The Corn Moon

September's Full Moon & A Rare Eclipse

This September's full moon, known as the Corn Moon, occurs on September 7 — but this year brings something extraordinary. The Corn Moon will coincide with a total lunar eclipse, creating a dramatic blood moon effect that adds mystical intensity to this month dedicated to corn's ripening.

The name "Corn Moon" reflects the traditional timing when corn reaches perfect ripeness across much of North America. While October's Harvest Moon marks the broader gathering season, September's moon celebrates this specific crop's maturation — the moment when summer's patient growth becomes ready for harvest.

Unlike the sturgeon's ancient persistence, corn represents transformation and cultivation. What began as wild teosinte thousands of years ago became, through human partnership, the golden ears that sustained entire civilizations. This moon has long marked the crucial moment when summer's growth reaches its fullest expression, ready to nourish communities through the darker months ahead.

When the Moon Turns to Blood

This year's Corn Moon carries extra significance with its eclipse. The total lunar eclipse will turn the moon red for about an hour, creating what's often called a "blood moon." There's something profound about watching this moon — dedicated to corn's golden ripening — take on this deep, copper-red glow. It feels like a reminder that even in abundance, transformation is always at work.

Eclipses have always been moments of pause, times when people across cultures have looked up and recognized the vastness of forces beyond human control. For a moon that celebrates agricultural abundance and our relationship with the land, this celestial drama feels especially meaningful.

Blood Moon Rituals for the Corn Moon Eclipse

This rare combination of eclipse and harvest timing offers a powerful opportunity for reflection and intention-setting. Here are some ways to honor both the blood moon's transformative energy and the Corn Moon's themes of ripening and abundance:

Create a Harvest Reflection Ritual: Gather items that represent what you've "grown" this year — journal entries, photos, small objects that symbolize your accomplishments. As the moon darkens during eclipse, reflect on what's ready to be harvested from your efforts. When it glows red, consider what transformations this abundance might bring.

Prepare an Eclipse Feast: Share a meal featuring corn in various forms — fresh, dried, ground into meal. As you eat by the light of the blood moon, discuss what you're grateful for and what you hope to cultivate in the season ahead. The eclipse's timing makes this a perfect moment for both celebration and contemplation.

Plant Seeds by Blood Moon Light: While it seems counterintuitive to plant during harvest season, the eclipse energy is perfect for planting metaphorical seeds. Write intentions for the coming year on biodegradable paper and bury them in soil under the red moon's glow, trusting them to the earth's winter rest and spring's return.

Create Moon Water During Eclipse: Place a bowl of water outside during the eclipse to absorb both the full moon's energy and the transformative power of the eclipse. Use this charged water to nourish houseplants or in ritual baths throughout autumn, carrying the Corn Moon's abundance energy with you.

Bringing the Harvest Home

For my Corn Moon illustration, I wanted to capture both the abundance of late summer and the deeper transformation at work in this season. The piece centers on a luminous moon surrounded by golden corn stalks, their silk catching starlight like spun silver. I chose warm golds and amber tones that speak to harvest time, but wove in deeper reds that hint at the eclipse's mysterious glow.

The border weaves together flowing corn husks and silk with small stars scattered throughout like seeds of light. The composition balances the orderly rows of human agriculture with the organic flow of seasonal change, reflecting how the Corn Moon celebrates both our partnership with nature and our place within its larger rhythms.

Seeds of Wisdom

This illustration continues my 12-month moon calendar, each piece exploring where lunar lore meets seasonal truth. The Corn Moon reminds us that harvest time isn't just about gathering what we've grown — it's about recognizing what deserves to continue and what needs to be released. Like corn kernels dried and saved for next year's planting, some things are meant to carry forward. Others, like the spent stalks, return to earth to nourish what comes next.

As September's eclipse moon rises, it invites us to consider our own harvest season. What have we cultivated this year that's ready to sustain us? What transformation awaits as we prepare for autumn's deeper changes? Like the ancient partnership between seed and soil, moon and earth, some of life's most essential relationships require both tending and letting go.

This illustration is part of my upcoming 2026 Moon Calendar. Follow along as I complete each month's lunar portrait — and watch for pre-orders opening this November. Each piece captures not just the moon's traditional name, but the specific wisdom and energy that month offers.

How do you mark the transition from summer to autumn? I'd love to hear about your own harvest rituals and what you're cultivating as the seasons shift.