Spiritual Meaning of the June Strawberry Moon

Each month’s full moon has numerous names coming from various traditions, including Native American, European, and Colonial American cultures. Generally, these names refer to the entire month’s moon and carry both symbolic and spiritual meaning.

June’s full moon is commonly called the Strawberry Moon, a name that originated with the Lakota, Ojibwa, and Algonquin peoples. The Haida name for this month’s moon is the Berries Ripen Moon.

Of course, this refers to the fact that many berries begin to ripen in June. It’s a time not only of blossoming and ripening but of animal babies being born. It’s also the month that contains the summer solstice (on June 21st) and the shift into a new season. European cultures have called this moon the Honey Moon or Mead Moon, perhaps referencing Juno (for whom the month is named); Juno is, of course, the Roman goddess of marriage and childbirth, and June is a traditional time for coupling and honeymooning.

All these names refer to the great fertility of this part of the year. It’s a celebration of growth and connection to the body, to food, and to the pleasures of the earth.

Rising Energy and the Spiritual Meaning of the Strawberry Moon

Spiritually, our energy shifts in a similar way during this time of the year. We may be feeling more energy coming from the sun and the fresh food we get to eat. The rising summer energy is powerful for acting on our intentions, making things happen, and growing our creative projects, our relationships, and our self-love practices.

[Try a Summer Solstice Meditation: “Celebrating the Harvest.”]

This month is also a time to be paying attention to your body. The summer season is a very embodied time, where we can be out in nature—observing the plants and animals, feeling the sun and the breeze on our skin. The fall and winter are more internal and reflective, and that is a time to focus more on the spiritual world in terms of past, future, and ancestral wisdom. The summer is a time to see spirit in the material world, in the present, in pleasure, in the body. Connecting to the body is a spiritual practice, and now is the time to enjoy it.

Spiritually or energetically, this is a good month to check in with yourself on the following questions:

• Am I clear on my intentions?
• Am I acting in alignment with my own intentions?
• What have I been building in my life since the spring equinox in March?
• Am I feeling connected to my own ripening?

Finding the Flow of the Berries Ripening Moon

If you are feeling in alignment with these energies, that’s wonderful. If not so much, there are a few things you can do to get yourself in the flow of the Berries Ripening Moon. To tap the sweet and spiritual meaning of the Strawberry Moon.

• Practice pleasure. What would give your body the simple experience of enjoyment?
• See the good. What do you have to be proud of? Even small things matter.
• Eat the berries. Eat the foods that are locally in season in your area in order to draw these energies into your body.
• Smell the flowers. Get outside and take the time to receive the beauty of the natural world, feel the sun, and smell the flowers.
• Meditate with your body.

June is a month to enjoy the natural world, our own bodies, and the ripening of whatever we have been working on. The spiritual meaning of this month’s Strawberry Moon calls you to enjoy what has been cultivated and let go of what isn’t working anymore.

Connect with love, good fortune, sensuality, and fertility: Try a ritual with delicious strawberries to honor the June full moon.