As far as the Moon is concerned, this Christmas is kind of special. This December’s full Moon will rise around sunset for several nights in a row — December 25, 26 and 27. So this will kind of be a full Moon Christmas.
Technically, a full Moon happens on Christmas only every 19 years or so. However this year the Moon will “appear” full to our eyes on December 25. The last, technically, full Moon to appear on Christmas was in 2015 and the next one will be in 2034. But this year — it’s close enough.
This month’s full Moon is the first after the winter solstice. You may notice that this full Moon is nearly at the top of the sky — the winter solstice Moon takes the highest path along the sky and is above the horizon longer than any Moon.
December’s full Moon is most commonly known as the Cold Moon — a Mohawk name that conveys the cold conditions that usually begin this time of year. The December full Moon is also sometimes called the Long Night Moon (from the Mohicans) because it rises during the longest nights of the year. Other names that have been given to the full Moon in December include….
Drift Clearing Moon (Cree)
Frost Exploding Trees Moon (Cree)
Moon of the Popping Trees (Oglala)
Hoar Frost Moon (Cree)
Snow Moon (Haida, Cherokee)
Moon when the Deer Shed Their Antlers (Dakota)
And in Europe, ancient pagans called the December full Moon the Moon Before Yule in honor of the Yuletide festival celebrating the return of the Sun heralded by the winter solstice.
One of our kids favorite books was “The Night Before Christmas.” In the book, the narrator looks out his bedroom window for St. Nick and proclaims, “The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow gave the luster of mid-day to objects below.” If we had snow on the ground this year, this would be an accurate description of the night.
Merry Christmas.
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