> Full Moon names date back to Native Americans, of what is now the northern > and eastern United States. Those tribes of a few hundred > years ago 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. To be > sure, there were some variations in the Moon names, but > in general the same ones were current throughout the Algonquin tribes from > New England on west to Lake Superior. European settlers > followed their own customs and created some of their own names. > Since the lunar ("synodic") month is roughly 29.5 days in length on > average, the dates of the Full Moon shift from year to year. > Below are all the Full Moon names for 2005, as well as the dates and times > (for the Eastern time zone). > January 25, 5:32 a.m. EST -- The Full Wolf Moon. Amid the zero cold and > deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily > outside Indian villages. It was also known as the Old Moon or the Moon > After Yule. In some tribes this was the Full Snow Moon; most > applied that name to the next moon. > February 23, 11:54 p.m. EST -- The Full Snow Moon. Usually the heaviest > snows fall in this month. Hunting becomes very difficult, > and hence to some tribes this was the Full Hunger Moon. > March 25, 3:58 p.m. EST -- The Full Worm Moon. In this month the ground > softens and the earthworm casts reappear, inviting the > return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this as the Full Crow > Moon, when the cawing of crows signals 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. This is also the > Paschal Full Moon; the first full Moon of the spring season. > The first Sunday following the Paschal Moon is Easter Sunday, which indeed > will be observed two days later on Sunday, March 27. > April 24, 6:06 a.m. EDT -- The Full Pink Moon. The grass pink or wild > ground phlox is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the > spring. Other names were the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, > and -- among coastal tribes -- the Full Fish Moon, when the > shad came upstream to spawn. > May 23, 4:18 p.m. EDT -- The Full Flower Moon. Flowers are abundant > everywhere. It was also known as the Full Corn Planting Moon or > the Milk Moon. > > June 22, 12:14 a.m. EDT -- The Full Strawberry Moon. Known to every > Algonquin tribe. Europeans called it the Rose Moon. > July 21, 7:00 a.m. EDT -- The Full Buck Moon, when the new antlers of buck > deer push out from their foreheads in coatings of velvety > fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, thunderstorms being > now most frequent. Sometimes also called the Full Hay Moon. > The Moon will also be at perigee later this day, at 4:00 p.m., at a > distance of 221,928 mi./357,158 km miles from Earth. Very high > ocean tides can be expected from the coincidence of perigee with full > Moon. > August 19, 1:53 p.m. EDT -- The Full Sturgeon Moon, when this large fish > of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water like > Lake Champlain is most readily caught. A few tribes knew it as the Full > Red Moon because the moon rises looking reddish through > sultry haze, or the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon. > September 17, 10:01 p.m. EDT -- The Full Harvest Moon. Traditionally, this > designation goes to the Full Moon that occurs closest to > the Autumnal (Fall) Equinox. In two years out of three, the Harvest Moon > comes in September, but every third year it occurs in > October. At the peak of the harvest, farmers can work 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. > October 17, 8:14 a.m. EDT -- The Full Hunter's Moon. With the leaves > falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt. Since the > fields have been reaped, hunters can ride over the stubble, and can more > easily see the fox, also other animals, which have come out > to glean and can be caught for a thanksgiving banquet after the harvest. A > very minor (6.8% coverage) partial eclipse of the Moon > will take place between 7:34 and 8:32 a.m. EDT and will be visible from > western and central sections of North America. > November 15, 7:58 p.m. EST -- The Full Beaver Moon. Time to set beaver > traps before the swamps freeze to ensure a supply of warm > winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Beaver Full > Moon come from the fact that the beavers are now active in > their preparation for winter. Also called the Frosty Moon. > December 15, 11:15 a.m. EST -- The Full Cold Moon; among some tribes, the > Full Long Nights Moon. In this month the winter cold > fastens its grip, and the nights are at their longest and darkest. Also > sometimes called the Moon before Yule (Yule is Christmas, > and this time the Moon is only just before it). The term Long Night Moon > is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is > indeed long and the Moon is above the horizon a long time. The midwinter > full Moon takes a high trajectory across the sky because it > is opposite to the low Sun. > ***************** > Article copied from Space.com > http://www.space.com/spacewatch/full_moon_names_2005.html -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list.