyle also reaffirms that Stonehenge
keeps track of three motions, the Sun, the Moon and the node of the
moon’s orbit. All three must come together to have an eclipse. Did
the idea of a holy trinity start with these three ‘gods’, the node being
the invisible holy spirit?
An inexact science
Looking at weather returning to the same place after 36–38 years
is a good place to start in the quest for the cycle of your area. The
forecast will not be right 100 percent of the time, but about 80–
85 percent will be reasonable, this being an inexact science and
dependent on solar variances as well, which are not incorporated
in this method.
It is reasonable to allow for at least a 24-hour error, because one
does not know, from one or two cycles away, which side of midnight
a particular day operates with the greatest energy. The famous
scientist Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) was a lunar forecaster. His
regular Poor Richard’s Almanac was produced for 25 years and had
10,000 subscribers. Franklin hedged his bets slightly by stating: ‘I
should ask the indulgence of the reader for a day of grace on either
side of the date for a specific weather prediction.’ He was rightly
judicious. A discrepancy can also arise through consulting differing
ephemeris texts or computer programmes as to the precise timing
of some Moon orbital factors, with many listings and programmes
having substantial timing errors due to use of underlying ephemeris
data sets with insufficient time resolution for accurate determination
of the timing of some types of phenomena, and any data listing
or computer program one wishes to use should ideally be checked
against the NASA-JPL Horizons Online Ephemeris at www.ssd.jpl.
nasa.gov/?horizons to verify its accuracy. One day, or even three days,
in the waiting is fairly universal and not considered unreasonable,
be it from doctors, policemen or the postal service, so weather event
prediction should be no exception.
There is potential skewing at four times during a month, by

perigee, lunar equinoxes (twice) and New Moons, of up to two–

three days, because weather systems move faster during these times
due to the increase in Moon speed relative to Earth. Faster systems
mean more changeable weather — terrain, elevation and proximity
to coastlines determining just how much so. Equinox months March
and September are especially error-prone due to the distortion and
subsequent twisting of the atmosphere by the Sun, and the greater
impact of the solar air tide.
There is also further potential skewing in the summer ‘cyclone
season’ which has monthly peaks around Full Moon to Last Quarter,
because cyclones can take over all previous forecasts, cutting beneath
the influence of Moon and planets by temporarily sucking huge
quantities of moisture-laden air from a large surface are into the
upper atmosphere where it then flows, sometimes many thousands of
kilometres away, a process which can effect weather patterns over a
very large area; it is in many ways similar to an upside down version
of a whirlpool like the one in a baths plughole. Tropical cyclones
can occur at any time of the year in either hemisphere if conditions
are right, however they only rarely occur outside the ‘season’ which
runs from about November to May, reaching a peak in March in the
southern hemisphere, and from around June to December, reaching
a peak in September, in the northern hemisphere.
The overlooked reality (when it comes to some assessors) is that
weather is generated between 200 feet (60 m) and 19 miles (31 km)
up, which means there is a potential overshoot of a rain system in a
radius of up to 50–60 miles (80–100 km). If a forecast says rain for
Auckland but it only rains in Huntly, 60 miles (96 km) away, then,
given the tools available, it is as close as one can reasonably get,
and therefore can be considered a successful forecast. For coastal
locations it can mean a rain dump might land away out to sea.
Given the error potential, a trend over three to four days is more
recommended. It must be remembered that in the past, folk did
not have to fulfil appointments at say, 2.40 p.m. on Friday week.
Their only requirement was to know when the rains were coming,
this week or next. Events were often remembered as perhaps seven
moons back, or when Venus was in Gemini.
Most forecast data is specific to a location, and one valley may
have a different microclimate to its neighbour. This is not so much

Making Forecasts
I 147
a problem in an unchanging landscape, but may be one in a varying

terrain whereby a farmer living high on a hill or in a valley can’t
understand why the cycles don’t seem to tally with what occurred
some years ago, yet, at the same time, he may be aware of his
own small microclimates around particular mounds, hills, valleys
and flats. Sometimes due to erosion, land development or types of
pasture, temperature changes and wind habits are forced to change,
altering the local patterns.
If inaccuracies persist, that does not invalidate the Moon-related
methods but might just mean the user is still learning. One does not
throw away all hospitals because one doctor errs — better wisdom
uses the mistake to revise procedures. Those who come to grips
with their own lunar long-range forecasting, and the error factors,
come into possession of a tool that enables forward planning in the
absence of anything else.
In all places there are specific local error potentials, depending
on topography, latitude, elevation, etc. Here in New Zealand
we encounter specific limitations of having to work with ‘island’
weather, with its shift of weather types at the shore-line, and strong
bias by the ocean surroundings, short durations over land, and
other problems associated with smaller land masses (i.e. no inland
deserts to generate extreme heat, and dry conditions, like the desert
south-west in the US and inland Australia). Weather systems in
New Zealand can be quick to come and quick to go, the westerly
and southwesterly winds predominate and can bring sudden shifts
and changes. These can delay or hasten predicted arrivals of events
forming in the Tasman Sea. Cycles do rule here, as anywhere, and
the hazards to the forecaster are that potentials for the same error
each time it comes back around may also recycle.
9 Moon phase and rise/set times determine the timing of the

air tide, and when, in the course of the day, rain if about will be
most likely — overnight if New Moon, during daylight if Full Moon.
Declination indicates what temperatures to expect and, roughly,
the barometric pressure. Perigee proximity indicates wind strength.
Maximum declination years can cause seasonal extremes, while
minimum declinations can indicate longer lasting weather patterns
in all seasons.

9
Equinoxes and
Hurricanes
9
I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.
President Bush, on Good Morning America, 1 September 2005, six days after repeated
warnings from experts about the scope of damage expected from Hurricane Katrina

T he hurricane season in the northern hemisphere runs from June to

December and focuses on movements of the Moon and, to some
extent, the Sun. The Moon more so, because the hurricanes form
mostly between Full Moon and Last Quarter, when the Sun’s heat can
come down and heat the equatorial waters more than at other times
during the month because of the air-tide effect. Also the Moon needs
to be going north after crossing the Equator, to drag the air over the
southern US. For instance, the Moon started to do this on 22 August
2005 and then again on 19 September for Hurricanes Katrina, Rita
and later, Wilma. So the heat was there, and the air direction, due to
the Moon. Hurricanes need wind strength, available most from the
equinox, happening on 22 September. The most powerful cyclones
are expected about September in the northern hemisphere and about
March in the southern hemisphere.
At equinox the Earth is side-on to the Sun and the atmosphere is
distorted by the Sun’s gravitational pull. Imagine you are walking
forwards, leaning forwards into a strong wind, all the while slowly
spinning like a ballet dancer, and imagine the left- and right-hand
pockets of your jacket have something magnetically sensitive inside
them. As you walk/spin along, you pass by a huge supermagnet.
Whatever is in your pockets will start to get activated as you come
in and out of the realm of the supermagnet. When you keep going
forward and get beyond the supermagnet, and stand in the distance
with your back to it, the activation in your pocket will cease.
The supermagnet is the Sun, you are the Earth and whatever is
in your pockets are trade winds. The leaning forward is the Earth’s
tilt. As Earth comes side-on to the Sun (equinox), because the Earth
tilts forward, the trade winds must daily go north to south of their
position with respect to the ecliptic, because the Tropic of Cancer
moves from where it is to level with the Equator, and the Tropic
of Capricorn moves from where it is level with the Equator to a
southern position, adding up to 47 degrees per day for each Tropic
line. The atmosphere gets twisted and distorted at this time, due to
the Sun’s gravitational pull on the sideways-positioned Earth, more
so than when the Earth is at solstices, hence the development of
equinoctial gales. That is why the worst hurricanes happen near
equinox, in late August and September. As we move away from
equinox the hurricanes generally get less ferocious and frequent.

Equinoxes and Hurricanes
I 151
Why are astronomers strangely silent on the linking of equinoxes

to hurricanes? Their brief is to describe what goes around what,
what pulls what and how great those gravitational forces are. This
includes the Sun’s gravitational pull on the Earth and on everything
on Earth, including the atmosphere. It also includes the gravitational
pull of the Moon on Earth and everything on the planet, which again
includes the atmosphere. The trade winds undergoing their usual
September and March distortion is the starter pack for hurricane
formation. Add in the Moon, crossing the Equator heading
northwards on its monthly north-to-south declination path to give
the cyclone a direction, and a faster-moving Moon — because of
its greater angular momentum in maximum declination years like
2005–07 — and you have an extreme northern hemisphere event;
Sun and Moon acting together, a nasty demolition team.
Equinoctial impacts on New Zealand

In the middle of the southern hemisphere cyclone season is the
March equinox. Just as Cyclone Bola wrought its damage to New
Zealand in March of 1988, so did another in March 2006 over the
northern half of New Zealand. In 1988 the Full Moon was on 4
March, the Moon crossed the Equator heading south on 5 March
and Bola struck on 7 March, dumping 900 mm of rain with 90
percent falling in just three days. Some farmers lost up to 30 percent
of their usable land. In 2006, the same Bola-type positions of Sun
and Moon, making a repeat event likely. Several actually came three
months running, either side of March. Cyclone Vaianu formed on
the February Full Moon, followed by Larry, Wati and Monica all
around Full Moon times of their months.
There have often been extreme events that have come during the
months of March. To give just two examples, in 12 March 1975
Cyclone Alison brought heavy rain to large areas of the country.
The Kaikoura region was hard hit, with intense rainfalls of 40 to
70 mm per hour. Floods and debris flows poured down many steep
streams in the Seaward Kaikoura Range, and flowed out onto the
coastal plain. Many parts of State Highway 1 and the South Island
Main Trunk railway line were washed out or buried under metres
of gravel. One diesel locomotive was stopped in its tracks and partly
buried by debris flows. On 2 March 1840, less than two months

after Wellington’s earliest European settlers arrived, a Hutt River

flood inundated their huts and tents. Within a few months most
settlers had abandoned the Hutt Valley for Thorndon in central
Wellington.
The damaging northern hemisphere hurricanes of 2005 were
all equinox-related. That means they occurred over late August/
September/October. Even though the hurricane ‘season’ lasts June–
December, they rarely reach Category 4 or 5 much before equinox
month or much after. We’ve seen what 2005 can come up with, with
Katrina and Rita. Lunar perigees will become less potent after 2007
as the Moon moves away from the equator. Although storm systems
will still prevail at equinox times, perigee will not be over the hottest
part of the Earth, exaggerating the air tide that would allow so much
Sun’s heat to come bearing down on the equatorial waters.
Significant hurricanes and the equinox

How close to equinox (August–October) have hurricanes of
previous years been? In 2004 the main hurricanes were Hurricane
Charlie on 8 August, Hurricane Jeanne forming on 16 September
and Hurricane Ivan on 25 September. In 2003 the first storm to
reach hurricane strength was Hurricane Ignacio in late August. The
strongest hurricane was Hurricane Fabian in early September, and
two weeks later came Hurricane Isabel. Hurricane Linda was named
on 15 September then Hurricane Marty on the 19th. In 2002 were
Tropical Cyclone Bertha and Tropical Cyclone Cristobal in mid
August, and Tropical Storm Dolly on 29 August. Eight named storms
formed during the month of September — the highest number on
record for any month. Four of these strengthened into hurricanes.
They were Hurricane Gustav 8–12 September, Hurricane Isadore
14–26 September, Hurricane Kyle 20 September–12 October and
Hurricane Lili 21 September–4 October.
In 2001, Hurricane Juliette, 21 September–2 October, was the
second-strongest hurricane in terms of pressure (923 mb) in Eastern
Pacific, causing floods in southwest Mexico; Hurricane Kiko, 22–25
September, just churned open the Pacific Ocean, and Hurricanes
Narda and Octave in October stayed out to sea and weren’t a
problem. Those have been in the years 2001–2005. Now to the biggest
four hurricanes in the last 50 years in the northern hemisphere.
The reader will note the month. There were Hurricane Donna, in

Equinoxes and Hurricanes
I 153
1960, Category 4, which hit Florida and the Eastern US on 29 August;

Hurricane Carla, in 1961, Category 4 which hit Texas; Hurricane
Camille, in 1969, Category 5, which hit Mississippi, Louisiana
and Virginia about 14 August; and Hurricane Andrew, in 1992,
the most destructive United States hurricane on record up till then,
a Category 5 which hit Florida and Louisiana about 24 August.
In 1900, the Galveston hurricane was, up till then, the deadliest
natural disaster in US history, killing 8000 to 12,000 people. Storm
tides (the surge plus the astronomical tide) of 8–15 feet (2.5–5 m)
inundated the entire island city of Galveston. More than half of
all the homes and buildings were destroyed. When did it occur? 8
September!
9 Most of the biggest hurricanes occur around equinoxes, or

about a month either side. To control a hurricane one would need
a machine capable of herding Earth into equinox position out of
season.

