April’s Sucker Moon

The Moon will be full today, April 23, 2024, in 2 hours (7:49 PM) and sunset in Paradelle will be at 7:45 PM (EDT). The Moon rises in the east and sets in the west, like the sun, but the exact time changes throughout the month. The Moon may also rise in the east-northeast or east-southeast, depending on the phase of the moon and the time of year. So tonight, I can watch the sun setting in the west and the Moon rising in the east at the same time.

Commonly called the Pink Moon, it will be visibly “full” for about three days, from yesterday to Thursday morning. If you watch it rising, don’t expect it to appear pinkish in color. Keep in mind that when Full Moons were named by the ancients and also by Native Americans and colonists the name referred to the lunar month rather than one day.

Pink phlox with Mt. Fuji in the background

April’s full Moon often corresponds with the early springtime pink blooms. One perennial wildflower native to eastern North America in particular, Phlox subulata, commonly called creeping phlox or moss phlox or moss pink, at one time covered entire hillsides or fields creating a bed of pink under the Moon.

We had lots of it growing on the slope of our “rock garden” when I was a child. My mother called them “mountain pinks.” They have fragrant flowers in the spring but they can be white, pink, lavender, or hot pink. The flowers cover the entire plant when in full bloom, creating a carpet of color. pink or white. The plant has dark green leaves that can remain partially evergreen throughout winter.

The names for these lunar months used by Native American tribes tend to be more interesting to me than the common ones. For April, we could use the Breaking Ice Moon (Algonquin) and Moon When the Streams Are Again Navigable (Dakota). If you are far North, they may be applicable. In Paradelle, ice melted last month. Budding Moon (Tlingit) and Moon of the Red Grass Appearing (Oglala) are two name that reference plants that are appearing, budding or blooming.

For some tribes, it is the appearance or reappearance of certain animals that the Full Moon became associated with, such as Moon When the Ducks Come Back (Lakota), Moon When the Geese Lay Eggs (Dakota), and Frog Moon (Cree).

The name Sucker Moon (Anishinaabe) is an odd one because of our modern associations for that word, but it refers to sucker fish, which return to streams or lake shallows to spawn. Sucker fish are freshwater fish that belong to the family Catostomidae, and there are about 80 species of sucker fish. They are closely related to minnows and carp, and are bottom-feeders with ventral (downturned) mouths and large lips that help them suck up food from the stream bed.

Northern hogsucker Hypentelium nigricans

As food, they are an excellent source of protein and healthy omega-3 fatty acids, which help keep the heart healthy and are good for brain development. Unfortunately, they are also known as garbage fish, as they are thought to be undesirable and harmful. However, they are – like other bottom feeder, such as catfish – janitors of the river, keeping the system clean by eating from the riverbed aquatic insect larvae, waterfleas, sideswimmers, snails, clams, algae, other plant matter, decaying matter, and fish eggs.

The Anishinaabe is a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. According to Anishinaabe legend, this Full Moon or an earlier Full Moon is when this fish comes back from the spirit world to purify bodies of water and the creatures living in them. The sucker fish are honored for their sacrifice in order to to feed the Anishinaabe peoples, traditionally helping them to survive the lean winter.

A Chaste Moon for March

While I am hopefully fast asleep at 3 a.m. on Monday, March 25, that is when the Full Moon of 2024 officially will occur. It will look very “full” to us observing tonight.

Often referred to as the Worm Moon in certain cultural and folklore traditions, particularly in North America, that may be an accurate name for your part of the world. March, particularly when the Full Moon is in late March, is typically the time when the ground begins to thaw, and earthworms emerge. Yet, another nature signal of the true start of spring.

The Chaste Moon originates from the idea that early spring is a time of purity, new beginnings, and the renewal of life. It is an Old English name for the March full moon. It is also used in neo-Pagan circles to describe the season’s purity as life renews after winter.

Sap Moon is a name that comes from the tapping of maple trees for sap, which typically begins in March in certain regions, signaling the start of spring sugaring season.

In some Native American traditions, the name Crow Moon refers to the cawing of crows, which becomes more prominent as spring approaches.

The Lenten Moon name is derived from the Christian observance of Lent, which often falls during March. The Moon’s phases were used to determine the timing of religious observances in traditional Christian calendars. It was given this name by earlier English speakers.

