The Blue Moon: Twice As Nice

By Jeanine DeOya

The heart and soul of many Pagans, Witches, or Wiccans is the Full Moon. When you read stories about how individuals came into Wicca or Paganism the story usually starts with the person seeing a beautiful moon, and it speaking to them in some way or some form. I just recently read about a woman who was in her bed and the moon shined so brightly into her bedroom, and onto her bed that she first thought it was an angel bestowing a divine message to her. She rose from her bed and watched it for a long time feeling a sense of understanding that although it was not an angel in the common interpretation of the word– it was a messenger all the same. And, with that she became a Witch.

Another conversion story, I thought was beautiful, was one I read in the book “Drawing Down the Moon” by Margot Adler about a woman who was in church, and she was listening to a choir sing beautifully, but she was distracted by the Full Moon that was shining through the beautiful large church window. She took her shawl and went outside while church was still in session. She climbed on top of a mound in the courtyard and sat down on it. It was a slightly cool night so she wrapped herself up with her shawl as she watched the moon. She could still hear the choir in the church singing, but she could not help but think that there was something more Divine going on out there than it was inside the church.

As a child my Christian Mother would often ask us to come to our bay window and see how beautiful the Full Moon was. She would then have us recite, “I see the Moon and the Moon sees me, God bless the Moon and God bless me”.  She didn’t know it at the time, but what she did was help plant a seed that would someday bloom into a moon-spirit dedicated to the practice of Wicca. If she had known that her actions would be an instrument of my spiritual change I dare say she may not have done it. Yet it is one of my fondest memories as a child, and the moon has always been a part of me for as far back as I can remember. I still sing the prayer “I see the Moon” but I use the words “Goddess bless” instead.

You may ask why the moon in particular and the Full Moon most often is so important to Pagans. A simple answer is that it goes back to the beginnings of our primal existence. The moon was our saving grace from the early beginnings of the human race. The Sun was often taken for granted, but the Full Moon was our guiding light during the darkness of night. It saved us from deadly predictors by helping us to see in the dark, and it guided us back home when we were lost. It kept us company while we danced around the fire and added ambiance while the elders told stories around the camp embers. It is an old predictable friend you can literally look up to, and know it is there. It is the same moon that our fore parents saw for the first time in their youth, and it is the same moon our children’s children will also see. As we look to the moon to help us through the dark nights it is poetic to say that we also call to it for the dark times in our lives. The moon is rooted in our inner psyche, and therefore rooted in our spiritual lives.

Women feel an extra kinship to the moon. A Full Moon appears every 29.53 days which is in harmonic conjunction with the female menstrual cycle which on average occurs every 28 to 29.5 days.  Thus the moon is often thought of as a symbol of fertility, and is associated with the Feminine aspect of the Universe. Since the moon has three phases the moon also represents the three aspects of Womanhood—New (Maiden), Full (Mother) and Dark Moon (Crone).  Pagans often use these phases to cast spells since each phase represents its own meaning. The New Moon is for waxing magick, and all things to gain. The Full Moon is for wishing type magick, and it is also used for love and eliminations. Some also use this moon for divination. The Dark Moon is used for meditation, introspection, mental cleansing, banishing and ridding oneself of mental debris.

On this month –August 2012 Pagans have a special event coming. The Full Moon was on August 1, 2012. The New Moon is now active. However, on August 30th we will have another Full Moon. Any second Full Moon in a month is called a Blue Moon; as in the phrase “Once in a Blue Moon”, meaning something rare to happen. This is indeed rare since a Blue Moon happens on average every 2.5 to 3 years according to the Farmer’s Almanac. So what does this mean to a Pagan? For one thing if a Pagan loves seeing a Full Moon it is a double blessing to see it again in the same month, since a Full Moon is a sacred symbol. The second meaning is there is more opportunity for Full Moon magick for those who like this type of magick. Most importantly, a rare natural occurrence, or something that happens once in a Blue Moon, is magickal to a Pagan. These sacred events are like a magickal portal of time  space and matter that opens up for Pagans to send petitions for their dreams and wishes and desires to come true. Like rainbows, solar eclipse and falling stars Blue Moons are portals or depots that are often used to allocate directives through messenger or dispatcher gods like Oya, Hermes, Papa Elegba, Anubis Mercury and Thoth to deliver our prayers, spells and petitions to The-Most-High. Other useful events for the Blue Moon are:

1. Goal Moon~ Some Pagans think of the Blue Moon as a Goal Moon. They use this moon to set their goals and look for their goals to come to fruition on the next Full Moon.
2. Initiation Moon~ This moon is often used as an initiation moon. Many people are initiated into covens on this moon.  Some plan the ending of their year and a day, and their initiation around this moon time.
3. Super Divination Moon~ Some Pagans believe that the Blue Moon holds the knowledge of the Crone. Therefore the brightness of the Blue Moon is used to answer difficult questions and find answers to mystical queries. Use the I-Ching, Tarot, Pendulum, Runes or Cowry shells to find the answers you seek.
4. Linking Moon~ This moon is used as a linking moon. It is believed that this dyad moon links the Universal Yin and Yang energies. Although the Full Moon is often thought of as Goddess energy the Blue Moon connects Goddess and God making it a wonderful time for meditation that works with chakra energies or just powerful spell work.

No matter what you choose to do for the coming Blue Moon it is definitely a good moon to sow any seeds you wish to grow strong in your spiritual practice. Why not make your plans now on this New Moon, and then work your choice of magick on the next Full Blue Moon to come –August 30^th?

Be Well and Goddess Bless.