The Next Full Moon is Another Wolf Moon

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The Next Full Moon is the Wolf Moon, Candles Moon, Shakambhari Purnima, Paush Purnima, the Thaipusam festival Moon, the Ananda Pagoda Festival Moon, Duruthu Poya, and the Full Moon of Tu B'Shevat.

The next full Moon will be Thursday afternoon, January 28, 2021, appearing opposite the Sun in Earth-based longitude at 2:16 PM EST. The Moon will appear full for about three days around this time, from Wednesday morning through the early part of Saturday morning.

As the full Moon in January this is known as the Wolf Moon. In the 1930's the Maine Farmer's Almanac began publishing "Indian" Moon names for each month of the year. These names have become popular and widely known. The original source of these names is not completely clear, with some indication they came from the Algonquin language as adapted by colonial Americans. In past Moon Missives I've used these Moon names by where they are in the seasons rather than by month, as I thought it likely to be closer to the original tradition (especially if it predated widespread contact with Europeans). After more reading, I've decided to follow the more widely accepted use of these names by month. Probably neither is completely correct. From what I have learned about traditional names given to full Moons prior to the introduction of modern timekeeping, local leaders would usually decide on the name of the Moon based on conditions at the time. These cultures did not generally need calendars that specify exact dates far in advance. Full Moon names were used to describe and remember what happened in the past and to remind of what was likely to come in the near future. Also, there are many different Native American names for the full Moons.