October’s full moon is known as the Hunter’s Moon, and this year it happens on October 13th. The Hunter's Moon is the full moon that takes place after the Harvest Moon, which is the moon closest to the Autumn Equinox. Some Native American tribes call the moon the "Travel Moon," or the "Dying Grass Moon." The Hunter's Moon is associated with the final harvest and was a signal to begin preparing for winter. It is an excellent time to focus your magic on psychic abilities, transformation, cleansing, protection, and banishment.
The symbol of the hunter sits well within the mythology of October and the approaching holiday of Samhain, which celebrates natures’ passage into the colder months and the realm of spirits and the dead. Our attention naturally turns to theme of the Otherworld at Samhain. And, hunters and the Otherworld have intermingled in many myths before.
The Wild Hunt is a ghostly procession of horses, dogs, faeries, and spirits of dead warriors in European mythology. This procession would take place in the night sky with the passage of cold, howling wind. Depending on the variation and the region where the story is told, the Wild Hunt was led by Wotan/Odin, Herne, Holda, Bertchta, Gwyn Ap Nudd, Diana, or even King Arthur. While the Wild Hunt has often been connected to the season of Midwinter and Yule, I like to honor it under the Hunter’s Moon as we near Samhain and find colder winds transitioning us into the colder season. Author Claude Lecouteux reflects on the significance of the Wild Hunt, “Perhaps we must reassert the importance of ancestors and an unconscious refusal of their definitive confinement to the otherworld, the reiteration of a mental refusing of the finality of death and an understanding of life and death as to places on a cycle marked by an eternal return.”
Since Samhain is a time to honor the dead perhaps we can look up to the Hunter’s Moon and reflect on the passage of time towards endings and completion. Use this influential time to reflect on how cycles in your life repeat themselves and whether or not they are patterns worth breaking. Perhaps it is under the light of the Hunter’s Moon that the Otherworld is especially illuminated. This would then suggest that it is an excellent time to hone into your psychic abilities and see if you may observe the supernatural realms. Perhaps the supernatural realm will even reach out to you – and in saying this it is mindful to be respectful of any psychic messages and protective of your personal energetic space.
In keeping with the theme of the hunter, it is also interesting to point out that this full moon enters into the warrior’s sign of Aries, which has a wild and bold energy. This can be a potent time when we work with themes of strength, battles, and maturation. Be prepared to feel mood swings that conjure tension, passion, and release. However you intend to celebrate this October’s full moon, I hope you find time to ground, take deep breaths, and gaze upwards to admire the mysterious autumn skies.
Ways to celebrate this Full Moon:
Take a purifying bath with rosemary, frankincense, and cedar wood essential oils.
Commit time to practicing a new form of divination that you are interested in learning.
Try scrying by utilizing the light of the full moon in a reflective surface (such as a bowl of water or a body of water)
Build a spell bottle for protection or create a protective talisman to hang in your home.
Burn a Hunter’s Moon Incense with Dragon’s Blood, Frankincense, Sandalwood, and dried rose.
Do spell work to banish debt, laziness, fear, procrastination, or stagnancy.
Seek out someone who can perform a cord cutting ceremony for you.
Remove items from your home that make you feel sad, stressed, or depressed.
Find a political cause that you can devote time to studying - write to your representatives, start a petition, send a donation to a charity.
According to the Farmers' Almanac, October 13th is a great day to dry fruits and vegetables, pick apples and pears, quit smoking, start a diet, or cut your hair!
Cook a stock that can be frozen or can preserves that can be enjoyed during the winter months.
Plan a winter holiday getaway well in advance, and prior to Mercury Retrograde, which starts at the end of the month.
Be outside at sunset to watch the Hunter’s Moon rise. According to EarthSky, since this moon rises close to the horizon it will appear orange and color and larger than normal.
