Wicca 101: Esbats & Lunar Cycle

New Moon

Full Moon

Dark Moon

The moon is perhaps humankind's oldest form of marking time. According to some scholars, the Celts used a Lunar Calendar that consisted of 13 months, each 28 days in length. Each month of the Celtic Lunar calendar bears the name of a tree, which also stands for one of the consonants in the Celtic 'tree alphabet'. There are basically two different versions of this Lunar calendar: the Beth-Luis-Nion (which begins on the Winter Solstice) and the Beth-Luis-Fearn (which begins on Samhain). I work with the Beth-Luis-Nion simply because it seems to work the best for my style of Witchcraft.

Beth-Luis-Nion version of The Celtic Tree calendar

B - Beth, the Birch Month (December 24th - January 20th)
L - Luis, the Rowan Month (January 21st - February 17th)
N - Nion, the Ash month (February 18th - March 17th)
F - Fearn, the Alder Month (March 18th - April 14th)
S - Saille, the Willow Month (April 15th - May 12th)
H - Huath, the Hawthorn Month (May 13th - June 9th)
D - Duir, the Oak Month (Jun 10th - July 7th)
T - Tinne, the Holly Month (July 8th - August 4th)
C - Coll, the Hazel Month (August 5th - September 1st)
M - Muin, the Vine Month (September 2nd - September 29th)
G - Gort, the Ivy Month (September 30th - October 27th
Ng - Ngetal, the Reed Month (October 28th - November 24th)
R - Ruis, the Elder Month (November 25th - December 23rd)

The Thirteen Moons

Wolf Moon - January
Storm Moon - February
Chaste Moon - March
Seed Moon - April
Hare Moon - May
Dyad (pair) Moon - June
Mead Moon - July
Wyrt (green plant) Moon - August
Barley Moon - September
Blood Moon - October
Snow Moon - November
Oak Moon - December
Blue Moon - variable