The Mother’s Moon

May’s full moon

Moonlight by Edvard Munch, 1895

We are coming up to May’s full moon: it will be at its moment of greatest fullness at 6.34pm on the evening of 5th May. Like all full moons it will rise as the sun sets, being in the opposite part of our sky. Clouds willing, it will be bright and high as the night wears on.

The old names for May’s full moon include Mother’s Moon and Bright Moon. Mother’s Moon may refer to the Ancient Greek goddess Maia, after whom May is named. She is associated with motherhood, midwives and nursing. Bright Moon…? Well….hmm…I don’t know of any reason why this month’s full moon would be considered any brighter than any of the others so we’ll let that one slide. Do leave a comment if you have any ideas.

I have been reading a wonderful new book that I suspect readers of this newsletter and of my own almanacs will enjoy: Telling the Seasons by Martin Maudsley. In it he mentions the name Milk Moon for May’s full moon, connected to the milkiness of this month: in May the grass grows strongly and animals are moved out to summer pastures, and so the quality and quantity of their milk increases. The Anglo-Saxon name for May was Thrimilce - the month of three milkings - reflecting this. Lovely stuff! And ties in beautifully with what I was saying in my talk about May Day and Beltane and the link between Jack-in-the-Green and milkmaids.

And here are the rest of your moon phases for the month ahead, taken from The Almanac 2023. Wishing you clear skies!