10
Cycle of the Seasons
The way of nature is unchanging.
9
Not knowing constancy leads to disaster.
Knowing constancy, the mind is open.
Lao Tzu, philosopher. 6th century BC

A s already mentioned, the 18.6-year cycle is important in

determining the weather, as is half this period, 9.3 years. These
cycles can be found in crop yields and in geological formations.
However the Moon is gradually receding from the Earth, which
changes all of these periods very slowly. Professor Afanasiev
of Moscow University has designed a method that he calls the
‘Nanocycles method’ of very accurately dating geological formations,
by finding the period (which is presently 9.3 years) and its interaction
with the seasons. The 9.3-year cycle comes at the same time of year
on average every 31 years because 9.3/.3 = 31. The nearest repeat
of the seasons will therefore actually happen after 28 years (two-
thirds of the time) and 37 years (one third of the time). However
this 31-year cycle of seasonal interaction is very sensitive to small
changes because, when the cycle was 9.2 years, the interaction was
in 9.2/.2 = 46 years. Professor Afanasiev has used this to accurately
date strata deposits and so determine other geological cycles very
accurately.a
9 Seasons are on a grand cycle of about 186 years. They

imperceptibly creep forward a notch each year.
In 1998 in New Zealand, October was very wet, with widespread

flooding. Three years later in 2001, November was a very wet
month. Three years later, in 2004, we can recall a very wet December.
The expected wet January of 2007 is an example of this three-year
creep, and February of 2010 will accordingly be mostly wet. In this
cycle of the seasons the southern hemisphere is heading away from
coolish summers towards longer drier summers and back to colder
winters. Whereas in 2006 the bite of winter will not really be felt
until June, in 2007 minimums will drop below 5ºC in April, and in
2008 some New Zealanders will be lighting first winter fires by the
end of March. Through the coming years temperatures will work
their way to drop to this level at ever earlier months, until 2009
when they should be at 2006 June levels by mid April.
The northern hemisphere is on an opposite path and in past years
has been experiencing very hot summer months and, in some places,
record cold winters. The winter of 2005/06 was for parts of Canada
the coldest in 40 years and for Russia was record-breaking, reaching

I
157
a new record low of 32 degrees below zero. In summer 2005, heat-

waves in Spain and Portugal were said to be the worst since records
began. From 2006, the northern hemisphere is on a path toward
milder summers and warmer winters such as the southern hemisphere
is emerging from. Because we do not live that long, a cycle of 180–
190 years is not noticed. The cycle of the seasons is the way the big
three Moon cycles — declination, perigee and phase — recur in a
repeating three-way combination, e.g. when a maximum declination
year combines again with a January Full Moon in perigee.
2005 Katrina and Rita

1969 Hurricane Camille
1933 Chesapeake Bay disaster
2006 Cyclone Larry

1970 Cyclone Ada
2004 Asian tsunami

1968 Huge earthquake, 8.3 magnitude, Sumatra
36-year repetitions.
The declination cycle may be responsible for big disasters often

repeating in the same place every 36-year cycle. The above table
suggests some examples. The last time there was a big hurricane year
in Louisiana (Katrina and Rita) was 1969, and the previous biggest
calamity in the area was in 1933. According to Professor Gordon
Manley the historic Januaries of the past 300 years in England were
those listed in the table that follows.

1684 (very cold winter)

1716 (cold winter and dry summer)
1740 (1739/40 very cold winter, cold year, cold summer, cold October, snow in November)
1795 (cold winter in Scotland, dry year)
1814 (cold year)
1838 (snowy January, cold year, severe winter early spring)
1881 (January blizzards, June-August very cold)
1940 (severe winter 1939/40)
Historic Januaries of the past 300 years in England.
There is more than one daily record during the ‘Long Frost’ of
1683–84, and from the primitive instrumental readings then kept, it
appears that the three months, December to February put together,
make that winter the coldest of all, although individual months in
other winters may have been colder.b One way of looking at this
admittedly smallish and selective sample could be that the period
from 1684 to 1940 represents 264 years containing seven very cold
events, an average of 36 years between each.
In order to build a solid theory we must acquire as many sample
cases as possible and this is not easy when historical records are
missing. Critics anxious to disprove the Moon’s role are justified
in their call for rigorous correlation, even if in their own fields they
occasionally allow tentative judgment. A few swallows do not make
a summer, but they do raise the question of why they should be
appearing, and whether or not they are the exception. The choice of
abandoning the task is not helpful either. With that in mind, some
cases are here presented — those we have been able to find — and
it is up to the reader’s judgment as to whether or not cycles are a
strong possibility.

I
159
36-year Repetitions
1680 Min Winter 1680 to 1681
The winter 1680/81 noted as ‘severe’.
1680 +36 1715/16 Min-2 Winter 1715/16

The Thames (apparently the tidal part) was completely frozen for
about two months during this severe winter: a frost fair was held
on the river. 25 January: ICE on Thames in London lifted by some
14 ft (4.3 m) by a flood tide but did not break. Much fog 24 to 28
January (temporary mild incursion?); some fog in February.
1818 Max-2 1818: (Summer)

The summer was claimed to be the longest, driest and warmest in
living memory. (London/South)
1818 +36 1854 Max-2 1854: (Annual)

A notably dry year by the England and Wales Precipitation (EWP
series) — as of 2002, named as being in the ‘top-5’ driest by that
measure. (see also 1788, 1887 and 1921).
1890 Mid+1 1890/1891 (Winter)

1. The winter of 1890/91 was remarkable for its long duration,
from 25 November to 22 January, rather than for the intensity of
the frost. Average temperature was below 0ºC over nearly the whole
of England and Wales and below 1ºC in East Anglia and the south-
east Midlands.
2. 9–13 March 1891, easterly blizzard**. Heavy, fine powdery snow
and strong E winds raged across SW England, southern England and
Wales, with over half a million trees being blown down, as well as a
number of telegraph poles. On the 9th great snowstorm in the west
of England, trains buried for days: E-NE gale, shipwrecks, many
lives lost. (Eden notes: 220 people dead; 65 ships foundered in the
English Channel; 6000 sheep perished; countless trees uprooted; 14
trains stranded in Devon alone.)**
This may be the first time in the UK that the word ‘blizzard’ was
used.
More data on website http://homepage.ntlworld.com/booty.
weather/climate/1850_1899.htm

1890 + 37 1927 Mid 1927 (25th–26th December):

Worst christmas period blizzard in history: During the late evening
of the 25th , what is regarded as one of the worst snowstorms in the
twentieth century occurred. Most of the country experienced snow,
but the south bore the brunt: undrifted depths up to 60–70 cm over
higher ground, with drifts in varying places up to 15 feet or more
(over 4.5 m) — many roads blocked (some for a week) with vehicles
stranded. The snow was noted as ‘soft & clingy’, bringing down
many telephone lines — at this time few such were in underground
ducts.
1890 Mid+1 1890 (Summer)

A notably cold summer in the Central England Temperatures (CET)
record.
1890 + 37 1927
Mid 1927 (Summer overall, especially August, September):
1. Perhaps the wettest combination of such-named months in the
EWP series for the twentieth century. (See also 1946.) The summer
(June, July and August) across England and Wales comes out just
over 150% of LTA. At Kew Observatory, the total rainfall June to
September inclusive = 357 mm (~170%), with August and September,
as elsewhere, notably wet.
186-year repetitions
1607 Min+1 1607/08: (Winter) The ‘Great Winter’:**
Apparently, trees died due to the severity (and length) of the
frost; ships were stranded by ICE several miles out into the
North Sea — this latter a major concern as much commerce was
done in these days via coastal shipping. In December, a ‘deep’
frost until mid-month, then a thaw until just before Christmas,
then (from ~21 December) intense freeze for much of the time until at
least mid-January. ICE formed on the Thames in London, sufficient
to bear all sorts of sports, perambulations and even cooking!
The frost lasted overall for some two months. (Much of the
foregoing sourced from Ian Currie.) The severe weather lasted in parts
of England until about 20 February, though with variations in depth of

I 161
cold. For example, in records from Kendal (Westmorland/Cumbria)

‘hard frost’ is noted from 3 November 1607 to 6 March 1608.
** Lots of winters will be found in the literature known as ‘The
Great Winter’ — treat this title with some caution, however. In a
series developed by C. Easton, in CHMW/Lamb, this ranks near the
top of most severe winters taking western Europe as a whole.
+186 1793 Min+1 1793/94: (Winter)

A ‘remarkable’ snowstorm swept the southwest of Scotland beginning
on 23 January 1794. It came to be known locally as the ‘Gonial
Blast’ because of the extraordinary number of sheep that were
killed. (gonial/goniel = mutton of sheep)(Weather:Vol49/p415,416)
The following is a report written after the event: ‘... there is a
place called the Beds of Esk, where the tide throws out and leaves
whatever is carried into it by the rivers. When the flood after the
storm subsided, there was found on that place and shores adjacent,
one thousand eight hundred and forty sheep, nine black cattle, three
horses, two men, one woman, forty-five dogs and one hundred and
eighty hares, beside a number of meaner animals.’
1789 Mid+1 1789

Very mild winter in Scotland. December 1789 began with mild,
dry weather from the south-west followed by a mixture of frost
and ‘fresh’ days, with some snow about. Frost at the beginning of
January was certainly hard enough to stop ploughing, but fine, fresh
weather returned from the south on 6 January and continued for
the next three weeks. February continued in similar vein, with
winds generally from the south-west. (However, winter ‘arrived’
in April, with severe frosts and frequent snowfall; also a mild winter
England & Wales, with an anomaly for the three ‘winter’ months
of +2ºC.
+186 1975 Mid+1 1974/75

It was the second-mildest winter in England and Wales since 1869,
and notably snowless. Also, one of the nine warmest winters (by
CET) in the series which began in 1659. Up to 1997,
rank = 4 Value = 6.43; De c= 8.1, Jan = 6.8, Feb = 4.4 (Others:
1686, 1734, 1834, 1869, 1935, 1989 and 1990.)

1818 Max-2 1818: (Summer)

The summer was claimed to be the longest, driest and warmest in
living memory. (London/South)
+186 2004/5 Max-2 2004/2005 (November–June):

1. A lengthy dry spell for many parts of England and Wales, though
concentrated in its severity across southern England, from south
Cornwall and far south Devon in the west to much of Hampshire,
Surrey, Berkshire, West Sussex and the London area in the east. In
these aforementioned regions, precipitation anomalies (wrt 1961–
1990 averages) were below 60 percent. (By contrast, NW Scotland
had anomalies in excess of 140 percent, largely due to an excessively
WET winter.) (MetOffice/RMetS/Weather).
2004 (Annual): Warm Year

1. The Central England Temperature (CET) was: 10.5ºC. This places
it inside the ‘top-10’ of warmest years in the all-time list. In the
period 1990 to 2004, eight of the warmest years in the entire series
(since 1659) have occurred in that 15-year span. (For the globe,
with a mean anomaly of +0.4ºC, it was amongst the five warmest
years since 1861: it is worth noting that there was no El Nino event
to enhance the warmth.)

I 163
By utilising these cycles we might note that 1971 was a year

that in positions of declination and perigee/Full Moon and perigee/
New Moon closely matches 2007, 36 years later. Can we predict
then that 2007 will bring a milder mid-winter to the northern
hemisphere?
1971 Max dec P+N Mar=P#2 P+F Oct=P#1 Very warm

year +2 Jan–Apr Sept–Nov mid-winter
2007 Max dec P+N Apr=P#2 P+F Oct=P#1 ?
year +1 Feb–May Sept–Dec
Also, 1825 closely matches 2011, 186 years later.
1825 Midpoint P+F Mar=P#1 P+N Oct=P#2 Dry summer,

year Feb–Apr Aug–Nov snow in Oct,
gales in Dec
2011 Midpoint P+N Mar=P#1 P+F Oct=P#2 As above?
year Feb–May Aug–Nov
1826 matches 2012, also 186 years hence.
1826 Midpoint P+F Apr=P#2 P+N Nov=P#1 Very warm

year+1 Ma–Jun Oct–Dec summer,
unusually
dry year
2012 Midpoint P+N May=P#1 P+F Dec=P#2 As above?
year+1 Apr–Jun Oct–Dec

Records in New Zealand

For examples of southern hemisphere cycles, the record virtually
starts with entries in Captain James Cook’s journal, December 1769,
in which he recorded squalls and storms on the east coast, probably
a tropical cyclone.
14 December, 1769: Strong gales at West and WSW with Squals

at times attended with rain . . . 27 December; the gale continued
without the least intermission . . . soon obliged to take in the
Foresail as it began to blow very hard and increased in such a
manner that by 8 o’clock it was a sheer hurricane attended with
rain and the Sea run prodigious high.
186 years on from 1769 was 1955, a year with much similarity
Moon-wise. News clippings show the following occurred.
1769 Midpoint year P+N Apr–Jul May=P#2 P+F Nov–Dec Dec=P#1

December squally
1955 Midpoint year P+N Apr–Jul May=P#2 P+F Nov–Dec Dec=P#1

Two Douglas R4D-5 Skytrains (12418 ‘Korora’ and 17274 ‘Tawaiki’)
flew from Wigram to Taieri aerodrome on 20 December 1955
from where they were to make the flight south together with two
Grumman UF-IL Albatrosses (142428 ‘Toroa’ and 142429 ‘Shake
Rattle and Roll’). Strong head winds prevented the four aircraft
from completing the flight south and they returned toWigram.d
September, 1955, Hurricane Janet in Mexico. December 6, 1955
Tropical Cyclone India, Hurricanes Connie and Diane August 1955
in Maine, Hurricane Alice in the Atlantic Dec 54–Jan 55.

