Renaming the Moons

A Response to a Challenge

The moon above began as a serious drawing but soon became cartoonish. It is quite different from my recent drawing of a Trillium. It was a gibbous moon to which I added three craters. Seeing the possibilities, I turned it on its side and gave it a crewcut. 

I have long been familiar with various systems of naming the full moons throughout the year, with names such as Hunter’s Moon and Harvest Moon, but I was recently asked to give the Full Moons names appropriate to my location and experience.

I also renamed the moon’s phases and noted the days of seasonal change such as the Equinoxes and Solstices and the cross-quarter days from the Celtic Calendar. I decree these names official in my world and mandated to no one else.

Henceforth, the full moon shall be the extrovert's moon. 
The new moon shall be the introvert's moon. 
The first Quarter moons shall be the fiction writers' moon.
The last Quarter moons shall be the nonfiction writer's moon. 
Waxing moons shall be the poets' moons. 
Waning moons shall be the publishers' moons.
Crescent moons shall be the niche market moons, 
they can be the brightest spot in a writer's life.
Eclipsed moons shall be the empath moons.

The Names

My year begins with the Winter Solstice.
I gather with friends for food and stories.
The Sun is directly over the Tropic of Capricorn. 

One Christmas day I saw the Dancing Ducks, a courtship ritual. 
December is the Moon when Ducks Dance. 

January is the Moon of Rain and Floods. 
One year, Glen Falls became a booming choir. 

February begins with Groundhog Day, 
a modern expression of the cross-quarter day Imbolc.
February shall be the Moon when I saw Fox Kits.

March is the Moon when Bloodroot Blooms
and the Moon of Singing Frogs.

On the Vernal Equinox, the sun is 
directly above the Equator.
This is the time to celebrate the Earth Coming Alive.

April is the Trillium Moon. 
Azaleas and Dogwoods bloom. 
The Ospreys have returned from South America. 

Mayday is Beltane, another cross-quarter day. 
The dance around the Maypole 
assures the earth's fertility. 

May is the Moon of Young Hawks. 
Still learning to hunt, they resort to roadkill. 
They may return to the nest but get no handouts. 
 
June is the Moon when Scorpio Shines 
brightly in the southern sky. 
It is a time for bonfires and music. 

The summer solstice is celebrated with music. 
The sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer. 

July is the Sunflower Moon.
It is also the Moon When I Saw a Rattlesnake.
She glided in circles beside the road. 

August is the Spiderling Moon.
It is a collage of nature's colors and sounds.  
August 1 is Lamas, another cross-quarter day. 

September is the Katydid Moon. 
I have heard them singing in the night. 
Who was Katy, and what did she do?

The Autumnal Equinox falls on September 22 or 23.
The sun again sits on the equator. 
The earth prepares to rest. 

October is the Moon when Maple Leaves Turn Red. 
The cross-quarter day is Samhain, Halloween. 

November is the Bare Branches Moon. 
I see the river when leaves are off the trees.

The cycle repeats and it is December again.
Early December is the Time When Cranes Return.
I hopefully scan the sky.