Full Moon 2019: NASA welcomes the Cold Moon and Oak Moon for the last time this year

The Full Moon will grace the skies with its luminous presence on the night of Thursday, December 12. December’s Full Moon is known in many parts of the world as the Cold Moon, due to its arrival in the wintry month. But space agency NASA has shed some light onto the Moon’s other aliases and ancient mystic connections.

According to NASA’s Gordon Johnston, tomorrow’s Moon is sometimes known as the Oak Moon, the Long Night Moon and the Moon Before Yule.

The Oak Moon, in particular, is believed to be an ancient reference to the practices of the druids, as observed by the Romans.

Mr Johnston said: “An old European name for this Moon is the Oak Moon, a name that some believe ties back to ancient druid traditions of harvesting mistletoe from oak trees first recorded by the Roman historian Pliny the Elder in the 1st century CE.

“The term ‘druid’ may derive from the Proto-Indo-European roots for ‘oak’ and ‘to see’, suggesting druid means ‘oak knower’ or ‘oak-seer’.”

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The Full Moon will arrive on Thursday, peaking in the wee morning hours around 5.12am GMT (12.12am EST).

But if you look up at the skies tonight, you might be tricked into thinking the Moon is already full.

According to Mr Johnston, Full Moons typically appear full for about three days centred around the peak.

The NASA expert also said Europeans knew tomorrow’s Moon as the Moon before the Yule.

The Yule was a three day winters solstice festival, traditionally cerated by Germanic tribes.

The celebration was eventually adopted by Scandinavian Christians and is now commonly associated with Christmas.

An old European name for this Moon is the Oak Moon

Gordon Johnston, NASA

This year, however, the Full Moon arrives 10 days before the Winter Solstice on December 22.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the Full Moon was known as the Cold Moon.

Mr Johnston said: “The Maine Farmer’s Almanac first published Indian names for the Full Moons in the 1930s.

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“According to this almanac, the Algonquin tribes of what is now the northern and eastern United States named the Full Moon in December or the last Full Moon of the fall season the Cold Moon, due to the long, cold nights.”

But the Full Moon is also important in other parts of the world where its arrival is often celebrated.

In Sri Lanka, for instance, the Full Moon or Poya marks a holiday.

December’s Full Moon is the Uduvapa Poya or the Uposatha Poya.

On the day of the Full Moon, Sri Lankans will observe Sanghamitta Day to commemorate the planting of a sacred tree in the city of Anuradhapura by Princess Sanghamitta.

Mr Johnston said the Full Moon could also be dubbed the Chang’e Moon after China’s historic Chang’e 3 and Chang’e 4 missions to the Moon.

Mr Johnston said: “These missions are named after the Chinese goddess of the Moon, Chang’e, who lived on the Moon with her pet jade rabbit, Yutu.”

December’s Full Moon is also associated with the Hindu festival of lights known as Karthikai Vilakkidu or Thrikarthika.

The festival is observed when the Full Moon aligns with the Pleiades constellation – one of the nearest star clusters to Earth.

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