Is it the Full Moon at the same time around the world?
Is it the Full Moon in Sydney at the same time as the Full Moon in London or New York?
This may seem obvious to some, but given that I live in Australia, one of the questions which I am asked at least once a week is whether those of you in the Northern Hemisphere (or elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere!) can follow my lunar practice in real time.
In other words, do all of us around the world have the Full Moon – and all the moon phases – peaking at the same time?
The answer? Yes.
The Moon, of course, orbits the Earth, which in turn orbits the Sun. The peak of the Full Moon is when the Moon is opposite the Sun – 180 degrees away. Therefore the Full Moon (and the other moon phases) occur at the same time, regardless of where you are located on Earth.
The reason why I give different times and dates for the New and Full Moon phases (in my e-letter, which you can sign up for here) is because of timezones.
Once upon a time we measured time based on the sun’s zenith at noon; that led to umpteen timezones around the world. At one stage there were 300 timezones in the U.S. alone, which as you can imagine, led to many a headache.
Unified time zones based on longitude were introduced for practical reasons, for example to enable transport, communication and trade (and to save energy with daylight savings time). The position of Greenwich in the United Kingdom was adopted as the main time in the 19th century and today we still base the global timezones off that universal time- for peace of mind.
Australia’s geographical location means that we often seem to have the New or Full Moon ahead of the rest of the world- but it’s not the case.
Depending on daylight savings time, 7 a.m. on the East Coast of Australia (Sydney/Melbourne) on a Sunday is actually 10 p.m. in the United Kingdom on a Saturday and 5 p.m. on the Saturday on the East Coast of the United States.
But all those times and dates are happening simultaneously. 7am in Sydney is happening in parallel with 10 p.m. in London and 5 p.m. in New York the date before. It’s just appearing differently- because of timezones.
Does this make you reflect on time as a human construct? I mean, what is time really?
But I digress. Regardless of where you are on Earth, when it’s a Full Moon it’s a Full Moon. Same for New Moons (and all the other six main phases that we work with in the Lunar Abundance practice – more about those over here).
In other words: When I post on Instagram that there is a “Full Moon coming up in about three hours” – that’s the case around the world. If it’s coming up in three hours in Sydney, it’s also coming up in three hours for you in San Francisco, Stockholm and Perth.
If you were to look up in the sky at the Crescent Moon Phase and you were based in Austin or Berlin, you would see the same Crescent Moon as I would in Australia at that time (the moon will rise and set at different times, so it won’t be visible the whole time everywhere in the world, but each of the eight moon phases lasts 3-4 days apiece, and these phases are determined based on the moon’s position in relation to the earth and sun – so are consistent around the world).
Also note that if you are in the Northern Hemisphere, your view of the moon would be reversed to mine- so in the South, the Crescent Moon appears with light on the left, curving towards the right, and in the North the moon will appear with light on the right, curving left (more about Northern vs Southern Hemisphere in a future post).
Isn’t that a powerful concept?
That in this chaotic world, with so much difference and sadness and love – that we are all unified together on the same globe, under the same sky, watching the same moon.
Can you imagine how powerful it would be if we all worked with the phases of the moon together, at the same time?
Whilst this Lunar Abundance practice helps you cultivate self-knowledge and fill up our own cups, that’s not the end of the story – we also want to give back, to connect. This practice connects us to something bigger- and that is a great starting point to create a better world together.
Love,
Ezzie
Want to plan ahead? Download your free Lunar Planner here. There’s one for the Northern Hemisphere (based on US Eastern time) and the Southern Hemisphere (based on Australian Eastern Standard time). These lunar planners have the dates but not the exact times, so this is why I have simplified it down to the hemispheres rather than each individual timezone- if I were to create individual lunar planners for all eight phases for all earthly timezones I would not have the time to blog or create gorgeous free things for you!
The exact times for the New and Full Moon for a few main timezones are sent out in my e-letters – sign up to receive these here.
Tell me in the comments below: did you ever wonder about the timezones question- and has this article made you reflect on the nature of time, and how connected we all really are?
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Comments
Love it! Thanks so much for your wisdom Ezzie! One thing I’d love to know is the relationship between the moon cycles and our menstrual cycles. My friends and I have been casually research this for a while, in that it’s said, in Ayurvedic tradition in particular, that the natural and best time to ovulate is on a Full Moon and to get your period on a New Moon (Gawd! or have I mixed that up! I find this confusing to remember :)). We all often find we’re naturally having our period around a full moon consistantly and it had us wondering if it’s a Hemisphere thing? Maybe for us in the Southern Hemisphere, it is meant to be on the Full Moon not the new moon? Have you got an opinion or any experience with this? thanks 🙂
Hi Janelle, thanks for your comment! It’s so fascinating when we start to become aware of our cycles, eh 🙂
From what women from around the world have told me: some bleed on the New Moon, some bleed on the Full Moon, and many swap between the two.
I wrote a bit more on the topic here: http://www.lunarabundance.com/why-it-is-okay-if-you-dont-bleed-on-a-new-moon xo
Thanks Ezzie, love learning new things! You explained so well, it makes it easy to understand!
