We've all heard that the full moon makes people rangy.
Visits to the emergency room are up during a full moon as people act out-of-character erratically and violently.
Mental health admissions bump as people come unhinged.
But, the reality is these are probably old wives' tales.
There's not really any scientific evidence the full moon stirs up emotions, provokes bizarre behaviour or plays with our mental health.
Yet, the perception persists that little things go wrong around the full moon (lost keys or phone or a shock as you filed your taxes last-minute).
Emotions may be heightened.
If you're in a good place, maybe you feel more elated or more in love.
If you're in a bad place, your mood may further darken.
The ancient Greeks and Romans thought there was something to it.
The moon's gravitational pull affects ocean tides.
Might the gravitational pull also fiddle with human bodily fluids to make us feel unreasonable, uncontrolled, volatile, shaky, manic or wacky?
In the 13th century, the term 'lunatic' was coined, using lunar (meaning moon) as the base of the word because certain people acted crazy or 'moonstruck' during a full moon.
Speaking of moonstruck, it's the title of the 1987 movie starring Cher and Nicolas Cage about being madly, irrationally, passionately in love.
In fact, Cher won the best actress Oscar for her performance, which included her uttering the famous line 'Snap out of it!' as she slapped a blubbering Nicolas Cage across the face.
Anyway, with all that speculation put out there, let's now concentrate on Friday's full moon.
Falling on May 1 -- so-called May Day -- it marks the peak of spring and is called the 'flower moon' because is happens as flowers first boom, trees come into leaf, birds lay their eggs and people plant yet more flowers and crops.
The actual full moon is Friday at 10:23 am Pacific time.
Of course, because that's the middle of the morning in full light you won't actually see the full moon then.
So, the best time to spy the flower moon is just after dusk tonight and for the next few nights as it appears at its fullest.
Dusk provides the best viewing because the sun has just set and as the moon rises it lingers and glows low on the horizon, looking the biggest and brightest possible to the naked eye.
It's actually an optical illusion because the moon appears dramatically larger on the horizon compared to other object in your sightline such as trees, buildings and mountains.
So, the moral of this story is don't act too strangely during this full flower moon and get out there tonight, tomorrow night and the night after shortly after dusk to admire the moon illusion.
The flower moon is the 5th of 13 full moons for 2026.
May will be the only month this year to have two full moons because the blue full moon falls on May 30.
Thumbnail photo by Josie Weiss on Unsplash
