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From: Carolyn
Date: 11/24/01
Time: 08:42 AM
Blue Moon & the Seven Sisters From: Tina Kopitskie Date: 10/31/01 Time: 08:12 PM
Comments What can you tell me about the Blue Moon and the Seven Sisters alignment on October 31, 2001? It seems that there is a myth regarding this being a sign of a great castratrophe that will happen. Can you get any information for me on the phenomenon?
Hi Tina,
Thank you for your question. This is my first opportunity to answer it. And of course we already know Oct 31 came and went and the world is still here. I'll do my best to answer your question though...
First of all Oct 31 was not an official Blue Moon astronomically speaking... According to a Sky and Telescope article, by Donald W. Olson, Richard Tresch Fienberg, and Roger W. Sinnott, a Blue Moon occurs when we have 13 Full Moons in a tropical year, (a tropical year begins and ends from one Winter Solstice to the next), or 4 Full Moons in a season from an Equinox to a Solstice or Solstice to an Equinox. (http://www.skypub.com/sights/moonplanets/9905bluemoon.html) The article states� Instead of the calendar year running from January 1st through December 31st, the almanac relies on the tropical year, defined as extending from one winter solstice ("Yule") to the next. Most tropical years contain 12 full Moons �three each in winter, spring, summer, and fall � and each is named for an activity appropriate to the time of year (such as the Harvest Moon in autumn). But occasionally a tropical year contains 13 full Moons, such that one season has four rather than the usual three. The article goes on to say�With two decades of popular usage behind it, the second-full-Moon-in-a-month (mis)interpretation is like a genie that can't be forced back into its bottle. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Rather than argue over whether to celebrate the dawn of the new millennium on January 1st in 2000 or 2001, those with the sunniest outlooks will celebrate twice. Why not treat Blue Moons the same way, marking both the second full Moon in a calendar month and the third full Moon in a season with four? "Even if the calendrical meaning is new," says Charles A. Federer Jr, Sky & Telescope's founding editor, "I don't see any harm in it. It's something fun to talk about, and it helps attract people to astronomy." According to this definition then this Taurus Full Moon is not an official Blue Moon, and yet it is certainly worth celebrating and acknowledging as it is the closest Full Moon to the Samhain cross-quarter between the September Equinox and the Winter Solstice. Halloween, All Hollow's Eve, All Saint's Day, The Day of the Dead, Samhain, are all names used to describe this timing. For the ancient Celts it was the New Year�s point, the time when the veils between all the worlds, especially the world of the living and the world of the dead, were thinnest. The belief was this timing was the most powerful for looking into the future and for accessing other worlds more easily. This was (and is) a time to go within and seek guidance from the ancestors for the coming year. This was celebrated as a night of High Magic for those attuned to the mysteries, celebrating death and rebirth, endings and beginnings, and that which is yet to come. It was believed that this timing when worked with consciously helped to set the pattern for the coming year. The astrological cross-quarter occurs when the Sun reaches 15 Scorpio (Nov 7). It was the Full Moon or New Moon closest to the astrological cross-quarter that many ancient Celtic Tribes used for their New Year�s celebration. As time went on, Oct 31 or Nov 1 became the celebrated date regardless of the astrological timings. This year the collective celebration actually falls on a true As Above So Below gateway marked by the Taurus Full closest to the astrological cross-quarter therefore the true beginning of a new Celtic Year.
As for the alignment with the Pleiades or Seven Sisters...this Full Moon was about 20 degrees away from that constellation. The Pleides rose over an hour after the Full Moon. I am not aware of this myth you are referring to, but if I run across anything about it, I'll post it...
From: [email protected]
Date: 10/06/00
Time: 07:50 AM
What great questions! My sense is that we are rediscovering our relationship with the fixed stars and I am not sure the old rules apply in the same way they once did. Noticing Jupiter and Saturn near the Pleiades and Aldebaran has inspired a sense of the possibility of a wider orb of influence. This is something to work with intuitively and also to notice how it is manifesting in life. One degree orbs feel like a sure thing, and I have noticed three degree orbs are also potent. I wonder if anyone else has ideas about this?