Continuing our exploration of what celebration looks like in modern Pagan families, this is the next in our series of blogs from the Children & Families Team, who write about the traditions they have developed to celebrate the full moons of the year with their children aged 3 years and up, continuing with the July full moon.
There are many names for the July full Moon including Buck moon, Thunder moon, Hay moon, Blessing moon and Fruit moon, but in our house, we call it watery moon. The theme of water is prevalent in our lives at this time of year as usually there has been a good spell of hot weather and as we grow a lot this reminds us how important water is.
Divination features this month. St Swithin’s falls on the 15th which is a weather lore marker regarding rain. The lore says that if it rains on St Swithin’s day more rain will come, and if it’s dry on the 15th then dry weather remains.
We will use the power of the July full moon to charge any divination tools we have by leaving them on the windowsill in the moonlight, so I shall be leaving my pendulum out to charge. We will also toast the moon and bathe in her light.
The herbs and scents for July moon are frankincense, orris, honeysuckle, lemon balm, hyssop, agrimony, gardenia, myrrh, sandalwood and calamus. The moon gardening activity is picking fruit that are ready as harvest on a full moon gives fruit more nutritive benefits.
Hannah
Mid-West & Wales Liaison, Children & Families Team
The full moon in July is called the Hay Moon in England, and possibly other places in the UK and Ireland. No surprise, as if you drive out into agricultural areas right now, you will see fields burgeoning with tall grasses and other grains just waiting to be harvested. My kids love to watch the combine harvesters at work or see the tractors lumbering down country lanes holding the cumbersome hay bales on their complicated attachments. It’s a great way to note the turning of the season, the changing colours of the crops, the suddenly empty fields, and the flurry of activity across farmland. The Hay Moon can be about your own harvests – what are you proud of so far this year? What are you still looking forward to?
July’s full moon in 2022 was a supermoon, a cool-sounding name very popular with the kids! It means that the moon is at its perigee, a fancy word meaning its closest point to Earth. So, on a supermoon, the moon is both full and the closest it can be to Earth, making it appear very large and very bright. This may continue for a few days after the “official” full moon date, too. A supermoon in July is a great opportunity to get a good view of our beautiful satellite, as there’s a better chance of good weather and less cloud cover. My 12-year-old was particularly excited to get his telescope out and see if he could see some craters!
Mabh
Secretary, Children & Families Team