The Next Full Moon is a Supermoon, and the Hunter’s Moon
Oct 11, 2024
The Next Full Moon is a Supermoon; the Hunter's Moon; the Travel Moon, the Dying Grass Moon, or the Sanguine or Blood Moon; the start of Sukkoth; Sharad Purnima, Kumara Purnima, Kojagari Purnima, Navanna Purnima Kojagrat Purnima, or Kaumudi Purnima; the end of Vassa and Pavarana; the Thadingyut Festival Moon; the end of the Phaung Daw U Pagoda Festival; and Vap Poya.
The next full Moon will be Thursday morning, Oct. 17, 2024, at 7:26 a.m. EDT.
This will be late Wednesday night for the International Date Line West time zone and early Friday morning from New Zealand Time eastwards to the International Date Line.
The Moon will appear full for about three days around this time, from Tuesday evening through Friday morning.
This will be the third of four consecutive supermoons (and the brightest by a tiny margin).
As the full Moon after the Harvest Moon, this will be the Hunter's Moon.
The earliest written use of the term "Hunter's Moon" identified in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1710.
According to the Farmer's Almanac, with the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt. Since the harvesters have reaped the fields, hunters can easily see the animals that have come out to glean (and the foxes that have come out to prey upon them).
The Maine Farmer's Almanac first published Native American names for the full Moons in the 1930s.
Over time these names have become widely known and used.
According to this almanac, as the full Moon in October the Algonquin tribes in what is now the northeastern United States called this the Travel Moon, the Dying Grass Moon, or the Sanguine or Blood Moon.
Some sources indicate that the Dying Grass, Sanguine, and Blood Moon names are related to the turning of the leaves and dying back of plants with the start of fall.
Others indicate that the names Sanguine and Blood Moon are associated with hunting to prepare for winter.
I have read that the name "Travel Moon" comes from observing the migration of birds and other animals preparing for the winter.
I don't know, but this name may also refer to the season when the more northern tribes would move down from the mountains for the winter.
For example, both the Iroquois and Algonquin would hunt in the Adirondack Mountains during the summertime but leave in fall to avoid the harsh mountain winters.
As the full Moon in the Hebrew month of Tishrei, this full Moon falls near the start of Sukkoth, a 7-day holiday starting on the 15th day of the month.
Sukkoth is also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of the Ingathering.
Sukkoth honors both the sheltering of the People of Israel during the 40 years in the wilderness in the Book of Leviticus as well as an ancient harvest festival in the Book of Exodus.
Sukkot is named for the sukkah (booths or huts) traditionally built for the occasion that represent the temporary huts in which Israelites lived after escaping from Egypt.
Families symbolically invite ancestors to share meals in the sukkah and spend as much time as possible there throughout the week.
This year Sukkoth starts at sunset on October 16 and ends at sunset on October 23. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukkot for more information.
For Hindus, this is Sharad Purnima, also known as Kumara Purnima, Kojagari Purnima, Navanna Purnima Kojagrat Purnima, or Kaumudi Purnima.
This is a harvest festival celebrated in a variety of ways. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharad_Purnima for more information.
For Buddhists, this Moon marks the end of Vassa, the three-month period of fasting for monks tied to the monsoons (Vassa is sometimes given the English names "Rains Retreat" or "Buddhist Lent").
There are numerous festivals and holy days associated with this Moon at the end of Vassa. Many Buddhists observe the holy day Pavarana on this day.
In Myanmar, this full Moon corresponds with the three-day Thadingyut Festival of Lights, also known as the Lighting Festival of Myanmar.
Also in Myanmar, this full Moon is near the end of the Phaung Daw U Pagoda Festival.
This festival began on the first Waxing Moon day of the month of Thadingyut and will end a few days past this full Moon.
In Sri Lanka, this is Vap Poya, which is followed (usually within the lunar month) by the Kathina festival, during which people give gifts to the monks, particularly new robes (so this lunar month is sometimes called the Month of Robes).
cont.
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/skywatching/the-next-full-moon-is-a-supermoon-and-the-hunters-moon/