World Stories _ The Sun and the Moon by Theodora Oniceanu - HTML preview

World Legends and Stories

The Sun and the Moon

The Sun and the Moon

Located at the center of our Solar System, with Earth orbiting it 93 million miles away from it, the Sun is the largest object within this system, comprising 99.8% of the system’s mass.

Throughout history, human mind invented many stories about the creation of the world, the Sun and the Moon playing a very important part. Such a great part that there are thousands of stories and legends related to the creation and existence of the Sun and the Moon as exteremely important figuers that influenced and inspired for centuries.

This book is meant to gather as many of the stories produced by humanity, in folklore as well as stories of inspired authors telling their own versions on how the Moon and the Sun were created and lived, and why are they shining up into the sky.

The Moon is our close satellite of which’s origins scientists have struggled to learn and tell. It appears now that the moon is actually a twin of the Earth, its mantle in particular, in major elements and isotopic ratios. Through the Apollo missions humanity tested its limits reaching the lunat soil and taking samples to test it and discover the origin of this celestial body that was the inspiration for many myths and legends. But as fascinating and attractive science is, there’s still a number of folklore and stories, legends and myths, that create and recreate a world with such a rich significance and of such intense value that we cannot deny its extraordinary contribution to societies and the world of literature and arts.

Sun worship and solar deities can be found throughout history (arts and literature) in multiple forms. Be it named Sol by its Latin name or Helios by its Greek name, Nanahuatzin by its Aztec origin, or Shiho by its Chinese call, Amaterasu, Ra or Malina (Inuit_Greenland) the sun-related legends played an important role in the development of societies and their religions.

“The monthly cycle of the Moon, in contrast to the annual cycle of the Sun’s path, has been implicitly linked to women’s menstrual cycles by many cultures, as evident in the links between the words for menstruation and for Moon in many resultant languages, though this identification was not universal as demonstrated by the fact that not all moon deities are female. Many well-known mythologies feature female lunar deities, such as the Greek goddess Selene, the Roman goddess Luna, and the Chinese goddess Chang’e.” (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lunar_deities).

To reference to the light of day there is text that refers to God as the Great Creator, Him being the only one who can bring to life Heavens and Earth. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. ...” We may see God here as the Great Force of Creation, in mysterious ways working with the power of the word. We can see the Light as the sun. Then again, the Universe is vast and nowadays we know that there are many suns that light celestial bodies all over it. How many suns out there we don’t know but we keep searching and studying the fascinating world we all live in.

I. Folk Legends and Myths

European

The Celts

“For the Celts, who lived in central Europe, Lugh was a Sun god”, portrayed as a warrior, a king, a master craftsman and a savior. “He is associated with skill and mastery in multiple disciplines, including the arts, with oaths, truth and the law.” Balor, the underworld god and leader of the Fomorii (the evil people that lived in the underworld), was his grandfather.

“According to a prophecy, Balor was to be killed by a grandson.” To prevent the prophecy from happening. Balor tried to kill his grandson, but Lugh miraculously survived.”

Secretly raised by the god of the sea ,Manannan, Lugh became an expert warrior. “When he reached manhood, he joined the peoples of the goddess Dana, named the Tuatha De Danaan, to help them in their struggle against the Fomorii and Balor.” But Balor had an evil eye capable of killing whomever looked at it so Lugh threw a magic stone ball into Balor’s eye, and killed Balor.

“Lugh corresponds to the Welsh god Lleu and the Gallic Lugos. From Lugh’s name derives the names of modern cities such as Lyon, Laon and Leyden. Today, people remember the figure of Lugh with a festival which commemorates the beginning of the harvest in August.” (https://www.windows2universe.org/mythology/lugh.html)

As for the Moon and its Goddess, “Cerridwen is, in Celtic mythology, the keeper of the cauldron of knowledge. Giver of wisdom and inspiration, and as such is often associated with the moon and the intuitive process, Cerridwen is a goddess of the Underworld, often symbolized by a white sow,” which represents both her fecundity and fertility and her strength as a mother. She is both Mother and Crone; many modern Pagans honor Cerridwen for her close association to the full moon.” (source: https://www.learnreligions.com/lunar-deities-2562404)

Belenus

“Belenus (also Belenos, Belinus, Bel, Beli Mawr) was a sun god from Celtic mythology and, in the 3rd century, the patron deity of the Italian city of Aquileia.” He was one of the most ancient and most-widely worshiped Celtic deities, also called the “Fair Shining One” (or “The Shining God”), and is associated with the ancient fire festival and modern Sabbat Beltane. “He was associated with the horse (as shown by the clay horse figurine offerings at Belenos’s Sainte-Sabine shrine in Burgundy) and also the wheel. Perhaps like Apollo, with whom he became identified in the Augustan History, Belenos was thought to ride the Sun across the sky in a horse-drawn chariot.” (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belenus)

Rhiannon

As a lunar a lunar Welsh goddess of inspiration Rhiannon is very known. “Her name means “Great Queen,” and serves as a muse for poets, artists, and royalty. She is also a goddess of transformation, easing the dead into the afterlife and carries their souls upon her white horse. She is a shapeshifter, and will often appear as a bird, animal, or through a song.” (source: https://ro.pinterest.com/pin/555561304006762674/)

folk-tale Why The Sun Chases the Moon

“Tell me the story about how the Sun loved the Moon so much he died every night just to let her breath.”

“There once was a moon, as beautiful as can be, only the stars could fathom, but the sun could not see. The sun so radiant, he burns so bright. The moon so luminous, but only showed her face during the night. She was untouchable, surrounding herself with a blanket of darkness. The sun would give anything to catch a glimpse of the Moon illuminating the beautiful night sky.

Until one day when the Sun was sliding out of the heavens, he caught a glimpse of her. She was peeking up, a rare side of her being exposed to the light. And while the Sun could shine, he knew the Moon could glow.

Just as the Stars were wandering into the night, the Sun fell in love like a snowball hurdling down a mountain. How he wished to see her move than the fleeting moments he shared with her at both dawn and dusk. But they were a world apart.

“Go,” she whispered to him one of those nights, her voice as sweet and sorrowful as the last light of morning. “Go and let me breathe, for you and I have decided fates. You illuminate the day, and I cast a glow on the night. We will never be. Our connection would go against what all the people believe, all they know” During the summer he would stay a little longer just in case she would change his mind. It was no use.

“Don’t you dare abandon your blessing of light for my darkness.” And those were the last words the Moon was strong enough to speak to the Sun.

The Sun could feel her peaceful soul and it soon became clear. He would die each and every night to let his true love breathe, for it would put an end to all her misery.” (source: https://michellemontague.com/2017/05/the-story-of-the-sun-and-moon-an-inspiration/)

Scandinavia

Freyr

Among the most venerated divinities amongst the heathen Norse and Germanic people, Freyr is a god who belongs to the Vanir tribe of deities, also an honorary member of the other Norse tribe, Aesir. Legend has it that he arrived at Aesir fortress, Asgard, as a hostage towards the end of the Asir-Vanir war. There is one Old Norse poem calling him “the foremost of the gods” and “hated by none.” On his benevolence the prosperity of the people depended. Unsurprisingly, “Freyr was a frequent recipient of sacrifices at various occasions, such as the blessing of a wedding or the celebration of a harvest. During harvest festivals, the sacrifice traditionally took the form of his favored animal, the boar.” (source: https://norse-mythology.org/)

Born of Father Njord and mother Nerthus (presumebly), sister of Njord, Freyr has been the lover of many goddesses and giantesses, including his own sister Freya. Although among historical Germanic people incest vas inacceptable, the Vanir tribe allowed such practice. Alfheim, the homeland of the elves, is Freyr’s residence. “On land, Freyr travels in a chariot drawn by boars.” (source: Snorri Sturluson. The Prose Edda. Gylfaginning 48.)

