Hunter's Moon

Night temperature is going to drop to -4 here this evening and the moon is big and bright in a clear sky ~ l can see it from my desk. I’ve been talking with my husband over a cup of tea as we sit and watch the night sky. Himself being into Astronomy (has been so since boyhood) I pass on his thoughts on the Full moon which has always had special importance down the ages and especially so this time of the year. There are so many phases of the Moon that hold particular interest for us. Its constantly changing appearance has been noticed carefully since the dawn of civilization.

Most full moons are given names. The old Moon occurs after Yuletide; the Milk Moon in May; the Hay Moon in July.

So here’s a bit of astronomy. The Moon rises and sets every day, just like the Sun. At the time of the new moon it rises and sets at about the same time as the Sun. At the time of the full moon the Moon rises as the Sun sets and sets at about the same time as the Sun rises. I hope your all still following this ~ l had to hear this a few times before it sunk in- lol.

Autumn full moons tend to rise in the evening and because of the low arc the Moon appears to make through the night sky, it appears bigger and brighter than at other times of the year. This is a magnification of the earth’s atmosphere. Years ago when l lived in Maine, USA l remember being stunned at the size of a magnified moon- it seemed to be sitting at the end of my street and looked surreal.

As the days pass the Moon is said to wax i.e. it grows bigger as it rises later each day and sets later each night (around August/September).

The full moon which lies closest to the autumn equinox is known as the Harvest Moon. For farmers this is ideal to enable harvesting of summer crops to go on well into the night (and gave excuse for late night walks and crooning/singing).

The Hunter's Moon is the full moon that follows the Harvest Moon. This moon appears brighter as the nights are now darker ~ ideal for hunters but dismal for burglars!

On the North American continent some native populations welcomed the full ‘Beaver’ moon of November as a sign to get final traps set before the winter freeze.

For those with a warm coat and some binoculars it’s a good chance on cold clear nights to have a look at the cratered lunar surface.

This was today’s bit of lunacy- hope it didn’t drive you mad ☺

It was once believed, and to some degree still is, that the moon had a large effect on the human psyche, the way it does on the ocean tides. It was widely held that the full moon had the effect of heightening madness, and making people more prone to doing insane acts.