A Full Moon by any other name ...

On yesterday's blogpost about Ostara (see here) I posted a list of the names given to the different Full Moons throughout the year. The list was taken from the Royal Observatory (Greenwich) website and it caused a bit of a stir. As one person asked me, 'Why do we use American names like Beaver Moon and Sturgeon Moon?' 

It was a good question. So I did some research. And it turns out that they're not quite as American as they look ...

It appears that some names were actually brought to America by European settlers. One such is Wolf Moon. What we sometimes forget is that we did once have native wolves, bears and beavers here in the UK. It's estimated that there are still at least 17,000 wild wolves spread across 28 countries in Europe and Scandinavia (excluding European Russia). So that's why we call it a Wolf Moon and not, as some Native Americans do, a Coyote Moon.

That said, the new American colonists did adopt some names from the indigenous First Peoples and these have, over time, became the popular names adopted by Neo-Pagans during the late 20th century surge in interest in Shamanism and the 'New Age'.

But they are not the only names we could use, of course.

Photo by Ganapathy Kumar on Unsplash.

January's Wolf Moon is also known as the Old Moon or Ice Moon. Some of the Celtic peoples of Britain called it the Stay Home Moon or Quiet Moon. The Anglo-Saxons called it the Moon After Yule. 

February's Snow Moon is also known as the Bear Moon or Hungry Moon in North America. Here in the UK, Snow Moon is also used, along with Storm Moon or Hunger Moon.

March's Worm Moon can also be called the Crust Moon or Sap Moon. The Anglo-Saxons called it the Lenten Moon and the Celts referred to it as the Wind Moon or Plough Moon. In Old English, it was known as the Death Moon and the Chaste Moon referring to the purity of the Spring season.

April's Pink Moon is also known as the Sprouting Grass Moon or Fish Moon. The Anglo-Saxons called it the Egg Moon, and the Celts had names like Budding Moon, New Shoots Moon, Seed Moon and Growing Moon. Some Neo-Pagans refer to it as the Awakening Moon.

May has the Flower Moon AKA the Corn Planting Moon. The Anglo-Saxon name was Milk Moon, while the Celtic and Old English names were Mothers’ Moon, Bright Moon, Hare Moon, or Grass Moon. 

June's Strawberry Moon is also known as the Rose Moon or Hot Moon. The Celtic nations variously called it the Mead Moon, Horse Moon, Dyan (Divine) Moon, or Planting Moon. 

Photo by Sierra NiCole Narvaeth on Unsplash.

July sees the arrival of the Buck Moon or Hay Moon. In the UK it is known varioulsy as the Claiming Moon, Wyrt (herb or spice) Moon, Fruit Moon or Mead Moon. 

August is the Sturgeon Moon or Red Moon or Green Corn Moon. The Celts called it the Dispute Moon or Lynx Moon, and the Anglo-Saxons the Grain Moon or Lightning Moon. 

September is known as the Full Corn Moon, Barley Moon, Wine Moon or Song Moon, but is often referred to on both sides of the Atlantic as the Harvest Moon. It's the Full Moon nearest to the Autumn Equinox (which is usually in September).The light of the Harvest Moon enabled farmers to work late into the night, helping them to bring in the crops from the fields. 

October. The Hunter's Moon is also known as the Travel Moon or Dying Grass Moon. The Celts used Seed Fall Moon to describe it but it can also be called the Blood Moon or Sanguine Moon. It's the time of year when the hunters were busiest and when domestic farm animals were slaughtered so that meat could be stocked up for the long Winter months. There may also have been an element of sacrifice involved. The term 'Blood Moon' is also sometimes used to describe the appearance of the Moon during a total lunar eclipse when the Earth's shadow falls across it.

November is also known as the Beaver Moon or Frost Moon. In Celtic tradition, it was called the Mourning Moon or Darkest Depths Moon. 

December's Full Moon is the Cold Moon. The Old English and Anglo-Saxon names are the Moon Before Yule or the Long Night Moon, referring to the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere - the December solstice. The Celts called it the Oak Moon or the Full Cold Moon. 

So take your pick!

Photo by Malith D Karunarathne on Unsplash.

And, in addition to these twelve, there is sometimes a Blue Moon which, as the name suggests, doesn't happen often. The Moon completes 12 full cycles of its phases in about 354 days – which is 11 days short of a calendar year. Therefore, every two and a half years or so, the difference adds up to an extra 13th Full Moon occurring somewhere during the year. That's a Blue Moon, although no one seems to know why we call it that. 

And we do have a Blue Moon in August this year. The dates of the Full Moons are:

January 6th.

February 5th.

March 7th.

April 6th. 

May 5th.

June 4th.

July 3rd.

August 1st.

August 31st.

September 23rd.

October 28th.

November 27th.

December 27th.

Interesting, eh?

Photo by Frank Cone on Pexels.

But that's not the full story.

I've only looked at the Northern Hemisphere and only really at the UK and the USA. Eastern Europe has its own traditions, as do the Scandinavian countries and Asia.

In Sri Lanka, the Full Moon is called Poya and each Moon has its own name and a dedicated holiday. Listed here in the order January to December: Duruthu Poya, Navam Poya, Madin Poya, Bak Poya, Vesak Poya, Poson Poya, Esala Poya, Nikini Poya, Binara Poya, Vap Poya, Ill Poya, and Unduvap Poya.

Meanwhile, the Māoris of New Zealand follow a lunar calendar called the Maramataka. It starts in May and the months are called Pipiri, Hongonui, Here-turi-kōkā, Mahuru, Whiringa-ā-nuku, Whiringa-ā-rangi, Hakihea, Kohi-tātea, Hui-tanguru, Poutū-te-rangi, Paenga-whāwhā, and Haratua. 

There's a whole book to be written here ... and, speaking of books, it would be remiss of me not to give another mention to one of my favourite books this year - Kevin Parr's excellent The Quiet Moon in which he follows the Moon's annual cycles through a calendar year (see my review here).

Is that enough mooning for you?.