Daniel McCoy is featuring a few details about this myth: “Another one of Freyr’s signature possessions is his ship, Skíðblaðnir, which always has a favorable wind and can be folded up and carried in a small bag.” (source: Snorri Sturluson. The Prose Edda. Gylfaginning 43). This mythological feature was reflected in historical rituals: “priestesses and/or priests of Freyr traveled throughout the country on a chariot which contained a statue of the god.” (Flateyjarbók). “When the chariot reached a village or town, the people laid down their arms and “every iron object” and enjoyed a period of peace and joyful festivities, reveling in the deity’s kind presence.” (source: Tacitus, Cornelius. 1948. Germania 40. In The Agricola and Germania. Translated by Harold Mattingly. p. 134-135.)

Freyr is not an actual name. It carries though great significance, freyr meaning Lord. It is more of a title than a proper name, expressing the great importance of the character in the Norse and Germanic people’s lives. In various illustrations depicting the god, Freyr is represented with the sun in the back at a side - usually to his left back or in the very center.

A little love-story is provided to us, regarding Freyr’s adventure in getting Gerd, the giantess to marry him. And the story goes like this: “On a journey to the underworld, Freyr saw and fell in love with the giantess Gerd. He sent his servant, Skirnir, on a journey to convince Gerd to marry him. Freyr also gave Skirnir a magic sword to use. Skirnir, however, could not convince Gerd to marry his master. It wasn’t until he threatened her with the magic sword that Gerd agreed to meet Freyr in a grove of trees to become his bride.” (source: https://www.windows2universe.org/?page=/mythology/freyr_sun.html)

Romania

Zamolxex

An old legend of the Realm of Luana (the Carpathian Curvature) describes life on a land of light, the Realm of the Sun, the great indo-european divinity inherited from the Great Gods, the Great future god of the geto-dacians, Zamolxes (also Zamolxe or Zamolxis), the one who offered safety to his lands by guarding it constantly. Hovering above a haighty citadel sustained by walls that would touch the sky, Zalmoxes was the Guardian of the City of Sun, a healer and the owner of springs.

A very known ballad is the one describing the love between the Sun and his sister, the Moon, an incestuous as well story that has been rewritten by Vasile Alecsandri and creatively altered.

Legend has it that the sun fell in love with his sister, the moon and he asked her to marry him. As this was presumebly wrong in Moon’s views, she refused the Sun’s proposal but he didn’t give up, insisting on proposing to her. She then asked him to built a bridge of Iron over the Black Sea with a monastery at one end and a stairway at the other. In one slap of hand the Sun creates the brigge as told then asks again the Moon to marry him.But this time the Moon asks him to built a bridge of brass. He executes this second one as well, with the same ease. In other versions the bridges are actually crops she asks to surround and fill the country with. The Sun proposes again, still, the Moon does not accept his proposal. Seeing that there is no way to convince the Moon to take him as husband, the Sun climbs into the skies to ask advise from Adam and Eve. They open the consoling pictures of Heavens and the terrible one of Hell, demonstrating that the end would be a dark and damnable one, as marrying a co-sanguin would attract only bad times for the two. Despite this demonstration the Sun insists on his idea.

As she walked towards the monastery at the end of the Iron Bridge, The Sister of the Sun (the Moon) throws herself into the water (other versions tell that she was throuwn into the water by divine wrath) and she is turned into a barbell (by the Lord). The sun calls for trawlers to catch her and they do but the saints descend, take off her scales and throw her into the skies. It is then when she is named by Adam and Iova (Eve) with the term Moon. In popular folklore, this character is also known as Ileana Sîmzeana or Cosânzeana, being also attributed the name of Iana (the feminin version of Ianus, solar divinity) or simply Sister of the Sun.

“In mythical Romanian folklore, every form of incest is prohibited. Incest was severely punished, the incestuous couples being excluded from their villages for damaging the customs. The fight against incest is manifested in the legend “The Sun and the Moon” in every cosmic level: the human life level, the astre-human level, the saint-acestors level. Incest is seen as a mean of disturbance of the cosmic order between celstial-humans, daemons and humans, not only between humans.” (source: Romulus Vulcănescu, Mitologia…, 1987, p. 394-395).

Romanian floklore has a great number of stories telling about “the Sons of the Sun”. There are many fascinating folk-stories telling about princes so bright and beautiful as the sun, Beautiful Children with golden hair and traits of a brave god who are sent to the rescue of the kingdom and/or the most beautiful princess whom they eventually marry.

There is also a number of stories related to the Moon, as well as traditions and customs of the old days, some kept today in changed forms, the common traditions varying from area to area. According to traditional Romanian folklore described by Lavinia Fratilă, Full Moon is the perfect moment to transmit your intentions to the Universe. It is time to leave tha past behind and start a new love relationship. It is said that when a New Philanderer appears one would dream about The One and for this you have to show yourself to the Moon, bow three times and say: “Moon, dear Moon, Full Moon, give me dew; Moon, dear Moon, my dear, show me my pair!” Another ancient ritual related to Full Moon is to write your wishes on a piece of paper and throw the ashes to the Moon.

Old heathen beliefs describe the moon as the main deity. She is part of every day magic rituals, pagans bathing in the Moon’s waters to wash all bad.

Greece

In the ancient world, the Sun was the most powerful astrological body and was worshipped as the image of God in ancient Greece.

Greek mythology tells about Hyperion who was the Titan of light, the father of the Sun, the Moon and the Dawn, and Helios was his son. “Each morning at dawn, Helios rose from the ocean in the east and rode his chariot, pulled by four horses - Pyrois, Eos, Aethon, and Phlegon, across the sky to descend at night in the west.” (source: Solar-Folklore by Deborah Scherrer)

Helios

Usually represented as a youth with a halo, Helios appears to be standing in a chariot, occasionally with a billowing robe. (He is depicted this way in many ancient reliefs).

Apollo

It is also extremely known that in Greek mythology, Apollo (byname Phoebus, in Greco-Roman mythology) is a god of the sun, the ideal of the kouros - which means he has a beardless, athletic and youthful appearance - one of the Twelve Olympians, the sun of Zeus and the Titan Leto and the twin brother of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. He’s usually represented with a laurel wreath about his head, one that he would have worn in honor of his love for Daphne.

A god of healing, medicine, music archery, poetry and the sun, order and beauty, he is the leader of Muses being also a god of prophecy, his Oracle at Delphy carrying great importance. A known attribute for Apollo was the lyre created by Hermes. When traveling, he rode a chariot pulled by swans. “When hymns were sung to Apollo they were called paeans.” (source: ekgodsandgoddesses.net)

Ridden by Zeus’s son, Apollo, the chariot in which the sun travelled across the sky was driven by fiery horses. Representing the sun in greek culture, he was seen to illuminate the world of music and reason, bringing logic and order to humanity.

