Full moon July 2014. Blessing Moon. Hay moon

Our Moon is full this month on the 12th July.  For the full list of times for the full moon in your particular time zone please see the post I wrote a couple of days ago. Here in England we seem to be having a few dry days so hopefully that will make for some good full moon viewing!

As usual I have written a few words about the full moon names. I will try not to repeat my previous posts!  Most to the names follow what is happening in the weather at this time of year. The native american names for the full moon are often the most descriptive giving us an idea of what was happening in their lives at the time of the July full moon. 

Here is a list of the Native American full moon names for the various tribes:
Abenaki –Grass Cutter Moon
Algonquin –Squash Are Ripe Moon
Cherokee –Ripe Corn Moon
Choctaw –Little Harvest Moon, Crane Moon
Comanche –Hot Moon
Cree –Moon When Ducks Begin to Molt
Dakota Sioux –Moon of the Middle Summer
Haida –Salmon Moon
Hopi –Moon of the Homedance
Kalapuya –Camas Ripe (the bulb of the camas lily was a staple food to the Kalapuya)
Lakota –Moon When The Chokecherries Are Black
Mohawk –Time of Much Ripening
Ponca –Middle of Summer Moon
Potawatomi –Moon of the Young Corn
Shoshone –Summer Moon http://paradelle.wordpress.com

You can see from this list how important a crop corn was to the Native American tribes. This was also seen in other cultures, although now we have a variety of other crops available to us. Colonists to  America called the full moon in July the Corn Tassel Moon. 

The full moon in July is the closest moon to the Pagan feast of Lammas or Lughnasadh. This marks the festival of the first harvest. Lammas or Lughnasadh (Loo-nahs-ah) falls on the 1st August. It is a cross-quarter holiday festival which lies between the Summer Solstice (Litha) and the Autumnal Equinox (Mabon).  Traditionally it was a time for giving thanks for all that our Mother Earth, Gaia has provided; with a particular focus for the grain that has been grown that would sustain people during the long cold winter months. When you look upon the full moon therefore try and offer gratitude for all that our mother earth has provided for us. Lammas or Lughnasadh is also seen as a fertility festival as the earth is ripe with her fertility at this time of year, this is an excellent time for attracting luck and fertility in all areas of your life. Why not have a go at writing your own blessing to read out, either aloud or just to yourself at the time of the full moon? If you would like to share I would love to hear from you.

Full blessing moon love to you, AstarteAlison xxx