On the north side of a small mountain in Maine a Full Blue Moon will rise into the sky at about 8:30 pm on Friday July 31st.
When a second full moon rises in one month it is called Blue, even though it isn’t actually the color blue.
In early times the name Blue Moon was given to the second Full Moon in a month to distinguish it from the usual 3 Full Moons in a season.
Native American cultures and Fairy Folk named each Full Moon to reflect times of planting, harvest and seasonal conditions. When an extra Full Moon appeared it was called Blue, just to keep the other Full Moon names constant throughout the calendar year.
Since it is a rare occurrence, the term once in a Blue Moon has come to mean a rare occasion.
Blue Moons appear every 2 or 3 years.
The next Blue Moon will occur in 2018.
As a Blue Moon rises high over the hills here in Maine, Fairy Folk and Wildlings come prancing out of the forest with wee baskets of fairy dust.
They dance and they prance through the gardens,
the meadows, the orchards and hills.
A Full Blue Moon has a calming affect and asks that Fairy Folk and Wildlings stop and take a long look around themselves to see the bigger picture.
Lulah Blue knows that a Blue Moon signals a limited period of exquisite possibilities; taking her time noticing every detail, she is the last of the fairies to leave the forest.
The lighting of her wand on a Blue Full Moon signifies the duality of choices which is always present when two full moons share the same month.
Mae Belle answers Lulah Blue, lighting her own wand, she releases fairy dust to signify the magnificence of this hour.
I follow Blue Belle across the blueberry barrens as fairies dance and twirl all around me.
Blue Belle leads me to the top of the hill where a handsome young Wizard of The Future has taken up temporary residence , although in truth by living in the past as well as the future he lives no where and everywhere at the same time.
The Wizard of The Future is too young to know everything he carries within himself and so he comes on the July Full Moon Blue to consult with the Fairy Folk.
He stands firmly on hallowed ground as the Fairies bless and christen him with enough hope and possibility to sustain him on his long journey into the future where all dreams and mysteries reside.
The Fairies never share all of their secrets nor all of their wisdom, they are wise enough to know that self gained knowledge is every individuals rightful path in life.
“Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future
And time future in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredemable.
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.”
T.S. Eliot
Dawn approaches, the Blue Moon begins her descent and the sun her rise, as Fairy Folk return to their forest chambers.
As I wander down from the hilltop through the orchard, towards the gardens and home, the Wildlings depart for their own destinations and I can’t help noticing that the young Wizard is nowhere to be seen.
Happy Full Moon Blue!