Sunday, May 3, 2015

May's full moon

The sky is glowing, May's full moon floating and luminous, drifts through curtain like clouds.
The trees are just staring to bud so I have a clear view of LadyMoon as she rises, soon she will be playing hide and seek with the boughs of a white pine that was once our  Christmas tree. 



artist unknown
                                          
As I was going down the list of names for this moon one seemed very out of place, "First snows Moon", at first I thought it was an error, and thinking it should be "Last Snows Moon" , then realized that here in the Northern Hemisphere we were approaching Summer, but those who live in the Southern Hemisphere are approaching Winter.  Hence the Ale Moon, Staying Home Moon, and the Old Woman's Moon.   As we  gaze on the Beltane Moon, our counterparts gaze on the Samhain Moon.  Here we are at the midpoint of the agricultural  year, looking forward to planting   hoping for a bountiful harvest. In the Southern Hemisphere, they have reached the time when the Agricultural year ends and begins again, as they celebrate they last of the Harvest,  the Gathering in Moon, and the final preparations for the cold months ahead.   Samhain is not the same as modern  Halloween, Samhain translates to "the end of summer", and indeed it is the end of summer in the Southern Hemisphere.   As we put away our warm clothing the folks in New Zealand and Australia, South Africa, Chile, and Argentina and taking out the warm wooly clothing, which seems odd to me because from years of living in this very cold place, anything southern is synonymous with warm weather,  even though I know it isn't the fact. But I am rambling.




Included in most lists of Full Moons are not only American Native names, but old Colonial Names, names from Asia, Africa and Europe.  And as my readers know,  I believe that we can, and should have, our own names for each full moon, names meaningful to us.  Those names can change from year to year, as our lives change.


Flower Moon, describes the months Full Moon well, it is also known as the Peony Moon, Strawberry Moon, Iris Moon, Flowering Moon, and this year to me it is the Trailing Arbutus Moon.

Beltane Moon, Budding Moon, Planting Moon, Willow Moon, Cat Moon, Catfish moon,
Lazy Moon, Little Fish Moon, Geese Fly North Moon, Corn Planting Moon, Joy Moon, Kale Moon, are  among the many names for this full moon.


Tailing Arbutus Moon  is the name I choose for this moon one of the most memorable things about May was going for walks in the woods and fields, I often went walking with my Neighbor Lady and we would find patches of Tailing Arbutus.   Tiny, tiny flowers with a wonderful aroma, the small clumps of flowers eventually disappeared, but, one day, much to my surprise I noticed a small clump growing in my yard.
My Dad always took me for walks along the logging roads, we looked for May apple and  looked into every  puddle  hoping to find frogs eggs or tadpoles, often stopped to listen to the voices of Peepers, a very small frog with a very big voice.  Making Frog Moon a sentimental favorite, among the more official names of this moon.



May 3rdFull Flower Moon11:42 Pm

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