A full moon always brings a chill down my spine. So much power and peace and beauty. Last night was a very special full moon called a Blue Moon. The Farmer’s Almanac tells us that “for more than half a century, whenever two full Moons appeared in a single month (which happens on average every 2 1/2 to 3 years), the second has been christened a ‘Blue Moon.’ In our lexicon, we describe an unusual event as happening ‘Once in a Blue Moon.’ This expression was first noted back in 1821 and refers to occurrences that are uncommon, though not truly rare.”

But why “Blue” Moon? The Almanac goes on to say that “for the longest time nobody knew exactly why the second full Moon of a calendar month was designated as a Blue Moon. One explanation connects it with the word ‘belewe’ from the Old English, meaning, ‘to betray.’ Perhaps, then, the Moon was ‘belewe’ because it betrayed the usual perception of one full Moon per month.

However, after reviewing the Maine Farmer’s Almanac, it was found that during the editorship of Henry Porter Trefethen (1932 to 1957), the Maine Almanac “made occasional reference to a Blue Moon, but derived it from a completely different (and rather convoluted) seasonal rule. As simply as can be described, according to Trefethen’s almanac, there are normally three full Moons for each season of the year. But when a particular season ends up containing four full Moons, then the third of that season is called a Blue Moon!”

Pretty cool stuff, don’t ya think?

Nickelback does it again…