June Full Moon

The moon of June is often known as the blessing moon in reference to the blessings of the sacred marriages of earth and sky, or dark and light, or the King and Queen of summer. The summer solstice occurs during this time and we celebrate Litha or Misummers Eve on June 21st.
It is also known as the Honey, Mead, Rose, Strawberry, and Sturgeon moon.

In the Celtic Tree Calendar the name of this moon is Duir (Oak) which runs from June 10th to July 7th.

The Runic Calendar of Nordic traditions, (which is governed by half months rather than full months), divides this moon of the year by Odal (Home or Heritage) from May 29th through June 13th, and Dag (Daylight) from June 14th through June 28th.

The Goddess Calendar names this moon of the year after Hera and runs from May 16th through June 12th.

The American Backwoods Calendar refers to this moon of the year as the Hot Moon, Strawberry Moon, or the Sturgeon moon and is determined by whichever full moon falls in June.

Whatever name you may know the moon of June by it brings to mind the first honey dripping from wild hives, or the sweet ripeness of fruit orchards because this moon is the moon of ripening fullness.

After the spectacular flowers of May have passed and the bees have gathered their pollen and nectar, the hives are filled with honey that is waiting to be gathered. In ancient times much of this honey was made into a drink called mead by a fermentation process similar to that of making wine. The "Moon in June" is the Mead Moon. Mead has been considered to have magickal and even life-restoring properties in many of the countries of ancient Europe, and it was the drink of many of the great heroes of legend. The legendary figure Robin Hood, who is accepted historically as being a composite of several peasant leaders during the reign of King Richard I, is also generally accepted by Pagans as being one of us.

One reason is that Robin was a popular Witch name, and also because he was always described as being dressed in green, symbolic of the Green Man of Sherwood Forest. Lincoln green, which is made from woad, the dye stuff used by the Picts of ancient Britain and the Druid priestesses, is also a color that symbolizes, historically, the Pagan peasantry. Among the articles robbed from the rich by Robin Hood are "met and met." This probably means "meat and mead." In the myth of Odin, one of His quests is for the Poetic Mead of Inspiration, which He returns to the realm of the Gods where it belongs, but a few drops fall to Earth, and this may be had by anyone who can find them.

On the night that the Mead Moon waxes full, after the Circle has beencast and dancing done, fill the cup with mead (if it is available), sweet wine, or an herb tea sweetened with honey. Sip the sweet drink and sit quietly and make yourself a vessel ready to receive the inspiration of the higher realms. Become a mead cup ready to befilled, not with the brew of everyday life but with the clear, bright liquid of illumination. Every time this ritual is performed, even if there are no immediate results, you are becoming a more perfect vessel for divine inspiration. If the night of the Mead Moon is very close to the Summer Solstice the results of this exercise can be very powerful. If the Mead Moon is full on Midsummer Night, then the priestess into whom the Moon is Drawn should be prepared.

Here, in June, plants feature strongly in the spiritual and emotional needs of man as well as solving more pressing physical ones. The healing powers indicate a direct link to the deities, and the benefits were thought, in pagan and Celtic beliefs to be a sign of a higher intervention. Water too has purified the spirit and body, and here Man's association with nature again returns to the awareness of Creation and his stewardship of the earth.

'I will cull my plantlet,

As a prayer to my King,

To quiet the wrath of men of blood,

To check the wiles of wanton women.'

Alexander Carmichael, The Sun Dances,

Prayers and Blessings from the Gaelic

St John's Wort