How the Lowcountry moon affects our harvests, hunting — and most of all our hearts

How many of us as children recited this traditional nursery rhyme at bedtime as our nightly prayer?

“I see the moon, the moon sees me, God bless the moon and God bless me.”

A slight variation on our monthly full moon, the “hunter’s moon” has long been regarded as a significant event in traditional folklore and a subject of interest for astronomers. Also known as a “blood” moon, the term “hunter’s moon” is used traditionally to refer to a full moon appearing in the month of October.

It is so called because it was during the month of October, after deer had fatted themselves over the course of the summer, that hunters tracked and killed prey by autumn moonlight, stockpiling food for the coming winter. The hunter’s moon and the “harvest moon,” which is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox — falling on the Sept. 22 or 23 — both rise 30 minutes later than usual full moons on each successive night, meaning that sunset and moonrise are not far apart.

This means a prolonged period of light during these two months, which is the reason these moons through the years have been used by hunters and farmers to finish their work. This year hunter’s moon is Oct. 24, rising just after sunset and setting around sunrise Oct. 25, making it the only night in the month when the moon is visible in the sky all night long.

The phases of the moon

The moon goes through four phases:

▪ the ‘new’ moon, popularly called the “dark moon”

▪ the first quarter, popularly called the “growing moon”

▪ the full moon rising in the east as the sun sets in the west. It is up all night long

▪ the third or ‘last quarter’, the last thin slice of the old moon.

Because the moon appears to us in such different shapes, it has become a symbol of inconstancy. Thus Juliet says to Romeo:

“O! Swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, that slightly changes in her circled orb, lest that thy love prove likewise variable.”

The fact that it has no fixed place in the heavens, but glides from star to star has added to its reputation of being fickle.

Curious facts and superstitions

In ancient times, people thought the changing moon exercised an important influence on their lives.

The waning moon was supposed to bring bad luck. Sleeping in the moonlight was believed to cause insanity, and a person who lost his mind was said to be “moonstruck.”

Some farmers believe that certain crops will thrive only if sowed “in the light of the moon,” the period between the new moon and the full moon. Potatoes, however, will not flourish unless planted “in the dark of the moon,” when it is waning.

Being a farmer’s daughter and having had a garden of our own, we always had an almanac close at hand and planted various vegetables on different phases of the moon.

Jack and Jill in the moon

Some people still believe the phases of the moon influence our weather.

Instead of the “man in the moon,” Swedish peasants see two children carrying a pail of water between them. After drawing water at a well, the children sling the pail over a pole and are carried up to the sky where they may be seen when the moon is full. This is the origin of our nursery rhyme about Jack and Jill, “who went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.”

In the Swedish story, Jack falls down as the moon wanes to last quarter. As it continues to shrink, Jill tumbles after him. Of course when the water is spilled, it rains, therefore the connection between the phases of the moon and the weather.

The moon has had almost as many worshipers as the sun and has inspired more poetry than any other celestial body. T.E. Hulme in 1908 gave us an understated and plainspoken poem, arguably the first modern poem in the English language.

“Autumn”

A touch of cold in the autumn night

I walked abroad,

And saw the ruddy moon lean over a hedge

Like a red-faced farmer.

I did not stop to speak, but nodded,

And round about were the wistful stars,

with white faces like town children.

After the sun has set for us, the moon still catches its golden glow and turns it into silver to light our nights.

There’s something special about autumn’s harvest and hunter’s moons when they rise at dusk on the eastern horizon, casting their golden glow on a field of brown dried grass as the falling dew cools its roots.

This story was originally published October 1, 2018 at 6:39 AM.