Festivals: Spring Equinox and Supermoon

There are two wonderful excuses to celebrate this weekend. As well as the Spring Equinox - or Ostara - on Sunday, just before that there is a very special full moon on Saturday. It is such a special event that some people are calling it the Supermoon.

The reason for this is that on March 19 the full moon occurs at the same time as the moon’s closest point to Earth for this month. This is called the moon's perigee. At perigee, the moon will be only 356,575km (221,575 miles) away from the Earth. On March 6, when the moon was at its farthest point for the month - its apogee - it was 406,583km (252,639 miles)away.

Every spring equinox, the full moon brings especially low tides and high tides, so it is a wonderful time time for moon magic and sea spells. However, although there are always increased risks of floods at the time of the spring equinox because of the tides, there is no reason to believe there is any greater risk than usual this year. Also, the Supermoon was not responsible for the earthquake and tsunami in Japan as that did not happen at the time of the full moon.

Because the moon is a little closer to the Earth than usual, it could also appear a little larger than normal.

Lets hope we get some warm weather and clear skies this weekend whether we are taking part in open air rituals or just want to go outside and observe the beautiful moon.

If you are looking for a outdoor open rituals to take part in this weekend, Avebury, in Wiltshire, is the place to visit and here are two pagan events worth considering:

Saturday, 19 March; Cauldron of Cerridwen Ostara Open Ritual at Avebury. A family-friendly open ritual at 12 noon at Avebury stone circle, in Wiltshire. For further details call Sian on 07746365980

Saturday, 19 March; Extreme Perigee Esbatt. Supermoon ritual at West Kennet Longbarrow, Avebury, from 6pm-8pm. For further details call Sian on 07746365980.

For more details of pagan events, click on the events link near the top of the page.

I took the photo at the top of the page in Sussex at the equinox last year. The moon doesn't seem that big in the picture - shame I didn't have a lens capable of zooming in more.

Links and previous posts
http://earthsky.org/tonight/high-tide-alert-closest-full-moon-of-2011-on-march-19
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/03/goddess-of-week-ostara.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/03/spring-tides-and-beachcombing.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/03/spring-equinox-visualisation.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/03/spring-equinox-rituals-and-meaning.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/03/full-moon-and-march-hares.html