The term "blue moon" now commonly describes a full moon occurring twice in the same month. This happens every few years, when the date for a full moon falls near the beginning of a calendar month so that the next full moon comes before the end of that month. 

But but it didn't always mean that. The term is at least 400 years old, and originally meant the third full moon when there are four full moons in a season, calculated by a formula related to the solstices and equinoxes.  

The idea that a Blue Moon is the second full moon in a calendar month was erroneously introduced into popular culture by a mistake in a 1946 Sky & Telescope article, and has become so widespread that probably the astronomers will never be able to make us think otherwise. 

The expression “once in a blue moon,” is also used to connote something that is obviously absurd, because it is likely to happen rarely, if ever! 

Check out the vocal virtuosity in this doo-wop treatment of the classic tune:

The Marcels: Blue Moon

Go with the Flow ~ 

it beats swimming against the tide

When Joseph Campbell met Holly Sierra

Woman,

as the magical door from the other world, 

through which lives enter into this, 

 stands naturally in counterpoise 

to the door of death, 

through which they leave.

--- Joseph Campbell 

The Masks of God

click here for more splendid illustrations from Holly Sierra

What women most desire

This story from the Arthurian legends answers a timeless question.

The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle

In haunted Inglewood Forest, where it is thought that the Otherworld is near at hand, King Arthur is hunting a deer. 

Separated from his companions, and without his usual armor and weaponry, he follows and kills the deer. Suddenly, from out of the forest, a fully armed knight appears. He is Sir Gromer Somer Joure, and brings a grievance: he claims that his lands have been seized from him by Sir Gawain, the King's nephew. 

Sir Gromer tells the King that in exactly a year's time, he must return, unarmed as he is this day, and bring the answer to a question that Sir Gromer will pose. If the answer is incorrect, he will be beheaded. 

The question is:
What is it that women most desire? 

The King returns to court and shares what has happened with Sir Gawain, who suggests that they ride through the countryside, asking this question to the people, and recording their responses. This they do separately, and then come back together, comparing the answers they've collected. 

There is no clear consensus on this question; the answers are so many, and so varied, that the King quickly begins to feel the futility of this effort, and determines instead to return to the forest alone, in hopes of gaining some insight.

Kelmscott Chaucer, 1896 illustration

This time, he happens to meet an ugly old hag, Dame Ragnelle. 
She claims to know his dilemma, and also to have the answer he needs to fulfill his obligation to Sir Gromer. She will reveal it to him, on one condition: that she will be wed to Sir Gawain. 


When Sir Gawain learns of this from the King, he immediately consents to the marriage, to save the life of his uncle. 

King Arthur returns to the forest for his meeting with Sir Gromer, but goes first to Dame Ragnelle. He informs her that Sir Gawain accepts her terms, and requests that she divulge the answer. 

Dame Ragnelle tells the King that what women most desire is sovereignty -- the right to make their own decisions. 

So the King wins the challenge with Sir Gromer, and his life is spared. The wedding of Sir Gawain to Dame Ragnelle goes forward. On the wedding knight, Sir Gawain decides to act gallantly, and, as if his bride were very desirable, go to her bed as a dutiful husband should. 

But when he enters her chamber, he finds instead a radiant young woman more beautiful than any he has ever seen. 

She explains that her ugly appearance was the result of a spell that could only be broken by marriage to a good Knight. Now, married to Sir Gawain, she has the liberty to be ugly only half the time, and beautiful half the time. She asks Sir Gawain whether he prefers that she be beautiful by day -- when others may see her - or by night, when only he will see her. 

But he does not decide. Instead, he gives her the choice - thus honoring her sovereignty. 

This destroys the curse permanently, and from that time forward, she is beautiful -- both day and night. 

So fellows, if you want a beautiful mate, 

don't put her in hobbles and bar the gate; 

don't make her a prisoner, nor a slave, 

for she will detest you beyond the grave.
Love can't be captured or forced by might. 

This is our tale, and to all,

a Good Knight!

The Optimism of April

Dear and precious Mother Earth, we are thankful for the joyous, life-affirming exuberance of spring!

The movement of the moon through all her faces (phases) is a pattern of change that is constant. Such a pattern is called "periodicity". From this arose the term, the 'menstrual period', to describe that interval when women shed the internal skin of the uterus.

The 'reset' button for the lunar cycle is the New Moon on the 18th. In the traditional practice of our ancestral grandmothers, women who are synchronized to this cosmic calendar - its timing cued by the dance of the Earth, moon and sun, in a pattern of change that is constant - will start their 'shedding' that day.

Go with the flow,
Mrs. Kiva's Mom

Bed for Dreams

The intimate relationship of women with the moon persists in spite of all efforts to eradicate it. This connection is recognized still in our collective consciousness.

If you don't believe me, consider the ironic destiny of this image, from artist Carmen Lomas Garza.

What do you see?

Two young girls gaze at the full moon (incidentally, the ‘moon of ovulation’, per the schedule of our ancestral grandmothers), while inside, their mother is making the bed.

If this image seems somewhat familiar, it's not for nothing: Garza's representation of the historically encoded correspondence of the moon with women’s fertility sneaks back into the public domain when her image was chosen to promote the Year 2000 Census!  

