#Lunar calendar

[maggiecheungs]

MOON PHASES 🌕

[breelandwalker]

Wolf Moon - January 13 2025

Shake off the cold and sing to the sky, witches - it’s time for the Wolf Moon!

Wolf Moon

The Wolf Moon is the name given to the full moon which occurs in the month of January. The name is said to be derived from the sound of wolves howling with hunger while prey is scarce in the midst of winter. Given that we now know that wolves howl mostly for communication, my personal opinion is that people huddled in their homes during a very dark and dangerous time of year probably noticed these sounds a lot more readily with little else to occupy their time as they waited out the winter, and thus were set to worrying about ravenous beasts invading their villages and farmsteads. (It’s worth noting that wolves preying on livestock was a very real concern for most people outside major cities for many centuries, so this isn’t entirely unfounded.)

The name also calls to mind the howling of the wind during winter storms, or whistling around the eaves during the long cold nights. And for those of us who might not have been careful with our spending over the holidays, I might cite a tongue-in-cheek reference to the wolves being at the door when those credit card bills come due.

[For those not familiar with the English phrase, to have “a wolf at the door” is a saying that refers to some imminent hardship or disaster. In modern parlance, this is usually applied to poor finances or looming bankruptcy.]

This month, the moon peaks at 5:27pm EST on Monday January 13th, so the moon may appear to be full on the nights of the 12th or 13th, depending on where you are in the world.

Some North American indigenous names for the month of January and its’ moon are Cold Moon (Cree), Center Moon (Assiniboine), Severe Moon (Dakota), Ice Moon (Catawba), and Spirit Moon (Ojibwe). Other names include Mantis Moon (South African origins), Quiet Moon (Celtic), and Moon After Yule (Anglo-Saxon).

What Does It Mean For Witches?

As a new year dawns, it’s time for rest and reflection before we set out on the next phase of our journey. While the cold weather lingers, take some time to sit by the fire, literally or metaphorically, and take stock of where you stand, what resources are available, and what you plan to do with them.

Check in with your near-and-dear following the mad rush of the holiday season as well. Make sure that friends, family, and community members around you are doing all right. Offer support and kindness where you can, but don’t overextend yourself. It’s your time to recuperate too, and it is good and healthy to set boundaries which allow time and space for yourself.

While it's a bit early to expect progress on our goals and resolutions, the beginning of a new calendar year is a good time to lay the foundation for what we intend to do with the year to come and to reflect on the year that has just ended. It's also the perfect time for self-assessment in your craft. Take a moment to acknowledge where you are, how you've grown, and what you might like to do next. Perhaps do some journaling on the subject, if you're so inclined. You can outline your craft knowledge and beliefs, mark the lessons you've learned, or record your progress. (This is a great way to measure future milestones and personal growth!)

What Witchy Things Can We Do?

Winter is a prime time for storytelling. Back in the days before internet or television or radio, people would often read to each other or tell tales to pass the time. Consider re-reading a favorite book that inspires you or exploring some region of folklore or mythology you’ve been meaning to look into. If you have children who are of an age to enjoy stories, read them some of your favorites or introduce them to something new. Share stories and discussions with your witchy circle too!

While you’re at it, take a moment to examine the role that folklore and stories play in your practice. If you subscribe to a particular mythos, be it through deities or just general belief, consider which parts of it resonate the most with you and why.

Consider also the lessons of the winter season - the necessity of rest between periods of growth and activity, and the role of death, cold, and darkness in the natural cycles of life. What do these things mean to you and your practice? Are they a source of fear or fascination? Do you come alive in the winter or bundle up and wait for spring? How can you best remind yourself to pause for breath as the year goes on?

And of course, the beginning of a new year is an excellent time for goal-setting and divination. You’re making resolutions for your mundane life, so make a few for your craft while you’re at it, and pull out your cards or runes or pendulum for a New Year forecast on how things might go. If you need some ideas or inspiration, you can check out this article on Casting The Bones or try this craft-building exercise to Create Your Own Personal Runes.

Happy Wolf Moon, witches! 🐺🌕

SOURCES & FURTHER READING:

Bree’s Lunar Calendar Series

Bree’s Secular Celebrations Series

Wolf Moon: Full Moon in January, The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

Why The 2025 January Wolf Moon Is So Insanely Powerful, The Peculiar Brunette.

Casting The Bones: How to Read and Throw Bones, The Peculiar Brunette.

Witchcraft Exercise - Creating Your Own Runes, Bree NicGarran. (Masterlist here)

Moon Info - Full Moon Dates for 2025

Calendar-12 - 2025 Moon Phases

Everyday Moon Magic: Spells & Rituals for Abundant Living, Dorothy Morrison, Llewellyn Publications, 2004.

Image Source: What Is A Wolf Moon?, The Fact Site.

(If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar, check out my monthly show Hex Positive, and find my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊)

[mostpeculiarmademoiselleetmsieur]

Hey all. Just wanted to give my non-Jewish followers who might be curious about our calendar a little note.

