MOON U: A LOOK AT NINE LUNAR DEITIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

In the past Balladeer’s Blog examined sun deities and monster slayers from neglected pantheons of gods from around the world. This time around neglected moon deities will be the subject.

9. PUEPA

Pantheon: Tupari

Comment: Puepa is the husband of the sun goddess Karam in Tupari myths. Though both are aged they retain a great deal of divine power, Karam more so than her husband, hence her brighter light. Eclipses occur when the sun and moon are attacked by the celestial crocodiles who usually guard the realm of Patobkia, god of the dead. Puepa and his wife always succeed in driving the crocodiles off with their power.

For more Tupari deities : https://glitternight.com/2013/04/02/the-top-ten-deities-in-tupari-mythology/

8. HINA

Pantheon: Hawaiian

Comment: Hina was the most beautiful goddess in Hawaiian myths. The owl god Puenui was just one of her rejected suitors. Those suitors were so numerous that their constant attentions drove the goddess to first fly off to the moon for some peace and quiet. The figures on the moon are said to be Hina beating tapa, a frequent activity of Polynesian women.

For more Hawaiian deities : https://glitternight.com/2011/03/02/eleven-more-deities-from-hawaiian-mythology-2/ 

7. TSUKUYOMI

Pantheon: Shinto

Comment: Tsukuyomi was the brother of the sun goddess Amaterasu and the storm god Susanowo. In the distant past the sun and moon filled the sky together until a violent incident. That incident involved Tsukuyomi slaying Ukemochi, the goddess of agrarian foods, for offending him while serving him a meal. Disgusted with her brother Tsukuyomi the sun goddess Amaterasu, the supreme deity of the Shinto pantheon, decreed that her brother must be banished from her sight, condemning him to the nighttime skies.

For more Shinto deities: https://glitternight.com/shinto-myth/ 

6. HVASHI

Pantheon: Choctaw

Comment: The light of the moon was Hvashi’s radiance as she flew across the sky astride her gigantic owl. The figures on the moon were supposedly the faint outlines of the goddess and her mount amid the bright light they gave off. Hvashi was the very first wife and married the sun god Hashtali. On moonless nights the Choctaw said that Hvashi was off sleeping with her husband.

For more Choctaw deities : https://glitternight.com/2012/06/03/the-top-twelve-deities-in-choctaw-mythology/ 

5. ISAZA

Pantheon: Bunyoro

Comment: isaza was a deified ruler of the Banyoro people of Bunyoro who also ruled over the moon as part of his domain. The moon wasn’t merely part of Isaza’s kingdom, it was a living being that obeyed his commands and even let him eat of its meat (the phases of the moon of course). The moon-food always grew back each month.

For more Bunyoro deities : https://glitternight.com/bunyoro-mythology/

4. TRANG CHIM

Pantheon: Vietnamese

Comment: Trang Chim reclined upon her palanquin providing light to the nighttime sky as her six celestial  attendants carried her. The moon goddess shared these attendants with her sister the sun goddess Mat Ga Trong. In the winter months Trang Chim had the six young, virile attendants who enjoyed flirting with the godess as they carried her swan-adorned palanquin across the sky, hence the longer nights in winter. During the summer months Trang Chim had the six elderly attendants who hurried across the sky to be done with their labor sooner, hence the shorter nights in summer.

For more Vietnamese deities : https://glitternight.com/vietnamese-myth/

3. TKLEHANOAI 

Pantheon: Navajo

Comment: Tklehanoai was the father of the sun god Tsohanoai. Originally the sun and moon were large shell-like objects that he and his son carried across the sky. After the sun god created horses – a sky-blue one for himself and a coal-black one for Tklehanoai, the myth changed. From that point on the moon was the shield that Tklehanoai held as he rode his horse across the sky, just as the sun was Tsohanoai’s shield as he rode across the sky.

For more Navajo deities : https://glitternight.com/navajo-myth-clear/ 

2. CHANG O

Pantheon: Chinese

Comment: Chang O was the wife of Yi the Divine Archer in Chinese myths. She had drunk the elixir of immortality and then flew away to the moon. The figures on the face of the moon are said to be Chango O and her faithful rabbit helper making more of the elixir of immortality for the gods on Kun Lun Mountain. The main ingredient of that elixir is nectar from the peaches of eternal youth that grow in the celestial orchard of Hsi Wang Mu, the goddess of youth.

For Chang O’s complete story : https://glitternight.com/2012/03/17/mythology-the-neglected-epic-myth-of-yi-the-divine-archer/  

1. TATQIM

Pantheon: Inuit

Comment: The moon was the partially burned-out torch that Tatqim carried as he ran across the nighttime sky. Tatqim had much more authority than most other moon deities. He was also the god of the hunt, the god of fertility and was the deity who brought souls from the afterlife (Udlormiut) back down to the Earth for reincarnation as either humans or animals. Tatqim delivered these souls during the moonless nights each month by transporting them down on his dog-sled. That sled was pulled either by one enormous dog or four smaller ones, depending on the version.

This god’s control of the tides was crucial to Inuit survival because when the tide rolled out it left behind seaweed, virtually the only vegetation in the far northern reaches of Inuit territory. Tatqim gave women their vaginas by using his hunting knife to carve a hole in women’s bodies. Each month women bleed from that stab-wound for a few days. Infertile women prayed to Tatqim to bless them with babies, a task the fertility god often took care of personally, with unknown numbers of Inuit males as his secret offspring.

For more Inuit myths : https://glitternight.com/2011/06/06/the-top-12-deities-from-inuit-mythology-2/

© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.