This painting - Cama Para Sueños (Bed for Dreams), done in 1985, is now in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, in Washington D.C

Carmen Lomas Garza is a recipient of numerous awards and has exhibited her work in galleries and museums across the United States. More about Ms. Lomas Garza, here: http://carmenlomasgarza.com . You can also find her on YouTube.

SUPER New Moon and total eclipse of the Sun - on Equinox, this Friday March 20th!

This Friday, on the Equinox, is a SUPER (new) MOON - and a total eclipse of the sun. 



The New Moon is never visible, until the New Crescent appears in the West. For the three days preceding her reappearance as the Crescent, the moon is traveling with the sun - coming up at sunrise and going down at sunset. So, at night, the moon is simply not in the sky; and because the moon is between us and the Sun, the Sun's strong light makes it impossible for us to see her during the day. This is why I like to call New Moon the 'No Moon'!

A Super Moon means that the moon, in her orbit, is as close as she ever gets to the Earth (lunar perigee).  The Super New Moon will provide a spectacular total eclipse of the Sun. But this will only be visible in specific places, and unfortunately, North America isn't one of them!

The moon generates no light of her own -- her distinct phases result from a dance between Earth, Sun and Moon, which are all in motion at different speeds and on different pathways. The moon orbits the Earth, which orbits the Sun, which travels the galactic landscape of the Milky Way. After this eclipse on the equinox, there will be three more (on the equinox in March) in this century: in 2034, 2053, and 2072 - each separated by the 19 years required for Earth, Sun and Moon to be in exactly the same position relative to each other. 

The vernal equinox, as the announcement of spring, heralds a time of fertility.  Many mammals procreate at this time so that babies can be born in the warm protection of summer. Since the Grandmothers designated the New Moon as the interval when we would retreat into seclusion, this Friday is a powerful and intense concentration of  feminine energy - a Super Moon Lodge! 

Go with the flow,
Mrs. Kiva's Mom

Does Menarche Matter?

Around the world, in every country and corner of the earth, women share a common experience: we reach the age when our lives are changed forever by the arrival of our menstrual cycle. Each of us learns ways to deal with and manage this experience, which will be with us for many years, using the knowledge and wisdom passed to us by the significant women in our lives, whether mothers, grandmothers, sisters, friends, teachers, or mentors.   

At least, that's the way it used to be. These days, we turn over much of the responsibility to 'experts'. We hope that the 'sex-ed' our kids receive in school is at least an adequate beginning. But is it? 

What I notice these days is that there is an abundance of information on the web regarding menopause (the issue for grown women) -- but very little about menarche. Many of you are now asking: What IS menarche (men-ar-key)?

Digging into the roots of words gives us a clue. Within the terms we use for this fundamentally female experience, there is a hidden element: the moon. These English words are derived from "mene", the Greek word for moon.  

Menstruation   =   Moon changing

Menopause       =   Moon pause

Menarche          =   Moon Beginning

So now that you know what menarche is, can we ask: what's happened to it? Where is menarche in mainstream culture? Who cares about girls who are beginning their 'moon' - except maybe the feminine hygiene companies?

If you are a mom, a mentor, an auntie, a grandmother, or even a dad or an uncle, with an important girl in your life who is approaching this transition, you are probably giving some thought to this topic. When is the right moment for "The Talk"? Do you feel comfortable and prepared, or does the prospect cause ice-water to run in your veins?! What else can be done to encourage her as she starts to sail the choppy waters of early puberty? 

Among other things, this blog will explore historical practices, which were in many cases extremely challenging and even death-defying. We aren't looking to restore such difficult rituals, but within them we can find elements that may be valuable to our understanding of this time in a girl's life. In many indigenous peoples, this transition is still observed with traditional ceremonies that have endured. What does it mean to our girls that there is so little in the way of community acknowledgment of their changed life-status? The research shows a lot of damage - and I will show you that research. And I tell you that we can change this! We can rewrite the script for menarche!  

S, what's the moon got to do with it -- really? In 1927, anthropologist Robert Briffault wrote, “Menstruation, that is, 'moon-change', is commonly spoken of by all peoples as 'the moon'." Of the female reproductive functions, he says that menstruation particularly is “naturally reckoned by women, in every part of the world, by the changes of the moon.” (emphasis mine)

This connection has often been discounted as superstition, “old wives’ tales”, or witchcraft. But the recent work of biologists and other scientists reveals the reasons for the correspondence between the moon’s phases and the ‘internal tides’ of women.  Now, finally, we have the scientific evidence explaining how it works; but these discoveries lead to even more intriguing questions about why - and precisely how - women learned to use the moon as a menstrual clock.  This too will be revealed to you, dear reader.  

And by the way, it was not for nothing that those wives lived to be old!

Rubicon Moon is dedicated to restoring the positive significance of menarche, and for building ideas to empower girls by acknowledging it in honoring ways. We publish materials to help adults honor a girl's menarche with tenderness, discretion, encouragement and respect.  This blog is meant to be a forum for shared discussion and collaboration; your comments are welcomed.