The Mourning Moon

As well as being a 'super moon', the full moon of November is often called the Snow Moon or the Mourning Moon. November is when winter truly starts. On higher ground, the first snows will appear on the hills.

 In the Celtic calendar the month begins with the festival of Samhain, midway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. Samhain mourns the end of summer and the start of the winter trials which many, human and beast, would not survive. It was a time to think about the ever-turning wheel of time, of the passing seasons and the passing of life into death. Many cultures still use this date to commemorate the dead.

 When the mourning is over, it is time to think about survival.