“Chaste” came into Middle English from Old French and earlier from Latin castus. The word more commonly is used to mean abstaining from extramarital, or from all, sexual intercourse; virginal. It can also mean without unnecessary ornamentation; simple or restrained.

I only learned recently that in the late Middle Ages, as sermons began to be given in the vernacular English instead of Latin, the English word lent was adopted. This word initially simply meant spring and lent was the name for the season. That compares to the German language lenz and Dutch lente from the Germanic root for “long” because in the spring the days visibly became longer.

The Old Man and the Bud Moon

I have been looking at the Moon almost full for the past few days in the blue sky of daylight, but today it is truly full and best viewed at night. The 2024 February Full Moon is on the 24th at 7:30 a.m. here in the East.

Most often called the Snow Moon, that name applies to some parts of the U.S. but not to others. It is also called the Hunger Moon and the Cherokee call it the Bone Moon and the Choctaw call it the Little Famine Moon. There is a theme in all those. The English name of Storm Moon might have broader applications but could refer to any number of months.

I always go outside to look at the Full Moon. This month I have been feeling old and there has been snow that is still on the ground because it has been cold. I see this as an Old Moon or maybe an Old Man Moon.

In contrast, this is called the Little Bud Moon and when appearing in early March this is the Bud Moon by the Kiowa.

In Paradelle, it is still winter, but when I was south in Virgini a few weeks ago, it seemed almost spring. A few warm days and the sight of trees budding and a few bulbs poking out of the ground or maybe even blooming and I should feel better.

The Dreaming Moon of December

The December 2023 Full Moon occurs on the day after Christmas, the 26th at 7:33 PM EST or December 27 12:33 AM if you follow UTC. It will be the first Full Moon of the Winter 2023-2024 season as it is the first after the Winter Solstice. This Moon is in the constellation Cancer.

It is cold here in Paradelle now and I am not a fan of cold weather. I was looking at the names for this Full Moon that apply to those living in the Southern Hemisphere. It warms my spirits – if not my feet – to think about them marking the Strawberry Moon, or the Honey Moon, or the Rose Moon today.

I’m calling this year’s December Full Moon the Dreaming Moon which I borrowed from the Druids, Their Full Moon in Hunlidh [hün’ lee] occurs in the third month of their year. The Dreaming Moon is seen as a good time for resting. The first day of Hunlidh is the day of the Full Moon and that was also when the Celts celebrated Yule.

With rest comes the dreaming of sleep but rest during the day also brings us the dreaming when we think about our past, present and future. Seems like a good thing for this time of year.

The Mad Moon of November

The November 2023 Full Moon is late in the month on November 27, 4:16 AM EST or 9:16 AM UTC. It is the third Full Moon of the autumn 2023 season, and it is in Gemini. The dates of the Full Moons vary with our calendar Decemeber’s Full Moon will be the day after Christmas in 2024. Next year it will be on December 15.

The common name for this Full Moon is the Beaver Moon and I have written about that name before. Some say the name comes from Native Americans setting beaver traps during this month, while others say the name comes from the heavy activity of beavers building their winter dams. During the time of the fur trade in the U.S., the Beaver Moon indicated it was time to trap beavers for their now-thickened winter pelts.

I’m not a supporter of trapping animals, and beavers are not a common animal for most of us to see doing that winter preparation, so I like to use new names for the Full Moons each year. I have been writing about November Full Moons for quite a number of years and I will at some point run out of names for the different months – if I or the blog lasts that long.

Photo by Sky Noir on Flickr

I had made a note last year to write about this 2023 November Full Moon as being called the Mad Moon, but I cannot find where that idea came from. Perhaps, a reader knows what culture uses the name. Still, the Moon has been connected with madness for a very long time.

In the first century AD, Pliny the Elder thought the Full Moon gave birth to especially heavy nocturnal dew and caused the brain to become “unnaturally moist,” leading to both madness and epileptic attacks. Aristotle also believed that the lunar effect was caused by the Moon’s influence on water. The human body is about 80% water and both of them believed that the brain was greatly influenced by the Moon because it is “the moistest” organ.

The Roman goddess of the moon, Luna, is the Latin word for “moon” and it is found in the English word “lunatic”.However, literature reviews and metanalyses have found no correlation between the lunar cycle and human biology or behavior.

