Full Hunter’s Moon

The Farmer’s Almanac tells us that this full Moon is often referred to as the Full Hunter’s Moon, Blood Moon, or Sanguine Moon. Many moons ago, Native Americans named this bright moon for obvious reasons. The leaves are falling from trees, the deer are fattened, and it’s time to begin storing up meat for the long winter ahead. Because the fields were traditionally reaped in late September or early October, hunters could easily see fox and other animals that come out to glean from the fallen grains. Probably because of the threat of winter looming close, the Hunter’s Moon is generally accorded with special honor, historically serving as an important feast day in both Western Europe and among many Native American tribes.

According to the Wise Witches Society, this full Moon is also referred to as the Full Harvest Moon.

“This is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox. In two years out of three, the Harvest Moon comes in September, but in some years it occurs in October. At the peak of harvest, farmers can work late into the night by the light of this Moon. Usually the full Moon rises an average of 50 minutes later each night, but for the few nights around the Harvest Moon, the Moon seems to rise at nearly the same time each night: just 25 to 30 minutes later across the U.S., and only 10 to 20 minutes later for much of Canada and Europe. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice the chief Indian staples are now ready for gathering.”

Known as the Blood Moon, “this is the annual slaughter of all but breeding stock that took place at this time of the year. This is the time of seeking inner peace and truth. The zodiac association [generally] is Libra.

Correspondences:

Nature Spirits: frost faeries, plant faeries
Herbs: pennyroyal, thyme, catnip, uva ursi, angelica, burdock
Colors: dark blue-green
Flowers: calendula, marigold, cosmos
Scents: strawberry, apple blossom, cherry
Stones: opal, tourmaline, beryl, turquoise
Trees: yew, cypress, acacia
Animals: stag, jackal, elephant, ram, scorpion
Birds: heron, crow, robin
Deities: Ishtar, Astarte, Demeter, Kore, Lakshmi, Horned God, Belili, Hathor
Power Flow: to let go; inner cleansing. Karma and reincarnation. Justice and balance. Inner harmony.

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Prayers:

Shine on, shine on hunter moon
Up in the sky,
I ain’t had no lovin’
Since January, February, June or July
Snow time ain’t no time to stay
Outdoors and spoon,
So shine on, shine on hunter moon,
For me and my gal.

Shine On Hunter Moon

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Rituals:

Autumn Full Moon Ceremony

In addition to – or instead of – holding a monthly Esbat rite, some Wiccan and Pagan groups prefer to have a season-specific full moon ceremony. The traditional autumn season includes September's Harvest Moon and the Blood Moon of October, and wraps up with the Mourning Moon of November. If you’d like to celebrate one or more of these moon phases with a ritual specific to the harvest, it’s not hard. This rite is written for a group of four people or more, but if you needed to, you could easily adapt it for a solitary practitioner.

Try to hold this ritual outside. Fall nights are usually crisp and cool, and a perfect time for outdoor rituals. Ask each member of the group to bring an item to place on the altar – something that represents the bounty of the harvest. Decorate the altar with these seasonal goodies. Some ideas would be:

You’ll want to include quarter candles*, as well as a cup of wine or cider. If you’re including Cakes and Ale as part of your celebration, place your cakes on the altar as well.
A basket of apples
Gourds, squashes, or small pumpkins
Indian corn
Colorful leaves
Stalks of grain or wheat

Assign a member of the group to call each quarter. Each person should stand at their assigned quarter holding their unlit candle (and a lighter or matches), and facing the altar. If there are more than four of you present, form a circle.

Some traditions choose to begin rites facing east, while others prefer the north. This ritual begins with the calling of the north quarter, but you can adjust or adapt it based on the needs of your own tradition.

We call upon the powers of Earth,
and welcome you to this circle.
May the fertile soil of the land bring us
prosperity, abundance, and the bounty of the land,
in this time of harvest.

Place the candle on the altar.

The person to the east should light her yellow candle, hold it to the sky, and say:

We call upon the powers of Air,
and welcome you to this circle.
May the winds of change bring us wisdom and knowledge
in this season of abundance and bounty.

Place the candle on the altar.

Moving to the south, light the red candle and hold it to the sky, saying:

We call upon the powers of Fire,
and welcome you to this circle.
May the shining light of this season’s moon
illuminate our way through the coming winter.

Place the candle on the altar.

Finally, the person to the west lights the blue candle, holds it to the sky, and says:

We call upon the powers of Water,
and welcome you to this circle.
May the cool autumn rains wash away
the last comforts of summer,
and prepare us for the chill that is to come.

Place the candle on the altar.

Have everyone in the circle join hands and say:

We gather tonight by the light of the moon,
to celebrate the season, and rejoice.
May the next turn of the Wheel bring us love
and compassion, abundance and prosperity,
fertility and life.
As the moon above, so the earth below.

Go around the circle, passing the wine or cider. As each person takes a sip, they should share one thing they are looking forward to in the coming month. Do you hope to manifest financial independence? Develop your intuitive powers? Or are you perhaps hoping to grow your relationships? Now is the time to state your intent.

