November’s full Moon will look full tonight, but technically, it will reach peak illumination tomorrow, the morning of November 27, at 4:16 A.M. EST. This month’s full Moon is known as the Beaver Moon. It’s called the Beaver Moon because this is the time of year when beavers begin to take shelter in their lodges, having laid up sufficient food for the long winter ahead. During the fur trade in North America, it was also the season to trap beavers for their thick, winter-ready pelts.
(Speaking of beavers — they are are a very important part of the Earth’s ecology. Beavers clear the woods by using branches to build dams and those dams create small ponds in the woods. With the decline of Beavers, we have more dry wood and fewer ponds — that potentially results in “wildfires.” Beavers are kind of like mother nature’s “fire prevention species.”)
Over the years, monthly full Moons have gone by names tied to early Native American, Colonial American, and European folklore. November’s Moon names reflect the actions of animals preparing for winter and the onset of colder days ahead. The Tlingit people used the name Digging (or Scratching) Moon. The Dakota and Lakota term Deer Rutting Moon refers to the time when deer seek mates and the Algonquin Moon name described the spawning time for whitefish — the Whitefish Moon.
But sometimes Moon names were about the weather, or seasons — the November Moon was called the Frost Moon by the Cree and Assiniboine people. The Anishinaabe referred to it as the Freezing Moon.
But whether it’s a full Moon or not, the spin-time of the Moon on its axis is identical to the time it takes the Moon to revolve around the Earth. That’s why we only see one side of the Moon — never the far side.
If you’re in line to go to the Moon and want to know how much you’ll weigh there, multiply your weight by 0.165.
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