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165
Records in the United Kingdom

Maximum/midpoint/minimum declination years
MINIMUM YEARS
16/3/1997 Dry spring/summer/autumn
24/9/1978 Dry autumn
24/9/1959 Fine warm spring, long summer
20/3/1941 Snowy January
27/9/1922 Cold summer
24/3/1904 Snow November
16/9/1885 Chilly year, January blizzard
30/9/1866 Heavy snow January
27/3/1848 Wet February, wet summer, wet year
20/9/1829 Cold year
18/3/1811 January, Thames frozen over
21/3/1755 Wet summer
10/3/1718 Fine summer, warm year
MAXIMUM YEARS
22/3/2006 Dry winter
29/9/1987 Cold January
25/3/1969 Dry, warm October
19/9/1950 Wet February
15/3/1932 Wet spring
28/3/1913 Heavy snow January
22/9/1894 Cold winter
18/3/1876 Cold January
26/9/1857 Warm late summer/early autumn
26/9/1838 Severe winter, cold year
21/3/1820 Cold early-mid winter, wet summer
24/3/1764 June thunderstorms
15/3/1727 Dry summer

MIDPOINT YEARS
1/8/2001 Warm year United Kingdom
1/10/1992 Cold October
5/11/1982 Wet autumn and early winter
15/3/1974 Wet autumn, stormy January, mild winter
4/4/1964 Warm dry year, United Kingdom
26/8/1955 Dry year England and Wales
16/9/1945 Warm spring England and Wales
23/1/1937 Wet February
12/2/1927 Wet August, September and October
15/4/1918 Stormy January
5/5/1908 Hot July in south Scotland
25/9/1899 Summer drought
22/2/1881 January blizzard, hot July,
cold June–August in Scotland
5/8/1862 Wet March, cold summer
25/8/1852 Wet summer
30/11/1833 Warm winter
16/2/1788 Dry year
8/11/1740 Dry spell in England
30/8/1713 Very mild December
The reader will find patterns, for instance in maximum declination

years: 1820–1876 (3x19), 1764–1820 (3x19), 1913–1987 (2x18,
2x19).
US data
Taking a fixed date for 1963, one of the severest winters on record,
we find a 36-year sequence that incorporates a Saturn-Neptune
square. A 36- or 18-year sequence equals actual severe winters.
Brackets indicate number of years from actual 36/18-year sequence,
the (SN) includes the Saturn-Neptune relationship:

I
167
1963 (0) (SN)

1947 (2 years from 1945)
1929 (2 years from 1927)
1907 (2 years from 1909)
1891 (0) (SN)
1871 (2 years from 1873)
1855 (0) (SN)
1838 (1 year from 1837)
1820 (1 year from 1819) (SN)
1800 (1 year from 1801) (SN)
1784 (1 year from 1783) (SN)
1766 (1 year from 1765) (SN)
1746 (1 year from 1747) (SN)
1729 (0)
1709 (2 years from 1711)
Aspects between Saturn and Neptune are within 8d orb and we

find that there are eight severe winters which fall with the planetary
cycle itself. So for instance, the 1819 winter in our sequence falls one
year (1) from the severe winter of 1820 which coincides with the
Saturn and Neptune square. We can see that the sequence parallels
the severe winters, not perfectly, but with never more than two years
difference. Importantly, the 18-year pattern is almost perfect to within
two years.
Source: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, N.Y.
www.data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/station_data/.
a Ray Tomes, Cycles Institute.

b myweb.tiscali.co.uk/mtullett/1962-63/14JanG-1963.htm,
www.vam.ac.uk/collections/glass/stories/frost_fair/,
www.hertfordshire-genealogy.co.uk/data/books/book0120-weather-
rothamsted.htm,
www.webmesh.co.uk/nice/iceages.htm,
www.opensouthbank.org/archive_detail.php?archiveID=20.
c homepages.paradise.net.nz/wclark/page9a.htm#anchor115.

11
A Brief History
of Forecasting
9
I had a relative once who used to work for the New Zealand
Meteorological Service in Auckland and was then
transferred to the Wellington office where he only lasted
a month. He said the weather didn’t agree with him.
Rick Long, columnist, Wairarapa Times Age

I n prehistory the Moon was always the yardstick of measurement.

City people employ Moon rhythms, whether in the rise and
fall of the stock market about Moon phases or in the poetic
uplift when a glorious Full Moon rises above chimney tops. Those
living in the country are closer to how animals, birds and fish
respond to tides.
Two thousand years ago the sky was probably clearer and eyesights
better. Ptolemy realised the Earth was round from the curve of the
shadow cast on the Moon. Transoceanic navigation occurred over
many thousands of years, and mariners must have realised the
spherical nature of the Earth almost as soon as they put ships to
water and nightly had to tack back home over a curved horizon.
One school of thought says that, over a million years ago, Europe
and North America were connected by a giant land mass stretching
from South and Central America to the shores of Greenland, across
the Atlantic encompassing Ireland, Scotland, North England and
Scandinavia and down and across to part of West Africa. On the
other side of the globe, East Africa, India, Malaya, Australia and
New Zealand comprised a large Pacific continent called Lemuria, or
the Land of Mu. About 800,000 years ago, due to a cataclysmic event
Mu is said to have disappeared. The Atlantic continent remained
for a further 600,000 years and was reduced in size 200,000 years
ago to two smaller Atlantean islands. 80,000 years ago these were
further reduced to a smaller island midway between New York and
Spain, called Poseidonis. What some call Atlantis looks likely, if it
existed at all, to have been one of these land masses.a
In support of these theories are ancient maps, showing very
different land configurations in some places, but recognisable ones
in others. For instance, an early mariners’ map circulated in the
Middle Ages that came to light again in 1921 shows the Antarctica
area to consist of two dry islands without snow, which NASA now
confirms was what the continent would have looked like 6000 years
ago.b
Sailors clearly had maps and were presiding kings over ocean
estates. Akin to priests, they shared a subculture that retained its
own secrets. Navigational mathematics was derived from Moon
calculations, the computers for which are still around. These are the
stone monuments and standing stones of antiquity, found in every

A Brief History of Forecasting
I 171
country, from Europe to Tasmania, across the Pacific, through the

East, past Japan and in the frozen north.
9 Ancient stone structures like the Great Pyramid and Stonehenge

were giant computing tools for ancient mathematics especially
relevant to transoceanic sailing.
The base of the Great Pyramid is 756 feet (230.4 m), exactly
1/110,000 the equatorial circumference of the Earth in miles. The
diameter of Stonehenge is exactly half that, 378 feet. As well as
astronomical devices, the monuments were also repositories of
standards of measurement used in navigation. Even today those left
standing could still be used for the original purposes for which they
were intended.
First peoples
It is safe to assume that weather has been the preoccupation of man
since the very first peoples walked on the Earth, the names of which
are of course unknown. Neither do we know how far back to look.
Ancient flints discovered in cliffs at Pakefield in eastern England
show humans lived in northern Europe some 700,000 years ago,c
and evidence of human society in southern Europe dates back
longer, to 800,000 years. Archaeologists believe Egypt was settled
at least 600,000 years ago so it is still unclear whether humans
evolved in Africa, Asia or perhaps on a now sunken land mass that
incorporated Australia.
Aborigines could have arrived from South-East Asia by an ancient
land bridge at least 50,000 years ago and evidence found at Lake
George suggests it may have happened as long ago as 130,000
years.d King Tutankhamen, the famous Pharaoh of ancient Egypt,
who died 2000 years ago, owned a collection of boomerangs of
both the straight flying (hunting) and returning variety.e So did
Aborigines originate in North Africa or India or were they visited
later by Egyptians? Didgeridoos also seem to be only 2000 years, in
the playing, according to rock drawings, indicating cross-cultural
contact from elsewhere in early times. Also, stone monuments set
up for observing the summer/winter solstice (similar to Stonehenge)

have been found in South Australia.f

Archaeologists tell us that man has lived on mainland New
Guinea for 40,000 years and various Melanesian islands for 30,000
years.g Humans lived in America at least 40,000 years ago according
to footprints found near Mexico City.h A stone phallus 28,000 years
old has been discovered in a cave in Baden-Wuertemberg in southern
Germany.i The ancestors of the Mayans crossed the Bering Strait at
least 20,000 years ago. New Caledonia has cement columns that
carbon-date back 13,000 years. Tongans, whose legends trace back
20,000 years, have ancient man-made harbours and canals, as well
as a Stonehenge-like structure and the remains of pyramids on outer
islands. Tahiti and Samoa also have pyramids, Fiji and most Pacific
Islands have ancient stoneworks. There are the sacred protected
monuments in the hills of Niue, to the Easter Island statues, and
records of a similar set that existed on Pitcairn Island before the
mutineers and their descendants tossed them over the cliffs. In short,
we as a species are probably older than we realise, and have been as
clever in the past as we are today. Fortunately along the way writing
was obviously discovered, and a knowable history began.
9 It should come as no surprise that the first writing appears to

have consisted of tally marks recording Moon movements.
Tally-marked rock, stones and bones have been found that indicate
years marked off in groups of nine. A bone-handled tool found by
Jean de Heinzelin, at Ishango near Lake Edward in Africa, dates
back to 9000 BC. A much older bone from the Dordogne Valley of
western France, dating back to 30,000 BC, shows deep slash marks
along the top edge, totalling 18 or 19. Thousands of years ago it was
known that the Moon was on an 18–19-year maximum-minimum-
maximum declination cycle. Were these tallies early attempts at
forecasting weather cycles?
First Egyptians
Although many came before them, it was somewhere around the
Nile Valley with its life-giving river that we regard as the birthplace
of civilisation. In eastern Africa, the Nile (Egyptian nwy, water)

I 173
emerges from Lake Victoria as the Victoria Nile, and then from
Lake Albert as the Albert Nile, continues to Sudan as the Bahr of
Jebel as far as Lake No, and as the White Nile to Khartoum. It is
joined by the Blue Nile from Ethiopia, continuing as the Nile proper
to its delta on the Mediterranean — altogether over 3000 miles in
length.
Mesopotamia, the ‘Land between the Two Rivers’, is one of
the so-called cradles of civilisation, along with Egypt, China, the
Indus Valley and Meso-America. It also appears to be the oldest of
these. The evidence indicates an urban civilisation as early as 6000
years ago. The first people in the area were known as Ubaidians.
All we know about them is that another people began moving
into the area, intermarrying with them. These were the Sumerians
who became dominant and whose language replaced that of the
Ubaidians. Also the Sumerians invented the oldest known form
of writing, cuneiform, done by impressing wedge-shapes into soft
clay.j The Sumerians were invaders and already had a sophisticated
culture. Many believe they knew about Neptune and Uranus — only
rediscovered in recent times by astronomers — and that the sun
was the centre of the solar system, which means their knowledge
of astronomy went beyond naked-eye observation and must have
utilised some form of technology.
In West Africa the Dogon people in Mali mapped with precision
the Sirius star system hundreds of years before NASA invented a
powerful telescope in the 1970s through which at last they were
able to see the same thing. The Dogons had been 100 percent correct
without the use of technology. Further to this, the Dogons insist
there is also a Sirius B further away that NASA still cannot locate.
Mayans made significant discoveries in science and writing,
including the use of the zero in mathematics. Their calendar begins
around 5000 years ago, and could measure time well into the future.
The origins of religion, astrology and astronomy are frustratingly
sparse and not helped by the Middle Ages policy of book burning.
Fray Diego de Landa, second bishop of the Yucatán, ordered a mass
destruction of Mayan books in 1562 and only three survived. The
libraries of Alexandria were also systematically destroyed to erase
access to history and science,k which was seen to be in competition
with orthodox faith.

First god: the Moon god?