Phaeton

Another son of the sun, important figure in Greek mythology, was Phaethon.

Phaethon (/ˈfeɪ.əθən/; Ancient Greek: Φαέθων, Phaéthōn, pronounced [pʰa.é.tʰɔːn], Greek meaning of “Shining” or “Radiant”) - the most influential extant version of the story, found in Ovid’s Metamorphosis, Books I–II - was a name given to different figures in Greek mythology, but the best known was the son of the Oceanid nymph Clymene and either the god Apollo or Helios; both of those gods were associated with the sun. Some sources attribute different characters as his parents.

Challenged by Epaphus and his playmates, Phaethon sought assurance from his mother that his father was the sun god Helios (in some sources Apollo). Giving him the requested assurance, she told him to turn to his father for confirmation. He travelled to the east until he came to the palace of the Sun, and asked his father for some proof that would demonstrate his relationship with the sun. The god confirmed his divine origin and promised to grant him whatever he wanted. Phathon then asked on being allowed to drive the sun chariot for a day. Helios tried to dissuade Phaethon, telling him that even Zeus, the greatest god of all, was not strong enough to steer these horses, but Phaethon insisted. As a promise could not be broken, Helios reluctantly kept his promise. But, as foreseen, placed in charge of the chariot, Phaethon was unable to control the horses. “In some versions, the Earth first froze when the horses climbed too high, but when the chariot then scorched the Earth by swinging too near, Zeus decided to prevent disaster by striking it down with a thunderbolt.” (source: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Phaethon) Phaethon fell to earth at the mouth of the Eridanus, a river later identified as the Po, being killed in the process.

Cycnus of Liguria, good friend or lover of Phaethon, profoundly mourned his death and was turned into a swan. Phaethon also had seven sisters, the Heliades, who also mourned his loss, “keeping vigil where Phaethon fell to Earth until the gods turned the sisters into poplar trees, and their tears into amber.” (source: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Phaethon _“Phaethon in Greek Mythology”. Greek Legends and Myths.)

Icarus

Not presenting a god but a legendary human, the story of Icarus is also related to the sun, wisely teaching on how to respect some boundaries for reasons of safety, if not others.

Icarus (/ˈɪkərəs/; Ancient Greek: Ἴκαρος [ǐːkaros]) was the son of the famous master craftsman Daedalus in Greek mythology. His father, Daedalus was the creator of the Labyrinth - a huge maze located under the court of King Minos of Crete, where the Minotaur, a half-man half-bull creature lived. The Minotoaur was King Minos’s wife child with the king’s bull, to the conception of which, Daedalus was responsible as he had helped the Queen to mate with the bull.

In order for the secret of the Labyrinth to be kept, and to punish Daedalus for his act of betrayal of natural law, Minos imprisoned Daedalus and Icarus in a tower above his palace. But Daedalus was still a brilliant inventor and managed to create two sets of wings for himself and his son. The wings were made of feathers glued together with wax. He then taught Icarus how to fly, warning him not to fly too high, since that would cause the wax to melt, nor too low, as that would cause the feathers to get wet with sea water. “Together, they flew out of the tower towards freedom.” However, Icarus soon, overwhelmed with the ecstasy of flight, forgot his father’s warnings, as he felt like a god, “and started flying higher and higher, until the wax started melting under the scorching sun. His wings dissolved and he fell into the sea and drowned. The area of the sea where he fell took the name Icarian Sea after him, while a nearby island was named Icaria.” (source: https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Mortals/Icarus/icarus.html)

Selene

Goddess of the Moon, Selene is the representation of the Moon itself to the Greeks. She is often associated with archer goddess Artemis who is also a moon goddess and Hecate.

Selene is a Titan goddess, a divine deity that preceded the Olympian Gods.

Hecate was “considered to be the goddess of magic and witchcraft, often depicted holding two torches or a key. She was the daughter of the Titans Perses and Asteria, and she was honoured in the households as a protective goddess who brought prosperity.” (source: https://www.greekmythology.com/Other_Gods/Hecate/hecate.html)

Daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, Selene had two siblings, Helios and Eos. As the goddess of the moon she drove every night across the skies in a silver moon chariot which was carried by two snow-white horses.

She had an affair with a mortal named Endymion, whom Zeus had granted the choice of when he would diel Endymion chose to fall into an eternal sleep to remain ageless and deathless.

“According to some sources, Selene was one of Zeus’ lovers and they had a number of children; Pandia, she who is all-bright; Ersa, the dew; Nemea, the nymph of the eponymous place; and Dionysus, although this may be a confusion due to the name similarity between Selene and Semele.” (source: https://www.greekmythology.com/Titans/Selene/selene.html)

Roman Empire

Sol

In Roman religion, Sol is the name of two distinct gods at Rome. The original Sol (Sol Indigenes), together with Luna, the moon goddess, had a shrine on the Qurinal, in the Circus Maximus, an annual sacrifice being brought on August 9.

“Sol Invictus (“Unconquered Sun”) was though the official sun god of the later Roman Empire and a patron of soldiers. On 25 December AD 274, the Roman emperor Aurelian made it an official religion alongside the traditional Roman cults.” (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Invictus)

Luna

In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Luna is the divine embodiment of the Moon (Latin luna; cf. English “lunar”), often being presented as the female complement of the Sun, Sol.

Roman art depicts Luna with attributes of the crescent moon and the two-yoke chariot (biga). “In the Carmen Saeculare, performed in 17 BC, Horace invokes her as the “two-horned queen of the stars” (siderum regina bicornis), bidding her to listen to the girls singing as Apollo listens to the boys.” (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_(goddess)_)

Poland and the Slavic world

A preserved myth coming from Poland, the Sieradz Land, was written down in 1898. The story goes like this:

“In the beginning, there was nothing but the sky, the sea, tha God who sailed by boat and the devil emerging from the sea foam, who sat down to God.

In the beginning, there was nothing but the sky, the sea, the God who sailed by boat and the devil emerging from the sea foam, who sat down to God. The idea of creating the Earth was suggested to God by the devil, who could not do it by himself alone. The devil immersed himself and brought out a handful of sand from the bottom. God threw it on the water and created the beginning of the Earth so thin that they both barely fit on it. God and the devil inhabited the Earth, the devil thought to push the sleeping God into the water, but he contributed to the expansion of the land from the side of God, from the east and from his own side, from the west. Both creators started a dispute that ended up with God going to heaven and knocking down the devil, who also went there, by lightning into the abyss.

There are versions of this myth in the Ukranian And the Russian mythologies, differing, slightly. Then there is the myth of the Cosmic Egg and a carol written by Alexander Afanasyev.

“It used to be at the beginning of the world –

Then there was no sky or earth,

No sky nor earth but the blue sea,

And in the middle of the sea on oak

Two pigeons were sitting.

Two pigeons on an oak tree

They held such a council,

Happy debated and cooed:

How can we create the world?

We will fall to the bottom of the sea,

We’ll bring out the fine sand

Fine sand, blue stone.

We will sow fine sand,

We will pick up the blue pebble.

From fine sand - black earth,

- icey water, green grass.

From the blue stone - the blue sky,

Blue sky, bright sun,

Bright sun, bright moon,

bright moon and all the stars.”

