Moon Names

One of the key issues that is faced by Maidens, Magisters and Summoners running covens is how to name the moons. Since many covens practise using the full moon cycle it is important to know the name of the moon that is being celebrated.

The first issue that is faced is what the moons should be called. There are a number of systems for naming the moon which are based on regional and national differences. This is no different to the naming of the months which have a name in English which is different from that in Welsh for example December In Welsh is Rhagfyr. The same issue applies for the moons which means that there isn't an official system.

Despite the fact that there is no official naming system they do appear to be English and North American names. Just as the British used names of moons so did the North Americans. These North American native names have been incorporated into publications that have then fed into the mainstream media and crossed the Atlantic to become names used in the UK. The British names include the Lenten, Egg, Milk and Flower moons. One set of corresponding American names is the Worm, Pink, Flower and Strawberry moons although there are many tribal variations. Neither of these systems are right or wrong however for a practice which is based on British Witchcraft it makes more sense to use the British names. This does not, however, make them ‘right’. What is important is that a coven knows its names and uses them consistently. In order to assist in this the Clan of Morvarch has an agreed set of names based on British traditions which are consistently used across all of the literature and training.

The second issue relates to to.the ascription of these moons to a particular lunar cycle. There are two main approaches that are used in the public domain to link the names of the moons to a particular lunar cycle. The first of these takes the Gregorian month, for example March, April or May and ascribes a particular moon to this month. The second approach places the moons in a cycle of the seasons beginning at the winter solstice and having three moons within each quarter.

A key question remains which is ‘what should be done in the case of four full moons falling within a quarter?’ In the case of the ascription of moons to Gregorian months the second moon becomes a Blue Moon. This dates, however, from 1946 and appears to derive from older quarterly systems which are recorded from 1824. The ‘month to moon’ system is derived from Native American names. These do not use a blue moon approach but instead add an extra moon, sometimes at the spring equinox, to balance the calendar. It seems clear, therefore that the use of the term ‘blue moon’ to be the second moon in a month was created by almanac makers in the 1940s and is not an old system.

There is a clear understanding within the older farmer’s almanacs going back to 1824, that in this case the third of the four moons becomes a blue moon. The suggestion in this record of the reason for this relates to the date of Easter. In the case of this festival its date was determined by the fact that it needed to be the first moon after the Lenten moon which itself was important for the practise of lent or fasting. The Lenten moon would typically be the third moon after the winter solstice however this could lead to a situation where are was an additional moon between the Lenten Moon and the Egg Moon or Easter moon. For this reason the third moon in the cycle which would fit between the Wolf moon and the Lenten moon was turned a blue moon since the word bluewe means betrayer. So it seems very clear that the original cycle of the move predating the switch to the use of months was based on a quarterly seasonal cycle. There isn’t proof that this derivation is true however this is the best information that we have.

The Clan of Morvarch’s version of these moons comes from farmers almanacs. It is understood that these are derived from older traditions however there is no absolute evidence of this. What is clear however is that the practices referred to in the Farmer's almanacs are the same as those which are referred to in the oldest written records and do not correspond to the use of Gregorian months to define moons.

There is a serious issue in relation to the first of these options where the moons are linked to the Gregorian months of January, February, March etc. which is that it is possible for a month to not have a moon within it. This occurred in February 2018. This feature will lead many observers to believe that this calendar is a recent creation although it is not clear exactly when the system came into use.

For this reason it is advised that the use of ‘moon to month’ ascriptions is avoided and that the Farmers Almanac systems should be used. There are many other possible systems including the use of the Coligny Calendar or the Metonic Cycle. There is clear evidence in the case of both of these in both the mythological and archaeological record that they were used. There is, however, no record of their continual use as a living tradition in the way that there is for the season/quarterly moon cycle. For this the living tradition is used.