Pagan Village News

The moon has played a predominant role in many
societies throughout history. Some of the oldest
references to the moon come from ancient Sumer. Here,
the moon god Nanna or Nammar ruled as the supreme
deity of measurement and calendar calculations. The
artificial mountain known as the ziggurat was the
"House of Nammar", or the "House of Heaven". Nanna was
often depicted as a white bull who flew through the
heavens, an ancient idea which may have been the
origin of the European fairy tale of the "cow who
jumped over the moon".

Both the Moslems and Hebrews are descendents of the
Babylonians, so it comes as no surprise that even to
this day, both religions still feature a lunar
calendar and count "new days" and holidays as
beginning at nightfall. Like Nanna, in the Old
Testament the Hebrew god is often described as a bull,
and the Islamic holy month the Ramadan had it's origin
in an ancient lunar holiday. In a psalm in the Talmud,
the Hebrews made clear that they felt the moon could
have ill effects. It was thought that sleeping under a
full moon could cause madness.

“By day the sun shall not smite thee, and the moon in
the night." (cxxi6)

The traditional Chinese calendar is based on the
phases of the moon. The full moon is always the middle
of a month . The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the full
moon of the eighth month. The Lantern Festival falls
on the first full moon of the year. Many religious
Chinese people prepare their ritualistic offerings to
their ancestors and deities on every full moon and new
moon.
In ancient Egypt, there are many references to the
moon as being the god Thoth. Sometimes the god of
rebirth, the green faced Osiris was also represented
as the moon, and played a role not unlike that of
Sumer, whose moon god Nanna was also depicted as
ruling over vegetation.

In India, Chandra was the moon god, who was often
shown carrying a bow (crescent moon) and accompanied
by a dog. Shiva, the god of the underworld was also
associated with the moon, and wore a type of silver
horned ornament on his head which was calling being
"moon-crested".

The Hindu's also believed that it was possible for
both sun and moon beams to become solidified, and
could be used in elixirs and as amulets. The idea
remains with us today, in sunstones, and the more
familiar moonstones.

The Greeks associated the moon with the goddess
Selene. A moon goddess named Cynthia was said to have
been born on the sacred mountain Mt. Cynthius in
Delos. Cynthia was said to have a sacred cup which
contained a magical brew which could cause the unwary
to transform into animals. It was once believed that
the moon could have ill that could lead to lunatics
and werewolves. It is possible this belief could stem
from the story of Cynthius, so long ago.

In Rome, Diana the goddess of the moon was considered
especially magic, as the sun god was confined merely
to the day, but Diana as the moon, could travel by
night or day. Because the cult of Diana was extremely
strong in many areas of Rome, when the Catholic Church
performed mass conversions they often assumed the
pagan temples and renamed the existing statues. The
modern Mary can sometimes still be seen depicted as
standing on a crescent moon, the symbol of Diana.

To the Norse, the sun and moon were the divine twins
Sol and Mani, which remain with us today in our modern
words Sun and Moon.

In Ireland, the Isle of Mona, last stronghold of the
Druids after the Roman invasion was named after the
moon, and shrines at Ulster were called Emain Macha,
"land of the moon". Some folk tales speak of a magical
white cow said to appear sometimes on Beltaine.
In Scotland and Ireland, as well as other areas of
Europe, archaeologists have long noted standing stone
circles which were aligned so that an optical
illusion occurred. At many such sites, it could be
seen that at the time of the moon's most northern or
southern declination in the sky, the moon would appear
to set into the middle of the circle. This may be the
true meaning of the Wiccan phrase "to draw down the
moon".

In Cornwall it was common to gather all medicinal
plants when the moon was full. In some places it was
the belief that the growth of mushrooms was
influenced by the changes of the moon, hence the
saying,

"When the moon is at the full,
Mushrooms you may freely pull
But when the moon is on the wane,
Wait ere you think to pluck again.'

The Moon in Rural Life

Farmers often observed 'the signs of the moon ' in
sowing grain, setting out trees, cutting timber, and
other chores.

Signs and omens for happenings are seen in a ring
around the moon, trouble coming, and “blood on the
moon” another bad omen. In Scotland it was said among
the farmers that a misty moon, or halo around the moon
foretold rain--

“If the moon shows like a silver shield,
You need not be afraid to reap your field p. 186
But if she rises haloed round,
Soon we'll tread on deluged ground."

In gardening lore, the first quarter of the waxing
Moon is the ideal time to plant seeds, repot plants,
sow lawns, etc., but if the weather is particularly
dry the gardener is advised to plant his seeds at the
full Moon, when conditions are likely to be more
moist. Full Moons are also favored for harvesting
plants that need to be rich in moisture content, such
as grapes, tomatoes, and strawberries, while plants
that produce 'below the ground', such as potatoes and
carrots, are best planted during the 'dark of the
Moon'. The waning Moon is the time for killing weeds,
cutting back dead growth, harvesting root vegetables
and drying herbs, flowers and fruit.

Names of the Monthly Moons

In folklore, we often find "names" associated to the
full moon each month. These often refer to a specific
thing, for example in September we find the "Harvest
Moon", and due to a natural fluke in the position of
moon and earth, there really is more moonlight in
September then any other month, allowing field workers
to work into the night to bring in the harvest. Most
of the names refer to seasons, weather, or farm
activities. The mead moon, referred to a drink made
from honey. It later gave rise to the term honeymoon.

The names of the moons are:

January- Wolf Moon
February- Ice Moon
March- Storm Moon
April- Growing Moon
May- Hare Moon
June- Mead Moon
July- Hay Moon
August- Corn Moon
September- Harvest Moon
October- Blood Moon
November- Snow Moon
December- Cold Moon

(These are not the only names the monthly moons are or
were known by, and we will look at some of those in
another issue.)

Blue Moon

A blue moon is the second of two full moons to occur
in the same calendar month. Blue moons occur
infrequently (thus the saying once in a blue moon to
denote a rare event), because the length of the
calendar month in this system is close to the length
of the period of the moon's phases. They are not
impossible, because every month except February is
longer than this period by 1 or 2 days.

The original meaning of blue moon was the third full
moon in a season when there were four full moons in
that season this had to do with church holy days
related to the last or first full moon of a season
(like Easter ). This usage had been almost entirely
forgotten, and the original meaning was uncovered only
when researchers for Sky & Telescope magazine noticed
that the Maine Farmer's Almanac from 1829 to 1937
reported blue moons that did not fit the first meaning
of the term above.

Visibly blue moons are rare events. They can be caused
by smoke or dust particles in the atmosphere, such as
happened after forest fires in Sweden in 1950 and
Canada in1951 and, notably, after the eruption of
Krakatoa in 1883, which caused blue moons for nearly
two years.

But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.
--Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782

Moon Phase

Planetary Hour