The Full Hunter's Moon of October.

One learns to expect and accept autumn full moon nights when Lady Moon is a nebulous glow behind the clouds and trees. Last evening I saw the moon for only a few moments, and a mere corner at that. The night sky was filled with dark clouds and nary a star was to be seen up there in the darkness.

For all that, the night was magical, and it was filled with high flying geese, for the north has begun to freeze up entirely, and the northern Canadas are on their way south, flying high against the moon and calling to each other as they pass overhead. Flights during the day are at such high altitudes that the great geese are mere specks and their conversations just faint echoings.

This October full moon coincides with the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival (also called the Lantern Festival), which dates back over 3,000 years to the time of moon worship in China's Shang Dynasty. One of three important festivals in China, the occasion is sacred to Ch'ang-e, Chinese goddess of the moon, and the day is celebrated with open air altars, lanterns, incense, tree planting, dragon dances and an exchange of the lovely ornate pastries called mooncakes.

We also know this moon as the:

Acorns Cached Moon, Big Wind Moon, Big Chestnut Moon, Blackberry Moon, Blood Moon, Changing Season Moon, Chrysanthemum Moon, Corn Ripening Moon , Drying Grass Moon, Falling Leaves Moon, Frosty Moon, Harvest Moon, Ivy Moon, Joins Both Sides Moon, Kantlos Moon, Kindly Moon, Leaf Falling Moon, Leaf Dance Moon, Leaves Change Color Moon, Maple Moon, Michaelmas Daisy Moon, Middle-finger Moon, Moon When Birds Fly South, Moon of Poverty, Moon When Geese Leave, Moon of Changing Season, Moon When Quilling and Beading Are Done, Moon When the Water Begins to Freeze on the Edge of Streams, Moon of Harvesting , Moon When Deer Rut, Moon of Acorn Gathering, Moon When Corn Is Taken in , Moon of Changing Season, Moon of Falling Leaves, Moon That Turns the Leaves White, Moon of First Frost, Moon When They Store Food in Caches, Moon of Long Hair, Nut Moon, Raking Moon, Shedding Moon, Small Trees Freeze Moon , Song Moon, Striped Gopher Looks Back Moon, Strong Moon, Ten Colds Moon, Travel in Canoes Moon, Trees Felled by Fire at Butt Moon , Trout Moon, Turkey Moon, Vintage Moon, White Frost on Grass and Ground Moon, Wild Turkeys Moon, Wilted Moon, Wine Moon, Winter Coming Moon

Of all the lovely names for the October Moon, my favorites are "Leaf Dance Moon" and "Kindly Moon", its Chinese name.