Full Moon blessings
Dec 14th 2024
Watch for December's Full Cold Moon!
The full Moon for December is 100% illuminated on December 15, 4:02 A.M. (EST).
December’s full Moon is most commonly known as the Cold Moon—a Mohawk name that conveys the frigid conditions of this time of year when cold weather truly begins to grip us.
The Long Night Moon
This full Moon has also been called the Long Night Moon (Mohican), as it rises during the “longest” nights of the year, near the December winter solstice.
Alternative December Moon Names
Other names that allude to the cold and snow include Drift Clearing Moon (Cree), Frost Exploding Trees Moon (Cree), Moon of the Popping Trees (Oglala), Hoar Frost Moon (Cree), Snow Moon (Haida, Cherokee), and Winter Maker Moon (Western Abenaki).
Other names include Moon When the Deer Shed Their Antlers (Dakota) and Little Spirit Moon (Anishinaabe).
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.