Blue Moon

Every time I hear the words "blue moon", I immediately begin to sing the song...
...which then leads to me immediately think of this:

E 'anche divertente in Italiano!

I digress. 

Tomorrow, August 31st, 2012 we will have a Blue Moon. But what does that mean?

A blue moon can refer to either the third full moon in a season with four full moons, or the second full moon in a month. Most years have twelve full moons that occur approximately monthly. In addition to those twelve full lunar cycles, each solar calendar year contains roughly eleven days more than the lunar year of 12 full moons. Since calendar months of 30 and 31 days are longer than the actual period between one full moon and the next, which is 29.53 days, the surplus hours and days of each month, each year, accumulate until eventually there is an "extra" full moon in one month.  The Farmers' Almanac defined blue moon as an extra full moon that occurred in a season; one season was normally three full moons. If a season had four full moons, then the third full moon was named a blue moon.

 "....you saw me standing alone."

There are countless theories on where the "blue" came from, as the moon itself does NOT turn the color blue during this time. Very rarely does the moon appear blue. That effect is actually caused by atmospheric pollution created by particles - usually smoke, sand, or volcanic dust - from a terrestrial disturbance, which creates a color filter effect. The latest blue-looking moons were created by forest fires in the American west and oil field fires in Iraq. 

You're not really blue. You sit on a throne of lies.

Here are some of the theories/legends:

• The phrase “Blue Moon” dates back to at least the year 1528, where a pamphlet attacking the dogmatism of the church states:

  Yf they say the mone is belewe
  
  We must believe that it is true.

• In calculating the dates for Lent and Easter, the Clergy identify the Lent Moon. It is thought that historically when the moon's timing was too early, they named an earlier moon as a "betrayer moon" (belewe moon), thus the Lent moon came at its expected time
• Each of the 12 Moons in a typical year had a name, some of which still survive to the modern day! For example, harvest moon, hunter’s moon, wolf moon, and snow moon are names you may have heard of. Folklore gave each moon a name according to its time of year. A moon that came too early had no folk name, and was called a blue moon, retaining the correct seasonal timings for future moons

Wanna know something cool? Once every 19 years or so, we will have two blue moons in a year! But how?? If you have a blue Moon in January — one full Moon at the very beginning and one full Moon at the end — the entire (short) month of February can pass by without having a full Moon at all! This way, there will be a full Moon at the very beginning of March, and another one right at the end! This happened in 1999, and will happen again in 2018, so mark your calendars!

More than one Blue Moon is not always the best idea. Ask Amethyst.

Because of its timing, "blue moon" is also used colloquially to mean "a rare event", hence the phrase "once in a blue moon"!

Ok. So lets get to the real question:

What does this mean magically?

Well...

I actually couldn't find a lot of information on the magical significance of a blue moon associated with witchcraft, Paganism, Wicca, etc. You would think there would be! But I did find some. Some consider it an especially magical time. While others just treat it as a lunar bonus round. There are even some covens who only initiate new members on a blue moon. 

Can I FINALLY get initiated?! Sheesh!

So what to do? Well...you may want to take some time and reflect on what this blue moon means to you. 

What does the energy surrounding it feel like? Is it exciting? Is it somber?

What would you like to use this blue moon for?

Once you figure that out, then you can create your own special blue moon ritual!

For example, these are the things I am taking into account:

• The first full moon of this month was on the 1st day of August. This one is on the LAST day. So perhaps I could do a spell with the ending of a cycle. Maybe to let go of something/someone.
• Since it's the second full moon in the month, perhaps I could do a "Second Chance" spell.
• This blue moon lands on the 31st. So did the last one (December 31st, 2009 to be exact)! Perhaps I could use numerology and the number 31 in my working. Although I might want to condense the number to 4 (3+1=4), and use some of 4's strength and stability aspects
• What do I associate the color blue with?? Healing. Peace. Sadness. Water. 
• What lunar God or Goddess do I connect with? Isis. Diana.  

So personally, I could use this blue moon to heal my saddened heart over the loss of my familiar. I am going to be at a friend's house this weekend who conveniently have a private beach. I could use the beach as my sacred ground, light a blue candle or wear blue and connect with Diana and even better Yemaya, to heal me, wash away the sadness and let go, and give me strength and stability going forward. 

See? You can do it too! And not just for blue moons; you can create your own spells and rituals anytime. Realize your desire, understand your intent, see what resonates with you and use the tools that you have. 

Bendiciones, Yemaya.

A blessed Blue Moon to you all!

~*Atreya*~

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_moon

http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2009/12/31/blue-moons-fact-or-fiction/

www.donnahenes.net