"Blue moon" is not solely associated with wiccans by any means.
Very strange... Lots of folks being attacked by hammers.
Fans of Dexter will remember the Trinity killer.
Wtf maybe the moon does bring out the crazies.
Exactly. I can say that, in over a quarter-century's close association with Wicca and Wiccans plus quite a lot of reading (and a B.A. in religious studies), I've never heard one thing about a "blue moon" celebration. Much less so-called sacrifices, at that time or any other.
At most, nature-loving people might say at a blue moon (like they would for the Perseid meteor shower or during an eclipse), "Oh, cool. We should watch it... well, if we're awake and the kids don't have to get up early for school." Only it's less likely, since a blue moon isn't actually blue, or unique in any way. It's just a moon occurring every few years, the second full moon in a calendar month, which happens because we have mostly 30/31 day months and the moon is full every 29-ish days or so.
I realize Nancy Grace (thankfully) said the police in this case were not referring to Wiccans. However, the term "witchcraft," which she and others used over and over, will still inevitably be associated with Wiccans who do generally identify as witches. Also, the people who chose the images for NG's report have a lot to answer for. Incense, candles, and altars are in themselves indications of some dangerous version of the "occult" or ritual crime...srsly?! (I also glimpsed goblets, crystal balls, and other innocuous new age or neopagan symbols in the stock footage.)
It's pure ignorance. Catholics, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Eastern Orthodox Christians, and who knows how many more religions—not to mention the vast majority of benign occultists!—ALL use incense, candles, altars, and various symbols that may seem esoteric to outsiders.
That's over a billion people. And it indicates
nothing criminal.