Beach Bites

During the cold bleak weeks that are now called January Native Americans noted the Full Wolf Moon when roving hungry animals prowled around their villages in search of food.

February’s moon was dubbed the Snow Moon also called the Hunger Moon for the extreme weather and little food it provided.

Like sailors using the sky as their map ancient civilizations watched the heavens for changes to their earthly world. The Farmer’s Almanac claims Native Americans called the first full moon of March the Worm Moon for the earthworms that appeared in the thawing ground bringing robins and spring in their wake. Christian settlers named it the Lenten Moon and used it as a mark for the end of long and tedious winters.

The Pink Moon of April was named for phlox that sprouted and bloomed in the moonlight though coastal tribes called it the Full Fish Moon to mark the time when many fish swam upstream to spawn.

May was known as the Full Flower Moon for the abundance of flowers that grow during the late spring. Other names include Corn Planting Moon or the Milk Moon.

June the Strawberry Moon is also named for its offerings though in Europe the Rose Moon was the more usual name for the time at the beginning of summer.

The first full moon of July the hottest and fiercest month of the year was known as the Full Buck Moon for the animals’ antlers that sprang up during it or alternately the Full Thunder or Full Hay Moon depending on the origin of the tribe.

August’s moon was known as the Full Sturgeon Moon for the huge fish in the Great Lakes and other large bodies of water that were easily caught during this period.

Perhaps the most well known the Harvest Moon occurs in September every two out of three years and is the closest full moon to the fall equinox. This moon is different in that it rises at nearly the same time for several days on end in closer time intervals than the usual 50-minute difference at other times of the year. The expanded amount of light allowed busy farmers more hours of visibility to reap their crops which during the inception of the moon’s name included corn pumpkins squash beans and wild rice.

The first full moon of October brings the Hunter’s Moon named for the period of autumn when the deer were fat from summer feeding the falling leaves ensured good visibility and hunting game became easier for tribes trying to lay up food for the coming cold months.

For similar reasons November’s moon was termed the Full Beaver Moon demarcating the time to set out traps for the animals to ensure skins to be made into warm clothing and foot gear for the fast-approaching winter.

The final month of our calendar was known for its Full Cold or Full Long Nights Moon when the nights were literally the longest of the year with the reduced amount of daylight that winter brings.

With all of these logical and descriptive names where does the famous blue moon fit in and what exactly is it?

It is both a well-known Rodgers and Hart song to be sure and a popular Belgian white ale. It’s a species of butterfly a bluegrass song covered by Elvis Bill Monroe and Paul McCartney and the title of almost 10 movies. But just where does the term itself originate?

A Blue Moon is often thought to be the rare occurrence of a second full moon in a single calendar month making the expression “once in a blue moon” mean infrequently or hardly ever. But Dr. Philip Hiscock a Canadian professor of folklore points out in an article he wrote several years ago “The term Blue Moon has been around a long time more than 400 years but its calendrical meaning has become widespread only in the last 20 years.” The term itself is a flub he indicates; it was defined erroneously in a 1946 article in Earth & Sky magazine and not retracted until 2006 when it was pointed out that the definition should be an extra full moon in a season that typically has only three. By the time of the retraction however popular culture had embraced the first meaning and the phrase has become ubiquitous in modern parlance. Look for the next Blue Moon in May of 2008.

Whether knowing the names of the moon increases the enjoyment of the sight of it is debatable but there’s something lovely about looking into the silvery glow of a full moon and knowing it is called the Strawberry Moon or the Long Nights Moon. Next time you’re enjoying a bright evening with a big moon hanging low in the sky think of the past cultures that used the very same sight as a guidepost for their lives. — Ashley Talley