The Moon Calendar & You: Navigating Your Way To Success.

"There is a tide in the affairs of men.Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, and we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures."
 William Shakespeare

"We people (Indians) follow the lunar calendar whereas the westerners follow the sun calendar. That’s why their festival dates do not change. Here (in India ) every festival is based on the position of the moon. And that’s why the dates keep changing and the same festival falls on different dates, in different years. The reason why we give importance to the moon and keep all our dates according to its position, is that the moon has an influence on human beings. The sun does not. Along with the moon, other planets also have influence on us. That is why we follow the lunar calendar and fix our festivals accordingly. There is one festival however, where the date is as per position of the sun. When the sun starts its movement from southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere, that date is celebrated as a festival (Sankranti). 

In our country the science of astrology is also based on the positions of the moon. In astrology also the positions of the moon are taken into consideration.  The first calendar that was made here which is called as Shalivahana Shaka is based on the movements of the moon. That is why all the festivals are based on the position of the moon. Those people who are not aware of our (Indian) system of dates will not be able to understand why our festivals fall on different dates, in different years.

Whatever it is, we must think as to why we give so much importance to the moon. The reason is that we should remain vigilant about the effects that the moon has on us. The biggest effect that the moon has on us is because our left side is based on it. Very few people know about it. This left side of the body which is recognised and accepted so much in our country, has psychological effects on us. Effects on the left side are psychological and not intellectual, and we cannot control it. Whatever psychological problems we have, cannot be controlled. We cannot control the effect of the moon on us. That’s why the position of the moon is seen and lunar dates are observed. For example if it is a no-moon night (Amavasya) or a full moon night (Poornima) then the problem of a person, having epilepsy or any other psychological problem, will aggravate further. One can immediately see very clearly that such a person has been affected by the full moon or no-moon. That’s why we are very much sensitive towards the position of moon and date of lunar month. In our country detailed calculations are done on this, to know about the exact timings and position of the eclipse, and when it will end.. All this shows that in our country a lot of care is taken about the positions of the moon on the of lunar calendar and so much has been discussed and written about it.

Now we live in these modern times, where the dates and festivals are based on the position of the sun. But this is not correct. We must see the position of the moon- what is its position today, what will it be tomorrow, how it will affect us today. This is a very deep subject about which we all must know and it should be discussed in our country." 

Gudi Padwa Puja, Palam Vihar, Gurgaon (India), 13 April 2002.

Moon Calendar for October 2024 (With Key to the Calendar Below)

Key to Moon Calendar: