No moon, no man

[MaryT]

Thomas Hardy's novels are a source of rural English folklore and tradition, as well as literary classics.  I remembered listening to a radio broadcast of The Return of the Native and being intrigued by the saying "No moon, no man" as an explanation for a MAAB individual not being very manly.

Here are a couple of the relevant passages:

' "... 'Tis a sad thing for ye, Christian. How'st know the women won't hae thee?"

"I've asked 'em."

"Sure I should never have thought you had the face. Well, and what did the last one say to ye? Nothing that can't be got over, perhaps, after all?"

"'Get out of my sight, you slack-twisted, slim-looking maphrotight fool,' was the woman's words to me."

"Not encouraging, I own," said Fairway. "'Get out of my sight, you slack-twisted, slim-looking maphrotight fool,' is rather a hard way of saying No. ..." '

and

' "... Mother told me I was born some time afore I was christened."

"Ah!"

"But she couldn't tell when, to save her life, except that there was no moon."

"No moon—that's bad. Hey, neighbours, that's bad for him!"

"Yes, 'tis bad," said Grandfer Cantle, shaking his head.

"Mother know'd 'twas no moon, for she asked another woman that had an almanac, as she did whenever a boy was born to her, because of the saying, 'No moon, no man,' which made her afeard every man-child she had. Do ye really think it serious, Mister Fairway, that there was no moon?"

"Yes. 'No moon, no man.' 'Tis one of the truest sayings ever spit out. ..." '

(I once read that the South African slang "moffie", for unmanly MAABs, was derived from the sailor's slang "morphrodite", in turn derived from "hermaphrodite".  I presume that "maphrotight" is similarly derived.)

I decided to put it to the test in my own case.  As an almanac was mentioned, I presume that "no moon"  refers to the new moon phase, when it is least visible in the sky.  I decided to find out whether I was born under a new moon by entering my birth date on

moongiant dot com/birthday-moon/   
(excuse the format, as I gather that I'm not allowed to post external links yet).

It turns out that I was born under a waxing crescent, the first phase after the new moon.

Would other members like to put the saying to the test?  Please take it as tongue in cheek if the answer is not what was hoped.

[Tatiana 79]

Hello MaryT

It's very nice Reaching Across the pond to you but due to our cultural differences I had great difficulty in deciphering what you actually want. This is the hardest response I have yet to make because I'm not sure if I'm heading in the  right direction please excuse me if I'm not and misinterpreted you completely. If you're referring to astrology that's perfectly okay to have your own opinion. I personally believe that our destiny is not determine by some external Force but merely by us.

Just take solace that you are a unique and very individual person and all that draw breath are of equal worth.  keep strong knowing that you have all of us pulling for you.
I hope I didn't misinterpret you I merely want to try to help and Hope you get to live your life truly free.

All the best to you love Tatiana

[Eryn T]

I agree with Tatiana, but it is a fun little activity! And truth be told, Eryn is a character I made a whole backstory about - I just love the name so much, and a good deal had to do with astronomical events, her being blind, but able to communicate with spirits, etc.

Anyway, my results don't much help your reasoning, I guess ^_^; 

It said I was a Waxing Gibbous, was like 97% Gibbous, too.

[MaryT]

Hello MaryT

It's very nice Reaching Across the pond to you but due to our cultural differences I had great difficulty in deciphering what you actually want. This is the hardest response I have yet to make because I'm not sure if I'm heading in the  right direction please excuse me if I'm not and misinterpreted you completely. If you're referring to astrology that's perfectly okay to have your own opinion. I personally believe that our destiny is not determine by some external Force but merely by us.

Just take solace that you are a unique and very individual person and all that draw breath are of equal worth.  keep strong knowing that you have all of us pulling for you.
I hope I didn't misinterpret you I merely want to try to help and Hope you get to live your life truly free.

All the best to you love Tatiana

Oh, I don't believe in it, and I don't want anyone else to take it to heart either, which is why I wrote "Please take it as tongue in cheek if the answer is not what was hoped."  Eryn's result shows that it can't be very accurate, to say the least.  I just thought that it might be fun to put the folklore to the test, and I thought that some other members might like to try it too.

All the best and love to you and Eryn, too.

[Deborah]

Mine was a waxing crescent too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kylo]

Waxing gibbous.

[Anastasia]

The waxing sliver of the new moon was just becoming visible. Guess it must be true! lol!(tongue in cheek). BUT, it would be an interesting thing to get a bigger sample on. Old wives don't make it to old-wife-telling-tales status by being foolish. Science knows incubation temperature affects gender in reptiles, maybe it has never looked at moon phase and gender expression because of this old wife tale. (streeetch for the truth). lol. Ouch- just bit my tongue because it is in my cheek.

[zirconia]

I was born on the fifth day after a full moon.

[Chloe]

It turns out that I was born under a waxing crescent, the first phase after the new moon.

Mary, I tried it using MoonCalc.org (there's also a SunCalc.org). . . . @ early AM, my date in Long Beach NY came back as "Waning Gibbous/93.7%" which is a pretty bright moon, almost directly overhead (Moon Culmination:   01:47:34)

Suppose 'ole wives theory is, nominally @ least, Correct?

[MaryT]

Mary, I tried it using MoonCalc.org (there's also a SunCalc.org). . . . @ early AM, my date in Long Beach NY came back as "Waning Gibbous/93.7%" which is a pretty bright moon, almost directly overhead (Moon Culmination:   01:47:34)

Suppose 'ole wives theory is, nominally @ least, Correct?

A nearly full moon is the opposite of correct for someone girly like you, I would think.  The folklore doesn't seem to be very accurate so far.

[Chloe]

The folklore doesn't seem to be very accurate so far.

lol Perhaps we need to look @ 9 months prior? The where and when of "THE ACT ITSELF"? But then again such events are usually shrouded in mystery (thus the folklore) . . . Mother swore she had a system for creating preferred 'sex' that worked - had a boy, girl, 'me' and then little sister (4 total). My 'ex' swears she can tell the gender of an unborn child thru dreams, we currently 'ave a boy(?) grandbaby 'in the oven'!

I think 'girly' is definitely a state of mind, especially if us trans are any indication! One can either highly value 'femininity' . . . or, like cis, simply take it for granted?

[pamelatransuk]

Hello Kiera

Perhaps not even 9 months prior but instead to the time of the pregnancy that our true gender (which is of course our brain) is determined. Food for thought.

I like all your posts including this one.

Hugs

Pamela