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Year Wheel
Every date has an address: where the sun stands, which moon it falls in, what the stars are doing, and what the land is giving. Tap any day on the wheel to read its address for Minneapolis.
How to read it
- Sun. The amber band swells and thins with day length. On the rim, diamonds mark solstices and equinoxes and dots mark the four cross-quarter days. Ticks mark all 24 solar terms.
- Moon. Each numbered segment runs new moon to new moon, and the small disc is the full moon. This ring slides about eleven days earlier each year, then a thirteenth moon resets it.
- Land. Five eating seasons. Two short notches on the outer edge are the usual last and first frost.
- Stars. A bar means that figure is up at nightfall. A four-point star marks its first return before dawn.
- Hand. The red line is the day you picked. The open ring on the rim is today.
The moons
A moon belongs to the year in which it turns full, so the first and last can reach across New Year. Most years hold twelve. About every third year holds thirteen.
| Moon | Sun | Stars | Best eating | Work and wild harvest |
|---|
Sun and moon dates are calculated for Minneapolis (44.98° N, 93.27° W) in Central time, good to a few minutes for 1900 through 2100. Star dates use a simple visibility rule and can shift a few days with haze and horizon.
Frost, ice and harvest timing are typical values and move by a week or two from year to year. Trust the lilacs over the calendar.
Moon names follow common western Ojibwe usage in Minnesota, matched to the month of each full moon. Names differ between communities, and each names the thirteenth moon its own way. See ojibwe.net for regional variants.