The Village

Short story first published in Bad Moon Rising (New York: Harper and Row)

Bad Moon Rising: The Sharia Law Bans

The article presents information on the Sharia Law, an Islamic religious law, and other foreign laws in the U.S. courts. It discusses that whether prohibition should be applied to the Sharia Law. It mentions about the impact of this Law in the countries like the U.S. and Great Britain. It informs about the efforts made by the U.S. state legislative to stop use of Sharia Law

Pleiades in ancient Mesopotamia

In this paper I will analyse the different features of the Pleiades in the astronomical, astrological, and calendrical interpretation as well as their mythical and cultural background in ancient Mesopotamia. According to cuneiform sources, the Pleiades are among the most important stars. They are simply known in Sumerian as ―the Stars‖ (MUL.MUL), while their Akkadian name, ―the Bristle‖ (zappu), links them to the imagery and the cultural context of the ―Bull of Heaven‖ constellation (Taurus), to which they belong. Pleiades are frequently depicted as seven dots or seven stars, and identified on a mythological level with groups of seven divine beings. In fact, the Sumerian ideogram for ―seven‖ is used as an alternative name for the Pleiades. In particular they show a close relation to a group of demons, called the Seven (Sebēttu), that, according to an etiological myth, causes the eclipse of the moon. The relation of the Pleiades to the war and death sphere is strengthened by their association with the Netherworld god Nergal/Erra, as well as their identification with the god’s planet (Mars). Finally, the Pleiades are among the few celestial bodies that receive a cult, and specific prayers are dedicated to them. From the sources it emerges that the Pleiades are mainly related to the movement of the Moon, and it is worth noting that the list of constellations of the ecliptic begins precisely with the Pleiades. Furthermore, the Pleiades play an important part in the calendrical reckoning, a role that is clearly stated in almanacs as the MUL.APIN, as well as in the intercalation scheme based on the conjunction of the Moon and the Pleiades

Exploring the uncertain relationship between lunar phases and human sleep duration and quality: A narrative literature review​

The moon’s influence on human behavior has been the subject of speculation for a large portion of history. A whole host of physiological and psychological disorders were collectively explained away by lunacy or madness until the advent of modern science and medicine. Even with advances in medical technology the question on whether or not the moon influences humans is still uncertain. The purpose of this narrative review is to explore the relevant literature on this topic and to set the stage for future research. While a handful of studies have found that human sleep quality fluctuates with the lunar phase (Cajochen et al., 2013, Smith et al., 2014, Chaput et al., 2016) the effect sizes were small and the studies had small sample sizes. Other studies that attempted to rebut these findings were comprised of significantly larger, international sample sizes (Smith et al., 2017, Cordi et al, 2014, Haba-Rubio et al., 2015). Despite the improved statistical power of these studies many of them were done post hoc and each one had different experimental procedures and therefore controlled for different sets of confounding variables. Thus I will conclude that in order to find any correlation between lunar phases and human sleep or even disprove an old-timey myth, we will need a longitudinal study with large sample sizes in a variety of sleep environments in order to test if a correlation exists or if the minor differences were due to confounding variables or variance due to a new sleep environment