Over the past few years, a curious fad has swept New Zealand—teaching by the phase of the Moon by using the Māori Lunar Calendar. Māori are the indigenous people of New Zealand, and their calendar once played an important role in tracking the seasons and in regulating a variety of rituals. Similar calendars can be found throughout the South Pacific. During the Covid-19 lockdowns of 2020, interest in the calendar skyrocketed and remains popular today. Māori refer to it as the Maramataka, which means “the turning of the Moon.”

In several New Zealand schools, teachers have taken to managing their classes based on the phase of the Moon. The practice has even spread to some University campuses where students have been encouraged to use lunar phases to provide optimal times for study and rest. One aspect of the Calendar that has only gained traction in recent times are claims around the influence of the Moon on human behavior, a belief that can be found in many cultures. But the appearance of several popular books, coupled with a surge of interest in indigenous knowledge, has driven the trend of using the Moon to optimise educational achievement in New Zealand. This raises an important question: “Where should we draw the line between cultural appreciation and magical thinking?”

Soon after interest in the Calendar rose, government ministries began providing online materials featuring an array of claims about the Moon’s impact on human affairs. The Education Ministry eagerly promoted the topic as part of its policy to give indigenous knowledge equal standing with scientific knowledge. Unfortunately, many of these materials were uncritical and led to a popular belief that the Maramataka could influence human behavior. The country’s third-largest union, which represents nearly 50,000 educators, has even published lengthy accounts of teachers who plan their lessons around the lunar phases. Some consult the Maramataka to determine which days are best to conduct assessments, which are aligned for sporting activities, and which correlate with more sedate lessons during ‘lower energy phases.’ Some use it to predict days when problem students are likely to misbehave. There are even teachers who schedule meetings on days deemed less likely to trigger conflict.

Lunar Astrology

The study of the positions of celestial bodies and how they are thought to influence human behavior and events on Earth is known as astrology. The belief that certain phases of the Moon can affect a person’s energy levels or mood, has no grounding in science. From time to time, someone will claim to have found a link between a particular lunar phase and everything from increased criminal activity to dog bites. But as Cornell University Math Professor Steven Strogatz observes, “when the statistics are redone properly, the correlation with lunar phase always evaporates.” Part of the issue is the nature of statistics and how they can be selectively manipulated – and as any statistics professor will tell you: ‘Correlation does not equal causation.’

So What’s the Harm?

While there is no evidence of a direct physical effect of lunar phases on human behavior, the psychological impact can be profound. For instance, if someone believes that a certain day is likely to bring ‘high energy,’ it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It could result in increased motivation, focus, and productivity through expectation. But it can also have the opposite effect. If someone believes that certain days are aligned with low energy including a depressed mood, lethargy, and difficulty concentrating – all of which have been attributed to the Maramataka—a student’s productivity and even their mental well-being could spiral downward because expectations are a major driver of student success. In fact, one of the most famous studies in psychology addresses this phenomenon. It was overseen by Harvard Professor Robert Rosenthal in the 1960s and is known as ‘the Pygmalion Effect in the Classroom.’ This influential experiment demonstrated that when teachers have higher expectations of their students, it tends to lead to improved performance.

The Māori Lunar Calendar may provide comfort and reassurance in an ever-changing world, help some students deal with stress and uncertainty, and provide a sense of predictability and order. But we should also exercise caution when attributing outside influences to human behavior because, in the end, it is not the Moon or other celestial forces that are responsible for our actions—it is us.