We know that since the beginning of time man has looked to the
Moon. Growing into fullness and diminishing into dark in a short
matter of time meant that the Moon was ideal to use as a measure
of small portions of time.l The word measure is derived from moon,
as is mensures which gives menstruation. For centuries the women
were keepers of the faith, probably the calendar keepers, healers
and priestesses and advisors of their people, because of their ability
to communicate with the powers of the Moon Goddess whose very
tides they could feel within their bodies. But men, too, learnt how to
read the passage of the Moon and plan best times to hunt, plant and
harvest. Everybody knew and understood that all life was affected
by the Moon, as was the entire planet.
If the Moon can affect the tides, earth and weather, then man
along with every other animal species made up largely of water
may be similarly influenced. If the Moon can affect, then it must
influence, if not control. Throughout the Middle East there is
evidence of temples to a lunar deity. From the banks of the Nile
to the mountains of Turkey, the most wide-spread religion of the
ancient world was the worship of the Moon-god. Six thousand
years ago almost two-thirds of the human population in Mexico,
North America, in France, Egypt, the Middle East, Afghanistan,
India, Ceylon, Thailand, Tibet, China, Japan and Eastern Europe
practised this form of worship.m
As the first literate civilisation, the Sumerians left thousands of
clay tablets describing the worship of a Moon-god that was called
names such as Nanna, Suen and Asimbabbar. The symbol was
generally the crescent moon. The Assyrians, Babylonians, and the
Akkadians took the word Suen and transformed it into the word
Sin. Later with the rise of Christianity, to distance citizens from all
symbols of paganism, sin in Latin came to mean evil.
In ancient Syria, Sin was represented by the crescent moon and
at times the full moon was placed inside the crescent moon. The
Sun-goddess was the wife of Sin and the stars were their daughters.
Everywhere in the ancient world, the symbol of the crescent moon
can still be found on seal impressions, steles, pottery, amulets, clay
tablets, cylinders, weights, earrings, necklaces, wall murals, etc.
During the 1950s, excavations at sites at Qataban, Timna, and

I 175
Marib, the ancient capital of Sheba, found thousands of inscriptions

from walls and rocks showing Allah the Moon-god represented by a
crescent moon. In Old Testament times, Nabonidus (555–539 BC),
the last king of Babylon, built Tayma, Arabia as a centre of Moon-
god worship. Many scholars have also noticed that the Moon-god’s
name, Sin, is a part of such Arabic words as Sinai, the ‘wilderness
of Sin ’, etc. According to inscriptions, while the name of the Moon-
god was Sin, his title was al-ilah, meaning the deity, signifying he
was the chief or high god among the gods. Al-ilah was shortened to
Allah in pre-Islamic times.
In northern India and what is now Pakistan, Pashupati is the
Horned God of the Indus Valley, of the Harappan culture that
developed 6000 years ago. At its peak it covered a huge area twice
as large as Egypt. There are two images of the Horned God, one
from northern Europe dated between 400 and 100 BCE, the other
from northern India dated between 2000 and 3000 years BCE. This
established an undeniable connection between the Hindu and the
horned God of the Celts, Cernunnos. The images are separated
by almost three thousand years of history and by four and a half
thousand miles (7000 km) of mountains, land and sea, and yet they
have a startling similarity. It is possible that Hindus and Celts were
once the same. Through the sea routes the Horned God image may
have spread into Babylon (Iraq), then Turkey and onto Greece,
then, over time, from Greece to the rest of Europe. Alternatively, the
horned Lord may have been brought into the Indus Valley from the
west across the Himalayas.
In western China, bodies have been found preserved in salt sands
of tall tartan-wearing people, one male 6 foot 6 inches (1.98 m) and
a female 6 foot 2 inches (1.88 m). These were European, some with
blond hair, others with red, and the earliest of the first of three waves
of these people, according to carbon dating, is 4000 years old. The
Celts eventually reached Scotland, and tartan today is peculiar to
that area.
Religion — or science?
Among early Pagans, religion was a fact taken for granted, requiring
no explanation. Egyptians and Babylonians appear to have had no

word for it. The ancient Hebrews did not possess one, and when
it became necessary to devise one for philosophical and theological
nomenclature, the one chosen was a word which simply indicated
faith.n That the Moon changes weather has been believed by farmers,
sailors, surveyors, fishermen etc. for eons but it has always run
counter to the teachings of the Church, which preferred the belief
that weather events embraced the Hand of God and God’s Will.
Wary forecasters always had one nervous eye on the Church and the
other on the heavens.
Astronomers are aware that planets with moons (e.g. Jupiter
and Mars) have changing weather patterns, whereas those without
moons (e.g. Venus) have stable weather systems. A moon appears to
mix a planet’s atmosphere, something noticed by ancient peoples.
Why else would tallies have been collected of moon phases? Most
were calendric but of what use is a calendar if one is not interested in
seasonal change? When early civilisations used recurring astronomical
and meteorological events to help them monitor seasonal changes in
the weather, it is probable they relied on the moon.
Around 650 BC, the Babylonians tried to predict short-term
weather changes based on the appearance of clouds and optical
phenomena such as haloes. By 300 BC, Chinese astronomers had
developed a calendar that divided the year into 24 festivals, each
festival associated with a different type of weather.
Around 340 BC, the Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote
Meteorologica, a philosophical treatise that included theories about
the formation of rain, clouds, hail, wind, thunder, lightning, and
hurricanes. In addition, topics such as astronomy, geography, and
chemistry were also addressed as well as behaviour of animals
around weather events. Aristotle made some remarkably acute
observations concerning the weather, and his four-volume text
was considered by many to be the authority on weather
theory. Aristotle’s pupil Theophrastus added two more volumes,
On Winds and On the Signs of Rain, Storms and Fair Weather.
The latter’s four-volume text was considered by many to be the
authority on weather theory for almost two thousand years.
Although many of Aristotle’s claims were later questioned, it was
not until about the seventeenth century that many of his ideas were
overthrown.o

I 177
Ptolemy lived in Alexandria in the second century AD. The

astronomical observations that he listed cover the period AD 127–141.
Ptolemy’s achievement was to order his material in a systematic way
and provide explanations for the astrological effects of the planets,
based upon their combined effects of heating, cooling, moistening,
and drying. His Almagest gave handy tables needed for everyday
astrological calculations, with explanations at the beginning. The
surviving part of his Phaseis is the parapegma, or weather-calendar,
which was a traditional part of Greek astronomy, going back in
some form to the fifth century BCE. It was a list of dates of regular
weather changes, first appearances and last appearances of stars or
constellations, and solar events such as solstices, organised according
to the solar year. Ptolemy believed that there was a causal relationship
between astronomical phenomena and changes in weather. For him
weather prediction was a special division of astrology.
The Arab philosopher Jaqub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi (ca.800–ca.870
CE) combined at least three traditions of weather-forecasting — the
Islamic agricultural tradition of prediction from the constellation or
zodiac sign in which the Moon is; astrological traditions, and the
Greek tradition of Aristotle and Ptolemy.
Ibn Yunus (c.950–1009) was born in Islamic Egypt. His most
famous work, al-Zij al-Hakimi al-kabir, is notable for its accuracy,
obtained using very large instruments. One was a sphere with
nine rings, each of which weighed 2000 pounds, and was large
enough for a horseman to pass through, and the other was a copper
instrument resembling an astrolabe, three cubits across. Yunus’s
calculations are considered so reliable that some of the 30 eclipses
reported by him were used by Simon Newcomb, in the nineteenth
century, in determining the secular acceleration of the moon. Ibn
Yunus’ influence is seen in Islamic tables 250 years later, where his
values for the longitudes of the Sun and Moon were still used. His
work included spherical astronomy and sundial theory; tables and
instructions relating to solar, lunar and planetary longitudes and
latitudes; discussions on solar and lunar distances, and solutions to
many problems such as finding meridian.
The first person known to attempt forecasts in England was
William Merle who kept daily diaries of observations from 1337 to
1344 in Oxford. This was during the Little Ice Age when the Baltic

Sea froze over twice and years of unseasonable cold followed with
storms and rains. The colder weather meant a shorter growing season,
and disaster, for the population in the previous century had reached a
delicate balance with agricultural techniques. In 1315, after incessant
rains, crops failed all over Europe and famine became common.
Tycho Brahe is possibly the most famous observational astronomer
of the sixteenth century. Born in Denmark in 1546, he was friendly
with King Frederick II, who offered him in fief the island of Hven
in the Danish Sound. With this royal support, Tycho constructed a
domicile and observatory and developed a range of instruments of
remarkable size and precision which he used, with the aid of staff,
to observe comets, stars and planets. In 1573 he produced his De
Nova Stella, an almanac document.p Tycho put much importance on
the lunar perigee varying the solar-controlled climate. From 1582
onwards, he kept daily records of weather on Hven, and in 1585
published, under the name of one of his students, an astrological
calendar for the coming year.
Another book, issued from his own press in 1591, contained 399
aphorisms for weather prediction on the basis of the sky’s appearance,
the motions of the heavenly bodies, and the behaviour of animals.
Tycho passed on his observations and knowledge to his student
Johannes Kepler (1571–1630), who is better known for having
invented calculus. But Kepler’s initial recognition came through his
accurate long-range weather forecast of the bitterly cold winter in
Austria in 1593. Kepler noted that certain angles among the planets
had a major bearing upon weather patterns and he published his
observations from 28 June 1618 to 9 August 1629.
When Tycho died in 1601, Kepler succeeded him as imperial
mathematician to Rudolf II.q Kepler’s significance in the history of
astronomy lies in his efforts to establish a celestial physics: he searched
for physical causes of astronomical events describable by geometric
proportions, magnetic forces and harmonic relationships. Besides
his work as a lunar forecaster he discovered, through his work on
Mars (in New Astronomy, 1609) that planetary orbits were elliptical.
Kepler died in 1630.
The next major work was Astrometeorologica by Dr John Goad
in 1686. Goad’s book was based upon 40 years of his own weather
observations in which he also included a transcript from Kepler’s

I 179
research. Goad then became the foremost authority on weather

forecasting until the early ninteenth century was followed by
seventeenth-century astrologers such as John Gadbury who wrote
about weather astrology in his Nauticum Astroligucum (1691).r
Astrologer Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727) in his Principiia
outlined how planets might impact on the atmosphere and the oceans
through force corridors at certain angles to location. Newton was
always reluctant to publish his notes, leaving others to comment
about him. Sir George Darwin, eminent astronomer of the day and
son of Charles Darwin (the author of Origin of the Species), wrote
his own book on tides entitled The Tides and Kindred Phenomena
in the Solar System.
Darwin believed that the Moon was once part of the Earth, until
it was pulled free to form a satellite. Not being an astrologer, George
Darwin attributed tides to the Moon’s direct gravitation, but didn’t
appear to understand the angular pull of the Moon on the Earth.
9 By the mid seventeenth century, scientific circles began to

reject talk of planets influencing weather. With scientific attitudes
beginning to change, astro-meteorology and astrology were
dismissed as unscientific. Astronomy became the only officially
recognised celestial science.
At the end of the Renaissance it was recognised that to further

understand weather, instruments would be needed to measure
moisture, temperature, pressure and other properties of the
atmosphere. The first known design for a hygrometer (to measure
the humidity of air) was described by Nicholas Cusa (1401–1464)
in the mid fifteenth century.
Galileo (1564–1642) had invented an early thermometer around
1592, and in 1643 Evangelista Torricelli (1608–1647), with Galileo’s
help, invented the barometer for measuring atmospheric pressure.
Until the barometer came, weather forecasting was considered to be
part of natural astrology. It was considered a unified, reputable body
of knowledge and formed part of natural philosophy. The study of
natural astrology reflected the view of the universe that everything
is connected. All earthly forms were seen as bound to the power of
the Sun, Moon, stars and planets.

