Strawberry Moon
Ripening strawberries make early summer noticeable close to the ground, before anyone looks up. The name Strawberry Moon connects June’s full moon with that brief gathering season, rather than with anything pink or red on the moon’s surface.
, 2027
· Jun 19, 00:44 UTC · Moon in Sagittarius
Where the name comes from
A short berry-gathering season lies behind the name, according to both the Old Farmer’s Almanac and the Farmers’ Almanac. The Old Farmer’s Almanac credits northeastern Algonquian peoples, as well as the Ojibwe, Dakota, and Lakota, with using the name to mark strawberries becoming ready to gather. NPR gives a narrower account, attributing it to the Algonquin tribes and the ripening of strawberries in the northeastern United States. These summaries differ in the peoples they name, so they are better read as published attributions than as proof of a single origin shared by every community.
Timeanddate gives the same basic explanation: small red berries ripened and could be gathered during this part of the year. The Old Farmer’s Almanac adds a useful distinction about the broader naming tradition: names often referred to an entire lunar month, not only the night of the full moon. Its familiar monthly list brings together Native American, Colonial American, and other traditional North American sources, rather than preserving one uniform calendar. It also lists Berries Ripen Moon as a Haida term, while timeanddate lists Mead Moon and Horse Moon as Celtic names. These published alternatives connect the monthly names with more than one regional tradition.
Other names for the June full moon
- Berries Ripen Moon — Haida
- Rose Moon — European
- Honey Moon — European
- Mead Moon — Celtic
- Horse Moon — Celtic
What the season is doing
Across parts of the northern United States, June brings the ripening strawberries and blooming flowers that give these names their seasonal setting. The Farmers’ Almanac emphasizes the brevity of the strawberry harvest, while the Old Farmer’s Almanac describes early fruit ripening alongside flowers in bloom. NPR explains Rose Moon through flowering roses and Honey Moon through honey becoming ready to harvest, though those are European alternatives rather than descriptions of one northern American growing season. Together, the names draw attention to gathering, flowering, and food becoming available. Their seasonal frame belongs to the Northern Hemisphere, not to every place where the moon is visible.
What the name does not mean
Despite its name, this moon is not expected to look strawberry pink. The Old Farmer’s Almanac explicitly separates the name’s origin from the moon’s hue or appearance: the reference is to fruit, not reflected color. A moon near the horizon can appear reddish because its light travels through more of the atmosphere before reaching the observer. That physical effect is not exclusive to June and does not explain the Strawberry Moon label. NPR notes that some accounts connect the alternative Rose Moon name with a reddish appearance, but that is a separate naming explanation.
Strawberry Moon dates, 2025 to 2030
Between 2025 and 2030 the Strawberry Moon falls as early as June 7 (2028) and as late as June 29 (2026), in Sagittarius or Capricorn: a full moon sits opposite the Sun, which at this time of year is in Gemini or Cancer.
The Strawberry Moon is the same disc for everyone. Which part of your own chart it falls across depends on your birth date, and that is what a personal reading looks at. See a reading built from your birth moon →
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When is the Strawberry Moon in 2027?
On Friday, June 18, 2027, at 8:44 PM EDT (Jun 19, 00:44 UTC), with the Moon in Sagittarius. Central, Mountain and Pacific clocks read one, two and three hours earlier.
Does the Strawberry Moon mark the start of summer?
Not by itself: the seasonal boundary is the summer solstice, not this named full moon. The Old Farmer’s Almanac describes June’s full moon as typically the last of spring or the first of summer. Its name therefore identifies a seasonal association without defining when summer begins.
What is the spiritual meaning of the Strawberry Moon?
Contemporary spiritual interpretations associate it with ripening, growth, and appreciation of food and everyday pleasures. Those are symbolic readings, not physical effects of moonlight or evidence of one belief shared by all the peoples credited with the name. The almanac explanation remains more concrete: strawberries becoming ready to gather.
Why does the Strawberry Moon have other names?
Seasonal naming traditions reflect different places and activities, so published lists do not offer a single universal vocabulary. NPR lists European alternatives, while timeanddate labels several alternatives Celtic. Those categories vary in specificity; they should not be treated as interchangeable evidence that every name came from the same tradition.
The months either side
Sources for the name and its history: almanac.com · timeanddate.com · farmersalmanac.com · en.wikipedia.org · mentalfloss.com · spiritualityhealth.com · npr.org · rmg.co.uk. Dates, times and signs: our own calculation, checked against the US Naval Observatory.