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The following is a list of some of the major moon festivals or holidays which either honor the moon itself or are timed by her appearance. The list includes celebrations from both the past and the present, most of these from cultures which still rely on lunar calendars. The majority of these civilizations are in areas where there is little difference in the solar year; therefore the moon naturally became of greater importance to them. Other cultures converted old moon festivals to solar dates many centuries ago; in most cases, the original lunar dates have been lost to us.
Ancestor Moon (Chinese)- The new moon of the tenth month of the Chinese lunar year, usually falling in November or December, is a time to honor the dead. The eldest living male in the family leads the procession to the burial ground, where the family picnics with the spirits of departed loved ones.
Anthesterion (Greek)- This three-day festival of wine takes place on the full moon closest to the Spring Equinox. It was once a festival of fertility and, like Bealtaine in modern Witchcraft, celebrated the sacred marriage of the Goddess and God.
Artemis, The Feast of (Greel)- On the full moon before Midsummer Artemis, the Goddess of fertility and of the hunt, was honored in an all-night gala that involved many fertility rites.
Baba Yaga, The Feast of (Russian)- Baba Yaga was a crone Goddess who has become, in modern times, a wicked old witch whose image is used to frighten errant children. At one time she was honored for her wisdom and healing skills at the full moon of November.
Birth Moon (Japanese)- In Japan, the first new moon after Midwinter begins the New Year. It also considered to be the offical birthday for everyone over the age of sixteen. Divination, feasting, and rituals for luck and health are popular events.
Blue Moon (Solar Calendar Cultures)- In cultures using a twelve-month solar calendar the thirteenth moon of the year must necessarily fall within a month which already has full moon. This is known as the Blue Moon, as infrequent occurance that used to be thought of as a time of blessing and prosperity. The popular catch phrase 'once in a Blue Moon' derives from this yearly event.
Chinese New Year (Chinese)- The Chinese calendar is arguably the oldest continuously used lunar calendar in existence. Their festive New Year's celebration begins on the first new moon after the sun enters the sign of Aquarius. The clearing of debt before this holiday is an important part of its observance.
Cituua (Native South American)- A spring fertility festival celebrated at the full moon nearest the Autumn Equinox.
Ciuateotl, The Night of (Aztec)- The full harvest moon of the Aztecs was a time to appease the Goddess of strife, misfortune, and labor whose name means 'the great bath of sweat'.
Dark Moon (Aztec)- The Aztec priests believed that it was necessary to offer inducements to the dark moon in order to cause her rewaxing each month. Offerings usually took the form of human sacrifice performed at the famous Temple of the moon. The ancient Temple still stands.
Disirblot (Norse)- The full moon following the Autumn Equinox once began the Nordic New Year, an attribute later given over to the solar date we call Midwinter. On this night, great family feasts were held which featured foods sacred to the Autumn deities.
Divali, The Feast of the (Indian)- This celebratoin of lunar light takes place on the night when the moon turns from dark to new, at the beginning of the tenth month. Bonfires, candle lightings, and the sharing of sweets are part of the celebration, which may have had roots in harvest rites of the past.
Easter (Christian)- Based upon Middle Eastern and European Pagan rites, this holiday, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, falls on the first Sunday after the full moon after the Spring Equinox and retains much of the Pagan symbolism upon which it was built.
Edfu (Egyptian)- The full moon after Midsummer is the date of the Feast of Hathorn-Tiamet, one of the most widely known and worshipped Goddess of the Egyptian pantheon. She arrives at the communal feast site by boat and is celebrated in a joyous ceremony venerating her fertility, beauty, and power over romantic love.
Festival of New Wine, The (Greek)- The first new moon after Midwinter was a minor festival to Dionysus, the God of wine, who was more fully celebrrated in autumn.
Festival of Saravati, The (Indian)- The glory of this Goddess communication was celebrated at the first appearance of the waxing crescent moon before the Spring Equinox.
Full Moon (Australian Aboriginal)- The Aborigines have many very old observances, most of whose meanings are still not clear to outsiders. Their season circles around the moons of their year. Like other natives peoples, they named their moons and held feasts and dances in their honor.
Full Moon (Celtic)- The Celts honored the full moons as an integral part of their Wheel of the Year. A popular tree calendar was created in the early part of this millennium, attributing a sacred tree to each lunar month.
Full Moon (Central African)- Most African tribes names the full moons and honored them as representations of either Goddesses or Gods. Each one calls for a special type of ritual celebrated by the entire community.
Full Moon (Native North American)- Many Native North American tribes assigned names and attributes to the full moons and honored them-female or male- accordingly, with rituals and magick appropriate to the season.
