The Hunter’s Moon – “Let us be Diana's foresters, gentlemen of the shade, minions of the moon.” ~William Shakespeare, Henry IV

This Saturday evening marks the October Hunter’s Moon. Continuing my series, this full moon is unique because …

It was named by hunters in Northern Europe, shooting migratory birds. And by American Indians tracking prey by the moon’s light, to stockpile for the coming winter. 

Moon rise typically occurs about fifty minutes later each day, as it moves in orbit around Earth. All full moons rise around the time of sunset. The Harvest Moon and Hunter's Moon are special because—as viewed from the Northern Hemisphere -- the time of moonrise on successive evenings is shorter than usual. The moon rises approximately thirty minutes later, from one night to the next, for several evenings around the dates for those two full moons. Therefore, there is no long period of darkness between sunset and moonrise. In times past, this feature of these two autumn moons helped hunters to track their prey (or, in the case of the Harvest Moon, farmers working in the fields). They could continue tracking their prey (or bringing in their crops) by moonlight even when the sun had gone down. Hence the name Hunter's (or Harvest) Moon.

The reason for these shorter-than-usual rising times between successive moon rises is that the orbit of the moon makes a narrower angle with respect to the horizon in the evening in autumn, leading the Moon to higher positions in the sky each successive day. 

This moon is also called: Blood Moon; Sanguine Moon; Shedding Moon; Winterfelleth (Winter Coming); Windermanoth (Vintage Month); Falling Leaf Moon; Vine Moon; Ten Colds Moon; Moon of the Changing Season.

The name Blood Moon or Sanguine Moon comes from the Roman practices of killing and salting down livestock before coming winter made it impossible to feed them. 

Correspondences

Nature Spirits: frost faeries, plant faeries
Herbs: pennyroyal, thyme, catnip, angelica, burdock
Colors: dark blue-green
Flowers: calendula, marigold, cosmos
Scents: strawberry, apple blossom, cherry
Stones: opal, tourmaline, beryl, turquoise
Trees: yew, cypress, acacia
Animals: stag, jackal, elephant, ram, scorpion
Birds: heron, crow, robin
Deities: Ishtar, Astarte, Demeter, Kore, Lakshmi, Horned God, Belili, Hathor
Power Flow: to let go; inner cleansing. Karma and reincarnation. Justice and balance. Inner harmony.

Take time this Saturday to enjoy the early rising Hunter's Moon.

 References: Wikipedia; The Months of the Moon 

Art references:  Billow