A synchronous rotation keeps one side of the moon shrouded in mystery from our perspective. It takes about as long for the moon to turn on its axis as it does to orbit Earth, so it keeps the same face towards us – the one known in folk tales as the Man In The Moon, a vaguely face-shaped pattern seen in the dark and light of lunar craters. For example, January’s full moon is called the Quiet Moon, Wolf Moon, or Cold Moon, while September’s full moon is named the Singing Moon, Harvest Moon, or Wine Moon. Each month’s full moon has names corresponding to particular themes, rituals, or natural events significant to that time of the year.

The August full moon is the Grain Moon or Dispute Moon, a time of feasts and festivals and resolving disputes between neighbors. Nature approaches her peak during a summer of short nights and bright days - this was when the ancient Celts claimed their wives and celebrated Lugnasad. Celtic Full Moons – FAQ’s What are the Celtic Full Moon Names, and how do they vary across different tribes? While modern, digital life is often at odds with nature - rubbing against it rather than working in harmony with it - is there something to be said for embracing this ancient way of being and reconnecting to the moon's natural calendar?*January's Quiet Moon reflects an air of melancholy, illuminating a midwinter of quiet menace; it was the time of the Dark Days for the ancient Celts, when the natural world balanced on a knife edge. March’s full moon name is the Seed Moon, Wind Moon, Storm Moon, or Worm Moon. It’s the season of Ostara, celebrating the start of spring and new beginnings.

Join our email club...

Breathtaking prose. Sometimes witty in a sort of delightful phosphor spark. Even though the Dorset climate is different than here in Calcutta, I wrote down some remarkable similarities too such as the changes in flowering time and the appearance of birds during changes in seasons- called the phenological mismatch- thanks to climate change.

The July full moon was known to the ancient Celts as the Claiming Moon or Horse Moon. Claiming Moon is likely derived from some sort of early legal system, similar to August’s Dispute Moon. July is traditionally the warmest month of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and as such is a good time to relax, meditate and reflect on your life. It is also a good time to think about how you can bring more positive things into your life. On Thursday 13th April we are happy to host an in-store event with author Kevin Parr, who will present his latest book THE QUIET MOON: Pathways to an Ancient Way of Being. It is a strange coincidence that I finished reading Kevin Parr’s The Quiet Moon on a New Moon. It made me think of several conversations in recent weeks about the calendar year, alternative calendars, and the concept of time. Austin Kleon wrote about the difference between experiencing time as linear vs. circular. How almanacs and lunar cycles observe the passage of time as the birth and rebirth of seasons, crops, and life itself. Humankind has needed a linear time structure to record and plan events. It is how the world runs. But simultaneously, the pandemic showed us that experience of time is subjective. It waxes and wanes just like the moon despite what the calendar says. I love how Parr describes ‘time’ in the prologue of this book: a way of forcing a poem open to what lies bodily beyond it. Because the eye is an instrument tuned to surfaces, but the ear tells you about volume, depth, content – like tapping a large iron shape to find if it’s full or not. The ear hears into, not just what surrounds it. And the whole challenge of poetry is to keep language open, so that what we don’t know yet can pass through it. The full moon names were associated with specific natural events, cultural practices, and spiritual beliefs prevalent during different months of the year. From the Quiet Moon reflecting rest and reflection to the Grain Moon signifying feasts and festivals, these names provide insights into the Celts’ seasonal activities, rituals, and societal values. The moon names served as both symbolic expressions and practical guides for the Celts’ daily lives and communal interactions.Coleridge invites us to listen and to think, and think again, about the music of quiet, and the words we use to describe it. Peaceful. Calm. Still. Hush. Dim. Secret. That word “secret” in the very first line of the poem would have suggested quiet to Coleridge’s first readers, since “secret” carried the sense, no longer current, of reticence, of quiet and closeness (keeping something close, keeping it secret). A secret is unsounded. Silent. The frost “performs a secret ministry”. We do not hear the icy patterns forming on the windowpane. Nor do we hear the poem’s first rhyme, between “ministry” and “cry”, it is an eye rhyme, silent.