The moon is a constant in our lives. We see it with so much regularity, that sometimes it floats into the background of the night sky.
Over the next few blogs, we are going to learn about how the moon affects us and how we can best harness the power of the moon. But first we need to get a clarity on what the phases of the moon are.
We learn about the moon in science class, and yet we don’t always remember that the moon has so much power over our earthly plane. The moon is a repeating pattern. It is a cycle.
The four parts that are easiest for me to remember are the New Moon (completely dark) and the Full Moon (it is all lit). The quarters can be tricky because when someone says the first or third quarter they are speaking in terms of the moon's full cycle. Then there is the tricky stuff, waxing and waning. Waxing means to become larger and waning means to get smaller.
The full cycle goes like this: New Moon (fully dark), Waxing Crescent (¼ of the right lit), First Quarter (right half of the moon lit), Waxing Gibbous (¾ of the right side lit), Full Moon (fully lit), Waning Gibbous (¾ of the left side lit), Third Quarter (left half of the moon lit), Waning Crescent (¼ of the left lit) and back again to the New Moon.
Oh boy…that was a lot of sciency stuff (hopefully you kept up).
Now for some fun facts!
A full cycle of the moon is 29 and a half days. Which is why we typically see a full moon once a month, with some months having two. That is when we get our Blue Moon.
There are some differing definitions of a Blue Moon. Most people think of a blue moon as any calendar month that has two full moons, but that is just one of them. The other definition is called a seasonal Blue Moon. A seasonal Blue Moon is when there are four Full Moons in an astronomical season. If there are four Full Moons between the Summer Solstice and the day before the Autumnal Equinox (the first day of fall) you would have a seasonal Blue Moon. This can happen in any of the astronomical seasons.
The seasonal Blue Moon is pretty rare, so I really celebrate by lighting candles and send blessings to the moon.
See you next time as we talk more about the power of the moon!
xo -Sarah
Join my Facebook group Women Finding Freedom in Your Feminine Power for more on this journey. We are a fun community of women supporting each other on our journey to shine their true light for the world.
