Moon Lore: Birthing and Courting

The Moon has a personal relationship with us all, and folklore has it that courting and birthing are influenced by the Moon. 

• According to folklore, if a young woman sees a dove and glimpses the new Moon at the same instant, she should repeat: "Bright Moon, clear Moon, Bright and fair, Lift up your right foot, There'll be a hair." When she removes her shoe, she'll find a hair the color of her future husband's.
• Marriages consummated during the full Moon are most prosperous and happy, according to ancient Greeks, while a waning Moon bodes ill for wedded bliss.
• The full Moon is an ideal time to accept a proposal of marriage.
• Though nobody can be sure of when a baby will be born, Moon lore suggests that births are more likely to occur 7 days before through 7 days after a Full Moon.
• The Navajos, among others, believe that the full Moon's pull on a woman's amniotic fluids increases the chances of giving birth at this time. Some nurses and midwives claim the new Moon is also an active time for births.
• According to folklore, babies born a day after the full Moon enjoy success and endurance.