Full Moon Names and Their Meanings
Full Moon names date back to Native
Americans, of what is now the northern and eastern United States.
The tribes kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names
to each recurring full Moon. Their names were applied to the
entire month in which each occurred. There was some variation in
the Moon names, but in general, the same ones were current
throughout the Algonquin tribes from New England to Lake Superior.
European settlers followed that custom and created some of their
own names. Since the lunar month is only 29 days long on the
average, the full Moon dates shift from year to year. Here is the
Farmers Almanac's list of the full Moon names.
• Full Wolf Moon - January
Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled
hungrily outside Indian villages. Thus, the name for January's
full Moon. Sometimes it was also referred to as the Old Moon, or
the Moon After Yule. Some called it the Full Snow Moon, but most
tribes applied that name to the next Moon.
• Full Snow Moon - February
Since the heaviest snow usually falls during this month, native
tribes of the north and east most often called February's full
Moon the Full Snow Moon. Some tribes also referred to this Moon as
the Full Hunger Moon, since harsh weather conditions in their
areas made hunting very difficult.
• Full Worm - March Moon
As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw,
earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The
more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when
the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust
Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day
and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of
tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was
also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last
full Moon of winter.
• Full Pink Moon - April
This name came from the herb moss pink, or wild ground phlox,
which is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring.
Other names for this month's celestial body include the Full
Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and among coastal tribes the
Full Fish Moon, because this was the time that the shad swam
upstream to spawn.
• Full Flower Moon - May
In most areas, flowers are abundant everywhere during this time.
Thus, the name of this Moon. Other names include the Full Corn
Planting Moon, or the Milk Moon.
• Full Strawberry Moon - June
This name was universal to every Algonquin tribe. However, in
Europe they called it the Rose Moon. Also because the relatively
short season for harvesting strawberries comes each year during
the month of June . . . so the full Moon that occurs during that
month was christened for the strawberry!
• The Full Buck Moon - July
July is normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push
out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also
often called the Full Thunder Moon, for the reason that
thunderstorms are most frequent during this time. Another name for
this month's Moon was the Full Hay Moon.
• Full Sturgeon Moon - August
The fishing tribes are given credit for the naming of this Moon,
since sturgeon, a large fish of the Great Lakes and other major
bodies of water, were most readily caught during this month. A few
tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because, as the Moon rises, it
appears reddish through any sultry haze. It was also called the
Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.
• Full Harvest Moon - September
This is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox.
In two years out of three, the Harvest Moon comes in September,
but in some years it occurs in October. At the peak of harvest,
farmers can work late into the night by the light of this Moon.
Usually the full Moon rises an average of 50 minutes later each
night, but for the few nights around the Harvest Moon, the Moon
seems to rise at nearly the same time each night: just 25 to 30
minutes later across the U.S., and only 10 to 20 minutes later for
much of Canada and Europe. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild
rice the chief Indian staples are now ready for gathering.
• Full Hunter's Moon - October
With the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt.
Since the fields have been reaped, hunters can easily see fox and
the animals which have come out to glean.
• Full Beaver Moon - November
This was the time to set beaver traps before the swamps froze, to
ensure a supply of warm winter furs. Another interpretation
suggests that the name Full Beaver Moon comes from the fact that
the beavers are now actively preparing for winter. It is sometimes
also referred to as the Frosty Moon.
• The Full Cold Moon; or the
Full Long Nights Moon - December During this month the
winter cold fastens its grip, and nights are at their longest and
darkest. It is also sometimes called the Moon before Yule. The
term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the
midwinter night is indeed long, and because the Moon is above the
horizon for a long time. The midwinter full Moon has a high
trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low Sun. |