#worm moon

Full Worm Moon

Worm & Blood Moon 2026: Lunar Eclipse & Planetary Guide

I hope everyone caught a glimpse of the full moon these past few days! Bonus points if you saw the eclipse.

In case anyone isn't aware, March's full moon is called the worm moon, this is because around the time of the full moon is when the ground thaws and the worms return to the surface here in North America. The tradition of the naming of full moons is something very very interesting. I believe it largely comes from Indigenous tribes in North America with some colonial input, but I wonder if there's similar practices in other places around the globe. If anyone has any insight on this, please let me know!

The worm moon also lands pretty close to the vernal equinox which signals the beginning of spring, this is usually on the 20th of March.

I haven't really noticed an increased presence of worms yet but I'm definitely excited for their return.

If you look at the top left of the image you can see a worm with a blueish outline, that's a planarian! Planarians are fascinating creatures, we looked at them in my AP Environmental Science (APES) class in high school. They have an incredible ability to regenerate much like how an axolotl can regrow a limb or how some lizards can regrow their tail, except planarians are extreme about it. You can cut off a 125th of a planarian and from that a whole new planarian can regrow with no issues. It's incredible. If you slice a planarian down it's center without fully cleaving it in half it can grow two heads (or tails depending on where you cut it). Despite the common belief, earthworms do not possess this ability so please don't cut them up!

We did experiment with cutting up planarians in my APES class but I felt awful about it. I'm not so sure they can feel pain, plus there's a whole extended discussion to be had about the experience of fear in animals with comparatively less brain function, but regardless of the true answers to these questions, I still felt bad.

On a lighter note, if you look in the bottom right of the image you can see an earthworm mixing up the batter for a dirt cake. I liked that one a lot.

If anybody didn't get the chance to see the moon yet, there's always time! The fun thing about the moon is it's always there, even if you can't see it tonight it'll be there tomorrow. That's true for lots of things. Go catch the moon as it's waning!

Tomorrow I'm making a canvas from scratch in my oil painting class so I'll post about what happens with that.