Our Common Era (or CE) calendar is mostly based on Christian reckoning. True, the names of the months come from Ancient Rome, and the names of the days of the week are from the Norse; but the fixed length of each month and the year-count are Christian adaptations. Witches, however, tend to organize their lives by the actual phases of the Moon, which no longer correlate to months, even though “month” means “one cycle of the Moon.” And we know the origins of our beliefs are as old as Humankind, as evidenced by the paintings of the shaman-priests and the “venus” figures found in the great and beautiful painted caves of Europe. Many years ago, Eran (that is, Eran Windsinger, my father) wanted to call attention to these facts, and so he devised a Wiccan Calendar(1), based on true Lunar months and a year-count beginning with the oldest known cave painting and “venus” figures at that time. This calendar was only produced for five years, but was very successful. In coming up with the calendar, Eran researched old names of the Moons of Native American, Norse, and Old European sources, and came up with what he thought were workable “Witches Moon Names”(2). These are the names we (my Craft family) use in designating our Full Moons throughout the year.
The names come from an association with the time of year and are not tied to the Common Era months, but rather to a true Lunar cycle. Each “Moon” begins on the actual New Moon; therefore, each Full Moon is in the center of any given “Moon.” In the Common Era calendar, there are times when there are two Full Moons in a given month. These are traditionally called “Blue Moons.” Since the Wiccan Calendar is based on true lunar months, there can’t be more than one Full Moon for each “Moon.” But since our “Moons” don’t fit neatly into a 365 day year, if we just cycled through 12 Moon names, eventually we’d be out of synch with the seasonal nature of those names. However, there ARE times when there will be two Full Moons in one Astrological Sign. Therefore, it was decided to use these as the basis of our “Blue Moons.” Determining when a Full Moon is a “Blue Moon” is done by looking at the date of the Full Moon. What Sign the date falls in determines the Sign of the Full Moon.
For example, if there were two Full Moons in the Astrological Sign of Scorpio, the first Full Moon is Hunter’s Moon, and the second would be Beaver Moon (see chart).
This year (2002 CE) will have a Blue Moon in the Sign of Leo, therefore we will have a Sturgeon Moon as well as a Wort Moon this year. Any questions? Feel free to write in(3) and ask. And if there’s interest in seeing Eran’s original article... let us know that, too.
1 - To read a review of this calendar (dated 1988), click here. Please disregard the ordering information at the end of the review.
2 - This is not to say Eran used or “stole” names from these cultures; rather, he researched the associations the ancient names had with the “Moons,” and then used other, different names that conveyed the same meaning.
3 - Messages will be sent to me, GypsyWitch, and I will pass them along to whom ever can best answer them.
Copyright © 2002 GypsyWitch and Akasha Windsinger. All Rights Reserved
