November's Beaver Blood Moon Is Also a Total Lunar Eclipse: How to Watch
Nov. 2 2022, Published 4:18 p.m. ET
Looks like Taylor Swift put out the lyric “And I'm not even sorry, nights are so starry/Blood moonlit/It must be counterfeit” just in time for the Beaver Blood Moon, which is the full moon for November 2022. This moon also happens to be a total lunar eclipse — and one that you can witness with your naked eyes.
If you’re wondering when you can see this eclipse and what a Beaver Moon means, keep reading for all the details on this celestial event!
When is the November 2022 full moon?
The upcoming full moon will take over the skies on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. The best time to see the full moon and the lunar eclipse will be overnight, in the hours preceding the sunrise. According to Space.com, the Blood Moon phase of the eclipse will appear from 5:17 a.m ET to 6:42 a.m. ET. But anytime outside of that window and between 4:44 a.m. ET and 8:05 a.m. ET, you will be able to view the partial eclipse.
But what exactly are the Blood Moon and the lunar eclipse? Here’s what we know about these upcoming events.
The November 2022 full moon, aka the Beaver Blood Moon is also a lunar eclipse.
As explained by NASA and The Old Farmer's Almanac, a total lunar eclipse happens when a full moon moves into the most inner part of the Earth’s umbral shadow, and the Earth falls right between the moon and the sun. When all this happens, some sunlight reaches the moon, and colors that have longer wavelengths (such as red and orange) make the moon appear reddish.
This month, people will be able to see the Blood Moon from various areas around the world, including all of North America, as well as certain parts of Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and South America, as per Space.com.
What does a Beaver Moon mean? Here’s a look into the spiritual significance.
Whether or not the November full moon coincides with a total lunar eclipse, this month’s full moon is always called the Beaver Moon.
According to The Old Farmer's Almanac, November is traditionally when beavers start crawling into their lodges for the winter; additionally, during the North American fur trade hundreds of years ago, November was when hunters most typically trapped beavers for their fur.
The almanac also notes that there are a number of other names that Indigenous tribes have used to refer to the Beaver Moon, such as the Digging Moon, the Scratching Moon, the Deer Rutting Moon, the Whitefish Moon, the Frost Moon, and the Freezing Moon.
If you’re wondering about the spiritual meaning of the upcoming moon, you’ll be pleased to find that the moon has a lot to teach us.
"The spiritual meaning of the Beaver Moon in 2022, being an eclipse, signifies the collective soul karma and soul destiny, as noted by the points in the sky where the sun and moon paths cross," astrologer Kim Woods told PopSugar. "The soul karma, or south node, is where we learn our karmic lessons, and the soul destiny, or north node, is where we are becoming."
The Beaver Blood Moon marks the last total lunar eclipse for a few years.
Although waking up early can be a drag, we highly recommend not missing the Beaver Blood Moon, as it is the last total eclipse we’ll see until March 14, 2025.
