08/28/2026
🌙 Well… I went outside to see the lunar eclipse and ended up down a folklore rabbit hole.
Because apparently I can’t just look at something cool in nature and leave it at that. 😂
Tonight’s moon is the Sturgeon Moon, named for the time of year when lake sturgeon were traditionally plentiful around the Great Lakes. Even cooler, sturgeon belong to an incredibly ancient lineage. They were here long before us, quietly doing their thing while humans eventually showed up and started making up stories about why the Moon disappears. 😂
And those stories are GOOD.
🌑 For thousands of years, lunar eclipses were mysterious…and sometimes terrifying. Imagine having absolutely no idea that you’re watching Earth’s shadow move across the Moon.
In some Chinese traditions, a dragon or other celestial creature was believed to be devouring the Moon, so people made noise to scare it away. 🐉
In Hindu mythology, Rahu swallows the Moon, causing the eclipse, but can’t hold onto it, so the Moon eventually returns. 🌙
And the Inca associated the eerie reddish eclipse with a jaguar attacking the Moon. People made noise to frighten it away because apparently once your celestial jaguar finishes eating the Moon, you don’t want it looking around for dessert. 😂🐆
August’s full moon also arrives right around that beautiful shift toward harvest season…corn, grain, herbs, ripening crops and those first little signs that summer won’t last forever. 🌽🌾🌿
So there’s something pretty cool about standing outside tonight watching the same Moon humans have watched for thousands of years… knowing how many stories, traditions and superstitions have been created underneath it.
And then there’s Missouri.
Because of course I had to see what kind of Moon folklore my new home brought to the table. 😂
Turns out old Ozark folklore collected right here in Missouri included a belief that a woman could become a witch by firing a silver bullet at the Moon while saying certain forbidden words. 🧙♀️
And in one version recorded from Barry County, Missouri, the instructions apparently involved saying the Lord’s Prayer backward and firing SEVEN silver bullets at the Moon.
Seven.
Because apparently one bullet at the Moon wasn’t sufficiently unhinged for Missouri. 😂😂
So here I am…
In Missouri.
Outside after dark.
Under an eclipsed Moon.
I’m not saying anything backwards and nobody hand me ammunition.
I just got here. 😂🌙🌿