Tuesday, November 03, 2009

The Full Frosty Moon of November

Oh what a fine cold moon was this eleventh full moon of the calendar year. It came up through the bare trees of the village like a beacon, and in the high wind, one could not tell whether the moon herself was dancing or the trees were dancing to see her rise.

Now and then, skeins of geese flew across the night sky and the moon's face, bound for the river and the companionship of their fellows. Our northern rivers are beginning to freeze, and it will not be long until the geese fly south. One morning, they will look around the frosty stubble fields, exchange meaningful glances and then rise as one, bound for sunlight and warmer foraging places. The highlands always seem empty when they have departed.

We also know this moon as the All Gathered Moon, Beaver Moon, Bison Moon, Blood Moon, Buffalo Moon, Chrysanthemum Moon, Cold Begins Moon, Corn Harvest Moon, Dark Moon, Deer Rutting Moon, Eleventh Moon, Falling Leaves Moon, Fire Friend Moon, Fog Moon, Freezing Moon, Freezing River Maker Moon, Gardenia Moon, Geese Going Moon, Harvest Moon, Holy Frost Moon, Hunter's Moon, Jacaranda Moon, Large Tree Freeze Moon, Little Bear's Moon, Long Moon, Mad Moon, Moon of Cold, Moon of Fledgling Hawk, Moon of Freezing, Moon of Storms, Moon of the Falling Leaves, Moon of the Shaker Leaves, Moon of the Turkey and Feast, Moon the Rivers Begin to Freeze, Moon When All Is Gathered in, Moon When Deer Shed Antlers, Moon When Deer Shed Their Antlers, Moon When Horns Are Broken Off, Moon When the River Freezes, Moon When the Rivers Start to Freeze, Moon When the Water Is Black with Leaves, Mourning Moon, Mourning Moon, Moon of Much Poverty, Prunus Moon, Ring-finger Moon, Sacrifice Moon, Samoni Moon, Sassafras Moon, Snow Moon, Snow Moon, Snow Moon, Snowy Mountains in the Morning Moon, Summer’s End Moon, Trading Moon, Trading Moon, Trading Moon, Trail Moon, Tree Moon, White Frost on Grass & Ground Moon, White Moon, Whitefish Moon, Willow Moon, Winter Divided Moon and Yew Moon.

"Geese Going Moon" seems appropriate, and I have always liked "All Gathered Moon" too.

4 comments:

Delphyne said...

Beautiful names for a beautiful Lady. I like Gardenia Moon - only because gardenias are my favorite flower. Their fragrance is positively intoxicating to me and I would wear a lei of them every day if I could.

Mel said...

Stunning photo, and such richness of names for this moon, I love so many of them. Thanks for a lovely post, for sharing and for giving me moon photo envy! This November moon has sent many of us running for our cameras so we can savor it for days to come...

Endment said...

Thank you Cate for enriching my world again with your beautiful words and images!

Rowan said...

This is a stunning photograph - so evocative that it sends a shiver down my spine. The Hunter's Moon has been really beautiful this year, huge and clear with a wonderful bright radiance and visible every night that she was full in spite of rainy, cloudy days.