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| From Alaska! |
If you saw December's full perigree moon, then you know how incredible it is to view one, but to have another opportunity to do so...and so soon...is remarkable and not to be missed!
Many of us are entranced by the magical energy of a full moon. But most of us truly know very little about them. One of the more interesting facets of their mysticism is in how they are named and what those names represented to ancient man.
Our American full moon names date back to the Indians of what is now the northern and eastern United Sates. The American Indian tribes kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full moon. These names were applied to the entire month in which each one occurred. While there was some variation, the same full moon names tended to be used throughout the Algonquin tribes......from New England to Lake Superior.
Our January full moon is thus known as the 'Wolf Moon' 'Old Moon' or 'Moon After Yule'. The term 'Wolf Moon' most likely came from the prevalence of wolf packs and their apparent howling at the moon. An event from which many superstitions and beliefs later sprung. Whether they heard the wolf's eerie cry or imagined mystical events springing forth, or being transformed by the moon's powerful energies on land, man, and beast, alike...the full Wolf Moon is one of power and of manifesting changes in behavior or desires. Perhaps, this is why the New Year ushers in so many resolutions for growth and change just as the full moon brings old cycles to a close and new ones to fruition.
Tonight's full moon...on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2009...will showcase a full perigree moon. The Moon's orbit around Earth is not a circle; it is an ellipse, with one side 50,000 km closer to Earth than the other. Astronomers call the point of closest approach "perigee," and that is where the Moon will be this weekend.
As a result of this 'perigree' it will be larger, and because it is also 'closer' it will be brighter, than all other full moons this year. This Wolf Moon will not only be exceptionally large, but if your sky is clear enough for viewing...especially brilliant. As a full perigree moon, it will appear 14% bigger and be 30% closer than most full moons...so its beauty, as well as its inherent powers, will be even more suggestively manifest.
© Michele (Savikko) Bilyeu
2008
1 comment:
A very interesting blog!
I learned something new. I never realized that each full moon had a name given by the North American Natives.
My wife and I were driving home during the middle part of the evening on the 10th, and we remarked to each other about how beautiful the moon was and how it seemed so large.
Now we know why.
My wife and I also read your other posts and were particularly moved by the one on Patrick Swayze. Our prayers are with him. He has a tough road ahead.
If it's one thing we have learned from our fairly long life, it's that nothing is ever certain. We have today, this moment, and nothing else is guaranteed. We all have to take time to smell the roses, and to do and say those things that we all too often put off until tomorrow.
Keep up the good work. We enjoyed your blog.
I invite you to visit my site at garyross.ca.
Have a healthy and prosperous 2009.
Gary
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