I had a friend ask about Passover this morning, because they thought it always overlapped with Good Friday and Easter.

So, here’s the thing: The Jewish/Hebrew calendar is a lunar calendar. It doesn’t follow the Gregorian/English calendar, which follows the sun. Each of our months is 29 or 30 days long, following the lunar cycle, and the holidays fall on different says of the English calendar every year because of that. Also because of that difference, a leap year adds an entire month for us, rather than just a day, so that the seasons in which our holidays occur don’t change, since our holidays are mainly based around the seasons and not just the calendar dates.

So, because it’s a leap year—and, yes, it’s pretty much the same schedule with leap years in the Hebrew calendar as the English calendar—we’re currently towards the end of Adar 1, and Purim, the holiday we celebrate during Adar, will be celebrated during Adar 2. This also moves Passover out to late April this year.

This isn’t a very comprehensive explanation, but I thought it might be helpful or interesting to those of you who might be curious about the difference between our calendars.

[thewitchystuff]

Go outside and see the beautiful moon while you do a quick spell for your positive intentions for this next month!

Remember you can add your own spin to spells to make them more unique to you and what you want to manifest.

[emcheeseman]

Phases of the moon for 2025 🌙 Patreon mail is on its way this week, and the remaining lunar calendars are now available in my shop.

[jamesreads]

know your moons

[babka-enjoyer]

I found this MAGNIFICENT circular depiction of the Jewish calendar by Claymil on Redbubble (link is in their ig bio) and bought it immediately. I love that it’s sandwiched between celestial elements and includes the agricultural cycle.

I’m going to put 6 sawtooth hangers around the frame so the current season is always oriented up-ish. It would be even cooler if I could attach it to something that mounts to the wall and spins but I haven’t seen anything that fits the bill yet.

Edit: Also I cut it into a circle. It definitely did not come like that.

[vieneinpace]

Lunar calendar 2024

[pagan-stitches]

All turtle shells have 13 moons and 28 days. This is equivalent to 364 days plus one day of rest.

My turtle shell was one of my coolest finds.

The plastron of a turtle (=belly part of the turtle shell) has essentially 6 scutes (from head to tail)

This reminds of the structure of hexagrams, with two pairs of trigrams on top of each other.

[witch-with-scissors]

