The Moon in mythology

The Moon has figured in many mythologies, often paired or contrasted with the Sun. (see also Solar deity).

The monthly cycle of the moon, in contrast to the annual cycle of the sun's path, has been implicitly linked to women's menstrual cycles by many cultures, although rarely explicitly stated. Many of the most well-known mythologies feature female lunar deities, such as the Greek goddesses Selene and Phoebe and their Olympian successor Artemis, their Roman equivalents Luna and Diana, or the Thracian Bendis. These cultures almost invariably featured a male sun god.

It is worth mentioning the cult that appeared in medieval Milan, northern Italy, at the end of the 14th century.Fact|date=March 2007 Two women of higher society, Sibillia Zanni and Pietrina de' Bugatis, were brought before the Inquisition in 1384 and again in 1390 for having claimed that, together with others - both living and dead, they worshipped the goddess Madonna Oriente. Madonna Oriente is the Italian translation of the Latin words "Domina Oriens." It has been demonstrated that this name was used to denote the Moon (Lewis & Short). Those who worshipped her were the first female Inquisition victims to be burned as witches, although they were most certainly neither the first victims of persecution as alleged witches nor the first victims of the Inquisition.

Male lunar gods are also frequent, such as Nanna or Sin of the Mesopotamians, Mani of the Germanic tribes, Thoth of the Egyptians, the Japanese god Tsukuyomi, Rahko of Finns and Tecciztecatl of the Aztecs. These cultures usually featured female Sun goddesses.

Also of significance is that many ancient pagan religions and societies are orientated chronologically by the Moon as opposed to the sun. One common example is Hinduism in which the word Chandra means Moon and has religious significance particularly during the Hindu festival Karwa-Chouth.

While many Neopagan authors and feminist scholars claimFact|date=March 2007 that there was an original Great Goddess in prehistoric cultures that was linked to the moon and formed the basis of later religions, the Great Goddess figure is highly speculative and not a proven concept. It is more likely that, if existent, the Great Goddess is based upon earth goddesses, such as Gaea of the Greeks. It may be noted that most of the oldest civilizations mentioned above had male lunar deities, and it was only later cultures — the classical ones most people are familiar with — that featured strong female moon goddesses.

The bull was lunar in Mesopotamia (its horns representing the crescent). See Bull (mythology) and compare Hubal. In the Hellenistic-Roman rites of Mithras, the bull is prominent, with astral significance, but with no explicit connection to the moon.

The words 'lunacy", "lunatic", and "loony" are derived from Luna because of the folk belief in the moon as a cause of periodic insanity. It is a feature of modern belief that shapeshifters such as werewolves drew their power from the moon and would change into their bestial form during the full moon, but this feature is largely absent from older folklore.

The purported influence of the moon in human affairs remains a feature of astrology.

John Heywood's "Proverbes" (1546) commented that "The moon is made of a greene cheese", "greene" meaning "not aged", but was probably being sarcastic. [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990723a.html]

Isil and the guidesman Tilion in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth cosmology are based in Tolkien's familiarity with Norse and Gaelic myths.

ee also

*Lunar deities
*Moon in art and literature