... And then came the disappointment. Having been a big fan of David Ryan Harris's old funk/rock band, Follow For Now, and then loving his self-titled solo effort (and the related Four Songs sampler EP), I was intrigued to learn of three other solo albums after his mostly disappointing effort with the band, the Brand New Immortals, and their only album to date, Tragic Show. Based entirely on the strength of FFN and DRH, I forged blindly ahead and ordered copies of Soulstice and Atlanta without hearing a morsel of either album, and pre-ordered Harris' yet-to-be released CD, Bittersweet. With Soulstice, Harris forsakes his early funk/soul/rock roots, instead planting himself firmly in the dreaded 'singer-songwriter' mold. The bio on Harris' MySpace website indicates the direction he's going, with this pretentious bit of self-promotion: "David Ryan Harris is on a quest that has an almost mythological dimension to it. Armed with a voice that falls somewhere between Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway, songwriting that combines beautiful haunting melodies with sharp storytelling and guitar playing that is blues influenced and rock sharpened, David has been searching for the truth in music." Etc., etc. Well, with my first listen under my belt, I can honestly say there isn't anything memorable here, at all. Missing are the crunchy guitarwork, soulful vocals and groove-inducing songwriting from his early work. Instead, each song on Soulstice blends into a bland whorl of uninspired, folksy, strum-strum-strummed chord changes, awfully rhymed lyrics and flat vocals that left me wondering if I made the right decision to buy Atlanta, and whether or not I should cancel my pre-order for Bittersweet. In the meantime, I'm going to give Soulstice another listen, see if it grows on me. Who knows - maybe it will. Stranger things have happened. Then I'll listen to Atlanta as soon as it arrives, and I'll get back to you. Until then, three stars is as much as I can muster for this one...
Full Moon occurs when the Sun and Moon oppose each other, and this opposition between the two big luminaries of the sky creates a certain unbalance. It's like we're in the middle of a strong magnetic field and loose balance as soon as we try to move out. We tend to have accidents - whether it's a fall or a car crash. On a full Moon night I slipped on a patch of ice in the street, fell and broke my arm. Not unsurprisingly, when I arrived at the hospital the surgeons were really busy - there had been two traffic accidents that afternoon and evening. A friend was attacked by a mad dog, thrown to the ground and broke her hip on a full Moon morning.
Another effect of the tension of the full Moon is violent outbreaks. Especially where there are religious and ethnic conflicts, like in northern Ireland and the Middle East, there tend to be a peak in violence close to full Moon. And watch your own irritation level at full Moon! Isn't this when you easily snap at your kids or husband, or generally tend to feel tense? It's common to suffer from insomnia by full Moon and I've found that people with a strong Moon influence in their natal chart, for instance a person with the Sun, Moon or ascendant in Cancer, is more likely to not be able to sleep. We all know the word lunatic. It comes from the Latin word for Moon, luna. Someone who's lunatic is full of full Moon. Restless, nervous, tense, violent, angry. Mad, mad, mad. French law used to excuse a person who committed a crime at full Moon. (Or at least so rumours say). It was like he wasn't quite at his senses - and it wasn't his fault.
The full Moon was to blame. Actually, the word mood in French, lun also origins from Latin luna. So they say a person is in bad or good moon, not mood. Very accurate!A person who's born at full Moon will have Sun Moon opposition in the natal chart - which is a bit like carrying a full Moon inside you. The person tends to be restless and always discontent, never satisfied, wanting something, not knowing what. But this frustration also creates a strong drive, and subjects with Sun Moon opposition are very often great achievers. Finally, it's just a myth that more babies are born on full Moon! A study of several thousands of births in the hospital in my hometown Trondheim showed no connection between the phases of the Moon and births. Thank God, I'd add. We don't want too many people in this world with Sun Moon opposition in their birth chart - that would just lead to too much stress, tension and violence!
Written by Tove Cecilie Fasting, writer and webmaster at Your Fabulous Life, the spiritual woman's guide to health, wealth, happiness and gorgeous handbags.
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