Our apologies to the moon and you! In noting the once a month names and history of the native names for our full moon ceremony I mislabeled this month the Sturgeon or the green corn moon… That is incorrect and in late August! This Saturday is a second full Moon of July Celebration and something we use in a common phrase… “once in a ….”
Please join us for a renewal of Bodhisattva vows under the beloved BLUE MOON! A blue moon is an additional full moon that appears in a subdivision of a year, either the third of four full moons in a season or, a second full moon in a month of the common calendar.
The phrase has nothing to do with the actual color of the moon, although a literal “blue moon” (the moon appearing with a tinge of blue) may occur in certain atmospheric conditions; e.g., when there are volcanic eruptions or when exceptionally large fires leave particles in the atmosphere.
The original meaning would then have been “betrayer moon”, referring to a full moon that would “normally” (in years without an intercalary month) be the full moon of spring, while in an intercalary year, it was “traitorous” in the sense that people would have had to continue fasting for another month in accordance with the season of Lent.
It is our renewal of our Bodhisattva vows this upcoming Saturday morning after the Saturday Morning Dharma talk.
The ceremony takes about a half-hour and involves some thirty full prostrations, but simple standing bows are also all right if prostrations are too strenuous. All are welcome to join in this ceremony/celebration.
Every Saturday we offer early morning zazen (seated meditation), morning service, a brief drop-in meditation instruction at 8:30am. And again zazen at 9:25 am. We wrap up with a dharma talk at 10:15am followed by ceremony when applicable and then right to social time, tea and cookies. Please join us as this only will occur once in a blue moon!