Two Moons: Oak & Blue

Tonight, Wednesday night, we celebrate the December full moon which is known as the Cold Moon or Oak Moon. As we approach the longest night of the year, the days are cold and dark.

Oak Moon comes from the myths of the rule of the Oak King and the Holly King. At Winter Solstice the Oak King is reborn and rules until Summer Solstice when the Holly King is reborn and rules until Winter Solstice.

Although the changes are imperceptible to our naked eyes, the days do begin to get a little longer every day. Usually we can see the change by February 1, which is celebrated under the names of Groundhog Day, Candlemas, or Imbolc. At this time, it is a little lighter later in the evening.

Similarly, on the Summer Solstice, we do not see the light diminishing, and although the journey of the planets makes this true, we actually see and feel the difference by August 1, which is celebrated under the names of Lammas or Lughnasa.

In the old religions, Winter Solstice is the rebirth of the Sun and the Oak tree was often a symbol of strength and the energy of the male god. This made it easier for the new religion to superimpose its own story of the birth of the Son.

We also see the Oak stripped of its fullness, its foliage, at this time of year. We are looking at its skeleton, its bones, when we gaze out upon the landscape and behold its profile. After the buds awaken and it leafs out again, our line of vision will stop there, at that very place where we can find solace in the shade from the spring and summer heat and sun. As we contemplate this view, we examine our core strengths and we reflect on how much we need to strip down and how much we need to build up.

This month we also have a blue moon, which comes on December 31. Whenever there are two full moons in a month, the second one is always called the Blue Moon.

Why would this ever happen? The word month is a derivative of the word moon, and it originally referred to the cycle of a moon. If you look at your calendars, you will see that there are always four weeks from the new, or dark moon, through the waxing, full and waning cycles back around to the new moon again. So in old calendars, there were 13 months with one full moon in each month. Back then, a year was made up of 13 months of 4 weeks each, for a total of 364 days.

This all changed with the introduction of the Gregorian Calendar in 1582. So called primitive, rural, agrarian people sure had an easier calendar to follow rather than one in which some months have 30 days, some have 31, one has 28 except in leap year. Hence, the odd months with two moons.

For many reasons, I personally would prefer the old calendar of thirteen moon cycles lasting four weeks with one full moon in each. But we do have to be practical now, since so many people use the Gregorian calendar, and we needs to be able to coordinate our activities with other people. So our best mechanism for staying in touch with the cycles of nature is to use the full moons as markers of our shifts in energy.

After all, we know that it is not the date on the calendar that really moves energy in our world. It is the cycles of the moon that sways tides, coaxes seeds to sprout, and shifts consciousness in humans, animals and other living things, reminds us that these monthly rituals can speed up and slow down processes from growing hair to starting new businesses to doing deep psychic work.

We have two moons before the new year, and this could lead in to a very powerful year for manifesting.