The late eighteenth and early nineteenth

centuries
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries weather recording
was still an amateur hobby. Meteorological phenomena were still
little understood. Although instruments were now available to
measure atmospheric change there was no quick way of transferring
weather data from one location to the next. Often the weather being
warned about would arrive before the data. When Samuel Morse
invented the electric telegraph it became possible for reports to be
circulated widely and speedily.
In the nineteenth century weather forecasting was dealt with
by scientists and hobbyists. No single approach established its
authority, forecasting was played out in the public arena and anyone
could supply themselves with data. Government meteorology was
originally established to collect observations. Its competitors usually
based their forecasts on theories of planetary or lunar influences
on the Earth’s atmosphere. Some of the amateurs concerned would
later be redefined as scientists because of their influence. One
such example is Luke Howard (1772–1864), the man credited
with our cloud classification system, a manufacturing chemist
and pharmacist. Howard produced several works including On
the Modification of Clouds, The Climate of London and Seven
Lectures on Meteorology. For over 30 years, Howard maintained
a record of accurate meteorological observations. His publications
of the 1840s showed his interest in a lunar influence on the weather.
In Barometrographica he concluded that the fluctuations of the
barometer showed a periodicity, which could be linked speculatively
to the Moon’s gravitational effect on the atmosphere, and he analysed
the Moon’s relative position to the Sun and Earth, which he thought
influenced the weather.
The British Meteorological Department

In 1854, the British government created the Meteorological
Department on the recommendation of the Royal Society. Captain
Robert FitzRoy, at the time Governor of New Zealand, was recalled
to Britain by the Admiralty to become the first head of this new
weather department. He was expected to collect data from ships and
create weather charts. The telegraph had just been invented. From

I 181
these charts, FitzRoy issued some of the first forecasts. However,

his techniques were not up to the standard needed to establish
credibility and he was criticised in Parliament, newspapers and by
other scientists. His role in assisting Darwin also troubled him, and
he appeared to oscillate between a ‘lunarist’ position and denying
the Moon.
Between the astro-meteorologists and scientists fell other lunarists,
who predicted according to the cycles of the Moon. One was
Stephen Martin Saxby, born on 21 August 1804 in Kent. A naval
engineering instructor, he was best known for weather prediction
by the Moon. Saxby also invented a device, the spherograph, for
navigation on a sphere. He published his ideas in a series of letters
to the Nautical Magazine starting in 1860 and, in February 1861,
approached the head of the fledging Meteorological Office to offer
advice. But its head was FitzRoy, who rebuffed Saxby. The latter
nevertheless persisted and published Foretelling Weather in London
in December 1861. In 1862, FitzRoy published The Weather Book
in which he scorned lunar-based weather predictions in Chapter 1,
only to suggest in a later chapter a role for lunar tides in modifying
atmospheric circulations. His strong Christian faith taught that
the Moon was satanic. On 30 April 1865 at his home at Upper
Norwood, outside London, in a deep depression, he slit his wrists.
The inquest attributed his action to overwork.
In November of 1868 Saxby predicted a major storm 11 months
hence, and potential flooding dangers to be expected on 5 October
1869 as a result of a particularly powerful perigee-New Moon
occurring on that date. This particular phenomenon, he noted, was
coupled with a situation in which the Moon would simultaneously
be very near to the Earth’s Equator (declination of 0.6 degrees)
and the New Moon would also be in perigee, the second closest
and therefore the second most powerful perigee for the year. In
consequence of the necessarily magnified tide-raising forces and the
extreme high tides that would result, he stipulated the certainty that
this condition would be accompanied by definite coastal flooding.
He stated that the morning tide of 7.00 a.m. on this date would be
marked by a rise to extreme high waters. Through an assertion of
a relationship between ‘atmospheric disturbances and (the position
of) the moon on the equator’, he also included a prediction for an

atmospheric storm of exceptional severity on this same date.

A letter was also sent to the Halifax, Nova Scotia, press by a
local citizen, one Frederick Allison, who wrote to the Halifax
Citizen about a week before the forthcoming tidal phenomenon,
also predicting a heavy gale in that city between 4 and 5 October,
precisely at the same time as that of the predicted extreme tide. The
forecast was based on a ‘theory of the Moon’s attraction as applied
to Meteorology’.
These two disclosures aroused considerable public concern. The
flooding and the storms came about and in the public mind there
arose an air of prophecy which threatened the scientific community.
This extended beyond British shores.
The Hawke’s Bay Herald published the following.
THE PREDICTED HIGH TIDE

Mr. Ellery, the Government astronomer, supplies the following
interesting particulars respecting the prophecy of Lieut. Saxby, as
to the unusual high tides to be expected on the 5th October next:
-- “Some weeks ago a paragraph appeared in most of the daily
journals, to the effect that Mr. Saxby had foretold the occurrence
of unusually high tides about the 4th and 5th of October next.
As these critical days approach, this prophecy seems avalanche
like, to gather to it more alarming significance, until the high
tide becomes a tidal wave, something on the scale of the great
wave that did so much damage in the Pacific on the occasion of
the late Peruvian earthquakes. About midnight on October 5th,
Melbourne time, the moon will be in conjunction, or in other
words, it will be new moon; at that time the moon will also be
on the equator, and in perigee or nearest to the earth, about six
hours previously. Spring or high tides always occur at full and
change, and they are likely to the higher when the moon is at
perigee than when she is at apogee, and in all probability the
tides will be higher in Hobson’s Bay than usual by a few inches
on the date named, if the wind does not happen to be N.N.E.
or E., in which case they might be lower than customary. In the
Bristol Channel, and other places, where the rise and fall is 50ft.
or 60ft. instead of about 30in. as it is here, the difference may

I 183
be, as it often is on such occasions, a matter of serious moment.

Meteorological conditions have a much greater influence on the
tides in our harbour than astronomical ones, and we may get
the highest tides at apogee, if strong S.W. and southerly winds
prevail. It is therefore possible that heavy southwesterly gales,
with continuous rain, might cooperate and add a few extra
inches of tide, as it did on the 11th to 13th December, 1863,
bringing about unusually high tides and floods.
The New Zealand Herald, 9 October, carried the following.
HIGH TIDES AT HOKIANGA — THE BONDED STORES FLOODED

It appears that Saxby’s predictions, which have caused so much
uneasiness in the minds of many throughout New Zealand,
have been fulfilled in some places. A passenger who arrived by
the P.S. Coomorang last evening from Hokianga via Russell,
informs us that on Monday last a very high tide was felt at
Hokianga. The tide rose between four and five feet above the
usual level of high water springs, necessitating the removal of
everything from the bonded stores, which were flooded. Several
of the settlers were much alarmed, fearing a higher tide on the
following day, and the bonded stores have since been removed.
At the Bay of Isles and other places on the coast the tides have
been unusually high, but no damage has been done. At 10.30
p.m. on Tuesday, when the tide was about one quarter ebb, the
sea rushed at a rapid rate up the Kawa Kawa river for about
a quarter of an hour and then receded. The P.S. Coomorang,
which was swung with the tide, was turned right around with
the force of the tide.
In the US the particular storm that coincided in time with Saxby’s

prediction was a hurricane that made landfall in the area of the
Maine/New Brunswick border. Strong winds and high tides caused
extensive property damage and loss of life in New Brunswick and
surrounding areas.
In Canada too, the weather was extreme on that date. The perigean
spring tide was driven by a strong onshore wind and devastated an
entire section of the eastern Maritime Provinces, and was extolled

for many years thereafter by the local residents. Saxby was given the
honour of having predicted it but, because he had been vague as to
which particular areas would be most affected, invited somewhat
nervous scepticism from the scientific community. This storm went
down in the weather annals as The Great Storm, The Saxby Flood
or The Saxby Gale. Saxby died on 11 March 1883.
Lunarists relied upon an analogy with the tides. If the Moon
exerted a gravitational effect on the oceans, it could do the same
with the atmosphere. The mechanism varied. Some thought
that the Moon disturbed the electric tension of the atmosphere,
others looked towards gravitational forces put in motion by
the proximity of the Moon. As the Meteorology Services came
to the fore after 1850 the lunarists like Saxby did not have the
ear of science and so died away. The barometer reigned supreme
and pressure dynamics became the way weather was interpreted,
all very short-term forecasting. As pressure is determined at
sea level assuming the atmosphere to be of constant height,
the lunar factor of air height variance is arbitrarily factored out.
9 Forecasts made today are not much more accurate than

forecasts were in the nineteenth century. Some might say the
science of meteorology took a wrong turning 150 years ago from
which it has never fully recovered. By disregarding the lunar code,
western science has deprived itself of more accurate forecasting,
and of a long-range method that has remained, for many centuries,
covered in dust.
a W. Scott-Elliot (1896) The Story of Atlantis and the Lost Lemuria,

Theosophical Publishing House.
b Charles Hapgood, Maps of the Ancient Seakings, Adventure Press.
c www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8news.
nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/12/1216_051216_humans_britain.html.
d www.schools.ash.org.au/bilambil/ancient2.html.
e www.rangs.co.uk/boomhistory.htm.
f users.on.net/~mkfenn/page2.htm.
g David Childress (1996) Ancient Tonga, US: Adventures Unlimited, p. 18.
h www.news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article296886.ece.
i www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=588&art_

I185
id=qw1122267969150R131.
j www.zodiacal.com/articles/hand/history.htm.
k Edward Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. (Temple
of Serapis was converted into a Christian Church (probably around
391 AD) and it is likely that many documents were destroyed then.
The Temple of Serapis was estimated to hold about ten percent of the
overall Library of Alexandria’s holdings.)
l www.moonpeople.com/html/themoon/pagan.html.
m The Tantric Guru Paramahansa Swami Satyananda Saraswati,
quoted from Dr Jonn Mumford, Ecstasy Through Tantra.
n (Professor Morris Jastrow, The Study of Religion, p. 130).
o www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/WxForecasting/wx2.html.
p J. Christianson (1968) Tycho Brahe’s Cosmology from the
Astrologia of 1591, Isis 59, pp. 312–18. J. Dreyer, Tycho Brahe:
A Picture of Scientific Life and Work in the Sixteenth Century,
Edinburgh 1890. Reprinted New York 1963.
V. Thoren (1990) The Lord of Uraniborg: A Biography of Tycho Brahe,
Cambridge.
q John North (1994) The Fontana History of Astronomy and Cosmology,
London, pp. 309–26.
r Translated as the astrological seaman directing merchants, mariners &c.
how by god’s blessing they may escape diverse dangers which commonly
happened in the ocean.
s Extract from: Fergus J. Wood (1986) Tidal Dynamics: Coastal Flooding,
and Cycles of Gravitational Force. D. Dordrect: Ridel Publishing
Co., Chapter 4, pp. 112–113.

Appendix 1
Apogees/perigees
To demonstrate the 14-day regularity of extreme weather warnings,
the following is the genuine record of Severe Weather Events
throughout the whole of 2004 as issued by the New Zealand
Metservice.
Perigee of 20 January
SEVERE WEATHER WARNING.
ISSUED BY MetService AT 8:13 pm 20-Jan-2004
WIND WARNING FOR WANGANUI AND SOUTH TARANAKI.
RAIN WARNING CONTINUES FOR HAWKES BAY AND WAIRARAPA
Source: www.metservice.co.nz.
Apogee of 1 Feb
ISSUED BY MetService AT 8:46 am 01-Feb-2004
HEAVY RAIN EXPECTED IN NORTHLAND, TARANAKI, THE CENTRAL NORTH ISLAND
HIGH COUNTRY AND NELSON
Perigee of 16 February
ISSUED BY MetService AT 8:34 pm 15-Feb-2004
HEAVY RAIN AND SEVERE SOUTHERLY GALES SET TO CONTINUE OVER
THE LOWER NORTH ISLAND UNTIL MIDDAY MONDAY
Apogee of 28 February
ISSUED BY MetService AT 8:51 am 28-Feb-2004
HEAVY RAIN FOR MANY PARTS OF NEW ZEALAND THIS WEEKEND
Perigee of 12 March
ISSUED BY MetService AT 8:30 am 11-Mar-2004
SOUTHWEST GALES ABOUT COASTAL SOUTHLAND AND OTAGO

Appendix 1
I
187
Apogee of 27 March
ISSUED BY MetService AT 8:15 am 27-Mar-2004
SEVERE WESTERLY GALES ABOUT SOUTHERN HAWKES BAY AND
WAIRARAPA TODAY
Perigee of 8 April
ISSUED BY MetService AT 8:15 am 08-Apr-2004
BURST OF HEAVY RAIN LIKELY FOR NORTHWEST
NELSON AND ABOUT MT TARANAKI TODAY
Apogee of 24 April
ISSUED BY MetService AT 4:10 pm 28-Apr-2004
FURTHER PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN IN BAY OF PLENTY
Perigee of 6 May
ISSUED BY MetService AT 8:40 am 06-May-2004
SEVERE WESTERLY GALES ABOUT CENTRAL AND
SOUTHERN NEW ZEALAND
Apogee of 21 May
ISSUED BY MetService AT 4:42 pm 22-May-2004
HEAVY RAIN EXPECTED IN PARTS OF GISBORNE AND HAWKES BAY
Perigee of 4 June (Queens Birthday Weekend)

ISSUED BY MetService AT 8:35 am 04-Jun-2004
HEAVY RAIN MOVING THROUGH WESTERN PARTS AND
SEVERE GALES IN CENTRAL AREAS
Apogee of 18 June
HEAVY RAIN AND NORTHERLY GALES OVER THE NORTH ISLAND
AND NORTHERN SOUTH ISLAND TODAY

Perigee of 2 July
FURTHER HEAVY RAIN FOR NORTHERN HAWKES BAY, BUT EASING IN EASTERN BAY OF PLENTY
AND MOST OF GISBORNE. ALSO, SEVERE GALE SOUTHWESTERLIES EXPECTED FOR CENTRAL AND
EASTERN PARTS OF THE NORTH ISLAND
Apogee of 15 July
ISSUED BY MetService AT 10:48 am 16-Jul-2004
HEAVY RAIN EXPECTED ABOUT NORTHLAND,
COROMANDEL PENINSULA AND WESTERN BAY OF PLENTY TONIGHT AND TOMORROW
Perigee of 30 July
ISSUED BY MetService AT 7:54 pm 04-Aug-2004
AREAS OF HEAVY RAIN IN THE NORTH AND WEST OF BOTH ISLANDS
Apogee of 11 August
ISSUED BY MetService AT 9:27 am 11-Aug-2004
WINDY NIGHT EXPECTED IN THE SOUTH AND HEAVY RAIN LIKELY IN
FIORDLAND AND SOUTH WESTLAND
Perigee of 27 August
ISSUED BY MetService AT 9:04 pm 26-Aug-2004
BURST OF HEAVY SNOW FOR PARTS OF CANTERBURY and THE KAIKOURA AREA
Apogee of 8 September
SEVERE WEATHER WARNING
ISSUED BY Metservice AT 11.35am 09-Sep-2004
HEAVY RAIN EXPECTED OVER WEST COAST OF SOUTH ISLAND
Perigee of 22 September
ISSUED BY MetService AT 7:52 pm 21-Sep-2004
SEVERE SOUTHWESTERLY GALES ABOUT THE SOUTH OTAGO COAST
TUESDAY MORNING. STRONG WIND WARNING AREA/S AFFECTED: COASTAL OTAGO, ABOUT AND
SOUTH OF THE OTAGO PENINSULA FORECAST: NEXT SEVERE WEATHER WARNING WILL BE ISSUED
AT OR BEFORE 9:00am Wednesday 22-Sep-2004.