Full Moon (Polynesian)- The people of the south sea islands honor their full moon as a mother figure who can grant fertility to barren couples and bring fish back to their shores.
Hanna Matsuri (Korean)- This four-day festival begins at the start of the second quarter of the fourth month of the Korean year. It celebrates spring flowers and fertility and is also one of the times to honor the dead.
Harevest, The Feast of the (Russian)- At the start of the second quarter in the month of September, Russians once honored the Goddess and God of the harvest season. Modern folklore claims this as the birthday of the harvest deities, celebrated today with corn dollies in a manner similar to the celebration of Imbolg and Lughnasadh in the Celtic year.
Harvest Moon (Native North Americans)- The first full moon after the Autumn Equinox was the day on which the last of the harvest had to be gathered. Later, feasting and dancing honored the Grandmother Moon.
Harvest Moon (Celtic, Early American and Canadian)- The harvest moon was the last full moon before Samhain (Halloween). It was considered a blessing to have her light to see by, in order to work later into the evening to gather in the last of the harvest. This night evolved into a community celebration involving the folksy customs of corn husking, quilting, and thanksgiving-style feasting.
Herb Festival (Chinese)- Some of the oldest-known herbal medicine and magick comes from China, where a day was once set aside to pay homage to these herbs. The principal herb honored was mugwort, valued in both Asia and Europe for its healing powers as well as for its usefulness in many magickal spells. The festival takes place on the new moon of the fifth month of the Chinese year.
Homage to Ch'ang-O, The (Chinese)- This moon Goddess has her festival on the full moon nearest the Autumn Equinox. The number thirteen, which represents the number of full moons in a solar year, figures heavily in the symbolism of the holiday, which is celebrated with feasting, dancing, divination, and the recitation of her myths.
Homage to Chung K'ui, The (Chinese)- On the full moon of the fifth month of the year, honor is paid to this God of protection, whose image is still used to banish and ward off evil.
Homage to the Wealth Gods, The (Chinese)- The Chinese still make a pilgrimage to the shrine of their Gods of prosperity on the last full moon before their New Year.
Hunter's Moon (Slavic)- The last full moon before the Summer Solstice is the night of the Hunter's Moon in Slavic Pagan traditions. In the not-too-distant past this was the night to honor the Goddess of the hunt; hunting parties are out in search of fresh spring games for a communal feast.
Kalends of Januarius (Roman)- The first new moon after Midwinter was the start of the Roman year, a significance which was eventually transfered to the Winter Solstice. The Romans turned it into a political holiday which involved electioneering and government convocations.
Kwan Yin, The Festival of (Chinese)- This important Goddess had been honored both in Pagan times and in the Buddhist religion which today dominates China. She has been adopted by modern feminist Pagans as a Goddess of protection, healing, and feminine power. The celebration takes places at the beginning of the fourth quarter of the eleventh month of the Chinese year.
Lantern Festival, The (Chinese)- This holiday takes place on the last full moon before the New Year. The festival involves the hanging of colorful lanterns in every conceivable space. In the distant past this was an act of sympathetic magick intended to lure the waning sun back to the earth, much as Imbolg is celebrated in modern Wicca.
Luna, Feast of (Roman)- A festival to honor the primal waxing/full moon Goddess of ancient Rome. Her temple on Aventine Hill was the site of worship, feasting, and wild dancing orgies. The untamed character of those abandoned revelries was the source of our word 'lunatic'.
Makara (Indian)- Makara, the Indian New Year, begins on the fifth day after the first new moon after the sun enters the sign of Capricorn. Goddesses of spring, fertility, and prosperity are honored at this time.
Mama Paca (Native South American)- The Indians of the Andes Mountains celebrate this earth Goddess on the full moon after the Autumn Equinox. This is the start of their planting season, a time when the newly tilled earth has to be blessed and consecrated in her honor. As an act of faith in her benevolence, the majoriy of foodstuffs remaining from the previous year are eaten in a communal feast.
Mother Moon Pilrimage, The (Maori)- The native people of New Zealand honor the full moon after the Autumn Equinox as the patroness of the coming harvest. She is the power who can awaken and unite the sleeping Goddess and God of the earth and ensure the fertility of the island. The Maoris seek out the highest mountain available and make offerings to her.
New Moon (Lithuanian)- For centuries the Lithuanians have retreated to their Pagan roots on the New Moon, recalling their folktales of her and honoring her and her God-consort with prayer.
New Year for Cattle (Canaanite-Babylonian)- On the new moon of the twelfth month of the old Babylonian calendar (around August), cattle were honored. Cattle have been sacred to Pagan Goddesses in many, many cultures.
