Full Moon – Sunday, 19th December

The cold weather is upon us and appropriately, December’s Full Moon is most commonly known as the ‘Cold Moon’. The Moon will be full at 04.35am on Sunday, 19th December.

Other names that indicate the cold and snow given to this Full Moon are:

  • Drift Clearing Moon (Cree),
  • Frost Exploding Trees Moon (Cree),
  • Moon of the Popping Trees (Oglala),
  • Hoar Frost Moon (Cree),
  • Snow Moon (Haida, Cherokee),
  • Winter Maker Moon (Western Abenaki)
  • Moon When the Deer Shed Their Antlers (Dakota)
  • Little Spirit Moon (Anishinaabe).

This Full Moon has also been called the Long Night Moon (Mohican), as it rises during the “longest” nights of the year, which are near the December winter solstice.

In Europe, ancient pagans called the December Full Moon the “Moon Before Yule,” in honour of the Yuletide festival celebrating the return of the sun heralded by winter solstice.

Full Moon calendar 2022

Full Moon date and time Full Moon name
17th January (11.48pm) Wolf Moon
16th February (4.56pm) Snow Moon
18th March (7.18am) Worm Moon
16th April (7.55pm) Pink Moon
16th May (05.14am) Flower Moon (total lunar eclipse)
14th June (12.51pm) Strawberry Moon
13th July (7.38pm) Buck Moon
12th August (2.36am) Sturgeon Moon
10th September (10.59am) Corn/Harvest Moon
9th October (9.55pm) Hunter’s Moon
8th November (11.02am) Beaver Moon
8th December (4.08am) Cold Moon

All times show the time of the full Moon at the Royal Observatory’s home in London, either in GMT or BST depending on the time of year. For full details see the 2022 Guide to the Night Sky

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Full Moon – Friday, 19th November

The November Full Moon, known as the Beaver Moon, will also be accompanied by a partial lunar eclipse that will be visible from the United States, Canada and Mexico (essentially all of North and South America), as well as Australia and parts of Europe and Asia. It will last six hours and peak at 09.02am (GMT). Therefore the Moon will look it’s fullest on Thursday evening.

Full Moon names date back to Native Americans of North America. There was some variation in the Full Moon names, but in general, the same ones were consistent among regional tribes – those who rely on full moon periods to track crops and harvest.

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.

Art by Karl Lindbergh

According to ancient legend, humans will turn into wolves on a Wednesday or Friday when sleeping outdoors on the night of the Full Moon.
He will turn into a wolf when the light of the moon shines on his face. Thankfully, the scientists have disproved this 🙂

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Full Moon – Wednesday, 20th October

The Moon will be at its fullest at 15.57hrs on Wednesday afternoon. It will be at it’s fullest and brightest… if clouds and thunderstorms don’t get in the way in the evening.

Referred to as the “Hunter’s Moon” it signaled the time to go hunting in preparation for the cold winter ahead. Animals are beginning to fatten up ahead of winter, and since the farmers had recently cleaned out their fields under the Harvest Moon, hunters could easily see the deer and other animals that had come out to root through the remaining scraps (as well as the foxes and wolves that had come out to prey on them).

According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the earliest use of the term “Hunter’s Moon,” cited in the Oxford English Dictionary, is from 1710.

Other names this lunation is known by:

  • Blood Moon or Sanguine Moon
  • Falling Leaves Moon
  • Freezing Moon or Ice Moon
  • Migrating Moon

The first full Moon to follow the Harvest Moon, means that it can occur in either October or November.

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Full Moon – Tuesday, 21st September

The Full Moon is at 00.55 hrs on Tuesday 21st September. The most popular name for this Full Moon is the Harvest Moon. You only have to look at the new What’s On pages to see the many harvest lunches and suppers taking place within the parish.

Also referred to as the Corn Moon or Barley Moon. Most of the names for the Moons come from the Native Americans and colonial times and tracked the seasons.  Other Indian tribes would refer to this moon as

  • Moon When the Plums Are Scarlet” by the Lakota Sioux.
  • Moon When the Deer Paw the Earth” by the Omaha.
  • Moon When the Calves Grow Hair” by the Sioux.

