Hunter's Moon : Blood Moon

The Hunter's Moon is the Blood Moon

The Hunter's Moon - also known as Blood Moon or Sanguine Moon - is the first full moon after the Harvest Moon, which is the full moon nearest the autumnal equinox.  Other names for this full moon include the Travel Moon and the Dying Grass Moon.

But why is it called the Blood Moon?
Probably because it’s a characteristic of these autumn full moons that they appear nearly full – and rise soon after sunset – for several evenings in a row. Many people and creatures see them when they are low in the sky, shortly after they’ve risen, at which time there’s more atmosphere between the viewer and the moon than when the moon is overhead. When you see the moon low in the sky, the extra air between you and the moon makes the moon look reddish. Blood Moon.

Then why is it called the Hunter's Moon?
The Hunter's Moon is so named because plenty of moonlight is ideal for hunters to shoot migrating birds and animals. Like the Harvest Moon, the Hunters Moon is also particularly bright and long in the sky, giving hunters the opportunity to stalk prey at night. Probably because of the threat of winter looming close, the Hunters Moon is generally accorded with special honor, historically serving as an important feast day. When the harvest season is over, many rural folk turn to hunting to store up food for winter.


Feast of the Hunter's Moon

As per the Tamrielic Calendar, various Tamrielic races celebrate their own special festivals commemorating the moon, usually during the months of Frostfall (*October) or Sun's Dusk (*November). Traditionally, it was a feast day, known simply as Feast of the Hunter's Moon.

On the 8th of Sun's Dusk, the Bretons of Glenumbra Moors hold the Moon Festival, a joyous holiday in honor of Secunda, goddess of the moon. Although the goddess has no active worshipers, the traditional celebration has continued through the ages as a time of feasting and merriment.

Harvest Moon Vs. Hunter's Moon

Often the Harvest Moon is the full moon in Hearthfire (*September) and the Hunter's Moon is the full moon in Frostfall (*October), but not always. The Hunter's Moon is the full moon that follows after the Harvest Moon, therefore the Hunter's Moon can occur during Sun's Dusk (*November).

The full moon in Sun's Dusk (*November) can be called the Hunter's Moon, but when it's not it is often known as the Beaver Moon.


Special Characteristics of the Moons

The Harvest Moon and Hunter's Moon are not brighter, smaller or yellower than during other times of the year, but all full moons have their own special characteristics, based primarily on the whereabouts of the ecliptic in the sky at the time of year that they are visible.

There is no long period of darkness between sunset and moonrise, around the time of these full moons. This feature of these autumn moons was said to help hunters tracking 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 the shorter-than-usual rising time between successive moon rises around the time of the Harvest and Hunter's Moon is that the orbit of the Moon makes a narrow angle with respect to the horizon in the evening in autumn, leading the Moon to higher positions in the sky each successive day.

What is a Blue Moon then?

Interestingly, the third full moon in a season with four full moons is called a Blue Moon.

A blue moon is an extra full moon that appears in a subdivision of a year, either the third of four full moons in a season or, recently, a second full moon in a month of the common calendar. Metaphorically, a "blue moon" is a rare event, as in the expression "once in a blue moon". The phrase has nothing to do with the actual color of the moon, although a literal "blue moon" (the moon appearing with a tinge of blue) may occur in certain atmospheric conditions; e.g., when there are volcanic eruptions or when exceptionally large fires leave particles in the atmosphere.

How bright is a full moon?

A full moon shines at magnitude -12.6. This is almost bright enough to read a book by moonlight.

However, on a new moon it can be so dark in the countryside that a farmer couldn't see his hand in front of his face.

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Farmers Almanac’s list of the full Moon names.

• Full Wolf Moon – January Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. Thus, the name for January’s full Moon. Sometimes it was also referred to as the Old Moon, or the Moon After Yule. Some called it the Full Snow Moon, but most tribes applied that name to the next Moon.

• Full Snow Moon – February Since the heaviest snow usually falls during this month, native tribes of the north and east most often called February’s full Moon the Full Snow Moon. Some tribes also referred to this Moon as the Full Hunger Moon, since harsh weather conditions in their areas made hunting very difficult.

• Full Worm Moon – March As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter.

• Full Pink Moon – April This name came from the herb moss pink, or wild ground phlox, which is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names for this month’s celestial body include the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and among coastal tribes the Full Fish Moon, because this was the time that the shad swam upstream to spawn.

• Full Flower Moon – May In most areas, flowers are abundant everywhere during this time. Thus, the name of this Moon. Other names include the Full Corn Planting Moon, or the Milk Moon.

• Full Strawberry Moon – June This name was universal to every Algonquin tribe. However, in Europe they called it the Rose Moon. Also because the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries comes each year during the month of June . . . so the full Moon that occurs during that month was christened for the strawberry!

• The Full Buck Moon – July July is normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, for the reason that thunderstorms are most frequent during this time. Another name for this month’s Moon was the Full Hay Moon.

• Full Sturgeon Moon – August The fishing tribes are given credit for the naming of this Moon, since sturgeon, a large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water, were most readily caught during this month. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because, as the Moon rises, it appears reddish through any sultry haze. It was also called the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.

• Full Corn Moon or Full Harvest Moon – September This full moon’s name is attributed to Native Americans because it marked when corn was supposed to be harvested. Most often, the September full moon is actually the Harvest Moon, which is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox. In two years out of three, the Harvest Moon comes in September, but in some years it occurs in October. At the peak of harvest, farmers can work late into the night by the light of this Moon. Usually the full Moon rises an average of 50 minutes later each night, but for the few nights around the Harvest Moon, the Moon seems to rise at nearly the same time each night: just 25 to 30 minutes later across the U.S., and only 10 to 20 minutes later for much of Canada and Europe. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice the chief Indian staples are now ready for gathering.

• Full Hunter’s Moon or Full Harvest Moon – October This full Moon is often referred to as the Full Hunter’s Moon, Blood Moon, or Sanguine Moon. Many moons ago, Native Americans named this bright moon for obvious reasons. The leaves are falling from trees, the deer are fattened, and it’s time to begin storing up meat for the long winter ahead. Because the fields were traditionally reaped in late September or early October, hunters could easily see fox and other animals that come out to glean from the fallen grains. Probably because of the threat of winter looming close, the Hunter’s Moon is generally accorded with special honor, historically serving as an important feast day in both Western Europe and among many Native American tribes.

• Full Beaver Moon – November This was the time to set beaver traps before the swamps froze, to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Full Beaver Moon comes from the fact that the beavers are now actively preparing for winter. It is sometimes also referred to as the Frosty Moon.

• The Full Cold Moon; or the Full Long Nights Moon – December During this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and nights are at their longest and darkest. It is also sometimes called the Moon before Yule. The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long, and because the Moon is above the horizon for a long time. The midwinter full Moon has a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low Sun.

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More current & interesting trivia for us moonspotters..

Dates for the Northern Hemisphere’s Harvest and Hunter’s Moons in 2014 and 2015:

** 2014 **
Harvest Moon: September 9
Autumn Equinox: September 23
Hunter’s (Blood) Moon: October 8

** 2015 **
Autumn Equinox: September 23
Harvest Moon: September 28
Hunter’s (Blood) Moon: October 27