ONCE IN A BLUE MOON

How exciting that we get to experience a blue moon on New Year's Eve, no wonder the energy has been so powerful these last few days, what a fantastic way to end the Year, out with the old to make way for the new - new beginnings no less. Get his:-

A Full moon occurs every 29.5 days

A Blue moon occurs every 2.5 years

A New year's blue moon occurs every 19 years

1990 was the last time there was a blue moon for the new year

2028 will be the next blue moon to start the new year

I find it all rather fascinating - a full lunar cycle is a little over 28 days long whilst a calendar year is more than that (why we don't follow the lunar cycle I have no idea, would make sense in terms of how we feel and our connection to nature...), which means that during some years we can end up with thirteen full moons instead of twelve, depending on where in the month the lunar cycle falls.

This is because during each calendar year we end up with twelve full 28-day cycles, and a leftover accumulation of eleven or twelve days. Those days accumulate and so about once every 28 calendar months we end up with an extra full moon during the month.

In folklore the monthly moon phases were each given names that helped people prepare for various types of weather and crop rotations and although these names varied depending on culture and location, they generally identified the sort of weather or other natural phenomenon that might take place in a given month. The term "blue moon" was given to the second full moon to appear in a calendar month.

Needless to say in some magical traditions the blue moon is considered a sort of spiritual bonus round. It is a time of new beginnings, of getting things right that you feel you missed or messed up the first time around, so if there is something new you would like to start then now is a perfect opportunity to do so - and what better timing (obviously - you have to love the magic of the Universe) than at the start of a New Year. See exciting stuff.

On New Year's Eve my cousin Yo (with whom I lived in Devon during the summer) and Sam (a friend from Yoga and Reiki)battled the icy wind and rain to perform our own little "letting go" ceremony at the Fairy Ring. It was a rather funny experience as Sam and I wrote down all the "stuff" we wanted to let go of from the past onto little bits of paper before burning them in a bracken fire in the base of the ring that Yo had cleverly constructed for us...Sam almost set fire to her tights so she was certainly dancing her way around the fire, which of course I found hilarious.



While we were out there a wedding party turned up for some wedding photographs - not something that I have seen before, a bride wearing this glorious bright red wedding dress battling her way through the atrocious weather with the groom wearing a bright red bow tie, smiling together on the centre of the fairy ring while the photographer also battled with the wind to get some mystical and Pagan shots - well it has to be mystical and Pagan surely?!

Aside from being absolutely freezing and all cobwebs certainly blown away, Sam and I both commented on the fact we felt much lighter after the whole experience - certainly different to the previous "burning bowl ceremonies" I have done on New year's Eve in the past, which have focused more on setting intentions for the New Year rather than letting things go - and I now believe that this somehow misses the point as you cannot bring in the new until you have made space by letting go of the old.

And I have to say that if there is one thing 2009 taught me it was to let go - as well as having faith and belief in yourself and the Universe and embracing the concepts of patience, compassion, forgiveness and self worth into every day living, plus of course not forgetting that life is for living...

So as one year ends and a new one begins, watch the moon, feels its energy, get in touch with the rhythm of this incredible Earth we live on, go with the flow and enjoy the journey, even the bumps, for there is joy in every new experience however tough it may feel at the time - oh and let go, let go, let go, while embracing the new.

Much love and lightness

Em xxxx