Daily Archives: November 13, 2016
What follows is a list (in alphabetical order) of the names given to the November moon. Also listed is the tradition and/or origin of that moon name:
- All Gathered Moon ~San Juan, Native American
- Beaver Moon, ~Algonquin, Native American, Colonial
- Corn Harvest Moon ~Taos
- Dark Moon ~other
- Dead Moon ~Janic (dark)
- Deer Antler Shedding Moon ~other
- Deer Rutting Moon ~Cheyenne
- Falling Leaves Moon ~Sioux
- Fog Moon ~other
- Fledgling Raptor Moon ~Hopi
- Freezing River Moon ~Arapaho
- Frosty Moon ~Algonquin, Native American, Colonial
- Geese Going Moon ~Kiowa
- Itartoryuk Moon ~Inuit
- Mad Moon ~other
- Mourning Moon ~Janic (full)
- Oak Moon ~other
- Poverty Moon ~Mohawk
- Snow Moon ~Mediaeval English
- Snowy Morning Mountains Moon ~Wishram
- Storm Moon ~other
- Trading Moon ~Cherokee
- Tree Moon ~Neo Pagan
Source: Everything Under The Moon
The Leonids is an average shower, producing up to 15 meteors per hour at its peak. This shower is unique in that it has a cyclonic peak about every 33 years where hundreds of meteors per hour can be seen. That last of these occurred in 2001. The Leonids is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Tempel-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1865. The shower runs annually from November 6-30. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Leo, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
Source: SeaSky
The Taurids is a long-running minor meteor shower producing only about 5-10 meteors per hour. It is unusual in that it consists of two separate streams. The first is produced by dust grains left behind by Asteroid 2004 TG10. The second stream is produced by debris left behind by Comet 2P Encke. The shower runs annually from September 7 to December 10. Best viewing will be just after midnight from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Taurus, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
Source: SeaSky
Feronia is a Latin goddess who was honored with the first fruits of the harvest in a Thanksgiving type of ritual thought to ensure a bountiful harvest for the following year. In ancient Roman religion, Feronia was a goddess associated with wildlife, fertility, health and abundance. She was worshipped in Capena, at the base of Mount Soracte, a mountain ridge in a province of ancient Rome.
As the goddess who granted freedom to slaves or civil rights to the most humble part of society, she was especially honored among plebeians and freedmen. In ancient Rome Feronia’s festival was celebrated on the Ides of November, which in all likelihood was originally the day of the full moon, but eventually was settled on November 13th, or to be slightly more accurate in the Roman versions of November 13th.
Feronia’s festival, which was like a lively fair or market, was celebrated in a sacred grove where first-harvested fruits were offered to her near the foot of Mt. Soracte. Although woods and springs were especially sacred to her, and she preferred the peace of the country to the hustle of the city, Feronia also had a temple in Rome.
Feronia’s followers were thought to perform magickal acts such as fire walking. Slaves thought of her as a goddess of freedom, and they believed that, if they sat on a particular holy stone in her sacred sanctuary, they could attain freedom. One tradition says that newly freed slaves would go to her temple to receive the pileus, the special cap that signified their status as free people.
From Goddesses For Every Day and Patheos
In ancient Roman religion, the Epulum Jovis (also Epulum Iovis) was a sumptuous ritual feast offered to Jupiter on the Ides of September (September 13) and a smaller feast on the Ides of November (November 13). It was celebrated during the Ludi Romani (“Roman Games”) and the Ludi Plebeii (“Plebeian Games”).
It’s described as a kind of thanksgiving feast. People dined in honor of Minerva, Juno, and Jupiter and decorated with statues of these deities, as though the gods were among them.
The gods were formally invited, and attended in the form of statues. These were arranged on luxurious couches (pulvinaria) placed at the most honorable part of the table. Fine food was served, as if they were able to eat. The priests designated as epulones, or masters of the feast, organized and carried out the ritual, and acted as “gastronomic proxies” in eating the food.
Celebrating The Epulum Jovis:
To curry the favor and receive the considerable blessings of these gods, place statues or pictures of them on the dinner table, set places for them, and cook a simple yet delicious dinner. The layout need not be extravagant, but it should be as luxurious as possible.
Remember, these are The Gods, and they are your guests. Serve the deities food, and in all other ways treat them as honored guests. If you have any special requests, perhaps save them for tomorrow. For now, just dine and align your life with the goodwill of these powerful gods.
Be sure to have statues or other representations of the honored guests on the table. Thank them for their gifts. Here’s a toast you can use:
“For all the gifts you’ve given me,
I offer something back to thee.
A symbol of my gratitude,
A gift of drink, a gift of food.”
The ancient Romans has designated persons who acted as proxies for the Gods and ate their food for them, alternatively, their full plates could be taken outside as an offering. Wine can also be poured as a libation.
Collected from various sources
November’s Full Moon beckons us to look deep within. With the Sun in Scorpio, the Snow Moon is a potent time to look beyond the obvious. This is an excellent time for dreamwork and lends its energies easily to meditation and divinatory efforts as well as projects that require endings. Use the Snow Moon’s energy for setting magickal goals into motion, as well as planning for the reinvention of your life.Take advantage of this transitional period to set your goals for the future in motion.
~From: 2008 Witches’ Spell-A-Day Almanac
What is a supermoon? The word supermoon didn’t come from astronomy. Instead, it came from astrology. Astrologer Richard Nolle of the website astropro.com takes credit for coining the term supermoon. In 1979, he defined it as:
…a new or full moon which occurs with the moon at or near (within 90% of) its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit (perigee). In short, Earth, moon and sun are all in a line, with moon in its nearest approach to Earth.
By this definition, according to Nolle, there are 4-6 supermoons a year on average.
The full moon of November 14, 2016 is not only the biggest, closest and brightest supermoon of this year. It’s the closest supermoon since January 26, 1948. Should you watch for this full moon on the night of November 14? Sure, and, if you do, it’ll be beautiful. But, for us in the Americas the moon is closer to full on the night of November 13.
The moon turns precisely full on November 14, 2016 at 13:52 UTC. This full moon instant will happen in the morning hours before sunrise November 14 in western North America and on many Pacific islands, east of the International Date Line. (See worldwide map below.)
In Asia and Australia, the moon turns precisely full during the evening hours of November 14. In New Zealand, it actually happens after midnight November 15. Around the longitudes of Europe or Africa, look both nights.
Better yet … everyone, look both nights!
The moon will look plenty full and bright all night long on both nights – November 13 and 14 – as it rises in the east around sunset, climbs highest up around midnight, and then sets in the west at or near sunrise.
The moon won’t come this close to Earth again until November 25, 2034.
Astronomers call this sort of close full moon a perigee full moon. The word perigee describes the moon’s closest point to Earth for any given month. Five years ago – when the closest and largest full moon fell on March 19, 2011 – many began using the term supermoon. In the following years, we heard this term again to describe the year’s closest full moon on May 6, 2012, and again on June 23, 2013, and again on August 10, 2014, and yet again on September 28, 2015.
Now the term supermoon is being used a lot, and, personally, we approve! It’s a good descriptive term for the closest full moons, much easier to remember than perigee full moon.
Last month’s full moon – on October 16, 2016 – was also a supermoon. But the November full moon is even more super! In other words, the time of full moon falls even closer to the time of the moon’s closest point to Earth.
The next supermoon falls on December 3, 2017.
Source: EarthSky