Welcome to 2023! This year’s first full moon will occur tonight, Friday 6, and will reach peak illumination at 6:09 P.M. EST according to the Farmer’s Almanac. This first full moon of 2023 is known as a micromoon, meaning that it is at its furthest point away from the Earth, making it appear smaller than we might be used to.
The first full moon of the year is traditionally known as the “Wolf Moon” to the western world due to its ancient association with wolves howling. Humans once believed that the wolves were howling close to their homes due to a lack of food in the winter months. Since then, scientists have determined that wolves howl for more complicated reasons than hunger. To the Anglo-Saxons, January was called Wulf Monath or Wolf Month. Other northern cultures had names for the first cold month of the year that reflected a connection to wolves. The Gaelic peoples knew January by the name Faoilleach which derives from their word for wolf. However, despite these historical connections of the wolf to the year’s first full moon, the name Wolf Moon was not part of common knowledge.
It wouldn’t be until the publication of a list of Native American “Indian” full moon names by the Maine Famers’ Almanac in the 1930s that the public would start to adopt the stand list of names that are used today. The origins of these names are mixed, and it should be noted that even if some of the names were taken from regional tribes, they were still far from universal. Other traditional names for the January full moon or the first full moon after the Winter Solstice include Cold Moon by the Cree, Freeze Up Moon by the Algonquin, the Hard Moon by the Dakota, When Snow Blows Like Spirits In the Wind by the Arapaho, Whirling Wind Moon by the Passamaquoddy and Bear Hunting Moon by the Haida.
So whatever name you might know this full moon by, welcome to a brand-new year and enjoy your first Friday night by the full moon’s light.