WHEN THE MOON CAME TO EXETER CATHEDRAL by Philip Strange
I
t was a rare, cloud-free evening in mid-February earlier this year and I had stopped to gaze up at the sky, by now a deepening dark blue. Although the sun had set nearly an hour previously, vestiges of light lingered in the west and only the brightest stars were visible. Almost directly above me, though, it was the Moon that captured my attention. It was bright and well defined that evening and just over half illuminated. I gazed upwards for a while and this set me thinking about our relationship with this celestial body. The Moon is the Earth’s only natural satellite and the only place away from the Earth where humans have set foot. It orbits our planet at a distance of 384,400 km and although that may seem a long way away, the Moon influences life on Earth to a surprising extent. It is the main driver of tides on the Earth setting up important rhythms that dominate lives lived near the sea. It can also influence the timing of migration and reproduction in the non-human world. Its prominence in the Earthly sky and its regular phases (new Moon, full Moon etc) have given the Moon great cultural significance influencing ancient religions as well as many artists, musicians, poets and writers. Before the advent of widespread street lighting, the Moon was the only source of night time illumination. Travelling in the dark, without moonlight, was hazardous and evening social gatherings were often planned to take advantage of a full Moon. Nowadays, darkness features less in our lives and awareness of the phases of the Moon and the night sky is minimal. Despite this, everyday speech still contains references to the Moon in
22 The Marshwood Vale Magazine August 2022 Tel. 01308 423031
terms such as “once in a blue moon”, “over the moon”, “honeymoon” and “lunacy”. The Moon was uppermost in my mind that evening because, the following day, we were booked to visit the Museum of the Moon exhibition in Exeter Cathedral. This exhibition featured UK artist Luke Jerram’s massive travelling artwork depicting the Moon. Jerram’s artwork had already been exhibited in several other places locally including Bournemouth, Sherborne, Taunton and Wells. When we arrived in the Cathedral Close that morning, a small queue of people, each wearing a mask, had formed at the entrance door. After a short delay we were ushered in and were immediately confronted by the huge pale sphere. It hung between the roof and floor of the Cathedral, almost filling the vast space, dominating the view and capturing our attention. Most people reacted with surprise and there were audible exclamations of “Wow! or Gosh!” Luke Jerram’s Museum of the Moon is a massive bluegrey globe, seven metres in diameter with a mottled surface, depicting the geography of the moon. The artwork is a 1/500,000 scale model based on precise lunar imaging from NASA combined with modern printing techniques and with internal lighting to create as realistic a representation as possible. In Exeter Cathedral, it was accompanied by a soundtrack specially created by composer Dan Jones. We walked around the installation, looking from different directions, trying to take it in, not quite sure what to make of it. We weren’t alone, though, as there were quite a few people about that morning making it feel busy. Small
