A Full Moon is supposedly “blue” when it’s the second Full Moon in a calendar month. This happened in January, and typically happens once every two to three years, all of which may or may not be rare enough to deserve the cliche, “once in a blue Moon.” Yet you won’t find much about Blue Moons in spiritual or ceremonial histories. That’s because they’re man-made, not Moon made.
The first to use this term for the second Full Moon in a month was James Hugh Pruett in a 1946 issue of Sky & Telescope. Unfortunately he got it wrong — among the Maine farmers whose tradition he was sharing, the fourth Full Moon in a season was considered blue. Pruett invented something with neither history nor lineage.
Either way–as the second Full Moon in a month or fourth in a season–these aren’t unusual moments in nature. Luna has never culminated twice in a single Moon cycle, nor will she do so in the future. Blue Moons are simply a gift (or curse) of the Western calendar, whose days and weeks were originally authored by the Sun and Moon, but is now disconnected from natural cycles.
Honestly, the only reason I think Blue Moons became a thing is that hauntingly beautiful Elvis song. If there’s a sacred ceremony that’s appropriate for this lunar holiday, it should definitely include sitting in moonlight, while playing that Elvis song. And now, with so many digital resources, you have no reason not to. Keep calm and enjoy the show.
Step beyond the Moon hype and create an authentically soulful relationship with the natural cycles of Sun and Moon. Try my monthly Moon Workshop — enroll here. Find your current progressed Moon phase in my Moonprints report — this Moon is so important it’s the first thing I look at in my clients’ charts.
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