The full moon has been a staple of folklore for thousands of years, inspiring everything from religious holidays to bizarre conspiracy theories about the end of the world.
Each full moon now has its own name, many of which come from Native American tribes, but others are more mysterious.
One of them is the Beaver Moon, a full moon that will appear in the sky tonight. Here’s what we know about how it got its name.
When is the next full moon?
Each lunar cycle lasts just over 29.5 days, meaning each month the full moon falls on a slightly different day.
The last full moon was on Saturday, October 28th, and the next one will appear tonight – Monday, November 27.
The full moon actually peaked at 9:16am in the UK, but for many it wasn’t visible in the sky at the time, so the best time to see it is after sunset this evening.
Full moon calendar 2023
- January 6 (23:07)
- February 5 (18:28)
- March 7 (12:40)
- April 6 (5:34 am)
- May 5 (18:34)
- June 4 (4:41 am)
- July 3 (12:38)
- August 1 (19:31)
- August 31 (2.35 hours)
- September 29 (10:57)
- October 28 (21:24)
- November 27 (9:16)
- December 27 (12:33)
Why is it called the “Beaver Moon”?
Most pre-modern calendars used the Moon as the basis for month names, and this convention ended with the introduction of the Julian and Gregorian solar calendars.
In modern times, the names of full moons—and their purported meanings—have entered popular culture, usually attributed to Native American tribes.
According to Laura Redish, director and co-founder of Native Languages of America, there is no standardized Native American calendar, although NASA says the names originate from the Algonquin tribe, part of a larger cultural language group called Algonquin.
Giving each full moon a unique name was an important way to keep track of the seasons and effectively divide the year into months.
According to a list published in 2005 by the Algonquin Tribal Council, some of the colloquially used names, such as “Strawberry Moon” and “Harvest Moon”, appear Algonquian, while others do not.
The American magazine Farmer’s Almanac, which is apparently considered the gold standard for modern moon names, first published its list of moon names in the 1930s:
- January: Wolf Moon
- February: Snow Moon
- March: Worm Moon
- April: pink moon
- May: Flower Moon
- June: Strawberry Moon
- July: Buck Moon.
- August: Sturgeon Moon
- September: Harvest Moon
- October: Hunter’s Moon.
- November: Beaver Moon
- December: cold moon
There are several conflicting reports about how the Beaver Moon got its name.
Some say the name was chosen because beavers take refuge in their lodges at this time of year and have stored up enough food for the long winter ahead.
Others argue that the name refers to a time of year during the North American fur trade when beavers were hunted for their thick, winter-hardy fur.
This full moon is also known as the “Frost Moon” or “Freeze Moon” due to the weather conditions typically present at this time of year.
Source: I News
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