December's Blue Moon - Image courtesy of Benedict Yeoman
Perhaps you heard, the 2009 New Year’s Eve Full Moon was a blue moon. The rarity of such an event falling on such a symbolic night – New Years Eve – got me thinking. A blue moon comes only once every 2 – 3 years. It occurs because, while there are 12 months in a year, there are 12 lunar cycles plus an extra 11 days. A blue moon then is when there is an extra full moon in any one month. In December the two were on the 2nd and the 31st.
December 2 Full Moon - reflected in Danube
Blue or Betrayer?
Why blue? The theory is that the name was not originally “blue” the colour, but an old English word “belewe” which means “to betray”. This makes sense for example when we consider that in olden days the moon was an important time keeper for farming cycles, each season having three full moons: early, mid and late. An extra full moon in the year will create confusion in the timing. For example: “Three winter full moons already but still too cold to plant our seeds – shouldn’t Spring be here by now?“ It is ironic that this use of blue as a corruption of “belewe” would mean that blue here represents the very opposite of its usual association – “trust.”
Whether this is the real origin of the phrase “blue moon” or not, one thing is sure – a blue moon year carries the energy of 13. And traditionally 13 certainly does coincide with untrustworthiness. 13 is superstitiously unlucky, just as Eve was the temptress, black cats are to be avoided and wise women are witches! Yes 13 is all things feminine and therefore to be put down.
The antidote – a positive wise woman
And so it was wonderfully refreshing that this New Years Eve the BBC aired a radio programme entitled “Blue Moon” which shared one wise woman’s project to honour this special event.
Elspeth Owen is an artist, and although she is 71 years old, she is spending the whole period from the first December full moon (on the 2nd) to the blue moon on the 31st, living entirely outdoors. Her project is to bury 14 white necklaces, one each night, for the 14 nights of the waning moon – the period when the moon shrinks. With the beginning of the New Moon she then retrieves each of the necklaces again, one by one, one per night. Her focus throughout this process will be “taking care” – both of herself and the necklaces.
She was a vibrant woman refreshingly unconcerned by any need to be rational. It was delightful to listen to her with her wonderful laugh which reminded me of Claudia Booth’s. The programme was a great antidote to the traditional negative associations of 13 and the feminine.
Tzaphkiel as Mother
And it seems to me that Elspeth’s story provides an insight into the nature of Tzaphkiel, just as did the film Avatar which I wrote about in the previous post. In the case of Elspeth’s project I believe it is an enactment of the Divine Mother aspect of Binah. Let me explain …
Elspeth began by making the 14 white necklaces – here she is Mother as creator.
She then births her creations into the world. She does this by burying them through the period of the waning moon – now she is Mother as birth giver.
Finally she retrieves and resurrects the necklaces – she completes the process as Mother the nurturer.
This project can be seen as a metaphor for the Creator’s relationship with the created. Souls are created through Binah, the Divine Mother, in order that consciousness may be enter into matter. Souls then travel further from the Divine by entering Matter in our case the human experience. It strikes me that at both the level of soul and the human being our deepest need and desire remains the same. We wish to be loved and remembered. What could be worse than being forgotten by your mother? I have seen film of grown men in orphanage / institutional homes in eastern Europe saying that all they want is to be reunited with their mothers. I have also heard that when soldiers call out with their dying breath it is invariably to their mother. Why would souls be any different in their relationship to the Source? Binah is the sphere of the mother and Tzaphkiel is its presence. It seems to me that Elspeth’s project re-enacts the archetypal mother myth of creation, dispersion and reunion.
The perpective of the Divine
Most satisfying of all, the aspect of Elspeth’s project that bothered me the most is actually the key. Elspeth started her process on the Full Moon. This is the absolute opposite of my normal way to approach lunar cycles. Usually I associate beginnings with the New Moon, the process reaching a fruition with the Full Moon and then suffering a decline again with the waning moon.
Elpseth began her project in the totally opposite place! But I see now that by burying the necklaces first and then resurrecting them again she is providing a metaphor for the process of consciousness entering into form, from the Heavenly perspective rather than the earthly. Brilliant. How Tzaphkiel!
B107 Tzaphkiel
Conclusions and a link
Though the film Avatar will probably grab me more – I am sure this radio programme will be the more heart-warming, humbling and enriching.
If you would like to listen to the radio programme – it is 30 minutes long – you can follow this link.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00pdjy1
Don’t delay too long, like a blue moon it may not come around again for a while.
I wish you all a happy, feminine and wise New Year.