The first Super New Moon of the year takes place on November 4th/5th.   Like all New Moons, it won’t be visible from Earth, but the dark night skies will provide great opportunities for some great night sky watching 🙂

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Full Moon – Sunday 22nd August

August’s Full Moon is on Sunday, 22nd and is known as the Sturgeon Moon.  This is because the giant sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were most readily caught during this part of summer.
For millennia, people across Europe, as well as the Native American tribes, named the months after features they associated with the Northern Hemisphere seasons, and many of these names are very similar or identical. The Sturgeon Moon is also referred to as:

  • Full Green Corn Moon, signalling that the corn was nearly ready for harvest.
  • Grain Moon,
  • Fruit Moon,
  • Barley Moon,
  • Wheat Cut Moon 
  • Blueberry Moon.

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Full Moon – Saturday 24th July

The Moon will reach its full phase at 03:38am on Saturday, July 24th. The July Full Moon, commonly called the Buck Moon, is also known as the Thunder Moon, or Hay Moon.
The indigenous Ojibwe people of the Great Lakes region call this Moon the Halfway Summer Moon, or the Raspberry Moon. The Cherokees call it the Corn in Tassel Moon. The Cree Nation of central Canada calls the June Full Moon the Feather Moulting Moon  and the Mohawks call it the Fruits are Ripened Moon.

Because the Moon is full when it is opposite the sun in the sky, Full Moons always rise in the east as the sun is setting, and set in the west at sunrise. Since sunlight is striking the Moon vertically at that time, no shadows are cast; all of the variations in brightness you see arise from differences in the reflectivity of the lunar surface rocks.

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Full Moon – Thursday 24th June

June was traditionally the month for marriages – it is even named after the Roman goddess of marriage, Juno. Following marriage comes the “honeymoon,” which give may give some credence to this Full Moon’s name. The bees are indeed making honey at this time. It was traditional to gift mead or honey to a newlywed couple during their first moon of marriage.

June’s Full Moon on the 24th is also known as the Strawberry Moon by the UK and many other Eurpean countries, being the time of year for ripening strawberries.  All other names have sweet or romantic connatations:

  • Full Rose Moon.
  • Mead Moon.
  • Lover’s Moon.
  • Hot Moon.
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Full Moon – Wednesday 26th May

The Full Moon on Wednesday is known as the Flower Moon.  It will appear larger than usual as it is the second Supermoon* of the year (the first being April’s Pink Moon). On average, Supermoons are about 7% bigger and about 15% brighter than a typical Full Moon.

More favourable skies on and around 26th May are expected. Rain and showers are likely to clear away to the east, leaving drier and less windy conditions so one should get a good view of the biggest and brightest Supermoon of 2021.

There is a total lunar eclipse occuring but you need to be in Australia, parts of the western USA, western South America, or in South-East Asia to see it! However, there is a partial solar eclipse which will be visible from the UK on Thursday 10th June beginning at 10.04am.

Other names attributed to this Moon full of the promise of summer are:

  • Leaf Budding Moon
  • Planting Moon
  • Egg Laying Moon
  • Field Making Moon
  • Frog Moon
  • Moon Of The Shedding Ponies!

*Any full Moon (or new Moon) coming closer than 224,865 miles (361,885 km), as measured from the centres of the Earth and Moon, counts as a Supermoon in 2020, according to NASA.

One cannot talk of the moon without paying respect to Michael Collins who died at the end of last month at 90 years old.
Michael Collins took part in the first manned mission to land on the Moon in 1969. He remained in the Apollo 11 craft while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon’s surface. R.I.P.
A total of twelve people have walked on the Moon. Four of them are still living as of April 2021. Buzz Aldrin, now 91 years old, is the only surviving member of the 1969 mission.

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Full Moon on Tuesday, 27th April

April brings a Full Pink Moon. It is also the first of two Supermoons this year. A Supermoon is a Full Moon that will appear to be slightly larger than usual. The second Supermoon will occur next month.