Africa

Egypt

Re

Re or Ra, also spelled Pra, is in ancient Egyptian mythology the god of the sun and creation, of course, the most important of all the gods, being seen as the ruler of the sky, the Earth, and the underworld. Carrying many names such as Amun-Ra, and Ra-Horakht, he was the god of the sun, order, kings, and the sky. “In the Egyptian culture it was said that he was born each morning in the East, and died each night in the West. Also, during the night he traveled through the underworld, and this is why the west side of the Nile was known as the land of the dead. He was the king of the gods.” (source: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra)

Re’s appearance may diverse; he is usually depicted as “a man with a falcon head, which is due to his combination with Horus, another sky god”, or a Hawk with the sun disk above him, but he may also be depicted as a scarab beetle or a man, also pictured as a full-bodied ram, phoenix, heron, serpent, bull, cat, or lion. “Originally most solar gods had falcon form and were assimilated to Horus.” (source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Re)

Since the sun is “the giver of life”, controlling the ripening of crops which were worked by man, Re was worshipped by the Egyptians. But Re also had enemies, Seth, a god of the desert (including desert storms), thunder, evil, pain and suffering, being sometimes an opponent of Re’s. Isis was another enemy of Re’s as she had tricked him into giving her his hidden name so her husband Osiris could take over and be king of the gods.

Khonsu

“Khonsu - also had the titles “Embracer”, “Pathfinder”, and “Defender”, as he was thought to watch over those who travel at night. - (Ancient Egyptian: ḫnsw; also transliterated Chonsu, Khensu, Khons, Chons or Khonshu) is the ancient Egyptian god of the Moon. His name means “traveller”, and this may relate to the perceived nightly travel of the Moon across the sky. Along with Thoth he marked the passage of time. Khonsu was instrumental in the creation of new life in all living creatures.”

Invoked to protect against wild animals and aid with healing, Khonsu was said to have caused the crescent moon to shine, women conceive, cattle become fertile, and all nostrils and every throat to be filled with fresh air.

San People of Namibia

There are some stories that say that the sun was once a man. From his armpits shone rays of light. “He dwelt alone in a hut and his light shone only for himself.”

Legend has it that some children who belonged to the first Bushmen, were sent to throw the sleeping man high up into the sky. They did so and he now shines upon all. “In the evening, he draws his blanket of darkness over himself to keep warm, but the blanket is old and has many little holes in it and at night the sun still sparkles through them to make stars.” (source: http://www.gateway-africa.com/stories)

There is another story that tells of a lonely young girl awaiting the return of her hunter companions. To light their way in the dark of the night she throws up a handful of white wood-ash and this becomes the Milky Way stars. It is said and known that even when there is no moon, its shining light guides the hunters home.

Say the Bushmen in another tale, the moon, is really an old shoe belonging to Mantis, who lost it while running errands for the gods. As it rises early summer evenings, it is red with the red dust of the Kalahari, and cold like old leather.

“They also say that the sun is jealous of the moon when it is full, as it is a challenge to the sun’s brightness. With its sharp rays the sun cuts bits off the moon, until there is just a little left and the old moon cries, ‘Oh! Oh! leave a little backbone for the children!’ Then the sun goes away, and soon the moon starts growing back, little by little, to its normal size and the process starts all over again.” (source: http://www.gateway-africa.com/stories).

There is also a little story that says that when the moon was hollow and young, she was weighed down with the spirits of the dead which she carries. “Clouds that pass are actually the hair of the dead and the wind blows to sweep the footprints of the dead from the sand.”

The Bushmen believe that the world was made by the spirits which are all around them. Chrigi of the San Clan says, ‘There is always a dream, dreaming us!’

Nigeria

“Many years ago, the sun and water were great friends, and they both lived on the earth together. The sun often used to visit the water, but the water never returned the visits.

At last, the sun asked the water why he never visited. The water replied that the sun’s house was not big enough, and that if he came with all his people, he would drive the sun out of his home.

The water then said, ‘If you want me to visit you, you will have to build a bigger house. But I warn you that it will have to be very large, as I have many relatives and friends and we take up a lot of room.’

The sun promised to build a huge house, and soon afterwards he returned home to his wife, the moon, who greeted him with a broad smile.

The sun told the moon what he had promised the water, and the next day they began building a large house to entertain the water and all his family and friends. When it was finished, the sun asked the water to come and visit him.

When the water arrived, he called out to the sun and asked him whether it would be safe for all his family and friends to enter, and the sun answered, ‘Yes, you may all come in.’

The water began to flow in, followed by the fish and all the other water animals.

Very soon, the water was knee-deep in the house, so the water asked the sun if it was still safe, and the sun again said, ‘Yes, please come into my house.’ So the water and all his family continued to come in.

When the water was at the level of a man’s head, the water said to the sun, ‘Do you still want more of my people to come?’

Not knowing any better, the sun and the moon both said, ‘Yes, the more the merrier.’

So more and more of the water’s people came in, until the sun and the moon had to sit on top of the roof. When the water flowed over the top of the roof, the sun and the moon were forced to go up into the sky ...

… and they have been there ever since.”

(source: http://www.gateway-africa.com/stories/Sun_Moon_and_Stars_San.html)

Liza, the Sun God _ West Africa

The Sun god to the Fon people of West Africa was Liza. His sister was Mawu, the Moon goddess. Liza was also the god of heat, work, and strength and Mawu was the goddess of night and motherhood. The two were twins, but also lovers,together, creating the universe with the help of Da, the cosmic serpent. Fourteen children (seven sons and seven daughters) were born from the union of the two, and they divided the responsibilities of the world among them. Mawu, being the Goddess of motherhood - since it was she that created the first humans out of clay - gives humans their souls.

Australia

“In most Aboriginal cultures, the Sun is seen as a woman and the Moon is depicted as a man. Some Aboriginal communities describe the Sun woman pursuing the Moon man across the sky from day to day, occasionally meeting during an eclipse.

The Yolngu people call the Moon Ngalindi and he too travels across the sky. Originally, he was a fat lazy man (corresponding to the full Moon) for which he was punished by his wives, who chopped bits off him with their axes, producing the waning Moon. He managed to escape by climbing a tall tree to follow the Sun, but was mortally wounded, and died (the new Moon). After remaining dead for 3 days, he rose again, growing round and fat (the waxing Moon), until, after two weeks his wives attacked him again. The cycle continues to repeat every month. Until Ngalindi first died, everyone on Earth was immortal, but he cursed humans and animals so that only he could return to life. For everyone else, death would thereafter be final.” (source: http://www.aboriginalastronomy.com.au/content/topics/moon/)

“There was a time when everything was still. All the spirits of the Earth were asleep - or almost all. The great Father of All Spirits was the only one awake. Gently he awoke the Sun Mother. As she opened her eyes a warm ray of light spread out towards the sleeping earth.

The Father of All Spirits said to the Sun Mother, “Mother, I have work for you. Go down to the Earth and awake the sleeping spirits. Give them forms.”

The Sun Mother glided down to Earth, which was bare at the time and began to walk in all directions. Everywhere she walked plants grew. After returning to the field where she had begun her work the Mother rested, well pleased with herself. The Father of All Spirits came and saw her work, but instructed her to go into the caves and wake the spirits.

