Timekeeping – The Lunar calendar from Hawaii

The Moon – here at sunset in the Atacama Desert – fascinates people all over the world (ESO/Gerhard Hüdepohl)

A new month begins with the day of Hilo, the thin thread. This is a very appropriate name for the wafer-thin sickle immediately following the new moon. ‘Ole Kulua’ is the name for the seventh day of the week with an increasing crescent.

Tomorrow Poepoe starts – round -, the second ten-day interval. It includes the time before and following the full moon.

Three days full moon

In the Hawaiian calendar, three days are considered a full moon: Akua, which means God, is the first day. Hoku is the second on which, according to our understanding, there is a full moon.

If the moon is still in the sky at sunrise, it is Hoku ili, the stranded moon. Hoku palemo, the sunken moon, sets before sunrise.

With Mahealani, the full period comes to an end. In it is the word for hazy.

Three days of a full moon correspond to the visual impression. After all, in fact, hardly anyone can decide with the naked eye on the day before or following the full moon, whether the disk is fully illuminated or not.

On the penultimate day of the Hawaiian month, with Mauli, the spirit or last breath, there is once more a wafer-thin sickle in the sky. Muku, cut off, is the day of the new moon.

Next week we will experience a full moon from Tuesday to Thursday. Because the moon is still low in the western sky at sunrise, Wednesday is Hoku ili, the stranded moon.


The lunar calendar from Hawaii
The orbit of the Moon around the Earth

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