Lunar and solar goddess’s Lesson three
The moon and the sun are often seen as embodiments of the divine and for many Westerners female aspect of the divine is linked to the moon. Our word lunar, as in the lunar cycle of full, crescent, and new moons, comes from the feminine Latin Luna. This seems natural because of the association of the lunar month and the female menstrual cycle.
But not all beliefs and societies created a link with the moon and the goddess some saw the sun as female and the moon as masculine. While some societies, as they changed from hunters to farmers changed the roles of their gods to suit their new lifestyles.
Goddess’s are not just bound by either being Lunar or solar, some goddess’s have distinct roles, which either affect human needs and desires such as love and war or stages in human life, birth and death or even particular places such as pools or volcanoes or even the earth herself. This does not mean that a goddess cannot have dominion over multiple realms in fact many goddess’s have many roles.
This idea that the goddess can have multiple roles means that Paths and beliefs can be created that follow a goddess only belief structure in some ways mirroring the Priestess role of ancient Greece and Rome although many neo pagan paths try to create a balanced belief sharing the weight between god and goddess equally.
As an eclectic witch you will find that you will draw together your ideas of what the goddess means to you and use related symbology, you may use logic to draw you towards a lunar goddess and accept the western idea link the Latin word luna to the feminine and so the moon or you may even feel connected to the Egyptian goddess and feel drawn to the sun as a symbolic representation for the goddess.
No matter how you see the goddess at it heart it is the symbology of feminine energy in manifest that you use to connect with her. When you look at other myths around the goddess you will find that the stories are similar the sun and the moon are brother and sister or lovers or rivals you may even find that some stories and myths have been absorbed into other cultures with very little change.
Below is a list of lunar and solar goddess look through the list and go and check out the information on goddess you are unaware of I am sure that their will be at least one or two that you may not of heard of or are not aware of the mythology
Luna Goddess
Artemis
Nationality: Greek
Moon Goddess
In Greek mythology, the sun god was originally Helios (whence words like heliocentric for our sun-centred solar system) and the moon goddess Selene, but over time, this changed. Artemis came to be associated with Selene, just like Apollo with Helios. Apollo became a sun god and Artemis became the goddess of the moon.
Bendis
Nationality: Thracian
Moon Goddess
Bendis was a goddess of the moon and hunt, associated by the Greeks with Artemis.
Source: “Balkan mythology” The Oxford Companion to World mythology. David Leeming. Oxford University Press, 2004.
Coyolxauhqui
Nationality: Aztec
Moon Goddess
Coyolxauhqui means “Golden Bells.” Coyolxauhqui is the sister of the Sun god, Huitzilopochtli.
Diana
Nationality: Roman
Moon Goddess
Heng-O
Nationality: Chinese
Moon Goddess
Heng-O was the mother of the 12 moons and 10 suns.
Ix Chel
Nationality: Maya
Moon Goddess
Lady Rainbow was a Maya old woman moon goddess.
Mawu
Nationality: African, Dahomey
Moon Goddess
Also spelled Maou. Female.
Selene or Luna
Nationality: Greek
Luna in Latin.
Moon Goddess
Actually, Selene/Luna is a moon Titan (since she’s female, that could be Titaness), and the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Thea. Selene/Luna is the sister of the sun god Helios/Sol.
Solar goddess’s
Aditi
a Hindu Goddess from India, keeper of the light that illuminates all life and ensures consciousness. She gave birth to the universe and the heavenly bodies.
Aine
Irish Goddess who represented the spark of life. Her festival was celebrated on Midsummer’s eve. Later she was remembered in Christian times as the fairy queen
An Alaskan solar Goddess who once lived on earth as a beautiful woman. She fled into the sky after her brother raped her.
Amaterasu
Japanese Shinto Goddess, her name means great shinning heaven. She is the head of the Japanese pantheon and her emblem, the rising sun, appears on the Japanese flag.
Bast
The Lion Goddess of sunset, among her many roles she symbolized the fertilizing rays of the sun.
Beiwe
Sámi Goddess of Lapland, she was celebrated at the summer solstice for providing the light the plants needed to grow. These in turn fed the reindeer that were vital source of food, clothing and tools for the people.
Bila
The cannibal Aboriginal Goddess who provided light for the world by cooking her victims over a giant flame. She was chased away but the world was then plunged into darkness, so Bila was captured and tethered to the earth.
Brigid
A Celtic fire Goddess, as a solar deity her attributes are light, inspiration and all skills associated with fire.
A modest Japanese moon Goddess. She traded places with the sun God as she was so embarrassed by the adulterous and lecherous behavior that was occurring at night.
Djanggawul Sisters
Aboriginal Goddesses from Arhemland. These daughters of the sun gave birth to all the plants and animals. Their magical power objects were stolen from them by their brothers.
Hathor
Egyptian Goddess of the sky. Hathor is depicted with the solar disk indicating that this is one of her many areas of influence.
Hekoolas
Native American Goddess, with the help of the trickster Coyote, man was able to convince her to light up this world.
Medusa
The Greek Goddess is said to derive from an earlier Anatolian deity. This theory is supported by images of her with a lion that symbolized the power of the sun.
Pattini
A Sri Lankan solar deity who represents the heat of the sun’s rays.
Olwen
Welsh sun Goddess, her name means “golden wheel.”
Saule
Lithuanian, golden haired Goddess. She rode across the sky in a chariot pulled by two white horses with golden manes, battling with the powers of darkness.
Sekhmet
A Lion headed Goddess of Egypt, she represented the destructive qualities of the suns rays causing drought and famine.
Shapash
Phoenician Goddess whose name meant “torch or light of the Gods”. In addition to being a solar Goddess she was also able to travel through the realms of the dead.
Solntse
Slavic sun Goddess
Sunna
Nordic Goddess of the Sun, also known as Sol, her chariot was pulled across the sky by two horses
Uelanuhi
Cherokee Goddess of the Sun, her name meant “apportioner”, as she was responsible for dividing time into units. Her warmth was captured for man by Grandmother Spiderwoman’s web.
Walo
Aboriginal Goddess who traveled across the sky with her daughter, Bar. One day Walo realized that the reason the earth was parched was due to their combined heat, she then sent her daughter back to the east so that the earth could become fertile and bloom.
Wuriupranili
Another Aboriginal sun deity who lit a bark torch and carried the flame through the sky from east to west. At the western sea, she dipped it in the water, then used the embers to guide her under the earth to reach her starting point again.
Wurusemu
Ancient Hittite sun Goddess. She is also known as Arinna.
Xatel-Ekwa
Hungarian Goddess, like many other ancient European solar Goddesses she is linked with horses as she rode through the air on her three steeds.
Related articles
- Aspects of the goddess Lesson three (cybercauldron.co.uk)
- History of the goddess – lesson 3 (cybercauldron.co.uk)
- The Goddess Lesson Three (cybercauldron.co.uk)
- Modern Female Rite Of Passage (cybercauldron.co.uk)
