There is a great deal of confusion and misunderstanding surrounding the names of Full Moons. Today, they are most often (inaccurately) associated with calendar months. However, the traditional ‘folk’ names of the Moons are actually determined by season, not month.
In the Pagan wheel of the year we mark the Sabbats not by the calendar date, but by the cycle of the Sun. It is within this wheel that we find the actual Full Moon names.
There are typically three Full Moons in any given season. In many traditions, each of these Moons has a name. For example, in one well known Native American tradition the first Full Moon of Winter is Wolf Moon, and the next is Snow Moon.
Yule (the first day of Winter) falls late in December. Therefore, the first Full Moon after usually occurs in January. Because it is almost a month between Full Moons, the next usually occurs in February – and so on throughout he year. This is how Moon names came to be thought of as ‘January Full Moon’ ‘February Full Moon’ …
Sometimes, the first Full Moon of Winter does not fall in January. For example, this year there was a Full Moon on the last day of December. That was the first Moon after Yule – the first Moon of the Winter season – known as ‘Wolf Moon’. Today’s Full Moon, the second in the season, is ‘Snow Moon’ – the name many associate with February Full Moon.
The most prevalent misunderstanding about Moon names is ‘Blue Moon’. It is NOT the second full Moon in a calendar month. This idea came from a mistake in Sky & Telescope magazine in 1946. A writer, misinterpreting an old Farmers Almanac erroneously published this definition of Blue Moon.
The actual meaning of ‘Blue Moon’ goes back to the original seasonal – not monthly – Moon Names. There are names for the first, second, and last Full Moon in any given season. However, there is occasionally a season with four Full Moons. In that case, the third Full Moon in the season is a Blue Moon – and the first, second and last Full Moon of that season retain their traditional folk name.
Some of the names given to the second Full Moon of Winter (the current Full Moon) are: Snow Moon, Hunger Moon, Storm Moon, Ice in the River is Gone Moon, Chaste Moon, Bony Moon, Moon of Ice, Moon When Trees Pop, Budding Moon
