I guess we’ve all heard the phrase “once in a blue moon” — meaning that something happens not very often. In the context of astronomy, a blue moon is most commonly used when there’s a second full moon within a single month. If August hasn’t been as messed up for you as it has been for me, you probably remember the first August supermoon, called the full Corn Moon or Sturgeon Moon, happened on August 1.
So tonight, we can witness another astronomical phenomenon — not only will there be a blue moon, but it will be a supermoon blue moon, and the biggest and brightest full moon of 2023.
The “blue” supermoon’s name has nothing to do with the moon’s color — in fact, it will actually be orange.
There are two types of blue moons — the August blue supermoon falls into the first category — two full moons occurring in the same month. That always happens occasionally, because a new full moon rises every 29.5 days. Given that the Sturgeon Moon occurred on August 1, the August 30 full moon will be a blue moon…. blue moons of this type are called “calendar blue moons,” and occur every two or three years. (The next one will occur on May 31, 2026.)
The second type of blue moon, called a “seasonal blue moon,”describes the third full moon of four during one astronomical season. This occurs when a calendar year has 13 full moons instead of the typical 12. A lunar year — 12 orbits of the Earth by the moon — takes 354 days. The Earth’s solar year is 365 days. The next seasonal blue moon, that also happens every two or three years, will occur on August 19, 2024.
The next full moon will also be the Harvest Moon, on September 29. It’s one of the best known full moons of the year, and this year, it’s the last supermoon in 2023.
I’ve mentioned several times that one of by brothers-in law puts a lot of stock in the various phases of the moon, so I read a little about how the August supermoon might make an impact our our lives — most of the literature points to specific astrological signs and goes into detail about each of those signs, but I did run across some generalities….
New moons signify the beginning of a cycle and push us into the new and the unknown, but full moons allow us to “cut loose any old paths or baggage.” So this full moon could be the inspiration you need to let go of what’s draining your energy — ultimately leaving you with more room to be in your power and experience joy.
Around the time of the full moon, you might finally gain insight into your emotions and know what you need to do to move forward and be the most liberated, authentic version of yourself. Full moons typically offer moments of extreme clarity, because the sun (your identity) starkly lights up the moon (your emotions.)
I don’t know if my brother-in-law is in to this, but it might be something that interests him — moon water. Moon water is created to essentially “capture” the energy of the full moon and offer an extra boost of that energy when you need it most. Drink it anytime you need an intuitive message to come through.
As a public service, here’s how to make moon water….
1, get a jar.
2. fill with water (any water.)
3. Add crystals or herbs to the water to enhance or focus on the kind of energy you’re seeing from the full moon. If you’re hoping to deepen your intuition, for example, amethyst or mugwort would be great additions.
4. Leave the jar out overnight to “charge” under the light of the full moon.
5. Store in a protected area and drink it when you need an intuitive message.
Astrology experts say the supermoon at the end of the month is a great opportunity to get clarity about what you want and let go of what no longer serves you. Sounds like good advice anytime, but maybe tonight is the time to just do it!
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