Full Moon October 2026: What the Hunter's Moon Brings Up

Full moon October 2026. When is it exactly, and why do you feel it before it even arrives? It's the Hunter's Moon, and it peaks this Sunday, the twenty-fifth. I'll show you what it brings up and what to release, and there's a small practice for Sunday night at the end. I'm Fernanda. I've been an energy healer for over twenty years. And for me, the moon affects us way more than we imagine. One thing first. This is a complementary practice. It sits alongside your doctor, never instead of them. So let's go through it, five things, one at a time.

The first thing is the when. October's full moon is called the Hunter's Moon. It's the first full moon after the Harvest Moon, which was on the twenty-sixth of September. This year it peaks on Sunday, the twenty-fifth of October. At nine twelve in the evening, Pacific time. And you don't need to catch the exact minute. To the eye, it looks full for about a day either side. So Saturday, Sunday and Monday night all count. I read that the name comes from the old almanacs. In autumn, hunters used the moonlight, so the moon took their name. This week you'll see a lot of videos about star signs. I'm not an astrologer, so I won't talk about signs. I'll only talk about what I see in my room, and in the body.

The second thing is sleep. I read about a study from the University of Basel, in 2013. People slept in a sleep lab, in a room with no windows. Around the full moon, they slept less, and they had less deep sleep. They couldn't even see the moon. Then in 2021, a team at the University of Washington looked at villages with no electricity, and at a city. Both went to bed later in the nights before a full moon. Nobody knows exactly why.

The third thing is what this moon brings up. And for me, the moon, it's fascinating. If the moon can affect the tides of the ocean, imagine what it can do with our body, since we are made of water as well. The moon brings things to the surface, the way the tide brings things up onto the sand. In my room, I notice it every month. In the days before a full moon, people come in carrying more. More tension. More tears. Old feelings surfacing. Call it energy, or call it heaviness. Somewhere between my definition and yours. So a bad night this week becomes information.

The fourth thing is where this moon sits, in the month and in the year. I have a strong belief that we also have four different phases in the month, just like the moon. For me, they're like four seasons. The new moon is winter. Rest, and start something small. When it grows, that's spring. Energy returns. The full moon is summer. Everything is lit, and you see what you've carried too long. Then the moon fades, and that's autumn. Let go. Sleep more. Say no. And this moon fades into the real autumn. On Sunday the first of November, the clocks go back, and the evenings get dark early. So the moon and the season are saying the same thing. At one point, we do have to accept what is happening and let go. That's what the practice at the end is for. Two minutes, on Sunday night.

The fifth thing is what to release. In my sessions, I often say people carry too much and they don't release enough. They accumulate all those feelings, all the experiences they didn't manage. They hold it in their body. Each person perceives stress in a different way. So I ask you to notice where in your body you feel the heaviness. It's all about awareness. Hold that feeling for a little bit. Feel it with all your cells. Accept it. And then, with the breathing, let it go. You can name it out loud, or you can write it down and burn it, or just write it in a journal. It's how our brain absorbs the information and allows us to release. If you burn it, do it safely. Over the sink, or in a fireproof bowl, away from anything that can catch. For me, fire burns everything that doesn't serve me, and gives me the strength to move on.

So here's the practice, for Sunday night. Or Saturday, or Monday, while it still looks full. Sit back. Let the chair hold you, the same way it holds you when you finally sit down at the end of a long day. Find the moon, through a window or outside. If it's cloudy, close your eyes and picture it. Your body can't always tell the difference between being somewhere and vividly imagining you are there. Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose. Four, three, two, one. And let it out through your mouth, longer than it came in, like the tide going out. Take another deep breath in. Take another deep breath out. One more, on your own. Now name it silently. What am I carrying today? One thing. The first thing that comes to your mind. Write it down. Then put a bowl of water where the moon can reach it. In the morning, wash your face with it, and ask the water to wash away everything you don't want to carry. Name one thing that you're grateful for. Just one. Even something small.

If you'd like more, I've put my ten-day journey together. It's called The Nature Reset. I would love to guide you there. The link is below. And there's a link to book a gentle session too. In person, or from anywhere. The moon brings things to the surface, the way the tide brings things up onto the sand. Sunday night, breathe out longer than it came in, like the tide going out. I'm Fernanda. Come as you are.