Myths About the Sun & Moon
Regarded as gods and revered for their magical powers for centuries, the sun and the moon are subjects of mythological interest. Old cultures, such as the Ancient Greeks and Egyptians, worshiped both the sun and the moon as fickle, often cruel gods. As powerful forces of nature, the sun and the moon have long been studies by modern people interested in understanding ancient cultural perspectives.
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The Sun as God
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For ancient peoples the sun often symbolized power, destruction and life. Due to the sun's connection to masculine traits, the sun often takes the shape of a god, rather than a goddess in ancient mythologies. The sun was worshiped by such cultures as the ancient Egyptians, who worshiped the sun as a god named Re, creator of the world; the ancient Greeks who worshiped both Helios and Apollo as sun gods; and the ancient Sumerians who worshiped the sun as Shamash as the god of justice.
The Moon as Goddess
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As the sun represented all things masculine, the moon likewise took the shape of all things feminine. Representing the cycles and fertility, the moon goddesses ran the spectrum from good and loving, to dark and sinister. Mythological moon goddesses include the Egyptian god Thoth, ancient China's Shing-Moo, the dark Greek goddesses Hecate and Selene, and Lilith of both Christian and ancient Sumerian mythology.
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Yi and the Ten Suns
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The sun holds a place in Eastern traditional mythology as surely as it does in the Western world. The story of Hou Yi and the ten suns is an ancient Chinese mythology about an archer commissioned by the gods to destroy nine of the 10 suns from the sky. The myth says that the 10 suns all rose together one morning, rather than taking their turns, and had to be shot down until only one sun remained because the heat of 10 suns was destroying the crops and evaporating the rivers.
Creatures of the Night
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The moon is highly regarded as holding sway over the creatures of the night, most particularly lycanthropes, also known as werewolves. The harbinger of hidden things and dark desires, the moon is said to control the madness of the werewolves. The earliest werewolf stories date back to the ancient Greek king Lycaon, who is said to have been transformed into a wolf by Zeus. Werewolf mythology worldwide is heavily related to the cycles of the moon, most particularly to the full moon, said to hold sway over the creature's madness.
The Moon and Insanity
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In addition to the moon's connection to werewolves, the moon also has strong connections to the insane. Luna, the Latin word for moon, is the root of the word Lunatic. It was believed that the moon contributes to insanity and suicide, though there is little basis for this myth outside folklore.
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- Photo Credit moon and sun image by laviniaparscuta from Fotolia.com
