Dec. 26, 2023, is the day to bid farewell to the full moon until Jan. 25, 2024. But why is it called Cold Moon?
From its very beginning, farming has been intrinsically linked to the sky and stars — since the dawn of man, humans have been looking up to the sky for patterns to count the cycles of nature, but when the Neolithic’s agricultural revolution found us settling down in one place for years at a time, agriculture and astronomy became sister disciplines. Fast-forward to the present and you will never find a farmer’s almanac worth buying missing a moon.
That’s why full moons in December have so many names like “Cold Moon,” “Long Night Moon” and the “Moon Before Yule” — these titles are testaments of the moon’s role in our ancestors’ lives. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, Cold Moon is a Mohawk name conveying the frigid conditions under which the moon rises in December. Long Night Moon comes from the Mohican due to the full moon rising during the longest nights of the year, near the December solstice, which this year fell on Dec. 21, 2023.
As time passed, not only did we use the stars to schedule our crops, but lunar and solar almanacs allowed us to create social events ahead of time. For example, while the Moon Before Yule is still linked to the solstice, is in reference to Yule as the old European winter festival to celebrate the rebirth of the sun.
According to NASA, the full moon will take a higher-than-normal trajectory across the sky and will be above the horizon longer. The full moon started on Christmas Day Dec. 25 and will last until Dec. 27, 2023, although it will be most illuminated today, Dec. 26, 2023, at 7:33 p.m.
Full moons for Christmas are a rare occasion. According to the Washington Post, the previous two times we had a full moon at Christmas time were in 2015 and 1977. Now we will have to wait until 2034 for the next full moon Christmas.
Astronomy enthusiasts have a great year ahead with an annular solar eclipse on its way in April 2024 and on Jan. 25, 2024, the Wolf Moon will be the first full moon of the year.
