Episode 212 - The History of Full Moon Madness

This week Abby and Alan talk through the history of the belief in full moon madness and "lunatics."

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Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & Jordan Moser. Poster Art by Pilar Keprta @pilar.kep.

Sources

• Pagan Grimoire article by Rebecca Swanner: Moon Gods and Goddesses: Deities of Lunar Magic and Mysticism

• Etymonline article on the history of the word Lunatic

• NASA article on Moon Phases

• History.com article by Melinda Beck on European Wolf Trials

• PubMed Studies:

  • https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1454923/

  • https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25756232/

  • https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8924138/

  • https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17256692/

  • https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31012946/

  • https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26498230/

  • https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33571126/

  • https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10363673/

• Fred Sebastian, "Bad Moon Rising: The Persistent Belief in Lunar Connections to Madness," CMAJ (2005). This is particularly useful because it covers Paracelsus, Blackstone, Bethlem, John Haslam, and Benjamin Rush.

• Nigel Walker, "The Insanity Defense before 1800," The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (1985), for the history of insanity and criminal responsibility in English law.

• TIME, "Miscellany: Lunatic," March 7, 1932, for the Else Flothmeier case.

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