Each month you are affected by the power of the Moon. Your energy levels wax and wane just as the Moon does, sometimes urging you to start new projects and other times to sit back and plan. When you know the Moon's effects on you, you can use its energy to work for you instead of against you.

When you learn to let your life flow with the cycles of the Moon, you undertake projects, socialize, and travel at optimum times. Moon Magick explains how each of the thirteen lunar months of the year is directly connected to a different type of seasonal energy flow. Each chapter contains practical information related to the thirteen lunar months, including Moon lore and myths from around the world, ancient holidays, spells, meditations, and suggestions for foods, beverages, and decorations to accompany your Moon rituals.

• Full Wolf Moon - January Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. Thus, the name for January's full Moon. Sometimes it was also referred to as the Old Moon, or the Moon After Yule. Some called it the Full Snow Moon, but most tribes applied that name to the next Moon.

• Full Snow Moon - February Since the heaviest snow usually falls during this month, native tribes of the north and east most often called February's full Moon the Full Snow Moon. Some tribes also referred to this Moon as the Full Hunger Moon, since harsh weather conditions in their areas made hunting very difficult.

• Full Worm - March Moon As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter.

• Full Pink Moon - April This name came from the herb moss pink, or wild ground phlox, which is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names for this month's celestial body include the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and among coastal tribes the Full Fish Moon, because this was the time that the shad swam upstream to spawn.

• Full Flower Moon - May In most areas, flowers are abundant everywhere during this time. Thus, the name of this Moon. Other names include the Full Corn Planting Moon, or the Milk Moon.

• Full Strawberry Moon - June This name was universal to every Algonquin tribe. However, in Europe they called it the Rose Moon. Also because the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries comes each year during the month of June . . . so the full Moon that occurs during that month was christened for the strawberry!

• The Full Buck Moon - July July is normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, for the reason that thunderstorms are most frequent during this time. Another name for this month's Moon was the Full Hay Moon.

• Full Sturgeon Moon - July The fishing tribes are given credit for the naming of this Moon, since sturgeon, a large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water, were most readily caught during this month. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because, as the Moon rises, it appears reddish through any sultry haze. It was also called the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.

• Full Fruit or Barley Moon - August The names Fruit and Barley were reserved only for those years when the Harvest Moon is very late in September.

• Full Harvest Moon - September This is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox. In two years out of three, the Harvest Moon comes in September, but in some years it occurs in October. At the peak of harvest, farmers can work late into the night by the light of this Moon. Usually the full Moon rises an average of 50 minutes later each night, but for the few nights around the Harvest Moon, the Moon seems to rise at nearly the same time each night: just 25 to 30 minutes later across the U.S., and only 10 to 20 minutes later for much of Canada and Europe. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice the chief Indian staples are now ready for gathering.

• Full Hunter's Moon - October With the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt. Since the fields have been reaped, hunters can easily see fox and the animals which have come out to glean.

• Full Beaver Moon - November This was the time to set beaver traps before the swamps froze, to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Full Beaver Moon comes from the fact that the beavers are now actively preparing for winter. It is sometimes also referred to as the Frosty Moon.

• The Full Cold Moon; or the Full Long Nights Moon - December During this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and nights are at their longest and darkest. It is also sometimes called the Moon before Yule. The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long, and because the Moon is above the horizon for a long time. The midwinter full Moon has a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low Sun.

-- Full Moon Lore --

Day 1 -- The best day to consider a fresh start for anything. Sickness that begins on this day will be prolonged. Any child born on this day will have a long, happy, healthy life.

Day 2 -- A good day to sell things. Good fortune abounds on this day. Any plant sowed on this day with flourish.

Day 3 -- Any property stolen on this day will be easily recovered. Any child born on this day will be prone to illness.

Day 4 -- The best day to do home-improvements, both physical and spiritual. Any child born on this day will most likely drift towards a prosperous career in politics.

Day 5 -- A good day to conceive a child (planned or not). The weather that occurs on this day will likely be the weather for the rest of the month.

Day 6 -- A great day to take a break, a vacation, or any other rest. Any get-away on this day will be greatly enjoyed.

Day 7 -- The perfect day to fall in love, as it abounds in the air. Opportunities to find a new love are present everywhere.

Day 8 -- This day is linked to the first day after the full moon, and those who became ill on that day would recover on this one.

Day 9 -- Avoid looking at the moon on this day if you are worried about losing your looks. The moon on this day was once believed to even cause temporary madness.

Day 10 -- Any child born on this day will be likely to be an uneasy child, but if they are cared for they will be a beloved "free-spirit."