From: witchee1014 (Original Message) Sent: 5/23/2003 9:29 PM
from elowyns pagan parenitng cauldron
There have always been lots of stories associated with the Moon. There is lots more lore about the moon than there is about the Sun . This is not because the Moon is more important than the Sun, but because the Moon has different phases, and the Sun does not.
So what are the phases of the moon. Well there are 2 important moon phases, and 2 lesser moon phases. The 2 most obvious, and important are the Full Moon and the New Moon. It is a full moon when you can see the whole of the moon in the sky. It will look like a complete circle and is very beautiful. The New Moon is when you cannot see the moon at all, it is 2 weeks after the full moon. The other 2 phases are the Waxing and the Waning moons. The waxing moon is the time between the new moon and the full moon, when the moon seems to be getting bigger. The waning moon is the time between the full moon and the new moon, when the moon seems to be getting smaller. There are 13 Moons in a lunar year, and we have names for them. So what are the names of the moons? Well the table below will tell you. We name them according to the month they occur in. Therefore there are only 12 names.....and then the Blue Moon
Snow Moon ~ January
Storm Moon ~ February
Seed Moon ~ March
Growing Moon ~ April
Hare Moon ~ May
Mead Moon ~ June
Hay Moon ~ July
Harvest Moon ~ August
Wine Moon ~ September
Blood Moon ~ October
Dark Moon ~ November
Cold Moon ~ December
Blue Moon ~ Varies
There are other names for the moons, but these are the ones that I use. I have chosen these names over the others because they are the most appropriate for the area I live in. I live in a rural area, and the things that I see around me are things about farming. So I use names for the Moons that tell me what is happening at that time. There are two definitinons of what a blue moon is. The first is the most common one, but was created only a few years ago due to an interpretation accident. This definition is that when there are 2 full moons in a calendar month, the second full moon is called a Blue Moon.
The second and more traditional - yet less known - definition is that the fourth moon in a season is a blue moon. Each season is made up of three months. March, April and May are Spring. June, July and August are Summer. September, October and November are Autumn and December, January and February are Winter. Each of these seasons should have 3 full moons, one in each month. However, because the lunar months and calendrical months are different lengths, you sometimes get extra ones. If there is an extra moon in one of the seasons it is called a Blue Moon. This will mean that the blue moon can only occur in February, May, August or November after the three 'normal' seasonal moons. You might want to look at the things that happen around you and see if there is a name for the moon that is appropriate.
New Moon in the Old Moon's Arms -- Taken 4/19/02
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