Wolf moon

The Wolf Moon is a full moon that occurs in January. Its name comes from hungry wolf packs that would howl outside the villages of Native Americans. This full moon is also known as the Old Moon or the Moon After Yule.

Full Moon names date back to Native Americans of what is now the northern and eastern United States. The tribes kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full moon. Their names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred. There was some variation in the moon names, but in general, the same ones were current throughout the Algonquian tribes from New England to Lake Superior. European settlers followed that custom and created some of their own names. Since the lunar month is roughly 29.5 days long on the average, the full moon dates shift from year to year.

Other names

In myth and folklore the full moon of each month is given a name. There are many variations, but in the USA the following list gives the most widely known names:

• January - Wolf moon
• February - Ice moon
• March - Storm moon
• April - Growing moon
• May - Hare moon
• June - Flower moon
• July - Hay moon
• August - Corn moon
• September - Harvest moon
• October - Hunter's moon
• November - Snow moon
• December - Winter moon

See also

Full moon names

References

"Farmer's Almanac". Almanac Publishing Co.. 2006. http://www.farmersalmanac.com/astronomy/fullmoonnames.html. Retrieved 2007-01-01.