Appendix 1
I
189
Apogee of 6 October
ISSUED BY MetService AT 8:05am 04-Oct-2004
PERIOD OF HEAVY RAIN FOR NORTHWEST NELSON AND BAY OF PLENTY RANGES
NEXT SEVERE WEATHER WARNING WILL BE ISSUED AT OR
BEFORE 9:00am Monday 04-Oct-2004.
Perigee of 18 October
ISSUED BY MetService AT 8:51am 18-Oct-2004
HEAVY RAIN FOR PARTS OF HAWKES BAY AND WAIRARAPA
Apogee of 3 November
ISSUED BY MetService AT 8:09 am 04-Nov-2004
BURST OF HEAVY RAIN FOR THE RANGES OF WESTLAND AND
NORTHERN FIORDLAND TODAY
Perigee of 15 November
ISSUED BY MetService AT 10:44 am 14-Nov-2004
BURST OF HEAVY RAIN FOR THE EASTERN BAY OF PLENTY RANGES
Apogee of 30 November
ISSUED BY MetService AT 8:10 pm 29-Nov-2004
SEVERE GALES IN SOUTHERN HAWKES BAY AND NORTHERN WAIRARAPA
EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH TO TUESDAY EVENING
Perigee of 13 December
ISSUED BY MetService AT 8:12 pm 09-Dec-2004
SOUTHWEST GALES FOR SOUTHERN HAWKES BAY AND
NORTHERN WAIRARAPA,
ALSO FOR SOUTHERN OTAGO
Apogee of 28 December
ISSUED BY MetService AT 11:49 am 28-Dec-2004
EXCEPTIONAL DUMP OF RAIN FOR SOUTH WESTLAND WITH SPILLOVER
ACROSS THE ELEVATED PARTS OF CANTERBURY AND OTAGO

Appendix 2
Weather folklore
Phase
If the Moon is in the sky during the day, it is less likely to rain.
New Moon days are pleasant, not too hot or cold.
First Quarter days are cloudy in the morning but generally clear
later. If the Moon is not in the sky during daylight hours, it is likely
to turn unpleasant: too hot or too cold, too windy or too wet.
Full Moon brings snow. Full Moon and New Moon around
lunchtime are good times to go fishing. Check animals around you,
such as cows and cats. If they are hungry and eating, chances are
that the fish will be biting too.
Clouds
If they are fluffy like balls of wool it is a sign of settled weather.
If the clouds increase then rain may be on the way. If they seem to
get less then the weather is improving.
If they are low and wispy it is a sign of cold.
Any shape other than the fluffy balls means bad weather could
be coming soon. For instance there may be lines in the sky, stringy
candy-floss-like wisps, dense grey or two different types, one above
the other. Fluffy shapes that pile themselves high are called tower
clouds and these bring sudden downpours even though the days
may also be sunny. Other indicators of deteriorating weather are:
clouds lowering and thickening;
puffy clouds beginning to develop vertically and darken;
the sky dark and threatening to the West;
clouds increasing in numbers or moving rapidly across the sky;
clouds at different heights moving in different directions;
smoke from stacks blowing horizontally;
a ring (halo) around the moon;
leaves turning over away from prevailing wind and showing
their backs, and temperatures far above or below normal for the
time of year.
Signs of impending strong winds are light, scattered clouds alone

Appendix 2
I 191
but moving quickly in a clear sky; sharp, clearly defined edges to

clouds; a yellow sunset; unusually bright stars, and major changes
in the temperature.
The higher the Moon, the higher the clouds.
The higher the clouds, the finer the weather.
Wind
Notice when the wind starts to blow.
If it is calm then the wind starts up, the wind may blow some rain
to you.
If it is already raining and the wind starts, the wind may blow the
rain away.
The wind is strongest when the moon is on the horizon, and it is
more likely to be strongest in the hour when the moon is rising.
It is also likely to be fairly strong exactly halfway between the
moon setting time and the rising time (moon directly underfoot).
Check your newspaper to get these moonrise/set times. Otherwise
they can be found here for anywhere in the world: www.aa.usno.
navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.html
If you are near the coast, often it can be very still or will rain just
as the tide is turning.
To find the tide times anywhere in New Zealand go to: www.ofu.
co.nz/graph/tides.php.
The sky
Check the sky in the evening and morning.
Red sky at night means good weather next day.
Red sky in the morning means bad weather will come today.
A misty ring or a band around either the Sun or Moon is a sign of
bad weather to follow. A halo around the Moon is a sign of wind.
The open side of the halo tells the area of the sky from which the
wind or rain may soon come.
If the Moon is lying on its back, expect winds in two days.
A dark blue sky that looks gloomy means it will be windy, but a
light blue sky means fine weather.
A bright yellow sky at sunset indicates wind. A pale yellow one
indicates wet.
A pale Moon means rain, a reddish Moon means wind.

If the Moon’s outline is not clear and you are in an area that gets
it, expect rain or snow soon.
Rainbows
Rainbow in the east will be in the evening and means rain going.
Rainbow in the west will be in the morning and means rain
coming.
Rainbow at lunchtime can mean sudden downpours.
Small broken rainbow pieces on a cloudy day mean storms and
blustery weather.
If a rainbow fades quickly, expect good weather soon.
A perfect rainbow after rain means good weather.
When a rainbow appears over water but it does not reach down
to the water, expect clear weather.
If a rainbow can be seen from a great distance, expect clear
weather.
If the rainbow disappears all at once, it means good weather
coming.
Double or triple rainbows indicate fair weather only for the
present, but more heavy rains soon.
Night sky
If stars are flickering or look larger or brighter than usual, rain or a
storm may be approaching.
Twinkling can mean that weather is about to change. Excessive
twinkling means heavy dews, rain, snow or stormy weather to
come.
If faint stars have disappeared then wind is about to rise.
On a clear night if you cannot see the smaller stars rain may be
not far off.
When the sky is very full of stars and it is winter, expect frost. If
summer, expect a nice day following.
If Venus is close to the moon, expect rain soon.
If Mercury moves close to the sun, expect wind and cold swings
in winter and hot swings in summer.

Appendix 2
I 193
Animals, insects, birds and fish

When animals get grumpy or confused, bad weather is often on the
way.
When animals are settled, so is the weather.
When animals are panicking, an earthquake may be coming.
When animals sniff the air, roll over, scratch a lot on fences or call
to each other, rain may be gathering.
The sound of a morepork (ruru) at night usually means a good
day tomorrow.
Fish jumping often means bad weather the next day; dolphins
are a sign of storms and they often may be seen swimming towards
them.
Sheep kick the shearer the hardest just before bad weather.
Cattle and stock reluctant to move may mean bad weather
coming.
A farmer watched to see where the animals would go to feed.
If they stayed around trees or low-down shelter then rain may
be close, but if they climbed hills to eat then fair weather may be
continuing.
The ‘water table’ is the name given to the invisible level of moisture
under the surface of the ground. This water table/level has a tide
that matches the tide at the nearest coast. We can’t see it but animals
can tell.
When insects hurry, rain may be near.
When spiders inspect their webs, wind may be arriving.
When bees fly far from the hive, good weather will continue.
When cobwebs are in long grass, wind is not far off.

Appendix 3
The cycle of the seasons — both hemispheres
To find perigees, New and Full Moons for any year, an online tool
has been put into the public domain, available at www.fourmilab.
ch/earthview/pacalc.html.
In the following table the whole cycle is displayed; P+N = perigee
combining with New Moon in the month, and P+F = perigee
combining with Full Moon. Where it says, say, Feb#1, this means
the closest perigee for the year landed during February. Where say,
Nov#2 may be listed, this means the second closest perigee for the
year landed in November. Greater weather events may be expected
to occur in months displaying #1 or #2, as the air tide is exaggerated
by perigee and the closer the perigee, the more the air tide goes ‘out’,
magnifying unsettled conditions.
From this table seasonal weather trends ahead may be mapped.
P+N over winter months will increase the chance of a harsher winter,
whatever the hemisphere, more so on maximum and minimum
declination years, and P+F over summer months indicates the
greater chance of a hotter summer, again more so in maximum and
minimum declination years. This will enable predictions to be made
about climate change far into the future.
In this table, the 186-year cycle can be seen, 1820 matching 2006.
When calculating equivalent year cyclical weather, the author’s
suggestion is to employ as many cycle matches as can be found:
186 years, 56 years, 36–37 years, 18–19 years and nine years.
Select specific dates from each and check weather maps from old
newspapers in library collections until a strong cycle presents itself.
This may vary from one location to the next. Many farmers report
that 1969 seems to be a good match to 2006, but this may not
globally be the case for every farm.

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Appendix 3
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The Lunar Code
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Ken Ring
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199
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200
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8/29/06 12:13:00 PM
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Ken Ring
201
I
8/29/06 12:13:01 PM
electric properties of 43
Index height changed over tidal cycle 40
impact of Moon on 111
impact of perigee and apogee on 85, 97
Bold numerals indicate information in figures and radiation-absorbing capacity 43
tables. stillness associated with apogee 97–8
sunlight filtered by 43
aeroplane accidents thickness of 45, 47
air-density detectors to avoid 63 water-carrying capacity of 42, 43
correlated with Moon event times 52 weather patterns impacted by 63
occurring just after IC 53, 62 atmosphere (of Sun) 45
in relation to atmospheric tides 49–55 atmospheric tides
Afanasiev, Professor 156 analysed in relation to Moon events 54–5
air density detectors: for aeroplanes 63 definition and measurement 40
air flow: changed by declination 66, 78–9 generation of 46–7
air tides see atmospheric tides impact on weather patterns 47–8
air travel: effect of atmospheric tides on 50–4 measurement of 47
Alcock, Harry 11–12 in relation to light aeroplane accidents 49–55
Alison (cyclone) 151–2 auroras 35
al-Kindi, Jaqub ibn Ishaq 177 Australia
animals: weather folklore about 193 drought years in 87–90, 110, 112
Ansett 708, Flight 703 crash forecasting in 143–4
lack of explanation for 49, 50 weather patterns 87–90
Moon phases and wind at time of 60, 61, 62 axial tilt 18, 18
position of Moon at time of 52
Antarctica: free of snow 91 Babylonians’ predictions of changes in weather 176
aphelion 19–20 barometer 179, 184
apogees barometric pressure
barometric pressure changes heightened by 68 changes in 41, 68, 78
as determinant of heat and cold of seasons in Hurricane Juliette 152
85–6, 86 indicated by declination 147
explained 70, 82–4, 97–8 monitoring of 51
occurrence of earthquakes in relation to 77 barycentre
power relative to perigee in earthquakes 128–9, of Earth-Moon system 106–7, 106
130–2 factor in earthquakes 128–9, 132
severe weather warnings, associated with of solar system see SSB (solar system
perigees and 186–9 barycentre)
tsunamis associated with 133, 135 battles: climatic background to 28–9
weather patterns associated with 82, 93 Beggs, James 53
Appleton 47 birds: weather folklore about 193
apsidal difference 142 Bola (cyclone) 151
Arab traditions of weather-forecasting 177 Brahe, Tycho 97, 178
Aristarchus, of Samos 28 Bruckner, Anton, and the Bruckner Cycle 110
Aristotle 180 business planning: Sun, Moon and 119–21
Asian tsunami, 2004
described 133 celestial sciences 179
North Pole shifted in association with 20 circumnavigation of Sun by Earth 17–24
in relation to apogee 129 climate see also weather
solar system system alignment at 127 causes of change in 90
timing of 128 cosmic changes’ impact on 17
astrological midpoint 131–3 impact of perihelion and aphelion on 19
astrology predictions of changes in 194
attitude to role of planets 98, 118 ruled by natural cycles 19–20
contribution of 131 climatic pulses 96
dismissal of 179 clouds
embraced by different cultures 16 classification system 180
on midpoints 131 shapes of 10
astrometeorology 132, 179 weather folklore about 190–1
astronomy Cobar: cycle of rainfall experienced by 89
natural cycles in 20 Columbia Shuttle crash 54
as recognised celestial science 179 Commodity Price Index (CPI)
atmosphere (of Earth) matched with declination 120
behaviour related to Moon phases 34, 35 matched with sunspot numbers 119
burning up of meteors by 43 cosmic radiation 34
cold and heat protecting properties of 43 cosmobiology: contribution of 131
composition 44 cosmos: movements and changes in 16–17
composition and role of 41–4 Cross, Anthony 130
confined in electrically-charged cavity 45 currents, ocean 76, 77
distorted at equinoxes 150 Cusa, Nicholas 179

