An overview of moon gods from around the world

When we look at deities from around the world who are connected with the moon we usually just see the feminine.  Goddess’s are attributed to the moon much more readily than males.  However there are few male moon gods from around the world if you look hard enough.

In India there is a strange little god called Soma.  Soma is many things, a plant, a drink, a dwelling place for the dead and more importantly the moon.  His many forms include a bull, a bird and occasionally an embryo.  Soma took over the duties of a more ancient Indian god and that was Chandra.  He was heavily associated with white, being dressed in it and his chariot was pulled by ten white horses as it pulled the moon across the sky. 

The Hittites were a people who carved out an empire that included parts of Asia Minor and Mesopotamia.  They also had a rich mythology most of which has been destroyed by time but we can glean a little information from their surviving stone carvings.  In the Hittites mythology there were two moon gods.  Kaskuh was seen as a winged being with a hat which bore the crescent moon. Arma was a more minor moon god but he too was seen as being winged but instead of a hat he wore a sickle moon mounted on a horned helmet. 

Egypt was full of moon gods.  This was partly in thanks to the many different ages that Egyptian mythology went through and due to many different settlements merging deities as they came together.  Starting off as a major moon deity, Lah soon became minor as others rose to prominence as did many other gods.  Once of the most recognised of Egyptian moon gods was Chons.  Chons is son of Amun and Mut and is sometimes associated with time as well as the moon.  Like many other moon gods he wears the crescent moon as part of his headdress.

Looking further north the Norse legends give us a good moon god.  Mani was born to a giant called Mundilfari who named him for the moon.  The gods were so angry that they took him and put him in the sky.  Like many moon gods he rides a chariot pulled by horses but with a Norse twist he is chased by the wolf Hati or hate.  If he is caught a lunar eclipse takes place. Mani’s sister is called Sol and she is the sun. 

The founder of the Mayan culture Itzamna was turned into a moon god.  He brought maize and cocoa to his people and taught them many things like writing and healing.  He was given the title lord of knowledge and he rules over the night.  

There are many others you can also look at.  For example in Japan there is Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto the god of the moon in Shinto belief or the Sumerian Yarikh.  It is true that to the majority of people the moon is considered female but this is only true of some cultures.  To just as many people the moon is a male influence with the sun being female.