New Year for Kings (Canaanite-Babylonian)- A lunar festival to honor male rulers that has come into modern Judaism. It is likely that this festival once honored Middle Eastern moon God/desses.
New Year for Trees (Canaanite-Babylonian)- The New Year for Trees was celebrated on the full moon of the fifth month of the old Babylonian lunar calendar (around February). Both the calendar and the festival have been adopted into modern Judaism. The holiday is celebrated in Israel by the planting of new trees, usually in memory of a person or to commemorate a happy event of the previous year.
Osiris and Isis, The Feast of (Egyptian)- The full moon of the twelfth month of the year honored the Underworld and harvest God Osiris and his Goddess consort Isis.
Passover (Jewish)- Celebrated at the first Full Moon of Spring & the Exodus from Egypt (Release from the Underworld). Opposite in the year is Sukkot, where the "Wanderings" in the "Wasteland" are commemorated (Beginning of Descent).
Powamu (Native North American)- The Hopi Indians of the American southwest dedicated the full moon of the second month of their year to ceremonies encouraging crop growth and honoring their grain deities.
Purim (Jewish)- The full moon of the sixth month of the Jewish year commemorates the fall of Haman, the wicked Grand Vizier who advised his Persian King to destroy all the Jews in the realm. The Jews were saved through the herioc efforts of the Jewish Queen, Esther. The holiday is celebrated with costumes and candy, much like Halloween.
Ramadan (Islamic)- Unlike many lunar calendars, the Islamic one makes no adjustment for the solar year. Months can fall in any season, each festival coming at a slightly earlier time each year. Ramadan is one of the oldest of the holy observances in Islam and probably has roots in long-forgotten, moon-centered worship. Today Ramadan takes place during the entire ninth month of the year-the same month in which Islam's chief prophet, Mohammed, received his revelations from Allah (God)-and is solemnized by prayer and daytime abstinence from food, drink, smoking, and sex.
Rosh Hashanna (Jewish)- The Jewish New Year comes each fall at the beginning of the month of Tishri, in accordance with Judaism's lunar calendar. Rites of atonement and blessings for the year ahead are a part of the solemn occasion which begins a ten-day period known as Yamim Nora'im (the Days of Awe). At the end of this period, Jews believe their God has decided who will live and prosper, and who will die, in the year to come.
Rosh Hodesh (Jewish)- Rosh Hodesh is the name of the first day of each Hebrew month. Their lunar calendar is Babylonian in origin, making it very old and very Pagan. Although Rosh Hodesh was once held in reverence as a holy day for women, today it is celebrated in the male-dominated synagogues with special prayers and holy readings.
Seventh Moon, The (Teutonic)- The seventh full moon of the year falls close to the time of Midsummer. Once it was probably a major Pagan festival time, but from the late dark ages on it was considered a night for rampant evil, witches, and baneful faeries. Persons living in the Black Forest regions still believe that venturing forth on this night is unwise.
Starvation Moon (Native North American)- The Indians of many North American tribes called either the first or second month after Midwinter by the ominous name. During this time game was scarce and food stores of grains from the previous year's harvest grew thin. Rituals were held to lead the tribe's hunters to fresh game.
Sukkot (Jewish)- At the start of the waxing quarter of the second month of the Hebrew year, an eight-day harvest festival, similar to Lughnasadh in the Celtic year, takes place. Sukkot is the 15th of Tishrei, the Full Moon following Rosh HaShanah. Thus, Tishrei has 3 (actually 4) major holidays: the first 2 days (New Moon) being the New Year, the 10th day being Yom Kippur (the 10 day period from the New Moon to Yom Kipor are the "Days of Awe"), and then the beginning of Sukkot on the 15th day (the Full Moon). The "8th" day of Sukkot is actually a separate festival called "Atzeret." As far as associations with Lughnasadh (& Imbolg) are concerned; the 15th day (Full Moon) of Av (Tuesday night, by the way) is a little known festival dedicated to HUMAN fertility. Opposite it in the year is T"U B'Shvat, the Full Moon in the midst of Winter, which is the New Year for Trees!
Virgin, The Feast of the (Italian)- This Christianized Pagan festival honors the Virgin Mary, who was believed to have appeared in the village of Carmine many centuries ago. The celebration takes place at the first full moon in the month of July.
Youth, The Festival (Southeast Asian)- This autumn celebration honors the living spirit of children. On this night they are given sole possession of the powers of light. In honor of this responsibility parades are held, in which children carry lanterns they have made themselves. The festival occurs at the full moon of the eleventh month of their year.
