Neveryear
So, New Year’s Eve (and consequently, the moon that took us into 2010) was a blue moon. According to Philip Hiscock, one of the earliest known references to blue moons connects them directly to absurdities and impossibilities.
The earliest references to a blue moon are in a phrase remarkably like early references to the moon’s “green cheese.” Both phrases were used as examples of obvious absurdities about which there could be no argument. Four hundred years ago, if someone said, “He would argue the moon was blue,” the average sixteenth century man would take it the way we understand, “He’d argue that black is white.” This understanding of a blue moon being absurd (the first meaning) led eventually to a second meaning, that of “never.” To say that something would happen when the moon turned blue was like saying that it would happen on Tib’s Eve (at least before Tib got a day near Christmas assigned to her). Or that it would be on the Twelfth of Never
I don’t know how your year has started out (and I’d love for you to tell me in comments below), but mine’s gone incredibly weird already. Not bad, not tragic, just peppered with absurdities. All modern studies I’ve read about full moons tend to dispel the notion that they’re harbingers of craziness; mental hospitals don’t see higher admission, for example. Working in emergency services I admit that we fear full moons, because anecdotally we do see stranger events and higher call volumes. If I apply a similar premise to this blue moon business it means that even if there’s no global effect I can still expect to see an individual one along my eye level.
2010 started off in Never, pregnant with absurdity. The manifestation of an impossibility, according to ye olde lore. Which kind of makes sense to me. I’ve heard more in the last few weeks of 2009 and first week of 2010 from people determined to manifest things they previously considered impossible. Resurrect dead projects, create new ones, make things that weren’t there before. Seek out avenues they considered closed off, talents they figured they couldn’t learn, skills they thought beyond them.
2010 is a Neveryear born from an absurdity. Maybe it’s just telling us to get absurd with it, create our own impossibilities. And maybe it’s telling us that it’s going to through in a few absurdities of its own.
I’m looking forward to it.