“Hey Malletheads at Gongs Unlimited!” we’ve heard screamed at us by the folks interested in Paiste Planet Gongs, “What’s the difference  between Synodic and Sidereal Moons?”

And so we stop peddling our unicycle up the Paiste Gong mountain and reply:

Asidereal monthis the time it takes for our sweet darlin’ little Moon to complete one full orbit of the Earth -BUT THIS IS measured in regards to the distant stars.

For the most part, in relation to us, the distant stars are stationary, not moving, so they are fixed in relation to you there in Massachusetts, South Pole, or Western Sahara.

"Well then," the sound therapists ask,  "how long is a sidereal month then Mr. Mallethead"

Well it is pretty darn close to 27.3 days.That is, it takes the Moon 27.3 days to be in the same position relative to the distant stars.  Some folks refer to this as the Moon'strue orbital period, but they did not watchMoonstruckstarring Cher and Nicolas Cage.

Now of course, we continue,  thesynodic month(also called a “lunar month”) is the time it takes for the Moon to complete one cycle of phases.

(This does not include adolescence which we all know has all kinds of weird “phases” within it.)

This is the cycle most people are aware of.  The synodic month is the time of the phases  between successive new moons.  This depends on position of the Sun, the Moon and the Earth.And it is approximately 29.5 days.

So when you are considering aPaiste Moon Gong, you need to consider which orbital vibration you are more in sync with.  Are you a deep astrologer or a cyclical wave rider?