"Life is a circle, from birth to death to rebirth. Humans, like the seasons, pass through many phases during their lives. The moon stones of the Medicine Wheel give us a way of understanding and celebrating these changes. The moon during which you were born determines your starting point on the wheel."[1]
There are twelve moons on our medicine wheel.[2] The moon circles the earth in 29 and a half days. That means the moon circles the earth twelve times a year.[3] Like the Wheel of Life and other representations of the cyclic nature of our Universe and our lives in it, the Medicine Wheel marks the passages of time in the year and in our individual lifetimes.
The moons mark the "stepping stones" around the wheel making it a "moon calendar". You can easily know under which moon you were born, and you can easily know which moon we are currently experiencing. This guide makes that easy. Just look at the table.
What is more problematic is understanding that each moon is also a passage in your life, and you move from moon to moon as you grow and mature. Each brings a spirit and energies to a part of your life. You must not stagnate in one moon, but progress around the Medicine Wheel gaining the strength, wisdom, power, and knowledge of each moon.
Click on any moon to learn more. And - If you found this page from a search engine, or came here directly, please consider going to our Introduction to the Medicine Wheel page. This page is one of the pages of the Guide to the Medicine Wheel and Crystal Totem. You will find the rest of the Guide as links from the Introduction to the Medicine Wheel page.
| Moon (animal totem) | Dates | Crystal Totem |
| Earth Renewal (Snow Goose) Moon | Dec 22 to Jan 19 | Clear Quartz |
| Rest and Cleansing (Otter) Moon | Jan 20 to Feb 18 | Silver |
| Big Winds (Wolf) Moon | Feb 19 to Mar 20 | Turquoise |
| Budding Tree (Hawk) Moon | Mar 21 to Apr 19 | Fire Opal |
| Frog Return Moon (Beaver) Moon | Apr 20 to May 20 | Chrysocolla |
| Corn Planting Moon (Deer) | May 21 to June 20 | Moss Agate |
| Strong Sun (Flicker) Moon | Jun 21 to Jul 22 | Carnelian |
| Ripe Berries (Sturgeon) Moon | Jul 23 to Aug 22 | Garnet |
| Harvest (Brown Bear) Moon | Aug 23 to Sep 22 | Amethyst |
| Duck Fly (Raven) Moon | Sep 23 to Oct 23 | Jasper |
| Freeze up (Snake) Moon | Oct 24 to Nov 21 | Malachite |
| Long Snows (Elk) Moon | Nov 22 to Dec 21 | Obsidian |
[1] Bear, Sun, Dancing With the Wheel
[2] Our medicine wheel is from Sun Bear, and his writings. There are many varients of Medicine Wheels in Native American cultures. You are encouraged to find your own adaption of this approach to understanding the world around us and our place in it. A great source is the Western Washington University Planetarium website to learn many tribes' names for the moon. Find them at https://www.wwu.edu/depts/skywise/indianmoons.html.
[3] Now there are actually 12.37 moons. So over time, the moon cycle will vary with the actual seasons. We standardize them here for practical reasons anchoroing them to the Solstices and Equinoxes.
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