Also called November full moon, Frost Moon, Freezing Moon
The Beaver Moon is the popular name for November's full moon, recorded by Jonathan Carver for the season when beavers withdraw into their lodges with their winter food stored. Its rite is a home-sealing blessing: tighten up, warm up and settle in.
Tonight's moon is read when the page loads.
Take care: Keep any candle on a fireproof dish and never leave it burning unattended. If you go outside at night, dress for the weather, take a light and tell someone where you are. Moon names tied to specific Native nations belong to living languages and ceremonies. Read them as those nations' own knowledge, not as rites to copy; the steps here are an open seasonal practice anyone can do.
Carver named November the Beaver Moon, when beavers take shelter in their houses after laying up their winter food. The Old Farmer's Almanac cites him for the name.
Ojibwe language resources give November as Gashkadino-giizis, Freezing Over Moon, with related freezing names. It marks lakes and rivers icing over in the Great Lakes country.
The almanac lists Frost Moon for the Cree and Assiniboine, and Whitefish Moon for the Algonquin, after the fall spawning of whitefish. Deer Rutting Moon appears for the Dakota and Lakota.
Beavers spend late autumn cutting branches and sinking them into a food pile beside their lodge, then spend the ice-covered months mostly inside, swimming out under the ice to feed. Jonathan Carver's 1778 list named November for this, and the Old Farmer's Almanac repeats his Beaver Moon. The beaver was also the animal at the center of the North American fur trade, which is part of why European writers took note of its seasons.
In the almanac's collection the same moon has other names, including Frost Moon for the Cree and Assiniboine and Digging or Scratching Moon for the Tlingit, when bears dig their dens. The 1937 Maine Farmers' Almanac used English names for its fall moons, Harvest, Hunter's and Moon before Yule. Beaver Moon became the standard November headline through later almanacs and news coverage.
A sealed jar of salt, iron nails, rosemary and other protective herbs kept by the door or buried near the house, the most popular modern protection spell and a direct descendant of the English witch bottle.
A ring of salt poured on the floor around a person or a working space to mark a protected area that harmful influences cannot cross, drawing on the much older magic circle of ritual magic.
A whole-home cleansing that combines a real deep clean with old customs: sweeping out the back door, opening the windows, sounding a bell and setting salt in the corners. It marks a fresh start after an illness, a quarrel, a move or the turning of the year.
Tell us what you need and we will craft a custom spell, charm or reading for it. Or call to book a reading or a road blessing in person.
