A June evening in 2021: we stood on a hillside in southern France, the strawberry moon rising over lavender fields that had turned silver in the twilight. Not a strawberry in sight. A woman beside us said she had come because the fruit would taste sweeter if picked under that light. She was wrong about the fruit. She was right about something else.
A Strawberry Moon is the full moon of June, named by Algonquian peoples for the brief strawberry harvest season, while a Blue Moon is either the second full moon in a calendar month (the calendrical definition, popular since 1946) or the third full moon in a season with four (the seasonal definition, recorded since 1528). One is tied to a specific month and a single harvest. The other is a calendrical fix for the moon’s 29.5-day cycle against our 365-day year.
Where the names come from
The Strawberry Moon name entered English through colonial accounts of Algonquian tribes in northeastern North America. In The Old Farmer’s Almanac, which began publishing moon names in the 1930s, the June full moon appears as “Strawberry Moon” directly from these sources. The Ojibwe called it ode’miin giizis (strawberry moon). The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) named it for the same reason: the wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) ripened in June and marked a short, urgent harvest window of about three weeks.
European settlers brought their own names. The June moon was the Honey Moon or Mead Moon in parts of England, referencing the honey harvest and the traditional wedding season that followed. A bride who married in June received mead for a lunar cycle. The word “honeymoon” carries that old association. But the Strawberry Moon name survived in American folk tradition because the fruit itself mattered more than the honey for the people who lived off that land.
The Blue Moon has a different kind of history. It began as a seasonal correction. The ecclesiastical calendar of medieval Europe used four seasonal quarters, each anchored by a solstice or equinox. Each quarter normally had three full moons. When a quarter had four, the third was called the “Blue Moon” because it broke the expected pattern.
The first recorded use of the term in English appears in a 1528 pamphlet titled Rede Me and Be Not Wrothe, a Protestant satire against the Catholic clergy. The line reads: “If they say the moon is blue, we must believe that it is true.” It was a sarcastic jab at church authority. The idea that a blue moon was a calendrical impossiblity that priests might try to sell you.
What changed in 1946
The modern confusion began with a single magazine article. In 1946, amateur astronomer James Hugh Pruett wrote an article for Sky & Telescope titled “Once in a Blue Moon.” He misinterpreted the older seasonal rule as “two full moons in one month” and published it. The error spread through radio and almanacs for decades.
By 1980, Deborah Byrd, a science journalist for NPR, used the monthly definition in her “Star Date” program. She later described it as a “mistake that stuck.” The monthly Blue Moon definition is now the common one, found in calendars, news headlines, and daily horoscopes. The older seasonal definition survives in astronomical almanacs and among folk practitioners who trace the tradition to the 1528 source.
We work with both definitions. The monthly Blue Moon is easier to recognize. The seasonal Blue Moon carries older weight. Neither definition is wrong. They are different tools for different purposes.
What the Strawberry Moon actually means
The Strawberry Moon marks a specific ecological event: the ripening of berries that rot within days. There is no ritual second chance with strawberries. You pick them when they are ready or you lose them.
For Algonquian women, who did most of the gathering, this moon was a practical calendar. The moonrise told them when to move to the berry patches. The full light extended their working hours. Children were woken at midnight to help pick while the dew kept the berries cool. Elders stayed behind to prepare drying racks.
The Strawberry Moon also signaled the start of the green corn season, the first tender ears that followed the berries. It was not a single event. It was a cascade of harvests.
In modern practice, the Strawberry Moon is used for abundance work with a short timeline. Spells for quick financial turnaround, sudden opportunities, or projects that have to be completed within a lunar cycle. The symbolism is not about long growth. It is about recognizing when something is ripe and acting.
A strawberry itself, cut crosswise, reveals the five-pointed star of the rose family. The fruit was associated with Venus in European folk herbalism, used in love charms and fertility petitions. The Algonquian association runs deeper and older, but the European overlay fits neatly enough.
What the Blue Moon actually means
The Blue Moon is a rarity event. “Once in a blue moon” entered common English in the 19th century, recorded in a 1821 issue of the London Magazine: “He would talk once in a blue moon.” The phrase spread because rarity needed a name.
A calendrical Blue Moon (the monthly version) occurs roughly every 2.5 years. A seasonal Blue Moon is rarer, every 3 to 5 years. Neither is truly astronomically rare. The phrase has more power than the phenomenon.
For occult purposes, the Blue Moon is used for threshold work, endings that take longer than expected, spells that need an extra push or that failed during the previous full moon. It is a reset window. If you missed the Strawberry Moon or botched the ritual, the Blue Moon is your correction.
Some practitioners treat the Blue Moon as a “teacher” moon. Things learned under it tend to stick because the energy feels stretched. A spell cast under a Blue Moon often takes longer to manifest, but the results hold better. We cannot prove this. We have observed it often enough to note it.
Practices and differences
The Strawberry Moon is worked outdoors whenever possible. The berries are the anchor. We have seen practitioners place a single ripe strawberry on the altar, eat it after the ritual, and bury the stem. The taste is part of the spell. The sweetness is the evidence.
The Blue Moon is worked indoors by candle alone. No symbolic fruit. No seasonal food. The focus is on the extra energy in the calendar itself, the surplus moon that the sky did not need to give.
The Strawberry Moon invites gratitude for what arrives on time. The Blue Moon invites gratitude for what arrives late.
Timing matters. The Strawberry Moon peaks in June. The Blue Moon has no fixed month. It can fall in January or October or August. You cannot plan around it. You respond to it.
Both are full moons, so standard full moon practices apply: charging crystals, making moon water, banishing what no longer serves. But the intention shifts. Strawberry Moon water is used for sweetening situations or relationships. Blue Moon water is kept for emergencies or liminal work.
Common misconceptions
“Strawberry Moon means the moon looks pink.” It does not. The moon can appear reddish or orange near the horizon due to atmospheric scattering, but that happens with any full moon. The name has nothing to do with color.
“The Blue Moon is actually blue.” It can be, after volcanic eruptions or large forest fires that inject ash into the stratosphere. The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa produced blue moons for two years. But the term does not refer to color. The 1528 source makes this clear.
“All full moons have equal power.” They do not. The Strawberry Moon is tied to a specific ecological anchor, which gives it a practical, grounded energy. The Blue Moon carries calendrical disruption, which makes it unpredictable. A practitioner who treats them the same will find uneven results.
FAQ
Can a Strawberry Moon also be a Blue Moon? No. The Strawberry Moon is always in June. A Blue Moon is either the second full moon in a month or the seasonal third. They never coincide.
Which one is better for love spells? The Strawberry Moon, because the fruit carries Venus associations and the harvest window feels urgent. Blue Moon love spells tend to attract situations that take years to resolve.
Do I need special tools for either? No tools. The Strawberry Moon works with nothing but a ripe berry. The Blue Moon needs only a candle. The intention carries more weight than the props.
Why do some calendars disagree about Blue Moon dates? Because the calendar may use the monthly definition (Pruett, 1946) instead of the seasonal definition (1528). Check which definition a source uses before planning a ritual.
Related guides
The difference between these two moons matters most when you are working with the lunar cycle intentionally. For deeper understanding of how full moons interact with eclipses and shadow periods, explore our guides on lunar phenomena. The glossary entry on lunar terminology defines each moon phase with its historical and practical applications. And the calendar of significant astronomical events tracks upcoming Blue Moons and Strawberry Moons by both definitions, so you can plan your work accordingly.
The Strawberry Moon will return every June. The Blue Moon will appear when it chooses. Both are worth waiting for.