Corn Moon: September’s Full Moon

Originally written by Leo S. on September 2020, updated 2025

September is the month of the Corn Moon.
This is the time of year when the last of the crops are being gathered from the fields and stored for the winter. It can occur in either September or October, depending on how the lunar cycle lines up with the Gregorian calendar. There’s a chill in the air, the earth is slowly beginning its winter rest as the sun pulls away from us, and It’s the season when is celebrate Mabon, the autumn equinox (but this is another story).
Traditionally this is a month of hearth and home, in which our ancestors spent some time preparing the environment for the upcoming chilly months, before to spend the long winter days inside.

This year, September’s full Corn Moon will peak illumination at 2:09 P.M. Eastern Time on Sunday, September 7.
It will be below the horizon at this time, so be sure to watch for it after sunset.

But why do we call it Corn Moon?
This time of year, late summer into early fall, corresponds with the time of harvesting corn in much of the northern United States and not only. For this reason, a number of Native American peoples traditionally used some variation of the name “Corn Moon” to refer to the Moon of either August or September. Examples include Corn Maker Moon (Western Abenaki) and Corn Harvest Moon (Dakota).

Other names highlight how September is the transitional period between summer and fall and include Autumn Moon (Cree), Falling Leaves Moon (Ojibwe), Leaves Turning Moon (Anishinaabe), Moon of Brown Leaves (Lakota), or Yellow Leaf Moon (Assiniboine).
The behavior of animals is also a common theme, with Child Moon (Tlingit) referring to the time when young animals are weaned, and Mating Moon and Rutting Moon (Cree) describing the time of year when certain animals like moose, elk, and deer, are looking to mate.

Images from Web – Google Research