Yay! Happy to hear it Liz xo
Brilliant post! The difference in timezones makes so much sense and clarifies why we think we’re experiencing the moon phases at different times (but we’re really not). I love your nod to all of us being connected by looking up at the same moon. Love this!
xox Emily
Why do I find it so hard to get my head round moon/sun/planet stuff?! If I’m looking at the moon now in the uk, surely you can’t be looking at the moon now in Australia cos it’s daytime there? Or am I missing something!
Hi May, the phase of the Moon is related to its position to the Sun and Earth, so this is the same regardless of where we are on Earth. (I work with 8 moon phases, which each last a few days – do you have my free moon calendar?).
The moon rises and sets on its own schedule, and is visible during the daytime when above the horizon- it’s just more obvious at night when reflecting Sunlight!
Stop and really think about. There have been many many reports of people on opposite sides of the earth seeing the Moon at exactly the same time. This is impossible on a ball earth unless one of the parties was looking through the earth. The truth is that our world is a flat, circular, dome-enclosed structure. The earth does not spin, the moon does not orbit the earth. The sun, moon, and stars circle above within the dome (firmament). Everything you think you know is a lie that was created and continues to be perpetuated by the Freemasons who love to think of themselves as the “architects of the world”, but it is all a massive Luciferian deception.
Hi James- I resonate with the essence of your comment, which I read to be, fundamentally, how do we know what we think we know?
Always good to keep questioning these things!
In the case of the moon, it is possible to see the moon at the same time in different places around the world – it would appear in different parts of the sky. I also note the difference in the view between hemispheres, namely, the moon appearing in reverse depending if viewed in the northern or southern hemisphere. I haven’t seen verified reports of the phenomenon that you mention. Always interested in our mysterious moon 🙂
I am in a wonderful beautiful long distance relationship with a Russian lady who lives in The Bahamas. Our favourite song is “The Same Sun” sung by Chris de Burgh. Powerful words and a great song for her and I as two people in love on virtually opposite sides of our planet Earth.
I’ll have to check out the song, Paul! Wonderful to feel united under the same sky 🙂
@paul. Have you guys met in real .
I experienced a wonderful beautiful long distance relationship. We had a telepathic connection through the moon as a matter of fact. At times we found that I would suddenly wake from sleep to see the moon, and would find myself asking him if he can see the moon right now, and he would get the thought right from my mind.
The moon was always right in my window whichever house I lived in.
Sounds weird? It WAS.
Is it possible and scientific that the new moon occurs at the same time throughout the world, if not then at least in one region. For example if the new moon is sighted in Middle East does it also moon it’s the day of new Moon in India as well ?
Well, this answers my age old question. To think that an intelligent person didn’t know this. I talk to a chap in NZ and he sent me a pic of his full moon. I remarked that I could have sworn we had a full moon the night before but I was unsure. So we discussed this and I concluded since I am a day behind I most likely would have a full moon that night. He concluded that being on different hemispheres mean I get the exact opposite…..ha. smart us. I also didn’t know the moon cycle lasted a few days…no wonder it was so bright those two days. Wow, and wow. By the way, thanks to above commenter for that song….we shall be sharing in that magic with you. 😉
I may be missing something here but how is it possible that we all can sè the moon phase at the same moment as in the example you have.
I looked up moon phase for today and confirmed right now 19.3% Wanning moon and it is currently visible in Arizona at 8:55pm, Australia 1:57pm, Madagascar 6:
Chili 12:59am. I totally understand the times given times zones however I don’t comprehend how all these regions can be veiwing the same moon at the same time if in my case Madagascar and Australia are on the opposite side of the globe. I get Chilie in South America. F
The moon is always full. We just can’t see it full sometimes. Take a clear glass, and fill it up 100% with water, and then put duck tape around half the glass of water. You still have 100% of the water, you just can’t see half of it. ?
Ha- yes!
I would just like to thank you for this clear and comprehensible description. This was the perfect straight forward answer I needed! Thanks again
Hi
Thank you for the wealth of knowledge!
I noticed that on the lunar calendar for 2018 ( https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/phases/canada/toronto) the new moon for the month of June in Toronto and Saudia Arabia occur the same day ( June 13) however the date in Pakistan is June 14 for the new moon? Would you please shed some light on this- if possible!
thanks
FK
How can the full moon be viewed on the globe in Australia, down under, and also on the opposite side of the globe at the same time? On the globe this would seem impossible. I’ve been asked this question by someone, and I’m trying to logically answer it.
Sorry, Ezzie, the answer to this question is technically NO!!
An actual full moon (as defined as the maximum size of the illuminated surface visible to the observer on earth) will NOT be at the same time in New York and London. It is only because we have agreed to establish an approximate and simplified ‘mean full moon time’ for the whole earth that we can say it is, as it makes life easier (just like time zones).
Astronomically, however, the time of the full moon varies over the planet as a whole, as does the extent of the moon’s face visible when at its fullest when viewed from any given place.
Life’s never quite so simple….
There is no “actual Full Moon”, rather, there are different definitions, and the definition that I have adopted is the one that I set out in the article above, ie when the moon is 180d away from the sun. In the internal logic of my system, exact definitions and timings do not matter, for reasons set out at length in my book and elsewhere, but in summary, because I work with the moon cycle as a guide; a natural timekeeper to support the creation of a better life.