Full Moons have names by J. S. Marlo

 

J. S. Marlo's BWL Books

On October 31, 2020, we saw something we hadn't seen since March 31, 2018. A Blue Moon. 

A Blue Moon is not blue in color. It's the second Full Moon of a  calendar month. Since the  lunar cycle is roughly 29.5 days, a Blue Moon doesn't occur very often, thus the idiom, Once in a blue moon.

 

At 28 or 29 days, February is a special month. It can't have two Full Moons, and about once every 19 years, it doesn't even have one Full Moon. When there is no Full Moon in a month, we call it a Black Moon.  The last Black Moon occurred in February 2018, when there were two Full Moons in January and March, also known as a double Blue Moon. The next Black Moon will occur in 2037.

 

The Blue Moon isn't the only Full Moon with a name. For millennia, people across Europe, as well as Native American tribes, named the months after features they associated with the seasons in the Northern Hemisphere, and many of these names are very similar or identical. Some Native names are often attributed to tribes who lived in a vast area stretching from New England to Lake Superior, and whose languages are related.

 

All the Full Moons have names--many names. Here are some of them:

 

January -> Wolf Moon  named after howling wolves. Other names are Moon After Yule, Old Moon, or Ice Moon.

 

February -> Snow Moon named after the snowy conditions. Other names are Storm Moon, or Hunger Moon due to the scarce food sources during mid-winter.

 

March -> Worm Moon named after the earthworms that come out at the end of winter. Other names are Crow Moon, Crust Moon, Sap Moon, Sugar Moon, Death Moon, or Chaste Moon.

 

April -> Pink Moon named after the pink flowers – phlox – that bloom in the early spring. Other names are Sprouting Grass Moon, Fish Moon, Egg Moon, or Paschal Moon because it is used to calculate the date for Easter.

 

May -> Flower Moon named after the flowers that bloom during this month. Other names are Corn Planting Moon, Hare Moon, or Milk Moon.

 

June -> Strawberry Moon named after these little red berries ripen at this time. Other names are Hot Moon, Mead Moon, or Rose Moon.

 

July -> Buck Moon to signify the new antlers that emerge on deer buck's foreheads around this time. Other names are Thunder Moon, Wort Moon, or Hay Moon

 

August -> Sturgeon Moon named after the large number of fish in the lakes where the Algonquin tribes fished. Other names are Green Corn Moon, Barley Moon, Fruit Moon, Grain Moon, or Red Moon.

September -> Harvest Moon if the September Full Moon is the closest full moon to the September Equinox (around Sept 22). Other names are Corn Moon, Full Corn Moon, or  Barley Moon.

 

October -> Harvest Moon if the October Full Moon is the closest full moon to the September Equinox (around Sept 22). Other names are Hunter’s Moon, Dying Grass Moon,  Blood Moon, or Sanguine Moon.

 

November -> Beaver Moon named after beavers who become active while preparing for the winter.  Other names are Frosty Moon, or Mourning Moon if it is the last full moon before the winter solstice,

 

December -> Cold Moon to signify the beginning of winter. Other names are Moon Before Yule, Long Night Moon, or Oak Moon.

 

To be honest, until today, I'd only heard of a few of them, but there are so many interesting names. Now I'm thinking I need a full moon in my next story--but which one?

Next month, I'll present my new novel, Mishandled Conviction. Until then Happy Reading & Stay safe.

Many hugs!

JS

 

J. S. Marlo's Website

A Writer's Moon by Barbara Baldwin

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"The Tenderhearted Cowboy is a heartwarming story filled with romance and passion. The book leaves you on the edge of your seat wanting more. Excellent read..." -- Amazon customer

"This novel from one of my favorite authors made my heart race. The novel had a beautiful story line and a happy ending. Thoroughly enjoyed Tenderhearted Cowboy by Barbara Baldwin." 5 stars by Amazon customer

Tenderhearted Cowboy has several night scenes which always include the moon. Regardless of whether you're a writer or a reader, a traveler or a sitter, I'm sure you've gazed into the sky one moon-lit night and let your mind wander. It just so happens that I have too...

A Writer's Moon

            The full moon, yellow and bright against an ebony backdrop, rose high in the sky, shining over fallow fields, dancing across the pond like a thousand fireflies, and whispering to me in the night -- "Come with me and listen to my story.  Let me teach you to love."

            I realize many people have recorded the moon's mysticism long before I picked up a pen, but no matter where my characters reside, no matter in what century they have lived, the moon remains the one constant.

            What enchantment does that glorious globe of luminous light hold that makes me dream of lovers, or write of romance and intrigue?  After all, in rather non-scientific terms, the moon is merely a chunk of rock.  It doesn't even produce its own light, but simply reflects the sun's rays.  And yet in the dark of night, exotic words emerge. 

            Moonbeams, moonglow; a hunter's moon, a harvest moon; phases of the moon, once in a blue moon.  I can promise my heroine the moon, think my hero magnificent enough to rope the moon, and believe witch doctors and sorcerers as they chant incantations to the moon.

            At times when I sit at the computer and the words won't come, or when my characters rebel against my direction, I want to howl at the moon.  It doesn't matter if it is a full moon, a sliver of a moon or no moon at all.  My feelings can't be changed by a crescent moon, or even when clouds obscure the moon.

            There may be a man in the moon, but he can't compare to my hero when the moonlight shines on his golden locks or reflects the passion in his eyes. 

            The greatest writers in history have faithfully administered to the moon's ego, singing its praises and inconsistencies with eloquent words.  It's impossible to forget the majesty of Shakespeare's Romeo (“Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear”), or Alfred Noyes’ The Highwayman (“I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way.”)  It makes little difference that tragedy ended both these love affairs.  The moon must have its say, reminding us it oversees both the love and laughter in our lives, and the tragic termination of our most tender feelings.

            So beware!  No matter the course of your writing -- romance or tragedy, mystery or myth -- the moon will exert its primal pull.  Without conscious thought, you will find yourself incorporating that masterful overseer of human emotions into your manuscript. You are not alone when you disguise the moon behind a veil of clouds. Don't be concerned as you proclaim your characters moonstruck, moon-blind, moon-eyed, or moonish; or when they exclaim over a moon flower, moonscape, moonseeds, moonstones, or a moonshell.  Continue to scatter your writing with moon dust and moonbeams; enjoy each and every moonrise or moonset.  You are in very good company, for in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, there are over 130 references to this chunk of rock I affectionately call A Writer's Moon.


(This essay was originally published in Crumbs in the Keyboard, an anthology. All authors donated their work and proceeds benefited The Center for Women and Families, which in turn benefited those affected by domestic violence.)
Barbara Baldwin
Https://www.authorsden.com/barbarajbaldwin