Moon over April

Talk about an eventful three-week period.

The next three weeks, beginning on Tuesday, April 15, will bring the following portentous events (in no particular order):

• Tuesday, April 15 is, as all good American workers and taxpayers know, the deadline for filing one's taxes with the iniquitous Internal Revenue Service, an often overbearing federal agency toward which, on a particularly bad day, many of us must resist the urge to shoot the moon.

• Friday, April 18 is, as all good Christians know, Good Friday, the day in which the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is observed with fasting and penance. (For some of us, present company included, one day of penance is hardly sufficient.)

A Wikipedia entry related to Good Friday states: "The estimated year of the Crucifixion is AD 33, by two different groups, and originally as AD 34 by Isaac Newton via the differences between the Biblical and Julian calendars and the crescent of the moon. A third method, uses a completely different astronomical approach based on a lunar Crucifixion darkness and eclipse model (consistent with Apostle Peter's reference to a 'moon of blood' in Acts 2:20). This account is rather about the signs of second coming of Christ. It is not relevant with the crucifixion of Jesus and points to Friday, 3 April AD 33."

• Sunday, April 20 is, as all good Christians know, Easter Sunday. By most accounts, Easter is the most significant observance of the Christian Church, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and held (in the Western Church) between March 21 and April 25, on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the northern spring equinox.

• Tuesday, April 15, in addition to tax deadline day, also happens to be the first of four blood moons which will occur in six-month intervals on the following dates: April 15, 2014; Oct. 8, 2014; April 4, 2015, and Sept. 28, 2015.

But just because we're seeing an early 21st century repetition of "blood moons," don't expect that to be the norm. It isn't.

Good thing, too.

The King James Bible's Book of Joel (Old Testament), 2:31, reads: "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come."

In the New Testament (King James version), Revelations 6:12 reads: "Lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood."

And then, there's this from CNN: "Tuesday's blood moon comes right on time for the Jewish festival of Passover, which commemorates the ancient Israelites' exodus from slavery in Egypt. According to the Bible, God cast 10 plagues upon the Egyptians, the final plague being the death of the firstborn. The Israelites painted lamb's blood on their doorways so that this plague would pass over their homes."

NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) describes the phenomenon a little less ominously.

According to NASA, at approximately 2 a.m. Eastern Time Tuesday, April 15, the moon will begin to pass through the Earth’s shadow. The refraction of the sun’s light will give the appearance of a red-colored moon. With a clear night/morning, this will be visible from almost anywhere in North America without the aid of a telescope.

Lord willing and the creeks don't rise, I will be howling at the blood moon at precisely 2 a.m. Tuesday, April 15. At 2:01 a.m., I will return to bed, wondering if this year's taxes will be filed on time.

If not, there's always another full moon for the IRS.

Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press.