AWE-INSPIRING Bohol folk were drawn outside their homes by this full moon last Tuesday, one of the brightest seen in the province. —LEO UDTOHAN
TAGBILARAN CITY — It would have been an ordinary full moon last Tuesday had it not been for crowds that gathered outside their homes here to watch the spectacle that believers in the supernatural took as a cue to practice witchcraft or pray to the heavens.
The full moon, also dubbed “snow moon,” was the second of three “supermoon” events in the first three months of 2019.
A supermoon happens when a full or new moon coincides with the moon’s closest approach to Earth.
Cousins Winzel and Cedrick Olorvida urged their other cousins to look at the skies on Tuesday night.
They used a telescope to see the moon closer, while their aunt Sharia was with 7-month-old Leann to let the baby see the spectacle.
Healers
“It was amazing,” said Cedrick, 7, a Grade 2 student interested in astronomy.
“The moon appeared larger and brighter than the ordinary full moon,” said Wenzel, 10, a Grade 5 student.
Not only sky watchers were amazed by the spectacle. Believers in witchcraft and the occult were drawn to it, too.
In Lila town, Bohol province, Eduard Guyano laid his crystals outside his house in the belief that the full moon will cleanse these.
Guyano uses crystal stones for a healing method known as crystal therapy, an alternative medicine technique.
He believed crystals and stones can cure ailments and other diseases.
A psychic healer identified only as Snow Owl, who lives in Siquijor town in Siquijor province, said the supermoon was the best time to cleanse and renew energy.
Snow Owl said while last Tuesday’s supermoon wasn’t as spectacular as January’s supermoon event, it was still “potent and powerful.”
Peaceful elections
Another healer, Lady Helen, was meditating at home in this city during the full moon.
She said she seized the chance to pray for peaceful elections in May.
Moon watchers would have another chance to watch the sky for the spectacle. Another supermoon was expected in March.