"Once in a Blue Moon"

 

Have you ever wondered what the expression “once in a blue moon” actually means? Have you pondered the following questions - Does the moon really turn blue?  When does this happen? Why? Well, there is no better time to answer these questions as there is an actual blue moon coming up on Friday.

So, we use the English idiom "once in a blue moon” as a way of describing a rare event. An actual “blue moon” is more or less an "extra" Full Moon. Most years have 12 Full Moons, which occur approximately every month (our word for “month” actually comes from the word “moon”). But once every two or three years, there's an extra Full Moon – which is referred to as a "Blue Moon." 

There is an extra Full Moon simply because the solar calendar has about 11 more days than the lunar calendar, and after a few years all the extra days accumulate so every 2-3 years there's an extra Full Moon. 

The Moon doesn't actually turn blue – so why the colour blue?  It is suggested that the word comes from an old Middle English word, "belewe" – meaning "betray."  When calculating the dates for Lent and Easter the Clergy identify the Lent Moon. It is thought that historically when the moon's timing was too early, they named an earlier moon as a "betrayer moon" (belewe moon), thus the Lent moon came at its expected time. Over the years the word "belewe" evolved into "blue".

This month, August 2012 houses two full moons. The first Full Moon happened in Aquarius on August 1, and the second Full Moon, in Pisces, the Blue Moon, occurs on August 31. The next blue Moon will not come again until July 31, 2015.

Full Moons are emotionally charged – have you ever wondered where the word "Lunatic" comes from??? With there being two Full Moons in one month it means this month could be an emotional and confusing time for us - so don’t be too hard on yourself and give thanks it only happens once in a blue moon.

UG xxx