Many of the names worn by this first full moon of the calendar year are associated with cold, darkness, snow and hunger, at least in the part of the northern hemisphere which I call home. January's moon falls at a time when we are deep in snow, when nights are long, hunting is difficult and the stores of food gathered and "put by" last summer are running low. For all that, full moons on clear winter nights are glorious, and they are balm to a winter heart.The other common theme among January's moon names is wolves, and I like to think that it is not just because wolves are proficient winter hunters, but because they (particularly our northern timber wolves) are at home in snow, moving though it as effortlessly as a dolphin moves through water. The howling of wolves can be heard over long distances in winter, and there is something wild, unfettered and haunting about wolves howling on a winter night - for those of us who ramble the north woods in January, the song of the wolves is the distilled essence of this long white season. Over the years I have encountered wolves in the woods in January many times, and whenever we meet, we nod respectfully and continue on our way. Have I ever been afraid or anxious at such times? No, not at all.
Moon names for this first full moon of the year include:
Big Cold Moon, Cold and Ice Moon, Cold Meal Moon, Cold Moon, Turning Moon, Earth Renewal Moon, First Moon, Frost in the Tepee Moon, Frozen Ground Moon, Great Moon, Great Spirit Moon, Her Cold Moon, Ice Moon, Lakes Frozen Moon, Little Winter Moon, Long Moon, Midwinter Moon, Moon After Yule, Moon of Darkness, Moon of Strong Cold, Moon of Singing Wolves, Moon of the Sleeping Bear, Moon of Whirling Snow, Moon When Animals Lose Their Fat, Moon When Limbs of Trees Are Broken by Snow, Moon When Snow Drifts into Tipis, Moon When Snow Blows like Spirits in the Wind, Moon When Sun Has Traveled South, Moon When Wolves Run Together, No Snow in Trails Moon, Pine Moon, Quiet Moon, Rowan Moon, Severe Moon, Snow Blindness Moon, Snow Moon, Snowy Path Moon, Sun Has Not Strength to Thaw Moon, Trail Squint Moon, Weight Loss Moon, Whirling Wind Moon, White Waking Moon, Winter Moon, Winter's Younger Brother Moon, Wolf Moon
1 comment:
We don't have these expressions in Japan. Very interesting. By the way, I liked Rilke's poem you posted a few days ago. It is very beautiful. As to snow, there is the following entry in Sei Shonagon's "Pillow Book". You may enjoy it. "There was a strong wind, a dark grey sky, and a little snow. A man from the Office of Grounds came to the Black Door and asked to speak to me. He gave me a note which he said was from Kinto, the Imperial Adviser. It was a sheet of pocket-paper, on whcih was written: And for a moment in my heart I feel that spring has come. The words were most appropriate for the weather; but what concerned me was that I was bound to produce the opening lines of the poem. The man urged me to hurry, and I realised that if, in addition to bungling my reply, I was slow about it, I should really disgrace myself. It can't be helped, I thought and, trembling with emotion, wrote the following lines; As though pretending to be blooms The snow flakes scatter in the wintry sky."
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