This time she ventured into the dark caves on the mountainsides. The bright light that radiated from her awoke the spirits and, after she left, insects of all kinds flew out of the caves. The Sun Mother sat down and watched the glorious sight of her insects mingling with her flowers. However once again the Father urged her on. Next, the Mother ventured into a very deep cave, spreading her light around her. Her heat melted the ice and the rivers and streams of the world were created. Then she created fish and small snakes, lizards and frogs. Next she awoke the spirits of the birds and animals and they burst into the sunshine in a glorious array of colors. Seeing this the Father of All Spirits was pleased with the Sun Mother’s work.

She called all her creatures to her and instructed them to enjoy the wealth of the Earth and to live peacefully with one another. Then she rose into the sky and became the Sun. The living creatures watched the Sun in awe as she crept across the sky, towards the west.

However when she finally sunk beneath the horizon they were panic-stricken, thinking she had deserted them. All night they stood frozen in their places, thinking that the end of time had come. After what seemed to them like a lifetime the Sun Mother peeked her head above the horizon in the East. The Earth’s children learned to expect her coming and going and were no longer afraid.” (source: Australian Aborigine Creation Myth _ http://dept.cs.williams.edu/~lindsey/myths/myths_13.html)

Pacific Ocean

Polynesia

Maui

Maui was less of a god and more of a hero in Polynesian mythology. For Maui and his mother (in sme sources his brothers as well) the days had too little sunlight, so, “there was never enough time to accomplish anything in only one day”. Maui wanted to allow his mother to have more daylight to make bark cloth and his brothers to have the time for all their village duties and for hunting and fishing.

Thinking about what to do he vame with an idea: what if the Sun were moving slower across the sky? There would be more hours of light in one day, right? “So, it is said that Maui cut off the sacred tresses of his wife, Hina, “to make a rope that would not burn in the Sun.” This rope he used to catch “the Sun as it was rising and beat it with the magic jawbone of his grandmother (in some versions it was his special axe).” (source: https://www.windows2universe.org/mythology/maui_sun.html) “The Sun, who was raging at being held captive, struggled and roared. Then Maui knew he had to do something more than just hold the Sun in the net so he yelled to one of his brothers to take his end of the rope.”

“The Sun roared even louder. ‘What are you doing? Are you trying to kill me?’ he screamed. ‘No. I am not trying to kill you,’ answered Maui, ‘but you don’t understand. You go too fast across the sky, and we are all unable to do our daily work. We need more hours of light in our days for hunting and fishing, for building and repairing our village houses.’

“‘Well,’ said the Sun, ‘you have given me such a battering that I don’t think I could speed across the sky now, even if I wanted to.’ ‘If we release you,’ said Maui, ‘will you promise to slow your journey down?’ ‘You have so weakened me that now I can only go slowly,’ answered the Sun.

“Maui made him solemnly promise to do what he had asked and then he released the ropes. Maui’s brothers and the men of the tribe watched as the Sun, slowly and stiffly, began to lift into the sky. They all smiled at Maui - they were proud of him.

“To this day, the Sun travels on his long lonely path across the sky at a very slow pace, giving us many more hours of sunlight than he used to do.“ (source: Solar-Folklore.pdf by Deborah Scherrer).

In one other tale, Maui desired the art of making fire, so, stole a hen from heaven because fire was guarded by the celestial chicken.

According to one myth, Maui was making an earth oven when his poker got stuck in the sky, as he was always trying to impress women. At that time, the sky was much lower than it is now, so, to get more room, Maui simply pushed the sky up.

Hina

Hina (variations of the name Hina include Sina, Hanaiakamalama, and Ina) is a name assigned to a number of Polynesian deities, the name Hina usually relating to a powerful female force (typically a goddess or queen) who has dominion over a specific entity. “Even within a single culture, Hina could refer to multiple goddesses and the distinction between the different identities are not always clear.” For example, “in Hawaiian mythology, the name is usually paired with words which explain or identify the goddess and her power such as Hina-puku-iʻa (Hina-gathering-seafood) the goddess of fishermen, and Hina-ʻopu-hala-koʻa who gave birth to all reef life.”(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hina_(goddess)_)

Continuing to be a figure worshiped in many of the Polynesian religions Hina’s stories serve as traditions that unite Polynesia, specifically the Hawaiian Islands.

“Among the iwi of New Zealand, Hina is usually considered to be either the elder sister or the wife of Māui.”

The most common story that presents Hina as the wife of Māui tells of the father of all eels, Te Tunaroa, who one day visited the pool where Hina bathed starting to facy her. He kept visiting the place to meet Hina. One day, as Hina was bathing, the eel-god rubbed against her, this occurring over a number of visits until Te Tunaroa grew bold enough to rub against Hina’s genitals, molesting her. Māui heard of this act and attacked Te Tunaroa cutting his body into bits. “The tail landed in the sea and became the conger eel, whereas the other end landed in the swamps as the fresh water eels. Smaller pieces became lamprey and hagfish.” (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hina_(goddess)_)

America

(- from Solar-Folklore by Deborah Scherrer -)

Southeastern United States _ Cherokee_

Creation of Light

“When the Earth was dry, the animals came down. It was still dark, so they got the Sun and set it in a track to go across the island east to west every day. It was too hot this way and the Red Crawfish had his shell scorched to a bright red and it spoiled the meat. The Cherokee do not eat it. The conjurers raised the Sun again and again seven times until it was right and left it there. Every day the Sun goes along this arch and returns at night to the starting place.” (source: Solar-Folklore.pdf by Deborah Scherrer)

Pacific Northwest _ Tsimshian Tribe _

One Who Walks all Over the Sky

“Back when the sky was completely dark there was a chief with two sons, a younger son, One Who Walks All Over the Sky, and an older son, Walking About Early. The younger son was sad to see the sky always so dark so he made a mask out of wood and pitch (the Sun) and lit it on fire. Each day he travels across the sky. At night he sleeps below the horizon and when he snores sparks fly from the mask and make the stars. The older brother became jealous. To impress their father he smeared fat and charcoal on his face (the Moon) and makes his own path across the sky.” (source: Solar-Folklore.pdf by Deborah Scherrer)

Tenessee, North Carolina

Sun and Her Daughter

As the Sun traveled across the sky she would stop in the middle each day to have dinner at her daughter’s house.

Now the Sun hated people because they would always squint when they looked at her. “They screw up their faces at me!” she told her brother the Moon. “I like them,” said the Moon, “they always smile at me.” The Sun was jealous and decided she would kill the people by sending a fever. Many people were dying and those remaining decided they would have to kill the Sun. With some magic, one of the people was turned into a rattlesnake and sent to wait by the daughter’s door, to bite the Sun when she stopped for dinner. But when the daughter opened the door to look for her mother, the snake bit her instead. The snake returned to Earth with the Sun still alive and the daughter dead. When the Sun discovered what had happened she shut herself up in the house and grieved. The people no longer had the fever but now it was cold and dark. So, seven people were chosen to visit the land where ghosts dance to see if they could retrieve the daughter. As she danced past them they struck her with rods so she fell down, then they trapped her in a box. On the trip home she complained of not being able to breathe so they opened the lid just a crack. She became a redbird and escaped, flying back to the land of ghosts. Seeing the seven people return empty handed, the Sun began to cry. This caused a great flood. To amuse the Sun and stop the flood, the people danced. This is why the people do the Sun dance to this very day.”

