Did you see the blue moon on Friday? It was the second one in August. My friend Linda Mayo Perez Williams shared this with me. It is from a friend of hers Mama Donna Henes.
Friday, August 31 was a full moon, the second one this month.
When
a month is graced with two full moons, the second one is called a blue
moon. You know, the once in a blue moon blue moon. The blue moon cycle
is 2.72 years, making it a special, if not rare or unexpected occasion.
The last blue moon month was December 31, 2009 and the next will occur
in July 31, 2015.
On
average, there will be 41 months that have two full moons in every
century, so once in a blue moon actually means "once every
two-and-nearly-three-quarters years."
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. Rather like a leap moon, a
blue moon is a great big bouncing blue bonus.
Which
is not to say that it looks blue. That sort of blue moon is altogether
another phenomenon, wherein the light of the moon appears to be tinted
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.
Although
blue moons do not cast an actual blue shadow, their very existence is a
symbolic celestial reminder, a message out of the blue, as it were. A
radio signal from the Great Goddess of Outer Space to us - Her very
naughtiest and sometimes least sentient children. She is broadcasting a
plea for our loving attention.
If,
on the night of a cerulean moon, we close our eyes and sit very still,
take in great drafts of air, sigh deeply and open our hearts, we will be
able to hear Lady Luna sing the blues. Broken-hearted, She watches down
on our out-of-whack world, and She weeps.
And
Her pain is our pain. In losing our connection to the moon and Her
cycles, we have lost track of our own. We have forgotten how to live in
conscientious sync with the workings of the world.
We
no longer see ourselves as active and response-able participants in the
connective universal plan, but rather, the boss of it. Ironically, this
leaves us feeling disturbed, distempered, disconnected, disconcerted,
dismayed and disheartened. Powerless. Stripped spiritually naked and
scared to death. This is not only sad, it is dangerous.
In
all my years of cross-cultural ritual research, I have never come
across any mention of traditional ceremonies with which to mark a blue
moon. But I sense that a contemporary one is in order. Crucial really. I
say, let us seize this once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity to tranceform
our sadness into strength.
Here is a suggestion for a lunar rite of passage into the power of positive change leading up to the 2012 Ascendance:
A True Blue Ceremony in the Spirit of Universal Beneficence.
We
can start by stopping. Taking the time, noting the process, tuning in,
staying with the program. Listening with open hearts to Mother Moon's
melancholy lament.
It
seems suitable to me to strike a blue mood. The lights are shaded blue,
of course. Blue pine incense is lit. Or blue sage. We are bathed in an
airy wash of cool blue.
Dressed
in our best blues, we sip some sort of berry infusion. Drink in its
navy depths. We put bluebells in our hair. We have become like the
Tuaregs, the "blue people" of the Moroccan Sahara whose skin becomes
imbued with the indigo dyes of their robes. A becalmed blue aura
surrounds us. We are immersed in an ocean of blue: the blue of the sea,
the blue of the sky, a morning glorious blue.
Just
being in blue, you know, effectively lowers your blood pressure. It is
known to affect the pituitary gland and contributes to the reduction of
swelling and pain. Restful and calming, blue helps to balance mental
confusion and ease anxiety. Hallways, lounges and wards of mental
institutions are frequently painted a pale, cool out blue.
We
symbolically cleanse and bless the streams, the rivers, the ponds and
lakes, the big blue sky, the very air we breathe - the entire biosphere
of our blue marble planet. We use bluing as our purifying agent. It's
what our mothers and grandmothers bought in bottles or little wrapped
cubes, to add to their wash. The same as those little blue flecks in
modern powdered laundry detergents.
We
dip the bluing into water and paint emblems on each other's foreheads
with the cobalt paste. We anoint each other with blue blessings. We
pledge our affinity as co-creators of the working blueprint plan for a
new paradigm. We pray for possibility, for a new perspective. We light
bright blue candles for illumination and spiritual guidance.
We
chant for peace. We chant. We drum. We dance. We spin for peace, for
passion, for promise. For the power of our path and purpose. We slow to a
stop. Stilled. Sated. Steady. Strong. The blue air is charged. We are
changed, united in azure energy.
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