Take a moment to reflect on the bounty of the season. When everyone is ready, either move on to your next ceremony – Cakes and Ale, Drawing Down the Moon, healing rites, etc. – or end the ritual.

* Quarter candles are colored candles based on the colors of the four cardinal directions: green for north, yellow for east, red to the south and blue in the west.

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Recipes:

MoonCakes

Moon cakes are traditional Chinese pastries that are made during the Moon festival or Harvest Festival, which is celebrated in China, Vietnam, and other countries in Asia.

Ingredients:

Mooncake Dough

2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 T. canola oil
½ c. golden syrup (can substitute with corn/karo syrup)

Sweet Mung Bean Filling

1 c. dry peeled split mung beans
4 c. water
2 ½ T. coconut oil
1 tsp. salt
1 ¼ c. sugar

Hardware

Mooncake Press

Eggwash

1 egg yolk + 1 T. water

Directions:

1. First, make the filling. (I generally do this a day ahead of time, but if you have plenty of time to allow the filling to cook and cool, then you can do it the same day.) Put the mung beans and the water in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium to medium-low heat (uncovered) for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Check often to make sure that the mixture is not drying out and burning.)

2. Cover the saucepan with a lid, and turn the stove off. Allow the mixture to sit for another 30 minutes (do NOTopen the lid – the residual steam will help finish cooking the mung beans). At this point your mung beans should be soft and thoroughly cooked. Cool completely, then discard any extra liquid. (You can put the cooked mung beans in a container in the refrigerator to cool faster, if needed.)

3. Puree the mung bean mixture in a food processor until the texture desired. (You can make your mung bean paste very smooth or somewhat chunky – it depends on what you prefer).

4. Melt the coconut oil in a large wok. Add the mung bean puree, salt, and sugar. (If you do not have coconut oil, you can use shortening to substitute.)

5. Cook the mixture over medium to medium-high heat, while stirring, for about 10-15 minutes until the mixture is thickened. A good rule of thumb – when you stir the mixture, you should see the bottom of the pan as your spoon moves across the pan – and the filling should slowly fill back into your spoon “streak”. Cool the mixture completely before using. (You can refrigerate overnight at this point, if desired.)

6. Now, make your dough. Sift the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.

7. Add the golden syrup and oil, then stir. Knead together to form a smooth play-doh like ball.

8. Divide the dough into 16 pieces. You will use 2 pieces of dough for each mooncake – one piece will be the top, the other piece will be the bottom.

9. Set two pieces of plastic wrap on the countertop. Using a rolling pin, roll out a 4″ circle of dough on each piece of plastic wrap.

10. Place about 6 T. (about 3 cookie scoops) of filling into the center of one piece of dough.

11. Using the plastic wrap to help, push the outer rim of dough up the edges of the filling, to “cup” the filling.

12. Place the other piece of dough on top. Peel the plastic wrap off the dough.

13. Using your fingers, push the dough on the sides together to seal into an enclosed cylinder. Transfer to a floured surface, and continue to shape into a cylinder, flouring the sides/bottom/top as you go. Basically, you want to form a cylinder that will just fit into the mooncake mold without scraping against the sides.

14. Slide the mooncake mold/press over the cylinder of dough, and slowly and firmly push down with the plunger. You want to make sure your design is imprinted into the dough firmly – too light, and your design will disappear when you bake it.

15. Transfer the unbaked mooncakes to a silicone lined baking sheet. Spritz the top and edges with a little bit of water. (This prevents the dough from cracking while baking.) I used some water in my Mistosprayer. (If you don’t have a sprayer, then lightly brush on some water with a pastry brush.)

16. Bake the mooncakes for 10 minutes in a 325 degree preheated oven. Remove and cool for about 15 minutes.

17. Decrease the oven temperature to 300 degrees. Brush the tops and sides of the mooncakes with a thin layer of eggwash. Return the mooncakes to the oven, and bake another 10 minutes.

18. Remove, and cool on a wire rack.

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Vanilla-Almond Moons

Ingredients:

200g butter, at room temperature
80g powdered sugar
1 packet vanilla sugar
2 egg yolks
1 fresh vanilla bean -scraped
¼ teaspoon salt
100g almond flour
250g all-purpose flour
Extra powdered sugar for finishing

Directions:

In a stand mixer, combine butter, powdered sugar and vanilla sugar.

Cream on medium speed for 3-4 minutes or until light and fluffy.

Add the egg yolks, scraped vanilla bean and salt. Combine on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Add the all.purpose flour types.

When the mix comes together and looks well combined, take it out of the mixer and wrap in plastic wrap. Let the dough rest in the fridge for at least 1 our (up to 1 day).

Preheated the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Take the dough from the fridge and divide/roll into 3 same-sized logs.

Using a knife, cut small, same-sized slices from the logs and roll each slice into a curved “moon” shape.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Let cool slightly, and dust with extra powdered while still warm.

P.S. These Vanilla Moon Cookies are my absolute favorites. They’re light and airy with a perfectly crumbly texture, and the buttery vanilla flavor pairs beautifully with a cup of tea or a shot of espresso.

These are definitely worth a try - trust me, you’ll be hooked!

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Altar: