Cold Moon – Joan Hall

Hey, everyone. It’s hard to believe we’re at the twelfth and final post in a series on Native American names for full moons. If you’ve missed any of the others, here’s the list.

December Cold Moon — A December Full Moon

The December full moon is aptly named the Cold Moon. This is the month when winter fastens its grip and the nights become long and dark.

Interesting Facts

Other names for the December full moon include the Long Night Moon, the Little Spirit Moon, and Hoar Frost Moon.
The full moon was believed to make people go crazy. The word “lunatic” was used to describe a person who was considered mentally ill, dangerous, foolish, or unpredictable – conditions once attributed to lunacy. The word derives from the Latin word “lunaticus” meaning “moonstruck.”
Winter moons often seem the brighter. This is because the earth is closer to the sun during the winter months.
A ring around the moon is an indication rain will soon occur. This isn’t just weatherlore, but due to a reflection of light on ice crystals in thin wispy cirrus clouds.
The full moon is often thought of as an event of a full night’s duration, but this is misleading because the Moon seen from Earth is continuously becoming larger or smaller (though much too slowly to notice with the naked eye). Its absolute maximum size occurs at the moment when the expansion has stopped.
This year’s Cold Moon occurred Saturday, December 18.
The Winter Solstice is Tuesday, December 21.

Superstition

It is lucky to hold a moonstone in your mouth at the full moon; it will reveal the future.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this series of posts about the names of the moons. I certainly enjoyed writing them and hate to see this time come to an end. However, I have something new planned for 2022.

Do you have a favorite moon name or season? Please share in the comments. And now, I’ll leave you with a video.

Hey, everyone. I’m still on a limited (and sporadic) blogging schedule this month. I hadn’t planned to post today, but early this morning (or before midnight depending on what time zone you’re in) a special event occurred.

Yes, it’s a full moon. But this one is significant. It’s the last full moon of this decade. And if you live in the Eastern time zone, the moon became full at 12:12 on 12/12. How cool is that?

If you don’t already know it, I’m fascinated by the phases of the moon. Full moons (or the moon in general) play a significant role in my upcoming Legends of Madeira series. Next year, I plan to do a monthly post about each of the twelve full moons and tell you a bit about their Native American names. BTW, we get a bonus as there are thirteen full moons in 2020.

For now, I’ll leave you with a song and a video.