The blood moon is coming. This is not a joke. I didn’t even realize a blood moon existed when I learned of this news! The blood moon is a real thing, and it is happening very soon, much sooner than one may think.

     First of all, what is a blood moon in real life? A blood moon is when the moon is in a total lunar eclipse. During this eclipse, the Earth is right in between the sun and the moon. This is not to be confused with the solar eclipse, where the moon blocks out the sun, as the lunar eclipse happens at night and people can look at it with their bare eyes. The last blood moon was November 8, 2022, and lasted from 5:17 AM (EST) to 6:42 AM (EST) which is about 85 minutes.

     The blood moon holds significance in many different cultures. It is a symbol of femininity in African cultures. Different ancient cultures had different interpretations of what caused the blood moon. The Chinese believed that a dragon caused the blood moon, but the Vikings thought it was wolf-gods eating the moon. Other cultures consider a blood moon an omen, such as Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans. In Islam, special prayers are chanted during an eclipse such as this.

      Many ancient civilizations and cultures saw the blood moon as an omen of evil or as a warning sign that tragic events were on the horizon, such as how the Mesopotamians and the Incas thought that the blood moon meant the downfall of a king. In Japan, a blood moon was associated with something terrible or overwhelmingly negative happening. In Christianity, the blood moon is associated with the end times. Many video games use the blood moon, such as in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, where the blood moon appears, and at the brink of midnight, monsters are resurrected by The Calamity.

     Even though the blood moon is often seen as a sign of something terrifyingly evil or something to dread, it is somewhat common. It often happens around 3-4 times within 2 years, then takes a pause for roughly around 3-5 years.  Even though it is common, it is still a brilliant sight to see and a remarkable event, as it doesn’t happen every night. 

     The next blood moon sounds like it will be even more significant. It is supposed to happen the night of March 14th. It is estimated to last around 65 minutes from 2:26 to 3:31 AM EDT.. For Ohioans, there should be a blood moon around 3:00 AM Ironically, Ohio has inherited a stereotype in memes of a place where crazy things happen, 3:00 AM is a stereotypically scary hour, and Friday the 14th is so close to Friday the 13th, a notoriously infamous hour. A Blood Moon occurring on this date is certain to be a momentous occasion for anyone familiar with some of these sayings or concepts.

     Even more exciting, there is supposed to be another blood moon later in the year 2025. This other moon is said to be taking place around Asia/Australia, so it will not be visible to North Americans, but for those interested, it will be taking place late Monday night on September 7th.

     In other news, many other significant sights are occurring in Earth’s atmosphere in 2025. On January 21, six of the seven planets are supposed to be visibly “parading” in Earth’s atmosphere. On February 25, all seven planets will be “parading” in Earth’s atmosphere. There is also supposed to be a partial solar eclipse over North America about 15-16 days after the lunar eclipse on March 29th. Later in 2025 on October 7th, November 5th, and December 4th, there is going to be a supermoon.  A supermoon is when the moon gets close to Earth and appears to be huge and bright. 2025 is sure to be a great time for stargazers and anyone interested in the sky. And remember- the Blood Moon is coming soon!

Sources: 

https://www.space.com/39471-what-is-a-blood-moon.html

https://bahsredandwhite.com/2114/lifestyle/blood-moon-myths/#:~:text=The%20Chinese%20believed%20that%20it,betrayed%20his%20bid%20for%20immortality.

https://www.space.com/what-time-total-lunar-eclipse-march-2025

https://www.spiritualityhealth.com/spiritual-meaning-of-the-blood-moon#:~:text=The%20appearance%20of%20a%20blood,during%20sunsets%20that%20appear%20red.

https://news.unt.edu/news/2024/connecting-ancient-beliefs-todays-understanding-eclipses.html#:~:text=The%20Greeks%20and%20Romans%2C%20for,generally%20seen%20as%20bad%20omens.

https://www.nihongomaster.com/blog/the-significance-of-the-moon-in-japanese-culture#:~:text=At%20the%20end%20of%20the,written%20about%20the%20blood%20moon.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/ancient-babylonians-thought-solar-eclipses-predicted-disasters-study-finds/#:~:text=The%20paper%2C%20published%20in%20the,the%20death%20of%20a%20king

https://bgindependentmedia.org/eclipses-evoked-fear-and-reverence-in-ancient-civilizations/#:~:text=The%20Norse%20believed%20two%20wolves,moon%20during%20a%20lunar%20eclipse.

https://science.howstuffworks.com/blood-moon.htm#:~:text=How%20often%20is%20there%20a,between%202%2D4%20occurrences%20annually.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/see-blood-moon-lunar-eclipse#:~:text=The%20next%20total%20lunar%20eclipse%20will%20occur%20on%20September%207,eclipse%20visible%20in%20their%20region.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2025/03/11/when-to-see-this-weeks-worm-moon-and-blood-moon-total-lunar-eclipse-in-north-america/

https://www.farmersalmanac.com/supermoon#:~:text=There%20will%20be%20three%20full,dates%2C%20times%2C%20and%20names.