Thunder Moon

Interesting that one of the traditional names for the July full moon is the Thunder Moon because of the tendency of sudden thunderstorms to blow up at this time of year. We certainly have had a number of sudden rainstorms this July. In fact recently we have had more than the usual number of rainstorms. Lots of lightning in the sky.

Another name is the Buck Moon for the new antlers that deer sprout at this time of year. Some people may also call it the Wort Moon, a word that comes from the Old English word, which in turn came from an old German word, healing green plants. That is why some of the old folk names for some herbs end in wort, like lungwort, liverwort, mugwort, St. John's Wort, spleenwort, sleepwort, dropwort, goutwort, and many others. At this time of year, many of these would be enjoying robust growth and people would begin harvesting and drying some for use during the fall and winter months.

These folkloric names for the times of the year are still useful for harmonizing ourselves with the cycles of nature. Even though many other things have changed in the world since people began naming the moons in this way, this knowledge can still be very useful to us, in both metaphorical and practical terms.