A farmer in the Great Lakes region once marked the year not by the solstice calendar but by the moon that brought the wild strawberries to ripeness. June’s full moon was the signal to gather. July’s was the signal to watch the deer. The two moons are not the same event with different names. They are distinct lunar markers of two different seasons, and knowing which is which tells you something about the land that named them.
The Strawberry Moon is the full moon of June, named by Algonquian peoples for the brief ripening of wild strawberries. The Buck Moon is the full moon of July, named for the emergence of new antlers on male deer. They differ by one lunar cycle, by the crops and animals they signal, and by the magical current they carry.
The Old Farmer’s Almanac, which popularized these names in the twentieth century, revived them from the 1760s records of Captain Jonathan Carver, a colonial explorer who visited the Dakota and Ojibwe. Carver wrote that the “Strawberry Moon” was the name for the June full moon because it was “the season for gathering the fruit.” The July full moon, he recorded, was the “Buck Moon,” because the bucks had begun to sprout velvet-covered antlers. These are not interchangeable names. They belong to specific months and specific ecologies.
Where Did the Names Strawberry Moon and Buck Moon Come From?
The names come from the Algonquian language family, which includes the Ojibwe, Cree, and Lenape. Each full moon of the year had a descriptive name tied to a seasonal event. The Ojibwe called the June moon Ode’imini-giizis (Strawberry Moon) and the July moon Baashkizimin-giizis (Berry Moon) for some bands, but for others the July moon was Aabita-biboon-giizis? No, that is wrong. Actually, the Ojibwe names vary by region. The widely cited “Buck Moon” appears in Carver’s 1778 Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America. He wrote: “The month of July is called the Buck Moon, because at this time the bucks begin to put forth their horns.” The name was adopted by the Farmers’ Almanac in the 1930s and later by the Old Farmer’s Almanac, which continues to list it.
The Strawberry Moon was also called the Rose Moon in medieval Europe, and the Honey Moon in some English traditions, because June was the month of honey harvest and marriage. But the Algonquian names are the ones that have entered common usage in North America.
What Do These Moons Actually Mean for the Land?
The Strawberry Moon rises when the days are longest. It falls near the summer solstice, around June 21. In the northern hemisphere, the soil is warm, the strawberries are red, and the first berries of the season are ready. The plant Fragaria virginiana ripens in June in the Great Lakes region, and its harvest was a brief, intense window of a few weeks. The moon marked the time to gather, dry, and preserve the fruit for winter.
The Buck Moon rises in July, when the days are still long but beginning to shorten. The deer, which had been growing antlers since spring, now have visible velvet-covered racks. The velvet is a soft, blood-rich skin that supplies calcium and minerals to the growing bone. By August, the velvet will dry and peel, but in July the antlers are still growing. The Buck Moon is the midpoint of antler development, a signal to hunters and to the deer themselves that the season is shifting.
How Do the Two Moons Differ in Their Symbolism?
The Strawberry Moon is a symbol of abundance, sweetness, and the fleeting nature of the harvest. The strawberry is a small, heart-shaped fruit that appears suddenly and vanishes just as quickly. In magical traditions, the Strawberry Moon is associated with love, fertility, and the fullness of the heart. It is a time for gathering what is ripe, both literally and metaphorically. The energy is gentle, nourishing, and short-lived.
The Buck Moon is a symbol of growth, strength, and the quiet power of the masculine. The antlers are not weapons yet; they are still growing, still soft, still vulnerable. The Buck Moon represents potential, the building of structure, the inner work of becoming. In magical practice, it is a time for ambition, for projects that are taking shape, for the slow accumulation of power. The energy is patient, deliberate, and focused on the long game.
If you work with the lunar cycle, the Strawberry Moon asks what is ready to be harvested. The Buck Moon asks what is still growing and what you are willing to feed.
Practices and Traditions: How You Worked with Each Moon
The traditional practice for the Strawberry Moon was to gather. The women of the Algonquian tribes would go to the wild strawberry patches with baskets made of birch bark or woven grasses. They would pick the berries in the morning, after the dew had dried, and spread them on mats of cedar bark to dry in the sun. The dried berries were stored in hide bags and used through the winter, often mixed with pemmican or added to teas. The moon itself was a night of feasting and storytelling, a celebration of the first fruit of the season.
For the Buck Moon, the practice was observation. Hunters would watch the deer, tracking the growth of antlers to gauge the health of the herd. The moon was a time for scouting, for learning the movement patterns of the animals. In some traditions, the Buck Moon was also the time for the first harvest of medicinal plants like yarrow and St. John’s wort, which were at their peak potency in July.
In modern magical practice, we light a candle for the Strawberry Moon with a small dish of wild strawberries on the altar, and we cut an apple crosswise to reveal the five-pointed star. For the Buck Moon, we might place a set of deer antlers on the altar, or a single antler found in the woods, and work with symbols of growth.
How Do They Compare to Other Full Moons?
The Strawberry Moon and Buck Moon are part of a cycle that includes the Flower Moon (May), the Corn Moon (August), and the Harvest Moon (September). Each marks a specific agricultural or ecological event. The Strawberry Moon is the first full moon of summer, the Buck Moon the second. The Strawberry Moon is often the moon that falls on the summer solstice, though not every year. When it does, it is called the Solstice Moon, and it is considered a powerful time for solar work.
The European tradition also has the Hay Moon for July, named for the hay harvest. The Buck Moon name is specifically North American, but it has been adopted by neo-pagan and Wiccan traditions as a standard name for the July full moon, just as the Strawberry Moon has become the standard for June.
Common Misconceptions
One misconception is that the Strawberry Moon and Buck Moon are the same moon with different names. They are not. They are separated by one lunar cycle, about 29 days, and they fall in different months. Another is that these names are ancient pagan European names. They are not. They are Algonquian names that were recorded by European colonists and later adopted by American folklore. They are not part of the Celtic or Germanic lunar calendar.
A third misconception is that the Strawberry Moon is always the largest or brightest moon of the year. It is not. The “super moon” label applies to any full moon that occurs within 90% of perigee, and that can happen in any month. The Strawberry Moon and Buck Moon are not especially large or small; they are simply named for seasonal events.
FAQ
When is the Strawberry Moon in 2025?
The Strawberry Moon will occur on June 21, 2025, at 2:08 UTC, which is the same date as the summer solstice.
When is the Buck Moon in 2025?
The Buck Moon will occur on July 21, 2025, at 10:36 UTC.
Can I celebrate both moons?
Yes. They are separate events, each with its own energy. Mark the Strawberry Moon with a harvest ritual and the Buck Moon with a goal-setting ritual.
Are these names used in astrology?
No. Astrology uses the names of the signs, not the seasonal moon names. The Strawberry Moon is a folk name, not an astrological term.
Closing
The difference between the Strawberry Moon and the Buck Moon is a reminder that the moon does not repeat itself. Each full moon arrives with its own season, its own crop, its own hidden meaning. We mark them not because they are the same, but because they are different. For a deeper look at the full moon cycle and how the names align with the seasons, see our guide to lunar cycles. You can also explore the symbolism of the Strawberry Moon and Buck Moon in the glossary. And if you want to work with the energy of the full moon, our full moon ritual guide offers practices for each phase.