Alberta _ Canada _

The Theft from the Sun

“Once Old Man was traveling around, when he came to the Sun’s lodge, and the Sun asked him to stay awhile. Old Man was very glad to do so. One day the meat was all done, and the Sun said, “Kyi! Old Man, what say you we go and kill some deer?” “You speak well,” replied Old Man. “I like deer meat.”

The Sun took down a bag and pulled out a beautiful pair of leggings. They were embroidered with porcupine quills and bright feathers. “These,” said the Sun, “are my hunting leggings. They are great medicine. All I have to do is put them on and walk around a patch of brush, when the leggings set it on fire and drive the deer out so I can shoot them.” “Hai-yah!” exclaimed Old Man. “How wonderful!” He made up his mind he would have those leggings, even if he had to steal them.

They went out to hunt, and the first patch of brush they came to, the Sun set on fire with his hunting leggings. A lot of white-tail deer ran out, and they each shot one. That night,when they went to bed, the Sun pulled off his leggings and placed them to one side.

Old Man saw where he put them, and in the middle of the night, when everyone else was asleep, he stole them and went off. He traveled a long time, until he had gone far and was very tired and then, making a pillow of the leggings, lay down and slept.

In the morning, he heard someone talking. The Sun was saying, “Old Man, why are my leggings under your head? He looked around, and saw he was in the Sun’s lodge, and thought he must have wandered around and got lost, and returned there. Again the Sun spoke, and said, “What are you doing with my leggings?” “Oh,” replied Old Man, “I couldn’t find anything for a pillow, so I just put these under my head.”

Night came again, and again Old Man stole the leggings and ran off. This time he did not walk at all, he just kept running until pretty near morning, and then lay down and slept.

You see what a fool he was. He did not know that the whole world is the Sun’s lodge. He did not know that, no matter how far he ran, he could not get out of Sun’s sight.

When morning came, he found himself still in the Sun’s lodge. But this time the Sun said: “Old Man, since you like my leggings so much, I will give them to you. Keep them.”

Then Old Man was very glad and went away.

One day his food was all gone, so he put on the medicine leggings and set fire to a piece of brush. He was just going to kill one deer that was running out when he saw that the fire was getting close to him. He ran away as fast as he could but the fire gained on him and began to burn his legs. His leggings were all on fire. He came to a river and jumped in, and pulled off the leggings as soon as he could. They were burned to pieces.

Perhaps the Sun did this to him because he tried to steal his leggings.”

Northwest _ Tsimshian Tribe _

Raven and the Sun

“Once the sky had no day. When the sky was clear there was some light from the stars but when it was cloudy it was very dark. Raven had put fish in the rivers and fruit trees in the land but he was saddened by the darkness. The Sun at that time was kept in a box by a chief in the sky. The Raven came to a hole in the sky and went through. He came to a spring where the chief’s daughter would fetch water.

He changed himself into a cedar seed and floated on the water. When the girl drank from spring she swallowed the seed without noticing and became pregnant. A boy child wasborn which was really Raven. As a toddler he begged to play with the yellow ball that grandfather kept in a box. He was allowed to play with the Sun and when the chief looked away he turned back into Raven and flew back through the hole in the sky, bringing the Sun to our world.” (source: Solar-Folklore.pdf_ by Deborah Scherrer - Source: Legend courtesy of Starlore of Native America, assembled by Brad Snowder)

Michigan _ Winnebago (Hotcak) _

Little Brother Snares the Sun

“In the old days people were not the chiefs and did not hunt animals. Animals were the chiefs and hunted people. They killed all the people except one girl and her little brother. They hid in a cave. The boy learned to kill snowbirds with a bow and arrow and made a robe from the feathers. They made soup from the bodies of the birds and that was the first time people ate meat. The bright Sun ruined the robe one day and the little brother swore revenge. His sister helped him fashion a snare. He traveled to the hole in the ground where the Sun rises every morning. As the Sun rose he snared it and tied it up so that there was no light or warmth that day. The animals were afraid and amazed by the boy.

They sent the biggest and most fearsome animal to try to free the Sun. This was Door Mouse, who in those days was as big as a mountain. The mouse chewed through the snare freeing the Sun but meanwhile the intense heat shrunk him down to his present size.

Since that time the people have been the chiefs and the hunters.”

Central America

“Huitzilopochtli, whose name means “Blue Hummingbird on the Left,” was the Aztec god of the Sun, war, and human sacrifice. The people had to make sacrifices to him to protect the Aztec from infinite night.

There are several mythologies describing Huitzilopochtli’s beginnings. One story tells of the cosmic creation and Huitzilopochtli’s role. According to this legend, he was the smallest son of four—his parents being the creator couple Tonacatecutli and Tonacacihuatl while his brothers were Quetzalcoatl and the 2 Tezcatlipocas. His mother and father instructed both him and Quetzalcoatl to bring order to the world. And so, together they created the Sun, the Earth, fire, and the first male and female humans.

Another story relates that his mother Coatlicue became pregnant with Huitzilopochtli when a ball of feathers fell from the heaven and touched her. Huitzilopochtli’s 400 siblings thought that their mother Coatlicue had dishonored them with her mysterious pregnancy. One sister of Huitzilopochtli, Coyolxauhq, encouraged her sisters and brothers to kill their mother Coatlicue. However, Huitzilopochtli burst forth from his mother’s womb in full armor and fully grown. He attacked his older brothers and sister, defending his mother by beheading the sister and casting her head into the sky to become the Moon. He then chased after his brothers, who fled from him and became scattered all over the sky. Hence Huitzilopochtli is seen as the Sun in mythology, while his many male siblings are perceived as the stars and his sister as the moon. In the Aztec worldview, this is the why the Sun is constantly chasing the Moon and stars. It is also why it was so important to provide tribute and thus sustenance for the Sun. If Huitzilopochtli did not have enough strength to battle his siblings, they would destroy their mother and thus the world.

Anthony Aveni explains it this way: “The Aztecs were a people with a mission – they needed to keep the universe going. Believing themselves to be allied with the sun god, they waged a continuous battle against the forces of darkness, seeking to provide him with the precious liquid derived from the bodies of sacrificial victims that would propel him on his way. To avert cosmic disaster, the Aztecs waged constant warfare against the communities surrounding their capital city of Tenochtiatlan. There they attained their supply of human hearts to fuel their light-bearing deity. It all goes back to the creation of the world by the gods of Teotihuacan who threw themselves into the cosmic fire to beckon the sun to rise, and to the man-god Quetzalcoatl. He was the one who fashioned the first humans from the ground-up bones of those who had lived in previous creations, cementing them together with blood shed from his member.” This is the nature of Aztec militaristic cosmology.”

New Mexico, Arizona _ Zuni Tribe _

Coyote and Eagle Steal the Sun and Moon

“Back when it was always dark, it was also always summer. Coyote and Eagle went hunting. Coyote was a poor hunter because of the dark. They came to the Kachinas, a powerful people. The Kachinas had the Sun and the Moon in a box. After the people had gone to sleep the two animals stole the box. At first Eagle carried the box but Coyote convinced his friend to let him carry it. The curious Coyote opened the box and the Sun and Moon escaped and flew up to the sky. This gave light to the land but it also took away much of the heat, thus we now have winter.”

