Moon Gods from Mythology and Folklore Part 1

Hey, and welcome back to Wild Mythology. I welcome you to the channel with bread and salt. For this video, I'm going to be covering five gods and goddesses of the moon from mythology and folklore. But before we get to that, the end of our giveaway is coming to an end this month. So don't forget to subscribe and make a comment on this video so you have a chance to win the book Bullfinch's Mythology. This is going to be our last video of the month, so make sure you comment on every video I made this April to give yourself eight chances to win our giveaway. I'll be revealing the winner in the first video of May, so you have until April 30th to enter. Now, enough of that. Let's get to the gods and goddesses of the moon. Number one, Kansu. With the recent release of Marvel's Moon Knight on Disney Plus, Kansu, the Egyptian god of the moon, has gotten a lot of attention and is a great starting point for our moon gods video. In mythology, Kansu is the child of Amon and Mut, or as a falcon-headed man with a lunar headdress above his head. He doesn't look nearly as cool as he looks in Marvel, though. But hey, that's just me. Alongside his father and mother, Kansu was highly worshipped in the city of Thebes as a gentle and compassionate god. Although, according to earlier texts, Kansu used to be worshipped as a bloody, thirsty cannibal god before the days of Thebes. According to mythology, Kansu's name was invoked at night for protection against wild animals and healing, because Kansu was the guardian of the night, and all travelers of the night fell under his domain. It was also believed that he was connected to fertility, and that during the crescent moon, women and livestock could become pregnant, as well as give birth easier if touched by the moon's light. Number two, Artemis. Artemis is one of the Twelve Olympians, and is the goddess of the moon and the hunt from Greek mythology. In Roman mythology, she goes by Diana. Artemis is the child of Zeus and Leto, and the older twin sister of Apollo, the god of the sun. Although Apollo would probably say he was the oldest, just to annoy his sister. In mythology, it's said that Artemis was born first, and that she helped her mother Leto with the birth of Apollo as a midwife. This act was so ingrained into her that Artemis became a goddess of childbirth. While Artemis was still young, she went to her father Zeus, sat on his knee, and asked him for ten wishes. Number one, to always remain a maiden. Number two, to have many names to set apart herself from Apollo. Number three, to have a bow and arrows made from the mighty Cyclopses. Number four, to be known as the Lightbringer. Number five, to have a knee-length tunic for hunting. Number six, to have 60 maiden daughters of the sea titan Oceanus, all of the ages of nine to join her hunt. Number seven, to have 20 nymphs as handmaidens. Number eight, to rule all mountains. Number nine, to be assigned to any city of Zeus's choice, but the ability to answer the call of any woman during childbirth within any city. Number ten, to be able to ease the pain of women during childbirth. Listening to his daughter's wishes, Zeus smiled down at her and granted them all. As well as being the goddess of the moon, the hunt, and childbirth, Artemis is also the goddess of virginity. Artemis vowed to never break her maidenhood, and usually traveled with a group called the Hunt, which was filled with women who made the same vow. As the goddess of the moon, Artemis was responsible for guiding the moon across the sky, usually in her silver chariot, pulled by silver does. Throughout mythology, Artemis appears in multiple myths, such as the story of Actaeon, where Artemis turned Actaeon into a stag for seeing her naked. Or the story of the woman Callisto, who gets turned into a bear by Artemis for breaking her vow of chastity with Zeus. Then there's the myth of Orion, which has multiple versions. In one version, Orion is a great hunter, and is the only man that Artemis ever fell in love with. On the eve of their marriage, a jealous Apollo tricks Artemis into killing Orion, leaving her saddened and causing her to place Orion into the stars. 3. Chang'e Chang'e is the moon goddess from Chinese mythology, and is involved in one of the most famous myths from China. In the myth, the Earth was still young, and was surrounded by not one sun, but ten. The ten suns made the Earth extremely hot, which made growing crops difficult. Finally, the young archer Houyi had enough. With nine arrows, he raised his bow to the sky and shot down nine of the suns. As a reward for making the Earth a better place, the gods gave Houyi an elixir of immortality. While grateful for the gift, Houyi refused to take it, for there was only enough elixir for one person, and he did not wish to leave his wife, Chang'e. So he hid the elixir away under their bed. When Chang'e discovered what her husband was gifted, she started to plan. After her husband fell asleep, Chang'e took the elixir from its hiding spot and drank it. This caused Chang'e to start floating up into the sky, as well as waking up her husband. Furious that his wife had stolen his gift and was abandoning him, Houyi grabbed his bow and tried to shoot her down. He missed every shot, and by the time his arrows ran out, Chang'e vanished into the moon. Over the years, Houyi's anger grew less and less, and he could usually be found staring longingly at the moon. He began to leave fruits and desserts out for his wife so that she knew he was thinking about her, something that Houyi continued to do until he died. This tradition continues today during the Mid-Autumn Festival, a huge event in China where people give offerings to Chang'e. As for Chang'e, some versions of the myth have her punished by the gods and turned into an ugly toad bound eternally to the moon. Others tell of how Chang'e became addicted to the elixir of immortality and that she spent her days in the moon making more, usually with the help of a moon rabbit. Number 4. Tsukuyomi Tsukuyomi is the god of the moon and the night from Japanese mythology. He is one of the three noble children of the creator Izanagi, including his older sister Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun and the heavens, and his younger brother Suzano, the god of the sea and storms. In mythology, after Izanagi escaped from his sister-wife in the underworld Yomi, he decided to purify his body of the underworld's filth. In the process of washing himself, Tsukuyomi was born when Izanagi washed his left eye. He then divided the world amongst his three noble children, granting Tsukuyomi domain over the moon and the night. It is said that for a time, Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu became husband and wife, and that because of this marriage, the sun and moon shared the same sky. At the feast, the goddess of food created an amazing meal by spinning it out of her mouth. Disgusted with this, Tsukuyomi killed the food goddess, which angered Amaterasu greatly. So she banished Tsukuyomi to another part of the sky, telling him she refused to look at him. And that's why night and day are never in the same place within the sky. Number 5. Mani Mani is the god and personification of the moon from Norse mythology. He is the son of Mundulfari and the brother of Sol, the goddess of the sun. In mythology, Mundulfari has two children that were so beautiful, he decided to name them after the sun and moon. The gods were furious by Mundulfari's arrogance, and so they took his two children and bound them to the sun and to the moon. With the help of two silver horses connected to a silver chariot, Mani became responsible for pulling the moon across the sky, giving humans the ability to measure time. But not soon after becoming bound to the moon, the wolf Hati, the son of the great wolf Fenrir, started chasing Mani. It is said that the wolf Hati will continue to chase Mani across the sky until the time of Ragnarok, where Mani will finally be caught and devoured. And there it is, I give you 5 gods and goddesses of the moon from mythology and folklore. I hope you enjoyed the video. Go check out our other content, and don't forget to subscribe and comment so you can enter our giveaway. Well, until next time on Wild Mythology.