~~ January: Wolf Moon ~~

~~~~~~

The first collage from my new series: "13 full moons". 🌕 January's full moon is named Wolf Moon (after the howling of hungry wolves). The long list of names for this month's full moon also include: Ice Moon, Stay Home Moon and Quiet Moon. 🌕🐺

[voraciouskingdom]

🔥❤️‍🔥

[felinewanderer]

2025 Animal of the Year:

The Snake, of course.

I am born in the year of the Snake. I am an Earth Snake and while the snake gets a bad reputation, it actually stands for so many positive things.

Luck, healing, eternal love, good fortune, protection from harm, personal growth, and the cyclical nature of life and death.

This is the Year of the Wood Snake.

2025 is a year of reflection, recalibration, and renewal, offering a mix of calm energy and intellectual challenges. The Snake’s intuitive wisdom, paired with the nurturing Wood element, creates a time to refine your long-term goals and strengthen personal and professional relationships.

Major Themes:

Transformation: A year for letting go of what no longer serves you and embracing meaningful change.

Strategic Growth: Success will favor those who plan meticulously and act wisely.

Deepening Connections: Introspection and emotional intelligence will help navigate relationships, promoting empathy and understanding.

[breelandwalker]

Frost Moon - November 15 2024

Grab your scarves and mittens, witches - it’s time for the Frost Moon!

Frost Moon

The Frost Moon is the name given to the full moon which occurs in the month of November. In temperate zones in the Northern Hemisphere, November is the month during which the first frost or first hard freeze of the season is usually observed.

Like many full moon names, this is an English translation of a traditional name used by one or more North American indigenous groups, in this case the Cree and the Assiniboine. Similarly, the Anishinaabe and the Ojibwe also called this month the Freezing Moon or Freezing Over Moon respectively, as indigenous naming conventions usually refer to the entire lunar month and not just the full moon itself. Other indigenous names include Deer Rutting Moon (Dakota and Lakota), Whitefish Moon (Algonquin), Leaf Fall Moon (Catawba), and Digging (or Scratching) Moon (Tlingit). The latter refers to the habit of deer and other creatures scratching up the ground to find hidden food caches, as well as bears digging their dens for winter hibernation.

Another very common name for this month’s full moon is the Beaver Moon, due to the increased sightings of these busy little creatures shoring up their dams and food stores before the first hard freeze of winter. (Unfortunately, it’s also a reference to the peak days of the North American fur trade, signaling the optimal hunting time for beaver pelts.)

In some modern pagan traditions, particularly those claiming Celtic lineage, the November moon is also called the Mourning Moon. This occurs when the November moon is the final full moon before the winter solstice. In 2024, the November is not a Mourning Moon, as the December full moon falls on the 15th, several days before the winter solstice. (I was not able to find an original source for this claim, but given the celebration of the beloved dead in October, a subsequent period of mourning and remembrance makes sense. It may also be a reference to the Catholic All Souls Day, but that’s just speculation.)

This particular Frost Moon will be at peak fullness in the afternoon hours of November 15th (4:29pm EST). This is the final supermoon in the four-month consecutive series of supermoons for 2024, so make the most of it!

What Does It Mean For Witches?

This is the month when migrations are finishing up, animals are finishing their cold weather preparations, the temperature starts to plummet, and fall descends rapidly into winter. If you haven’t finished your preparations for winter, mundane or magical, this is probably your last chance to do it. (Don’t forget to prioritize and delegate!)

With the days getting shorter and the nights getting colder, the temptation to hunker down and hibernate is STRONG. But we have to remember that just like the eponymous Beaver, humans have to stay active during the cold months. Start stockpiling ways to keep yourself busy and motivated, since that Seasonal Slump is on the horizon for many of us.

Consider also the beaver’s dam. You’ve spent the whole year working towards all kinds of goals. Is there still something blocking your way? What might it be and how can you best address and remove the obstacle? Or, alternatively, is it time to stop and rest and see if that roadblock will clear itself with a little time and patience?

In keeping with the Mourning Moon moniker, this could be a good time for reflection and remembrance. Think back on what you’ve built this year and take time to be proud of yourself. Remember what is dear to you, take a moment to miss someone who is gone, and consider rekindling bonds that may have lapsed or grown tenuous during the hustle and bustle of daily life. It’s always a good time to tell someone you love them.

On a practical note, if you have pets that regularly stay outdoors overnight, start bringing them inside or make sure they have a shelter that is properly warm, clean, and secure against human or animal intruders. If it’s too chilly for you to be out without a coat, it’s too chilly for the critters, fur or no fur. PLEASE do not leave your furry friends out in the cold!

What Witchy Things Can We Do?

As we prepare for winter, this is an excellent time to shore up those magical protections. Check on your longterm spells to see if they need refreshing, or just go ahead and do a quick cleanse-and-reclaim as a proactive measure. Even if everything is solid, practice your technique by shoring up points of egress or adding a new layer to the existing wards or trying a new visualization or method for personal protections. Create a new charm or talisman to carry you through the winter or make something festive and decorative that could be given as a gift.

On the subject of cleansing, this is a good time to clear out any stale or disruptive energy that might be lingering from the recent change of seasons. Solstices can be times of transformation, but change is rarely a calm or peaceful process and it brings its’ own set of challenges and upheavals. If things have gotten a little more chaotic than you’d like, take a moment to put your house in order, metaphysically speaking.

If you’re partial to jar spells, consider putting one together to help maintain safety and abundance through the winter months. If you’re going to be traveling for the upcoming holidays, a bit of luck and protection for the journey wouldn’t go amiss either.

If you've been working any longterm magic over the past few months to coincide with the abundance of supermoons, this is the time to bring your working to a culmination. Finish setting things in motion, tie up loose ends, close loopholes, and send your magic out into the world. Be sure to document what you've done and when and what methods you used, as well as any indicators of success to look for later if (and hopefully when) tangible results begin to appear.

Try a frost divination. If your area is starting to see overnight frosts, take a moment in the morning to examine the patterns that the frost leaves on the windows of your home or vehicle. Do you see any patterns or images in the ice crystals? Check the weather forecast and whisper a question into the wind when the overnight temps will drop below freezing. Then in the morning, see if there’s an answer waiting for you!

Happy Frost Moon, witches! 🌕❄

Further Reading:

Additional Lunar Calendar posts

Beaver Moon Magic: November’s Vibrant Moon Meaning in 2024, The Peculiar Brunette.

Beaver Moon: Full Moon in November 2024, The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

Beaver Full Moon in November - Buckle and Hocken, TimeAndDate.com.

Everyday Moon Magic: Spells & Rituals for Abundant Living, Dorothy Morrison, Llewellyn Publications, 2004.

Image Source - ABC News.

(If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊)

[greygalaxie]

2025 Lunar Zodiac Calendar

[gorrus]

[reality-detective]

PRE-ORDER NOW OPEN! Solar/Lunar Calendar 2025: Aries to Aries for a full proper year.

The calendar will ship by March 8th.

(If you are using your phone, please turn it horizontally to find the checkout button).

You can pre-order here and read some more information: 👇

Nicole is a plethora of knowledge of how the Earth, Sun and Moon REALLY are, their movements and I learned a lot from her teaching. In fact I took classes for quite a while and even today I still pick her brain sometimes if I need to, in fact I miss participating in her instructional guidance.

I ordered as soon as I saw this 👆 so if you would like to have a better understanding of the Moon? I highly recommend you get one to educate yourself more and learn how to see it for yourself. YOU WON'T REGRET IT! 🤔