From childhood, coming from a conservative family of storytellers, the Moon has featured high in my life. The celestial heavenly body was a source of mystery and mythology. The stories of its glamourous anecdotes span across cultures for millennia.
The world’s lunar myths happens when the culture of storytelling evolved. The material surrounding humans became heavenly being controlling their fate and fortune. The sky and mystery within it became a source for dallying with future predictions.
These planets and satellites became the source from which human stories evolved. Each culture around the world brought to the common table of understanding innumerable tales.
The progressive mystery of the earth and its surround resulted in idolising the heavenly objects into gods and goddesses. These were then converted into Immortals who stirred livelihood of the people living on earth.
Based on the view of the past patriarchy the Moon was a male or a female. The tasks that came into the jurisdiction of the Immortal were based on what the Moon controlled and the elements of influence over human’s daily life.
Civilisation and their Moon Myths
Image Credit: Prompted ChatGPT
- Mesopotamia (Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians): The Moon god Sin (Nanna) was a major deity, associated with wisdom, timekeeping, and divine guidance. His waxing and waning represented cosmic cycles.
- Ancient Egypt: Khonsu, the Moon god, was seen as a healer and protector. The Moon’s phases symbolized passage through time and the rebirth cycle.
- Greek & Roman Myths: Selene (Greek) and Luna (Roman) were goddesses who drove a chariot across the night sky. Artemis/Diana, the goddess of the hunt, was also linked to the Moon, symbolizing virginity and wild nature.
- Hindu Mythology: The Moon is Chandra (Soma), a god associated with emotions, the mind, and rejuvenation. The Samudra Manthan (churning of the ocean) myth explains how Chandra emerged and became immortal. The Moon’s waxing and waning are attributed to a curse from Daksha.
- Chinese Folklore: Chang’e, the Moon goddess, drank an elixir of immortality and floated to the Moon, where she lives with a jade rabbit (Yutu) who pounds the elixir of life. The Mid-Autumn Festival celebrates her legend.
- Japanese Mythology: The Moon is associated with Tsukuyomi, a god of the night and sibling to Amaterasu (Sun goddess). The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter tells of Princess Kaguya, a celestial maiden who returns to the Moon.
- Norse Mythology: The Moon is personified as Máni, chased by a wolf (Hati) until Ragnarok, when the Moon will be devoured.
- Native American Myths: Many tribes view the Moon as a guardian spirit. The Inuit tell of the Moon god Anningan, who pursues his sister, the Sun, across the sky. The Haida believe the Moon was stolen and placed in the sky.
- African Myths: The San people tell of a trickster god who placed the Moon in the sky. In some Bantu traditions, the Sun and Moon are lovers separated by jealousy.
- Mesoamerican (Maya & Aztec) Myths: The Aztecs believed the Moon goddess Coyolxauhqui was dismembered by her brother Huitzilopochtli, creating the Moon. The Maya linked the Moon to fertility goddesses and cyclical timekeeping.
- Slavic & Eastern European Myths: The Moon is often seen as a male deity in love with the Sun (a female deity), but they can never unite.
- Pacific Islander Myths: The Māori tell of Rona, a woman who insulted the Moon and was taken to live there. Many Polynesian myths see the Moon as a protector of travellers.
[ (Base Research Credit: ChatGPT Prompted Response to the query world cultures and their Moon myths.)
(Note: The above list does not fully capture all the stories and storytelling traditions of the world cultures surrounding the Moon)]
Common Themes of the Moon Myths:
- Romance & Separation: Sun & Moon seen as lovers are destined to remain apart.
- Cycles & Rebirth: Moon’s phases linked with cycle of life from Birth-Death-Rebirth.
- Divine or Mystical Beings: Goddesses, gods, or spirits live within the Moon and its symbols.
- Guidance & Knowledge: Moon deities are often symbolised with wisdom and timekeeping.
The Moon, across cultures, is a remnant beacon of deep mystery that coloured and livened the storytelling, the rituals, and the spiritual belief ecosystem. The festive celebration partitioned even today by various culture around the world speaks for itself.
Future Planned Exploration of the Moon in Myth
This is first of series of blog posts on Myths related to Moon and I intend to explore this topic a little further.
But seen from the point of someone who since childhood have been fascinated and enamoured by the Moon, I believe the posts maybe one-sided. My aim is to be fair and nonjudgmental while dealing with patterns of stories.
The interesting thing is that if I were to be walking through each story from different parts of the countries and nations then, I might encounter quiet a collection of stories to narrate.
In search of those rare stories that have been forgotten or passed on through generation of oral storytelling could be entertaining and informational. So, while trying to keep the tone of these stories simpler and plainer, I look forward to reading more about the celestial body.
Five Decades of Lived Experience
As a child, I found the Moon with a capital ‘M,’ fascinating and intriguing. Watching the Moon on an asbestos sheet that played the role of an external kitchen’s roof was where I would perch and moon-graze without any fear or care.
It was like a communion moment capturing the joy of being still and meditative. The fun fact was the more you keep looking at it, the more imagination takes over the faculty of perception.
To see the Moon be it the Full Moon or the New Moon the sense of safety in the cloak of darkness and a slight chilled air even in summer brings back memories of becoming a par amour to the Moon.
With the passing season of my body the par amour mode moved to self-proactive mode of peaceful existence and acquiescence of a non-physical relationship with the Moon. That is when cool calmness of the Moon becomes a statement of purpose in my life.
(Base Research Credit to ChatGPT)
Itinerant Storyteller 