Boy and the Sun

Northern Arizona _ Hopi Tribe _

“A boy once lived with his mother’s mother for he didn’t know who his father was. His grandmother said to ask the Sun about his father, surely the Sun would know. One morning the boy made a flour of crushed tortoise shell, cornmeal, coral, and seashells. He threw the flour upwards and it made a path into the sky (Milky Way). He climbed the path and when he found the Sun he asked “Who is my father?” and the Sun replied, “You have much to learn.” The boy fell to Earth. He then made a wooden box from a Cottonwood tree and sealed himself in it as it floated west down a river to find the Sun again. The box washed ashore where two rivers join. He was freed from the box by a young female rattlesnake. Together they traveled west to find the Sun. They saw a meteor fall into the sea on its way to the Sun’s house. They asked it for a ride. In this way they made it to the Sun’s house. There they met the Sun’s mother (the Moon) who was working on a piece of turquoise. That evening when the Sun came home from his days work, the boy asked again, “Who is my father?” And then the Sun replied “I think I am.” (source: Solar-Folklore.pdf by Deborah Scherrer)

Tennessee, North _Cherokee Tribe _

Spider and the Sun

“In the beginning there was only darkness and people kept bumping into each other. Fox said that people on the other side of the world had plenty of light but were too greedy to share it. Possum went over there to steal a little piece of the light. He found the Sun hanging in a tree, lighting everything up. He took a tiny piece of the Sun and hid it in the fur of his tail. The heat burned the fur off his tail. That is why possums have bald tails. Buzzard tried next. He tried to hide a piece of Sun in the feathers of his head. That is why buzzards have bald heads. Grandmother Spider tried next. She made a clay bowl. Then she spun a web (Milky Way) across the sky reaching to the other side of the world. She snatched up the whole Sun in the clay bowl and took it back home to our side of the world.” (source: Solar-Folklore.pdf by Deborah Scherrer)

Southwest America _ Navajo Tribe _

Tsohanoai, the Navaho Sun God

“For the Navajo Indians of North America, Tsohanoai is the Sun god. Every day, he crosses the sky, carrying the Sun on his back. At night, Tsohanoai lets the Sun rest by hanging it on a peg in his house. Tsohanoai’s two children Nayenezgani (Killer of Enemies) and Tobadzistsini (Child of Water) were separated from their father and lived with their mother in the far West. Once they were older, they tried to find their father, hoping he could help them fight the evil spirits tormenting mankind. They met Spider Woman, who gave them two feathers to keep them safe on their journey. Finally, they found Tsohanoai’s house, and he gave them magic arrows to fight off the evil monsters, Anaye.” (source: Solar-Folklore.pdf by Deborah Scherrer)

Brazil

Kuat

The sun god for the Mamaiurans is Kuat. The Mamaiurans is an Amazon Indian tribe that lives in Brazil. Legend has it that in the beginning of time there were so many birds in the sky that their wings prevented the daylight from being seen, thus being always night and people being forced to live in fear of attack from wild animals. Tired of all this darkness, “two Mamaiuran heroes, Iae and his brother Kuat, decided to force the king of the birds, Urubutsin, to give back some of the daylight. The two brothers hid themselves inside a dead animal And waited until the birds approached. As soon as Urubutsin landed, Kuat grabbed Urubutsin’s leg. Unable to get away, Urubutsin was forced to make an agreement with the two brothers.” (source: https://www.windows2universe.org/mythology/kuat.html) It is so that he birds would share daylight with the Mamaiurans, and day would alternate with night.

In this culture, Kuat represented the Sun and Iae represented the Moon.

Peru

The largest empire in pre-Columbian America was The Inca Empire. Being an advanced and mostly peaceful group of people, the Inca were living in the area of what is now Peru.They venerated their dead, considering the royal family to be semi-divine, descended from the Sun. The Sun god and the ancestor of the Incas was considered to be Inti.

Inti

“Inti and his wife Pachamama, the Earth goddess, were regarded as benevolent deities (source: Solar-Folklore - Deborah Scherrer)”, the Inti’s wife being the Moon. An ancient Inca myth tells that Inti was the one who taught his son Manco Capac and his daughter Mama Ocollo the arts of civilization, sending them to the Earth to instruct mankind about what they had learned. “He had ordered his children to build the Inca capital where a divine golden wedge they carried with them would fall to the ground.” It was Incas belief that this happened in the area of Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Incan world. Celebrated even today in Peru during the Festival of Inti Raimi in Cuzco, Inti remains an important deity to the Peruvian people. Inti Raymi is Latin America’s second largest festival, meaning “Resurrection of the Sun”. (It is celebrated every year on June 24th).

Cavicalla

In Peruvian mythology, “Coniraya, the moon god, is said to have shaped his sperm into the likeness of a fruit which Cavillaca, a virgin goddess, unwittingly ate, thereby becoming pregnant - she bore a son.” Called all the gods together she demanded to know who was the boy’s father but when no one owned up “she placed the boy on the ground whereupon he crawled toward Coniraya.” Ashamed because the moon god was the poorest and seediest of all the gods, Cavicalla grabbed her son and ran away. As she reached the coast of Peru “she changed her son and herself to rocks.”

(source: http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/names/peruvian-goddesses.htm)

Greenland _ Inuit people _

Igaluk & Malina

The solar deity in Inuit religion is Malina. The legends of Greenland that link her closely with the lunar deity Anningan (also called Igaluk), her brother are those in which she is most commonly found.As a result of a strife, Malina is constantly fleeing from Anningan (legends vary as to the cause). “Their constant chase is the traditional explanation for the movement of the Sun and Moon through the sky.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malina_(mythology)_)

Igaluk and his sister Malina lived together in a village. When young, they were very close when, but came to live apart as they grew older, in the lodges for women and for men. “One day, as Igaluk looked at the women, he found that his older sister was the most beautiful, and so that night, when the lamp went out in the women’s dwelling, he crept in and found her by recognising the feel and texture of her clothes. Since that night, Igaluk mated with his older sister many times. As it was dark, Malina was never able to tell who the man was, but one night she covered her hands with the soot from the oil lamps and smeared his face with it. Afterwards, she took a lamp and looked through the skylight of the men’s lodge to identify the man who took her. Upon learning the fact that it was her own younger brother, Igaluk, who had been enjoying her, Malina became red and hot with shame. After confronting him about it, she ran away out the door, grabbing a torch as she went. Igaluk chased after her, likewise taking a torch, and followed her path. However, he tripped and dropped his torch, and the flame was put out, except for a faint glow. Eventually however, Igaluk caught up to his sister, and the two ran so fast that they took off into the sky and became the moon and the sun. Once every while Igaluk managed to catch up with his older sister, Malina, and enjoy a brief union with her, causing a solar eclipse.” (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malina_(mythology)_)

Asia

The Middle East

Sumeria

“The Sumerians (c 3000 BC to 1400 BC) were some of the very first Sun worshipers in recorded history (they were living in the region of Mesopotamia that corresponds to the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers).” (source: Solar-Folklore by Deborah Scherrer).

