Pebonkas: the Winter Maker Moon

In December, we are in the last month of the Gregorian calendar year, the chronological construct that orders the modern Western world. This calendar has its origins in the cycles of the sky beings - Sun, Moon, Stars, and Earth herself - but, as with many other aspects of our cohabitation, we have drifted far away from those intimate connections. Given the abundant evidence of the need to renew these intersecting relationships, it is worth remembering - as we enter a new sun cycle with the marking of the Winter Solstice just passed on Dec. 21st, that we are reaching the end of this year’s final lunar cycle.

This circuit began with the new moon on December 12, 2023 (by today’s Gregorian calendar) and which will be renewed on January 11, 2024. December 26th (two days ago) was the full moon, marking the middle of Grandmother Nanibôsad’s (“the all-night walker”) journey through the lengthening darkness., meeting on the winter solstice of December 21st with Mahom Kizos’ (Grandfather Sun) own travel toward rest and renewal.

The final full moon of the Western Abenaki solar year - and this year there are 13 such named beings, due to the shifting offset between lunar and solar cycles - is the Winter Maker, Pebonkas, following the preceding eleventh month of  Mzatanos, the Freezing Current Maker. Another name for this moon is Kchikizos, the Great Moon. Within this cycle, the shortest day and the longest night of the year approaches on the Winter Solstice (12/21). Bare trees are silhouetted against the crystal blackness as Nanibosad crosses the sky world in all her glory.

The name of the moon is a combination of simple roots: “pebon” which signifies “winter” combined with “-(k)as” as a suffix denoting “maker”. It is pronounced PEH-boon-KAHS, the Winter Maker Moon. The alternate name, Kchikizos, is a combination of the two words “kchi” for “great” and “kizos” or “gizos” for the “full moon.” It is pronounced kih-TSEE kee-ZOOS (or gee-ZOOS), the Great Moon.

As the Solstice marks the reversing of the sun’s path, daylight very slowly begins to grow in length – the beginning of the new year. The winter weather, however, continues to grow colder, due to the delay caused by the earth’s thermal mass. It continues to lose the heat it soaked up in summer, until the sun’s rays become strong enough to counter the loss with life-affirming Spring. In the cold and dark, stories are told around the fire as a reminder of how everything changes, over and over. And as this cycle ends, another begins.

This [updated] post first appeared in Sokoki Sojourn here.