by JUDY WARNOCK
It is fitting that September’s moon is called the Full Harvest Moon. This moon climbs soon after sunset. Picture the days before electrical energy as well as you will recognize just how important that was. It gave much-needed light for the farmer to gather his crops.
Harvest Moon is the name offered to the moon closest to the fall equinox. This normally occurs in September but can also occur in October. What is an equinox anyhow? It is when the sun rests directly above the equator and also offers us an equivalent quantity of daytime and darkness. It happens two times a year– as soon as in springtime, once in the autumn. Words equinox comes from the Latin words for equivalent as well as night. During that time we have 12 hrs each, equivalent quantities of day and also evening. The loss equinox is September 22 this year.
The Chinese celebrate the complete moon with the Mid-Autumn Celebration. It is their second crucial holiday after the Chinese New Year. Mid-Autumn is commemorated in the center of their 8th lunar month, about the exact same time as our Harvest Moon. Timing can put the celebration anywhere in between very early September to early October. Its background dates back 3000 years! It returns to the days when Chinese emperors worshiped the moon. To the Chinese, this is an extremely important time. The moon’s brightness as well as fullness represent togetherness. It is a time for sharing, courtship, as well as matchmaking. Workers are provided times off. Households collect and buddies see. There are lanterns lit, meals taken pleasure in, and presents are given. At this time they typically drink tea and also eat mooncakes. There are community firework display screens as well as dragon dancings. What is a mooncake? It is a rich pastry loaded with a sweet paste, such as lotus or bean paste. Salted egg yolk is baked in the. The cakes are shaped round like the moon as well as pressed in a mold and mildew. This offers the completed treat an elaborate style. They’re after that wrapped and also sold in elegant boxes for gift giving. You can buy them on the internet as well as some are really expensive. Promotions for them appear months ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Various other names for the September moon come from the Indigenous Americans. They called it Barley Moon because it came at the time of harvesting as well as threshing the ripe barley. The Cherokee called it Nut Moon. Their people gathered nuts and also baked special bread to commemorate the harvest. Some tribes called it Large Moon. A rising moon shows up larger and brighter, but it is a method the horizon plays with our eyes. The moon can without a doubt come closer to earth and also be 14 %bigger and 30 %brighter for actual. In 1979 the expression Super Moon was coined. That describes a full moon or likewise a new moon that goes to its closest orbit to earth( the term is perigee). Closeness is determined by the number of miles. A Super Full Moon can happen several times a year. We have actually already had ours for 2021(April and also May). We’ll need to wait until following summer season (June and July 2022 )to be dealt with to the additional brightness again! There are many unique occasions intended that celebrate the full moon. Did you recognize it is preferred to have witches on paddleboards? Full outfit, cape, sharp hat, and all! You may see such an event in Florida anywhere from St. Augustine to the Florida Keys during the months of September or October. One more popular event is a sundown cruise on the night of a moon. They are supplied everywhere. Florida has no lack of them. A lovely dream cruise of mine would certainly be one I saw online. You cruise along San Francisco Bay aboard an 80-foot schooner. Envision being able to see the complete moon versus a silhouette of the Golden Gateway Bridge! And to see Alcatraz by moonlight! I might envision it. What a means to salute autumn as well as greet the Harvest Moon!