Lunar Reflection
Museum of the Moon, Wells Cathedral
I like to take a broad perspective and to allow that to impact the way I think about the world and behave in it. The current installation in Wells Cathedral (Wells, Somerset is where I live) is by Luke Jerram: Museum of the Moon. It’s an installation of the moon, measuring seven metres in diameter, featuring detailed NASA imagery of the lunar surface. The scale is about 1:500,000 so that each centimetre of the internally lit spherical sculpture represents about 5km of the moon’s surface.
The moon has always been powerful in human life and culture. It is the nearest and most prominent astronomical body and features historically in the life and culture of most nations and religions through there images, sacred texts, songs and poems. The moon’s existence is likely to be critical for life on earth through it’s reflected light, affect on tides and seasons and its influence in enabling earth axis stability.
Here are some lines from the Indian poet and mystic Kabir:
The moon shines in my body, but my blind eyes cannot see it:
The moon is within me, and so is the sun.
The unstruck drum of Eternity is sounded within me; but my deaf ears cannot hear it.
The moon installation in Wells cathedral is almost the width of the nave and is impressive in its size, detail and luminosity. The luminosity of its reflected light can inspire us to consider what we reflect out to others and the world in the lives that we live. Seen in relationship to the cross in the cathedral it can point to something close to the heart of the Christian message: “I am the light of the world…You are the light of the world”.
