Understanding The Blue Moon

(with dates to 2040)

By Cayelin K Castell

In a Sky and Telescope article we learn the original definition of a Blue Moon is referring to 4 Full Moons in one season.  In this instance a season is defined as the time between a Solstice and Equinox or an Equinox and Solstice. (See Table below) There are four seasons in a year and generally three Full Moons in each season or 12 Full Moons per year. Occasionally we find there are 4 Full Moons in one season and 13 Full Moons in a year marking the annual solar and lunar cycle from December Solstice to Solstice.

If we look at the year 2005 we only have 12 Full Moons in that calendar year from Jan 1 to Dec 31. However, if we consider the number of Full Moons from the December Solstice in 2004 to the December Solstice in 2005 we find there are 13 Full Moons. This is not always the case! For example, in 2004 we had 13 Full Moons in the calendar year but only 12 Full Moons from December Solstice 2003 to December Solstice 2004 and December Solstice 2002 to 2003. We have to go back to Dec 20, 2001 to Dec 19, 2002 and Dec 22, 1999 to Dec 11 2000 to find 13 Full Moons between the December Solstices. (See Table below)

In more recent times however the term Blue Moon has also been used to describe the occurrence of two Full Moons in a calendar month. Apparently our current understanding of a Blue Moon comes from a 1940’s article that appeared in astronomy magazine suggesting the definition of a Blue Moon was the second Full Moon in a calendar month. This event only happens every two and a half to three years.

In fact, both of these occur with about the same frequency. However, four Full Moons in a season has greater astronomical significance than two Full Moons in a calendar month. This is because our calendar months are not astronomically based on the yearly seasonal cycle or the monthly lunar cycle.

There is a third definition of a Blue Moon suggesting the term Blue Moon may have originated from the bluish tinge the Moon gets when viewed through smoke. In this case, the theory is that someone saw the Moon appearing quite blue through the smoke of a large distant fire (like a forest fire) and therefore the term Blue Moon was literal.

A fourth occurrence that happens with about the same frequency as the first two examples is when we have two Full Moons in a row in the same sign. This only occurs when the first Full Moon is in Zero or One degree of the sign and the next Full Moon is in 28 or 29 degrees of the same sign and it doesn’t necessarily happen each time the Full Moon is in zero degrees of the sign. For example July 24, 2002 we had a Full Moon at 1 degree and 18 minutes of Aquarius, the following month on Aug 22 we had another Full Moon at 29 degrees and 39 minutes of Aquarius. This also happened in 2005 on June 22 when the Full Moon was at Zero Degrees and 51 minutes of Capricorn and then on July 21 it was at 28 degrees and 47 minutes of Capricorn. (See table below).

In all these definitions of a Blue Moon, either as seen through smoke, or the number of Full Moons in a season, or two Full Moons in a month, or two Full Moons in the same sign, the factor that is common to all of them is that these are rare occurrences captivating our imagination. It is important to remember that each Full Moon has its own unique magic and mystery associated with it and is an opportunity to experience greater illumination of our essential divine nature regardless of whether it is a so-called Blue Moon or not.

Below are some Blue Moon dates to ponder. Do you notice a pattern? For the dates that have already passed it might be helpful to note if any of these Timings were especially significant in your personal or collective experience. For example, I found that the December 2002 Full Moon - Blue Moon was beyond the beyond kind of experience for me and for the entire group I was with at the time. The July 2004 two Full Moons in a calendar month Blue Moon was also especially significant for me, however that was also a time that coincided with a powerful Pluto transit to my natal Moon so it was more than likely that particular Full Moon was a further catalyst for the process already underway and less likely that it was the second Full Moon or a Blue Moon that month.

It helps to know that experientially the Moon rises appearing full for three nights, the day before, the day of and the day after the exact Full Moon indicating the potency of the Full Moon Window lasts for three days. Traditionally the Full Moon is the phase of fruition or fulfillment.

The Moon is often associated with the number 13. However the Moon actually connects with the numbers 12, 13 and 19. If you are tracking the Moon return to a certain zodiacal degree, say zero Capricorn, it will return to that degree every 27.3 days and if you divide 27.3 into 365 the closest whole number is 13. If you are tracking the Moon phases from Full Moon to Full Moon or any other phase it returns every 29.5 days. When we divide 29.5 into 365 the closest whole number is 12. So it is only every few years we will actually have 13 Full Moons in either a calendar year or a seasonal year from one December Solstice to then next.

During 2005 and 2006 when the Moon is full near zero degrees Capricorn or zero degrees Cancer it is rising near at its maximum extreme 5 degrees beyond the bounds of where the Sun always rises at the Solstices. This can only happen every 19 years. Every 19 years the Sun and Moon will return to the same sign and degree they were 19 years earlier on any given date. So we are in a rare time that can only happen every 13,000 years when the Moon is going through its Lunar Extreme and rising on the galactic plane. It would have been nearly 26,000 years ago Earth experienced the Lunar Standstill in the configuration happening now. So in that sense we are experiencing the rarest possible Blue Moon Phenomenon in 2006 when the Moon rise near zero Capricorn or Cancer is aligned with the galactic plane. This is truly worthy of our consideration when remember that our conscious participation with these events helps to inform the unfolding mysteries as much as they are informing us.