Index
I 203
cyclical weather frequency by severity 130, 130

in Australia 87–90 location of 126
calculation of equivalent 194 in maximum declination years 79
cyclones Moon as factor in 130–1
associated with perigee or apogee 82 Moon’s influence on timing of 126–9
months of powerful 150 in New Zealand 130–1
potential for skewing forecasts of 145–6 occurrences related to magnetic-field flux
intensity 68
Darwin, George 179 related to magnetic-field flux intensity 68
day/night cycles: changes in length of 17, 46 in relation to eclipses 69
declination Sun’s influence on timing of 126
18-year cycle of 69–70, 92 times of day of 128
36-year repetitions of cycle 157, 158, 159–60 triggers for 127–8
186-year repetition of cycles of 87, 160–62 undersea 133
air flow changed by 78–9 eclipses
as basis of forecasting 141–2 occurrence of earthquakes at 69, 122
changes in Moon’s 20–1 stone circles used in measurement and
closest to El Nino years 114, 116 prediction of 68
coupled with Moon phases by seasons 71–3, 72 economic cycles: matched with sunspots,
cycles contributing to seasonal cycles 157 declination and El Ninos 119, 119–21
dates of minimum, maximum and economic growth: associated with solar
midpoints of 117 minimums 103
earthquake activity in relation to 127, 128 El Nino
explained 66 declination closest to years of 116
major standstill in cycle see maximum designation of phenomenon 76–7
declination (major standstill) impact in southern hemisphere in 2002 96
matched with CPI and TWI 120 occurrence relative to sunspots and
midpoints in cycle see midpoints in nodal cycles declinations 114
minor standstill in cycle see minimum declination in relation to business cycles 119, 119–21, 121
(minor standstill) in relation to storms and declination 115
nodal cycles of see nodal cycles in relation to sunspot numbers 114
repeating about twice in 36 years 113, 113 in relation to Titanic sinking 122
stone circles used in measurement and temperature rise in 1998 associated with 96–7
prediction 68 electrical activity
and storms in relation to El Nino 115 affected by electromagnetic radiation levels 20
United Kingdom weather by years of 165–6 associated with First Quarter 32
weather effects of monthly 67–9, 79 associated with Third Quarter 35
Denver, John 49, 53 auroras as displays of 44
depressions in high latitudes 104 generated by north-south movement of Moon 67
disasters: repeating on 36-year cycles 157 at midpoints 68
Dogon mapping of Sirius star system 173 at northern declinations 79
dollar value: matched with sunspot numbers 121 occurrence in relation to Moon 67–8
droughts solar winds charged with 104
associated with declination 77 electromagnetic radiation 20
associated with maximum sunspots 104 elliptic path: of Earth’s orbit of Sun 17–18
associated with solar maximums 104 energy, solar 19, 110
in Australia 87–9, 110, 112, 143–4 energy of motion
when perigee days near Full Moon days 85 at apogee 98
of perigee 82
Earth English forecasters 177–78
changes in orbit of Sun by 17–24 equinoxes
changing distance between Moon and 82 in association with hurricanes 150–1
cosmic changes in relation to 16–17 gales associated with March 31
crossing of IMF neutral field 129–30 impact on New Zealand weather 151–2
displacements of crust of the 91 midpoint between 76–7
at equinoxes 150–1 potential for skewing forecasts 144–5
midpoints in Moon’s orbit of ecliptic of 76–7 in relation to significant hurricanes 152–3
nodes in Moon’s orbit of ecliptic of 73–4 eruptions
precession in orbit of Sun 18 land-surface 68
relative size within the solar system 21–3 location of 126
rises and fall of air on 46 undersea 68
rotation beneath the Moon 66 volcanic see volcanoes
shape of orbit of Sun by 17–18
tidal effect of Sun on 45 Fine, Oronce 91
variability in receipt of solar energy by 19 First Quarter Moon
Earth/Moon system: elliptical orbit of 106 appearance and impact on weather
earthquakes patterns 31, 32–3
associated with perigee or apogee 82 explained 29
crossing IMF neutral field as factor in 129–30 oxygen availability at 49

take-off of propeller aeroplanes at time of 49 high tides

tides at 45 at Hokianga 183
times when seen 30 at New and Full Moon 126
tsunamis associated with 135 on opposite sides of earth 45
fish: weather folklore about 192 with perigee/apogee cycle 83
fishing in Saxby’s Flood prediction 181, 182–4
solunar calendars for 82 Hillary, Sir Edmund: on oxygen at high altitudes 48
success linked to Moon events 9, 10, 63 Hipparcus 92
FitzRoy, Robert 180–1 Hokianga: high tides 183
flares, solar 54, 108 Holle, Richard 66, 102
flooding Howard, Luke 180
associated with Saxby’s storm prediction 181–4 Humboldt Current 76
at Hokianga 183 hurricanes
with perigee/apogee cycle 28, 82 associated with perigee or apogee 34, 82, 84
folklore about the weather 190–93 likelihood of 34
Full Moon linked with equinoxes 150–2
adages and superstitions about 28, 33 seasons by hemispheres 150–2
for any year 195–201 hygrometers 179
appearance and impact on weather patterns
33–4 Ibn Yunus 177
atmospheric tides at times of 41 IC position
burn times during 50 increase in wind speed at 62
and Cyclone Bola 151 at time of air accidents 52–4
date as element in apsidal difference 142 insects: weather folklore about 193
as determinant of heat and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF)
cold of seasons 85–6, 86 neutral sheet a factor in earthquakes 129–30
earthquakes on day of 126, 130 strength of 67
formation of clouds on day of 48 Islamic astronomical instruments and tables 177
height changes over seasons 70–1
height of atmosphere at 47 Jigsaw (astrological program) 128
linked to battles 29 Jones, Inigo 110
path of, at maximum declination 73–5, 75 Jupiter
path when closest to solstices 75 contribution to the SSB 109–10
reach of shortwave signals at time of 47 gravity of 46
in relation to aeroplane accidents 52–3 influence on sunspots 103, 104–5
rise and set positions of 70–1 weather patterns 176
speed of Moon at time of 97
take-off of propeller aeroplanes at time of 49 Kennedy, John, Jr. 49, 53
thunderstorms following 136 Kepler, Johannes 178
tsunamis associated with 136 Khazaradze, N.G. 129
weather patterns associated with 93–4 kinetic energy
at apogee 98
Galileo 28, 179 of perigee 82
geographical factors in forecasting 143, 145–6 Knight, Bryan 53
geological cycles 24, 156 Korean Air flight 801 53
Gibb, Neville 130–1
Gisborne: weather associated with perigee 93–4 land tides 46
glaciation land-surface eruptions 68
cycles of 18, 19, 91 Last Quarter see Third Quarter
impact of shape of Earth’s orbit on Sun on 18 latitudes
Goad, John 178–9 as determinant of climate 90
gravitational pull relocation of continents at different 20, 24
atmospheric tides generated by 40–1, 46, 47 thickness of troposphere at different 41
distorting atmosphere at equinoxes 150 Lawson, Elizabeth: on oxygen-less ascents of
of the Moon and Sun 40–1 mountains 48
in relation to earthquakes 126, 129 Long Night Moon 71
wobbling caused by 91 low tides
gravity at New and Full Moon 126
centre of see SSB (solar system barycentre) rips associated with 131
role of 41–2 lunar deities 174–5
The Great Storm, of 1868 184 lunar gravitation: tides caused by 40–1
Greek treatises on weather 176 lunar month: chosen for long-range forecasting 97
greenhouse scenario 96–7 lunar nutation 91–2
Hamilton Airport: as data source in air tide/Moon magnetic fields

event analysis 55 earthquake trigger at crossing of 129–30
Hapgood, Charles 90 solar winds around the Earth’s 45, 66, 104
Hawkin, Gerald 68–9 static charges generated by 67
heat waves: associated with perigee or apogee 82 Van Allen Belt of protection 35

Index
I 205
magnetic rotation of the Sun 66 location of 96

magnetic-field flux intensity 68 increase in declination range of 69
Maori knowledge about the Moon 9 influence on tides 126–7
maximum declination (major standstill) kinetic energy at apogee 98
apogee at time of 98 movements as focus of hurricane season 150
arc of Moon at 71 nodal crossings of 77
in association with New Moon 143 nutation caused by elliptic orbiting of 91–2
coinciding with Full Moons + old wives’ tales 28
pedigree 86–7, 87 phase/declination coupling of 71–2
cycle of 69–70, 111, 113 phases of see Moon phases
explained 69, 73 position of perigee and apogee on orbit by 84
in Grand Cycle 87 potential for events to skew forecasts 145–6
hurricanes associated with 151 precession connected with orbiting cycles of 92
impact on Australian drought 88 rise in Earth to meet transiting 46
matched with CPI and TWI 120 rotation around Earth 66
occurrence of earthquakes at 79, 128 as seen in different phases 29–31, 30
occurrence of El Nino around 113, 115 synodic period of 29
path of Full Moon in winter and tides as forces generated by the 40–1
summer at 74–5, 75 vacuum pockets of air caused by rising or
in relation to sinking of Titanic 122 setting of 52–3
sunspot maximums coinciding with 117, 117 varying speed of 70
at time of New Moon 31 writing tallying movements of 172
weather patterns associated with 78, 78, 79, as yardstick of measurement 170
113, 113 Moon phases
years of 74, 86, 113, 117, 117 186-year repetition of cycles of 87
Meldahl, K.G. 102 as basis of forecasting 141–2
Merle, William 177–8 coupled with declination by seasons 71–3, 72
Meteorological Department (Great Britain) 180–1 cycles contributing to seasonal cycles 157
MH position 52–3 as determinant of heat and
microclimates 147 cold of seasons 85–6
midpoint, astrological 131–3 explained 28–9
midpoints in nodal cycles weather folklore about 190
occurrence of tsunamis in relation to 135 Moon/Earth system: elliptical orbit of 106
phenomena associated with 76–7 Moon-gods 174–5
potency of 131–3 moonquakes 128
Milankovitch cycles 17–24 mountaineers: affect of atmospheric tides on 48–50
minimum declination (minor standstill)
explained 73 NAC DC3 fatality
matched with CPI and TWI 120 lack of explanation for 49
occurrence of El Nino around 114, 115 Moon phases and wind at time of 62, 63
path of Full Moon in winter and summer at position of Moon at time of 53
74–5, 75 Nanocycles method 156
weather patterns associated with 78, 78 natural cycles
years of 75 ongoing nature of 24
monsoon: impact on economies 29 ruling weather and climate 20
Moon see also named phases of the Moon, e.g. Neptune
Full Moon contribution to the SSB 109
186-year repetition of cycles of 87 positions at solar maximums and
adages about 28 minimums 105
air affected by 9 squared with Saturn see Saturn-Neptune square
apogee and perigee days of 70 New Moon
ascending/descending nodes of 72–4 for any year 195–201
barometric pressure changes caused by appearance and impact on weather patterns 31
movement of 68 associated with air safety 49, 52–4
big three cycles 157 associated with earthquakes 126, 128, 130
in business planning 119–21 as determinant of heat and
causing pickups in winds 63 cold of seasons 85–6
changes in speed during declination 67 height changes over seasons 72
changes in wind speed caused by just-rising 63 mountain-climbing at times of 48–9
changing rising and setting positions of 74–5 rain associated with 48
changing speed of 82–4 in relation to climbing mountains 49
connection with planets and Sun 118–19 in relation to perigee and
declination of see declination apogee 83, 85–6, 93, 97
directly beneath Earth position see IC position rise and set positions 71, 73–4
directly overhead (MH) position 52–3 New Zealand dollar value: matched with sunspot
events as basis for weather forecasting 140–2 numbers 121
factor in earthquakes 126–9 New Zealand earthquakes 130–1
impact of changing declination of 20–1 New Zealand hurricanes 151–2
impact on temperatures on hemispheric New Zealand Metservice: severe weather warnings

