Sunday 27 September 2015

September 28: Blood Supermoon, Eclipse and Magic


If you stay up late tonight you will have a chance to witness a supermoon and a lunar eclipse. It is a particularly rare astronomical event as there have only been five supermoon lunar eclipses before this one since 1900 - in 1910, 1928, 1946, 1964 and 1982.

A supermoon happens when the Moon is closer to the Earth than usual, and tonight it is the closest it will be all year. When it rises in the night sky it will appear 14 per cent larger than usual, which should be pretty spectacular on its own. However, later that night – or rather very early the next morning – there will also be a lunar eclipse. The eclipse will begin at 2.07am in the morning of 28 September in London and last until 5.27am. The maximum effect will be at 3.47am. This event is also called a Blood Moon, because the moon will appear to turn blood red.

It should be really spectacular to watch – and the good news is that if the sky is clear, London is one of the places to get a perfect view. It will also be a great time for witchery. Spells work best when the moon is full, and the power of the moon will be particularly potent tonight. Eclipses are also the perfect time to work for change and for divination and introspection.

Of course the question a lot of people ask is, is a bloodmoon an omen of doom and gloom? Well, the time of the equinox always brings high tides and a supermoon can bring higher tides than usual, so I would say beware of flood warnings if you live near the coast. Apart from that, supermoons and eclipses are not to be feared.

One book on how to do eclipse magic is the Eclipse Magic Workbook by Mani Navasothy. It gives lots of ideas on how to use the power of eclipses to work magic for personal change and development.

Here are links to current news stories and articles about tonight's blood supermoon eclipse:
"Supermoon Lunar Eclipse: Paris, London and Lisbon Among Best Sites in Europe to View Rare Celestial Event" at acuweather.com: http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/europe-lunar-eclipse-paris-lon/52577847

"Preparing for the Supermoon Eclipse" at Patheos: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/naturespath/2015/9/preparing-for-the-supermoon-eclipse/

"Blood supermoon: Why do people still associate astronomical phenomena with the apocalypse?" - at International Business Times: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/blood-supermoon-why-do-people-still-associate-astronomical-phenomena-apocalypse-1520272

"Supermoon lunar eclipse or “blood moon” to wow UK" at The Weather Network: http://www.theweathernetwork.com/uk/news/articles/climate-and-environment/supermoon-lunar-eclipse-blood-moon-to-wow-uk/57559/

"Sunday treat in store as supermoon meets total eclipse" at The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/sep/24/supermoon-meets-total-eclipse-sunday?CMP=share_btn_fb

The above photo is copyright James C. Wallace II.

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