This Week’s “Black Moon” Will Help You See Other Planets

This Friday, May 19th, a rare “black moon” will rise in the night sky, signaling the dawn of a new era of bloodshed and chaos on Earth. Okay, the “bloodshed and chaos” part is probably not true, but the black moon is still a neat astronomical rarity, and its presence makes this Friday an especially good night for both stargazing and witchcraft.

What is a black moon?

The term “black moon” appeared relatively recently. Like “blood moon” or “blue moon”, it has no scientific meaning, but “black moon” has a number of popular meanings.

The Black Moon this Friday is so called because it is the third new moon in a season of four new moons. Most seasons only have three new moons, but about every 33 months there is a fourth. Some refer to this type of black moon as the seasonal black moon.

“Black moon” can also refer to the second new moon of the month (calendar black moon). The third type of “black moon” is when there is no new moon in the month at all.

How to take advantage of the black moon

In a sense, all new moons are black moons because the Earth’s shadow prevents you from seeing the moon at that time. You won’t be able to see anything rising in the sky, but that means the brightest light source in the night sky will be out, making this an ideal time to observe other celestial objects, including four planets and (hopefully) some asteroids.

Venus and Mars will move east after sunset, and if you stay late, you can catch Jupiter and Saturn also in the eastern sky just before dawn.

In terms of asteroids, there must be some stragglers from the Eta Aquarid meteor shower, which peaked earlier this month. While the climax of the annual show is behind us, you can still see the end of it this weekend and maybe see some long streaks in the sky.

The mystical meaning of the black moon

The Black Moon has a special meaning among practitioners of modern Paganism, especially in the Wiccan community. According to Vikkaliving , many practitioners of the witchcraft arts refrain from casting spells on the new moon, but others are drawn to the destructive potential of the new moon to release harmful “karmic patterns”. Some consider the black moon to be a super powerful new moon and thus a great time for powerful “manifestations”. So get out there and cast your spells, misguided sisters.