issued by 186–91 apogees and 84, 186–89

New Zealand Trade Weighted Index (TWI) weather patterns associated with 82
matched with declination 120 perihelion
matched with sunspot numbers 119, 121 explained and occurrence 19–20
New Zealand weather factor in earthquakes 128
2005/06 summer 143 periodicity of passage of 107–8
case of 186-year repeat of 164, 164 taken into account in seasonal weather 109
effect of maximum and minimum declination phases of the Moon see Moon phases
on 79 Pinatubo, Mount temperatures at eruption of 96
in El Nino years 76, 77 planets see also specific planets, e.g. Jupiter
equinoctial impacts 151–2 in alignment with Sun 102
error potential in forecasting 146 connection with Sun and Moon 111, 118–19
Newton, Sir Isaac 179 effect on plane of Earth’s orbit 92
night sky: weather folklore about 192 effect on weather patterns 105, 179
night/day cycles: changes in length of 17, 46 magnetic couplings between Sun and 102
nodal cycles midpoints acting as 131
explained 69–70, 92 relative sizes within the solar
oscillations in crossing of the system 21–4, 108, 109
elliptic in 76–7, 77 weather patterns on 176
phenomena associated with midpoints in 76–7 polar shift 90–1
nodding 91–2 Polaris 18
nodes precession
18.6-year cycle of 71, 77, 92 connection with Moon orbiting cycles 92
in Moon’s orbit 73–4 explained 73–4
North Pole third of Milankovitch cycles 18, 77
changing positions of 19, 90–1 pressure, barometric see barometric pressure
shifted by Asian tsunami 20 pressure dynamics: for interpretation of
North Star 18 weather 184
northern hemisphere Ptolemy’s weather calendar 177
2005/06 winter 140
appearance of First Quarter 32 radiation
changes in winter and summer solstices 19–20 absorbed by the atmosphere 43
cycle of seasons 156–7 amount received at Earth 18, 107
effect of El Nino on 77 cosmic 20
heating and cooling in relation to Moon 96 electromagnetic 20
hurricane season 150, 152 increases in solar 108
Moon phases and declination by seasons 72 levels controlled by sunspot cycles 20
wamer winters/milder summer phase 20–1 rain
nutation 91–2 associated with Moon phases 30, 31, 32–4,
35, 40
obliquity 18, 18 declination in relation to steady 68
ocean currents 76, 77 following battles 28
Opik, Ernst 105 at peaks and troughs of perigee/apogee cycle 83
orbit of Sun by Earth: cyclic changes in 17–24 potential for overshot of forecasts of 145
oxygen-less ascents of mountains 48–9 predictions based on cloud shapes 10
ozone 35, 41, 44 related to movement of perigee in Gisborne
92–4
Pacific seismic ring 126 rainbows: weather folklore about 192
perigees
186-year repetition of cycles of 87 Saturn
for any year 202, 195–201 contribution to the SSB 109–10
barometric pressure changes heightened by 68 influence on sunspots 103, 104–5
as basis of forecasting 141–2 Saturn-Neptune square: matched with severe
changes in closeness, 1974 to 2020: 95–6, 95 winters 166, 167
closeness of, versus temperature, 1984–2020: Saxby, George 97
95–6, 95 Saxby, Stephen Martin, and the
cycles contributing to seasonal cycles 157 Saxby Flood/Gale 181–4
date as element in apsidal difference 142–3 seasons see also summers; winters
dates of, 1991–1999: 83 36-year repeating cycles 158, 159–60, 163
as determinant of seasonal heat and 186-year repeating cycles 160–2
cold 85–6, 86 calculation of repeat of the 156
explained 70, 82–3 comparison of weather by 73
as a fundamental lunar consideration 97 cycle as recurrence of three big Moon cycles
movements related to Gisborne rainfall 92–4 157
power relative to apogee in cycles in southern and northern hemisphere
earthquakes 128, 130–2 156–7, 195–201
related to nutation periodic oscillation of the determined by combinations of perigee phases
Earth 92 85
severe weather warnings, associated with mapping of weather trends by 194

Index
I 207
rise and set positions of Full and New Moons storms

by 70–1 and declination in relation to El Nino 115
seismic activity 108 occurrence in relation to maximum
severe weather warnings declination 117, 117
14-day regularity of 186–9 predicted by Saxby 181–4
associated with apogees and perigees 84 in relation to declination 77, 113
Shatashvili, L.Kh. 129, 130 stratosphere 41, 47
short wave radiation see radiation Sumerians’ understanding of the solar system 173
Sikharulidze, D.I 129 summers
Sirius star system mapped by Dogons 173 cycles of weather in 156–7
the sky: weather folklore about 191–2 heat determined by perigee/apogees and Moon
solar calendar: for long-range forecasting 97 phase 85–6
solar energy 19, 110 Moon events as drivers of heat of 142
solar flares 55, 108 rise and set positions of Full and New Moons
solar maximums in 70–2
periodicity and characteristics 103–4 rises of New and Full Moon according to
Uranus and Neptune squared at 105 declination 78
solar minimums Sun
at date of sinking of Titanic 122–123 in business planning 119–21
occurrence of El Ninos after 76 changes in Earth’s orbit of 17–24
periodicity and characteristics 103, 108 connection with planets and Moon 117–18
in southern hemisphere 2006 winter 123 distance of barycentre from centre of the
Uranus and Neptune in conjunction or 108–9, 109
opposite 105 Earth’s axial tilt in orbit of 18
solar radiation 108 Earth’s precession in orbit of 18
solar system emission of radiation by 43
alignment on day of Asian tsunami 127 at equinoxes 150–1
barycentre of see SSB (solar system barycentre) influence on tides 126–7
centre of see barycentre influence on timing of earthquakes 126
relative sizes within 21–4, 109 magnetic couplings between planets and 102
Sumerians’ understanding of 173 movements as focus of hurricane season 150
solar tides 97, 105 perturbations of, around the SSB 108–9
solar winds relative size within the solar system 22–3
associated with sunspots 104 shape of Earth’s orbit of 17–18
explained 45 tidal effect on Earth exerted by 45
magnetic-field polarity shifts in 66 tides as forces generated by the 40–1
at time of Columbia Shuttle crash 54 sunlight
solstices filtered by atmosphere 43
changing rising and setting positions of moons reflection of 96
of 71, 73, 74–5, 75 sunspots
coinciding with aphelion and perihelion 19–20 cycle of 104, 104
nodal crossings at positions of 76–7, 93 explained 102
stationary weather systems created at 31 numbers in relation to El Nino 114
solunar fishing calendars 82 numbers matched with CPI and TWI 119
South Island: weather patterns 79, 85 numbers matched with dollar value
southern hemisphere and TWI 121
appearance of First Quarter 32 numbers of 103, 103
changes in winter and summer solstices 19–20 occurrence 120
cycle of seasons 156 occurrence in relation to Moon events 122
effects of El Nino felt in 77 in relation to El Nino years 115
heating and cooling in relation to Moon 96 super-cooling 67
hurricane season 151–2 superstitions: associated with Full Moon 33
Moon phases and declination by seasons 72 synodic period of Moon 29
wamer summer/colder winter phase 20–1
winter of 2006: 122 tectonic activity 82
Southern Oscillation 76 tectonic plate displacement 129, 132
SSB (solar system barycentre) television weather forecasting 10–11
cycle of 107–8, 110 temperatures
deviation of Sun from 109 versus closeness of perigee, 1984–2020:
explained 106, 107, 118 95–6, 95
influence on seasonal weather 109 effect of SSB on 107
standstill cycle see maximum declination (major impact of shape of Earth’s orbit on Sun on
standstill); minimum declination (minor 17–18
standstill) impacted by sunspot activity 103
stars: relative sizes within the solar system 24 sharp swings in global 96
static charges 67 thermal inertia 96
stone circles: in measurement and prediction of Third Quarter
declination and eclipses 68 appearance and impact on weather patterns 35
Stonehenge: alignment of 69 burn times during 34, 50

hurricanes associated with 151 cycles for determining 156

weather patterns associated with 145 folklore about 190–3
Thom, Alexander 68–9 instruments developed to understand 179
thunderstorms planets rejected as influencing 179
cause of 67–8 predictions based on the lunar cycle 28
energy of 42 ruled by natural cycles 20
occurrence in relation to Moon 67–8 weather forecasting
occurrence in relation to Moon events 34, 136 in 18th and 19th centuries 180
tides accuracy of 184
associated with Saxby’s storm prediction 181–4 for Australia 143–4
atmospheric see atmospheric tides error factors in long-range 144–6
caused by lunar gravitation 40–1 machine capable of 141
definition 40 rudiments of system for 8
as forces generated by Moon 40–1 Saxby’s lunar-based 181–4
high see high tides on television 10–11
land 46 weather patterns see also seasons
low see low tides 9.3- and 18.6-year cycle for determining 156
at New and Full Moon 126 31-year cycle of seasonal interaction in 156
on the Sun 97, 105 186-year cycle of 202
tilt of Earth’s axis 18, 18 during 18-year cycle of declination 69
Titanic: sinking date 122–3 36–38-year cycles 144
Torricelli, Evangelista 179 associated with apogees 98–9
Trade Weighted Index (TWI) associated with declination 79
matched with declination 120 associated with perigees around the Equator 84
matched with sunspot numbers 119, 121 associated with zodiac signs 131–2
troposphere 41 effect of monthly declination on 67–9
tsunamis see also Asian tsunami, 2004 effect of planets on 105
associated with apogee 98 expectation of powerful 202
explained 133 explained by atmospheric volume 51
occurrence in relation to Moon events 133, extremes in current solar period 108
134–6, 134–6 impact of atmospheric tides 47–8
typhoons: associated with perigee or apogee 82 impact of Moon phases on 31–6
influence of SSB on 109
ultraviolet rays 43 mapping of seasonal 194
underfoot position see IC position on planets with and without moons 176
undersea eruptions 68 repeated in maximum declination years 113,
undersea quakes 133 113
United Kingdom: weather patterns by declination seasonal comparisons of 72
years 165–6 severe see severe weather warnings
United States: severe winters matched with Saturn- speed when Moon rises due east 67
Neptune square 166, 167 in United Kingdom by declination years 165–6
Uranus Weekes 47
contribution to the SSB 109 Wellington earthquakes 130–1
positions at solar maximums and minimums winds
105 associated with declination 68, 79
associated with hurricanes 150
vacuum pockets of air 50, 52–3, 63 associated with Moon phases 31, 34, 35
Van Allen Belt 35 associated with perigees 82
Vega 18, 19 changes in speed caused by just-rising Moon 62
Venus 105, 128 at midpoints 131
volcanoes observations on speed and direction at Moon
eruptions associated with perigee or apogee 82 rise 55, 56–9, 60, 62–4
eruptions related to magnetic-field flux solar see solar winds
intensity 68 weather folklore about 191
location of 126 winter of 2005/06, northern hemisphere 140
winters
Waning Crescent 36 cold determined by perigees/apogees and Moon
Waning Gibbous 34 phase 85–6
water cycles of weather in 156–7
capacity of the atmosphere to carry 42, 43 Moon events as drivers of cool of 142
location of, on Earth 43, 43 rise and set positions of Full and New Moons
uniform size of droplets 67 in 70–1
Waters, Bill 51–2 very cold 157
Waxing Crescent 31–2 Wood, Karl D. 105
Waxing Gibbous 33
weather see also climate x rays: emitted by Sun 43
altitude at which generated 145
Babylonians’ predictions of changes in 176 zodiac signs 131–2, 177
confined in atmosphere 44

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The

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A RANDOM HOUSE BOOK

Random House New Zealand

18 Poland Road, Glenfield, Auckland, New Zealand

First published 2006

© 2006 Ken Ring

The moral rights of the author has been asserted

ISBN-13: 978 1 86941 853 3

ISBN-10: 1 86941 853 0

Cover and text design by Trevor Newman

Printed in Australia by Griffin Press

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1 The Big Picture 15

Appendix 2 Weather Folklore 190

Appendix 3 The Cycle of the Seasons —

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Johan Goad, Astrometeorlogica, 1686

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alone under a blindingly beautiful, overhead Full Moon in a pristine

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nearest heavenly body to Earth was in need of fixing. I wanted to

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was there an overriding one? The recording was rudimentary at

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because it was foreign to their ears.

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a brilliant memory, even at 81, Harry should have received wider

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(Moon closest to Earth for the month) or apogee (Moon furthest

Ken Ring, 2006

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W hen it comes to the cosmos and our own wee corner of it we

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9 Earth is slowing down and the days are getting longer.

The Milankovitch Cycles

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the Sun’s short-wave radiation must travel to reach Earth. In turn, it

Compiled using data from Berger and Loutre, 1991.

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9 In 10,000 years’ time, when the axis of Earth is tilted towards

This means that the northern hemisphere will experience winter

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hotter summers. The reason is the Moon’s change in declination,

Relative planet sizes within the solar system.

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Relative planet sizes within the solar system.

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Relative star sizes within the solar system.

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9 There is no reason to believe these natural cycles and geological

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Old nautical saying

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T he Moon’s phases are simply the changing angle of the Moon as

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It was the Allied invasion of Normandy. The Germans, doubting

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Phase Rises Mid Moon Sets

Because the Moon is so familiar it is taken for granted, and in our