For centuries, people have believed that the Moon affects human behavior. The Latin lunaticus, meaning “moonstruck” was also associated in ancient times with not only madness but also epilepsy which they thought ere caused by the Moon and peaked at a Full Moon.

The goddess Luna also was sometimes associated with women and even in much more modern times there were studies that seemed to find that “a large proportion” of menstruations occurred around the New Moon. This led the researcher to deduce that ovulation periods tended to coincide with the Full Moon. However, more recent research contradicts the notion that menstrual cycles often synch with Moon phases.

You will still find articles, like this detailed one from the BBC titled “The mood-altering power of the Moon,” that suggests that something odd is happening because of the Moon phases. They report that there is some evidence that sleep varies across the lunar cycle. For instance, a 2013 study conducted under the highly-controlled conditions of a sleep laboratory found that people took five minutes longer to fall asleep on average, and slept for 20 minutes less overall, around a Full Moon, compared to during the rest of the month – even though they weren’t exposed to any moonlight. Measurement of their brain activity, meanwhile, suggested that the amount of deep sleep they experienced dropped by 30%. Even so, a follow-up study failed to replicate the findings.

Another article asks why we still believe in these medical associations to the Moon when the overwhelming scientific information says there are no connections. In defense of believers of “lunacy,” the writer says that the Moon does exercise some influence on Earth, from the pull of the tides to the mating cycles of corals and glowworms, and so it’s not really surprising that people wonder it might be shaping their lives too.

The November Full Moon is also called the Mourning Moon because it’s the last full moon before the winter solstice. According to pagan traditions, it’s a time to let go of past troubles or grief and look forward to a new season and soon, a new year.

In the past, I have written about the November Full Moon as being called Hunters Moon, Snow Moon, (a name used by others for December and February) Sleeping Moon Before the Dark Moon,  Frost Moon, Trading Moon, Sleeping Moon (Celtic), Moon When Water Freezes and the Sassafras Moon.

Among the Incas, it was a time of the Ayamarca, or Festival of the Dead, and in Tibet, they celebrate the Feast of Lanterns, a festival of the shortest days of the Sun.

Being near American Thanksgiving Day, we might take note that the Japanese festival honoring the goddess of the kitchen is at this time. It honors the women who prepare the daily meals. You might have a kitchen goddess in your home this Thanksgiving.

The Rutting Moon

The October 2023 Full Moon will be on Saturday, October 28, 2023, at 4:24 PM EDT or 8:24 PM UTC. The October Full Moon will be the full moon in Taurus. Last month was the Harvest Moon, so this month is commonly called the Hunter Moon.

Buck by Ray Bilcliff on Pexels.com

This year I chose the name Rutting Moon which is one used by the Cree of Ontario. I believe they actually used this name for the Full Moon in September because that was when moose would start scraping the velvet from their antlers ahead of the mating season. But in Paradelle, and most of the U.S., you are more likely to encounter deer.

The rut is the period when deer mate, which usually occurs in October and can run into November or even early December in warmer areas. During this time, deer behavior changes, and hunters must adapt to those changes.

I don’t hunt but I have worked with hunter groups and I am an observer of wildlife. Bucks become more interested because their testosterone levels get them up on their feet a little earlier in the day. They will also make a series of mating vocalizations. They pursue does who are definitely in charge of mating. There is competitive fighting so injuries sustained while fighting might be evident on bucks.

Does are in heat and bucks compete for their attention. The amount of daylight each day triggers females to come into estrus. Does may be in estrus for up to 72 hours and may come into estrus up to seven times if they do not mate. During the rut, all deer tend to abandon their natural caution, move around more, and become more distracted.

Doe by Zyla Rohly on Pexels.com

Humans don’t have a mating season like other animals.

Humans are classified as continuous breeders, which means they mate year-round. Women ovulate every 28 days. But more humans are conceived during the winter. I’m sure that is mostly because more people are indoors together for longer periods. Snuggling up on a cold night might be a factor. The end-of-year holiday and parties might also play a part in our mating. Statistics show that the period between October and January is the most preferred period for starting a pregnancy.

Maybe humans do have a mating period. I know I have observed males of the species in the wild doing rutting activities.