Astarte’s Bediamonded Crescent

12/11/05 – 12/17/05

By C. Zaitz

Edgar Allan Poe wrote a poem called Ulalume. In it are these lines:

And now, as the night was senescent
And star-dials pointed to morn--
As the star-dials hinted of morn--
At the end of our path a liquescent
And nebulous lustre was born,
Out of which a miraculous crescent
Arose with a duplicate horn--
Astarte's bediamonded crescent
Distinct with its duplicate horn.

The image of Astarte’s bediamonded crescent has been with me ever since I first read this poem, and every time I see the crescent moon, especially in the morning, I think of this image. I did have to look up “senescent” - it means growing old. The night was growing old, the “Star dials” or constellations pointed to morning. The crescent moon was a liquescent and nebulous luster. Wow. Who knew there were such beautiful English words, especially ones that rhymed with crescent? I love poetry- it’s one of the few places you can actually use such words!

Astarte was the old Phoenician deity of fertility and was seen as either the moon or sometimes as Venus. This week, both apparitions of Astarte will be in the sky. Venus is still shining as brightly as she can in the low southwest at evening twilight, and the moon grows full this week, rising close to sunset as it arrives at full phase on the 15th. This month the full moon is called the Moon before Yule or the Long Night Moon. We all have noticed the long nights of December, when the sun makes its lowest path in the sky and is barely up for more than nine hours. Yule is the old pagan celebration of the winter solstice. The solstice is the day that the sun “stands still” (sol = sun, stice = stand still) and ceases its southward trek in our sky. The winter solstice falls on December 21st this year. So this full moon is the moon of the longest nights of the year, and indeed is the moon before the solstice, or yule.

When you see the full, bright moon, you can remember Astarte’s bediamonded crescent and the beautiful words of Poe. Within two weeks, the moon will be in its waning crescent phase, seen in the early morning hours before dawn. That will be Astarte.

If you want to know more about the moon, stars and constellations of the season, come to the Ensign Planetarium on Wednesday, December 14th at 7pm. The show is called The Colors of the Night, and we will light up the night sky with colors and stories of the sky. No reservations needed.

Until next week, my friends, enjoy the view!