This name is not because the Moon will be pink in colour. It comes from the pink moss, or wild ground phlox, which is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the Spring in North America. Other names for this month’s Full Moon, all of which indicate the season, include:

  • Full Sprouting Grass Moon
  • Egg Moon
  • Full Fish Moon, among coastal tribes because this was the time that the fish swam upstream to spawn.

At the same time, April is a time when rivers and streams begin to fully thaw. Accordingly, April’s Full moon was:

  • Full Melting Moon, by the Shoshone tribe.
  • Moon Where Ice Breaks in the River, by the Arapaho tribe.
  • Sugar Maker Moon, by the Abenaki tribes
  • Sugarbush Moon, by the Ojibwe tribe. The Ojibwe tribe would journey north to their spring camps to tap maple syrup and engage in spear fishing. Maple syrup was integral to Ojibwe culture: not only was it a crucial method of seasoning all their foods (they did not have access to salt at that time), but it also symbolized harmony within the community and with the forces of nature around them.

In other religions:

Usually for Christians it is the Paschal Moon, and celebrate the first Sunday after April’s full moon as Easter Sunday. It’s possible that the reason why the Easter Bunny brings eggs is because April’s full moon is also known as the Egg Moon, given that animals such as geese begin mating and laying eggs in Spring. This year, the Paschal Full Moon fell on 28th March.

In Islamic communities around the world, April’s full moon is celebrated as Bara’at Night, also known as the Night of Innocence. Muslims offer up prayers, asking their God to absolve dead ancestors of their sins. They also prepare sweet desserts such as halva or zarda and give it out to children, the needy, and other members of their community.

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Full Moon – Saturday, 28th March

March’s Full Moon is known as the Worm Moon, which was originally thought to refer to the earthworms that appear as the soil thaws in Spring. This itself leads to the appearance of robins, chats and other worm eating birds.

An alternative explanation for this name comes from Captain Jonathan Carver, an 18th-century explorer, who wrote that this Moon name refers to a different sort of “worm”—beetle larvae—which begin to emerge from the thawing bark of trees and other winter hideouts at this time.

There are other names for this particular Full Moon all of which herald the transition from Winter into Spring.  Such names include:

  • Crow Comes Back Moon.
  • Sugar Moon – marking the time of year when the sap of sugar maples trees starts to flow.
  • Wind Strong Moon – referring to the strong windy days that come at this time of year.
  • The Sore Eyes Moon – from North Dakota where the blinding rays of sunlight reflect off the melting snow of late winter.

March’s full Moon often plays a role in religion too. Specifically, in Christianity, this Moon is known as the Lenten Moon if it is the last Full Moon of the winter season (i.e.: if it occurs before the Spring equinox) or as the Paschal Full Moon if it is the first Full Moon of Spring (i.e.: if it occurs after the Spring equinox).  This year we have a Paschal Full Moon.

Easter is a different date every year and some remember the date as 3 weeks after Mother’s Day. Another way to remember when Easter falls is that Easter is always observed on the Sunday following the Paschal Full Moon, which is the first Full Moon that occurs on or after the March equinox…. well almost…

Broadwindsor village churchThe ecclesiastical dates of the Full Moon and the March equinox are those used by the Christian Church. They were defined long ago in order to aid in the calculation of Easter’s date, which means that they may differ from the astronomical dates of these events.
In A.D. 325, a Full Moon calendar was created that did not take into account all the factors of lunar motion that we know about today. The Christian Church still follows this calendar, which means that the date of the ecclesiastical Full Moon may be one or two days off from the date of the astronomical Full Moon.
Additionally, the astronomical date of the equinox changes over time, but the Church has fixed the event in their calendar to March 21st. This means that the ecclesiastical date of the equinox will always be March 21st, even if the astronomical date is March 19th or 20th.

This year, the March equinox occurred on Saturday, 20th March. The first Full Moon to occur after that date is March’s Full Worm Moon, on Sunday, 28th March. This makes March’s Full Moon the Paschal Full Moon as well. Therefore, Easter will be observed on the first Sunday after March 28: Sunday, 4th April! 🙂

 It’s a period of new beginnings. Look for the spectacularly bright Moon as it rises above the horizon on Saturday evening!

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