Have you heard that expression, “Once in a Blue Moon,” and wondered what exactly that means? Does the Moon really turn blue? Does this only happen once in a couple hundred or every thousand years? Well, no and no. But it IS happening this August!

The term “Blue Moon,” which we’ve adopted as a way of describing something rare, is more or less an “extra” Full Moon. Most years have 12 Full Moons, which occur approximately every month. But once every two or three years, there’s an extra Full Moon — and that is what we call a “Blue Moon.”

So why is there an extra Full Moon? It’s simply because the Solar calendar has about 11 more days than the Lunar calendar, and after a few years all those extra days build up to the point where there’s an extra Full Moon.

And why the color blue, if the Moon doesn’t really turn blue? It’s believed the word comes from an old Middle English word, “belewe” — which actually means “betray.” In other words, they used to call it the Betrayer Moon, because this extra Full Moon didn’t fit into the normal Lunar Cycle. Over the years the word “belewe” evolved into “blue” — hence, we call it the “Blue Moon.”

Now back to the present: The first Full Moon this August is the Full Moon in Aquarius on August 1, and the second Full Moon is the Blue Moon — the Full Moon in Pisces on August 31.

Full Moons are emotionally charged, so the fact that we have two Full Moons in one month means August could be a pretty wild emotional roller coaster for some people. Overall, it’s a loving month, but if you have certain planetary placements in your birth chart it could affect your relationships quite a bit.

Astrologer Maria DeSimone wrote a great blog about this if you want to read more. And of course you do! This only happens once in a Blue Moon!

Read more about the August 2012 Blue Moon by Maria DeSimone at Tarot.com »