JANUARY 2014
January 2014 began with a New Moon. A New Moon symbolizes new beginnings.
January 2014 will end with a Black Moon. When a second new moon falls within a single solar calendar month, it is called a Black Moon. This happens approximately once every 3 or 4 years.
The January 2014 Black Moon will also be a Super Moon. When a New Moon (or a Full Moon) coincides with the closest approach the Moon makes to the Earth on its elliptical orbit, it is called a Super Moon, because its proximity makes it look bigger than at any other time.
FEBRUARY 2014
MARCH 2014
March 2014 will begin with a Sabbath New Moon and end with the second Black Moon in a single year. Black Moons usually occur only once in 3 or 4 years. In 2014, they will happen in January and March.
March 2014 will also feature back-to-back Jewish and Catholic holidays about national freedom, heroism, public displays of merriment and consumption of large quantities of alcohol. They will also coincide with the Full Moon.
- Purim: A Jewish holiday that celebrates Esther, a young Jewess who was chosen by the Persian King Ahasueras to be his queen, and was able to use her position to foil a plot to exterminate the Jews.
- St. Patrick’s Day: A Catholic holiday that celebrates Patrick, a young Catholic who was kidnapped from his home in Briton and sold into slavery in Ireland. After he escaped, he voluntarily returned to Ireland to preach Gospel.
Because the Jewish calendar is lunar while the Catholic calendar is solar, it is unusual for days and dates to coincide. The last time Purim and St. Patrick’s were near each other was 2003 when they landed on the same day.
Sources:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermoon
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_moon
- http://www.moonconnection.com/moon_phases_calendar.phtml
- http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110720203836AAPVR0T
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purim
- http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday9.htm
- http://celticchristianity.org/library/patrick.html
- http://www.cgsf.org/dbeattie/calendar/?roman=2003