Sturgeon Moon 2019: What is the spiritual meaning of the Full Moon tomorrow?
THE Sturgeon Moon will loom in the skies tonight. So what is the spiritual meaning behind the August Full Moon?
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The eighth Full Moon of the year is the oddly-named Sturgeon Moon. This Sturgeon Moon will loom low over in the sky tomorrow night, when the Earth-facing side of our celestial satellite is fully illuminated from the light of our Sun. August’s Full Moon will peak before it rises for the night at 1.29pm BST on Thursday afternoon. The Sturgeon Full Moon will then proceed to rise the horizon at 8.47pm BST and set on Friday morning around 6.23am BST.
What is the spiritual meaning of the Sturgeon Moon?
The Full Moon in August is named after North America's largest fish, the lake sturgeon
Thursday’s Sturgeon Full Moon takes place in the Aquarius star sign.
Believers in astrology feel this is appropriate as the symbol for Aquarius is the Water Bearer, symbolically providing life and spiritual food to the world.
The water from the vessel of Aquarius washes away the past, providing room for fresh starts.
The sign of Aquarius is forward-looking and growth-oriented.
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Following the challenging last month the sturgeon fish is swimming into our lives to prove we are stronger than we realise.
The sturgeon is a tough fish that can live up to 140 years, offering hope we will make it through the remaining months of the year.
The Sturgeon Moon should encourage those experiencing tough times in their lives and August’s Full Moon relates to survival.
Using the energy of the Sturgeon Moon we can connect better with each other and search for others who share our interests.
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How did the Sturgeon Moon get its name?
Native American tribes for millennia, named the months after features they associated with the Northern Hemisphere seasons, and many of these names are very similar or identical.
Even today we continue to use many of these ancient month names as Full Moon names.
It is believed colonial Americans adopted many of the Native American names and incorporated them into the modern calendar.
The 2019 Sturgeon Moon earned its unusual name because of the significant number of this huge freshwater fish that were once found in North America lakes and rivers.
Other names for this Full Moon include Grain Moon, Green Corn Moon and Barley Moon – all inspired by the crops commonly harvested this month.
In ancient times, it was common to track the changing seasons by following the lunar month rather than the solar year, which the 12 months in our modern calendar are based on.
On rare occassions, some years have 13 Full Moons, making one a Blue Moon because it does not fit with the traditional Full Moon naming system. Confusingly, however, this is not the only definition of a Blue Moon.