Nights in the Phases of the Moon

The lunar month is divided into the nightly phases of the moon which are all named and counted in two series of tens, the first ten nights of the waxing of the moon and the last ten nights of the waning and dying of the moon. With the eleventh and twelfth nights a second counting begins, but the thirteenth and fourteenth are named utua, the night when the moon is “drawn up”, and malama, the night of the full moon. After the full moon page 92 there is a period of growing and the counting recommences with the fifteenth night with one and ends on the twentieth night, fakatutupu (the plural of the verb, “to change into” or “to cause to grow”). The twenty-first night is counted as 10 and the counting diminishes to the fifth night, before the moon disappears or becomes completely dead. The last four nights of the lunar month are called: “the night when the moon's head has perished in the shadow,” “the night when the moon's heart has perished in the shadow,” “the night when the moon dies above the horizon,” and “the night of long death” when the moon is completely lost for a whole night.

The last night of the month, the moon and sun travel together (fanoloa). The first two days of the month are celebrated with feasting and a general holiday.

List of Nights of the Moon

1.	Fakatasi
2.	Fakalua
3.	Fakatolu
4.	Fakafa
5.	Fakalima
6.	Fakaono
7.	Fakafitu
8.	Fakavalu
9.	Fakaiva
10.	Mangafulu
11.	Fakatasi
12.	Fakalua
13.	Utua
14.	Malama
15.	Fakatasi
16.	Fakalua
17.	Fakatolu
18.	Fakafa
19.	Fakalima
20.	Fakatutupu
21.	Mangafulu
22.	Po hiva
23.	Po valu
24.	Po fitu
25.	Po ono
26.	Po lima
27.	Fanouluata
28.	Fanolotoata
29.	Mate ki lunga
30.	Fanoloa