Part of an astral triad of divinities, Shamash, (Akkadian), Sumerian Utu, in Mesopotamian religion, was the god of the sun, who, with the moon god, Sin (Sumerian: Nanna), and Ishtar (Sumerian: Inanna), the goddess of Venus. “Shamash was the son of Sin.”(source: www.britannica.com/topic/Shamash).

Every divinity in Sumerian culture is imagined as a celestial being. “Within the culture there existed two triads of gods, the first were considered great gods while the second triad, the triad of Planetary gods, included the Sun god named Utu. Utu was not considered to be a great god. The other two gods of the Planetary triad were named Nanna - Suen (the Moon) and Inanna (Venus).” (source: Solar-Folklore by Deborah Scherrer).

Shamash

As the solar deity, Shamash exercised the power of light over darkness and evil. “He became known as the god of justice and equity and was the judge of both gods and men. (According to legend, the Babylonian king Hammurabi received his code of laws from Shamash.)”. At night, Shamash became judge of the underworld as well.

Often pictured with a disk that symbolized the Sun, “Shamash was not only the god of justice but also governor of the whole universe; in this aspect he having been pictured seated on a throne, holding in his hand the symbols of justice and righteousness, a staff and a ring. Also associated with Shamash is the notched dagger.”

“As the god of the sun, Shamash was the heroic conqueror of night and death who swept across the heavens on horseback or, in some representations, in a boat or chariot. He bestowed light and life. Because he was of a heroic and wholly ethical character, he only rarely figured in mythology, where the gods behaved all too often like mortals. The chief centres of his cult were at Larsa in Sumer and at Sippar in Akkad. Shamash’s consort was Aya, who was later absorbed by Ishtar.” _ (source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shamash).

Sin

The Sumerian Moon god was Sin. Worshipped in the city of Ur, Sin was the descendant of the sky god An. “His parents were the air god Enlil and the grain goddess Ninlil. The high priest of his temple, chosen from the royal family, was viewed as Sin’s spouse. Sin was depicted as a “fierce young bull, thick of horns, perfect of limbs, with a beautiful bird of blue”.

The Moon god had several different names that referred to different phases of the Moon. The name Sin indicated the crescent Moon, Nanna the full Moon, and Asimbabbar the beginning of each lunar cycle.”

As Enil got banished by the assembly of the gods to live in the underworld when Ninlil realized she was pregnant, she decided to follow him to the world of the dead to let him witness the birth of his child. “They gave their next three children to the gods so that Sin could ascend to the heavens to light the night sky.” (source: https://www.windows2universe.org/mythology/sin_moon.html)

Islam

Islam shares the creation myth of Judaism and Christianity, the Qur’an stating that God created the world and the cosmos. He made all the creatures that walk,crawl, swim and fly on the face of the Earth from water. He also made the angels, and the Sun, the Moon and the stars to dwell in the universe, and he poured down the rain in torrents, and broke up the soil to bring forth corn, grapes, and other vegetation (the olive and the palm, the fruit trees and the grass).

China

According to Chinese mythology, Hou Yi is considered to be the greatest archer of all time. Best known for marrying the moon goddess, Chang’e, and for shooting down nine of the ten suns, he was once an immortal who lived in the Jade Emperor’s palace where he made the decision of becoming human in order to help humanity in times of need.

Hou Yi and the Ten Suns

“In a time when the earth was still very young and the mythical Emperor Yao ruled China, there were ten suns that took turns illuminating the planet. The Jade Emperor told them that only one of them could play in the sky at a time, lest they destroy the earth. Being young children, however, they decided that going out together would be much more fun than going out alone.

“When all ten suns appeared in the sky, the temperature on earth became unbearably hot. Mass chaos ensued. Crops shriveled up and people fainted in the streets as the earth began to burn. Seeing an opportunity, wild monsters emerged from the shadows and began to prey on humanity.

“A skilled archer named Hou Yi saw the destruction the suns were causing and immediately went to the Jade Emperor. He told the Emperor that if the suns would not behave themselves, he would have to shoot them down in order to save the planet.

“Fearing for the lives of his grandchildren, the Jade Emperor scolded them and begged them to return home. The suns were having so much fun, however, that they could not hear the Emperor over the sound of their own laughter. Though the Jade Emperor loved his grandchildren, he could see that there was no reasoning with them. At long last, he gave Hou Yi permission to do what must be done.

“Armed with a massive bow made of tiger bones and arrows made of dragon tendons, Hou Yi set about slaying the monsters terrorizing the countryside. When he was finished, he climbed to the top of a tall mountain to confront the suns directly.

“Before he began to shoot, Hou Yi gave the children a final warning and pleaded for them to return to the Emperor’s palace. Upon hearing this warning, the suns simply stuck their tongues out at Hou Yi and told him to mind his own business. Steeling himself, Hou Yi drew back his bow and loosed nine arrows upon the suns. Almost instantly, nine of them fell from the sky. The tenth sun was so scared that he ran away and hid in a cave.

“The earth was now plunged into unbearable darkness and cold. Every living thing on the planet begged the last sun to come out, but he was so scared of Hou Yi that he covered his ears and ignored them. After everyone else had tried to coax the sun out, the rooster climbed to the top of his roost and shouted, “Gēgē! Gēgē!” or “Brother!” The rooster’s loud, shrill voice was able to reach the sun, and he finally decided to emerge from his cave. Now, whenever roosters crow “brother” in the morning, the sun rises to greet them.”

“Chang’e Drinks the Elixir of Immortality

“To reward him for his valiant deeds, Xiwangmu gave Hou Yi a bottle of her elixir of immortality so that he might return to the Jade Emperor’s palace as a god. The gift left Hou Yi feeling conflicted. While he wanted to be immortal, he did not want to leave his wife Chang’e to die alone. He hid the elixir away while he pondered his decision.

“Before Hou Yi was able to decide, however, Chang’e stole the vial from him while he was sleeping. She drank the contents of the bottle and fled to the moon to escape her husband’s wrath. Hou Yi was so upset with his wife that he aimed an arrow at her, intending to shoot her down; in the end, he could not bring himself to do it. After some time his anger had passed and Hou Yi started to leave out Chang’e’s favorite desserts and fruit each night to show that he had forgiven her. Hou Yi’s actions started a tradition that has continued into the modern era. Even today, people leave offerings to Chang’e during the annual Mid-Autumn Festival.” (source: https://mythopedia.com/chinese-mythology/gods/hou-yi/)

Folk Tale: How the Moon Became Beautiful

[published in Chinese Fables and Folk Stories (1908), translated by Mary Hayes Davis and Chow-Leung]

“The Moon is very beautiful with his round, bright face which shines with soft and gentle light on all the world of man. But once there was a time when he was not so beautiful as he is now. Six thousand years ago the face of the Moon became changed in a single night. Before that time his face had been so dark and gloomy that no one liked to look at him, and for this reason he was always very sad.

One day he complained to the flowers and to the stars—for they were the only things that would ever look in his face.

He said, “I do not like to be the Moon. I wish I were a star or a flower. If I were a star, even the smallest one, some great general would care for me; but alas! I am only the Moon and no one likes me. If I could only be a flower and grow in a garden where the beautiful earth women come, they would place me in their hair and praise my fragrance and beauty. Or, if I could even grow in the wilderness where no one could see, the birds would surely come and sing sweet songs for me. But I am only the Moon and no one honors me.”

The stars answered and said, “We can not help you. We were born here and we can not leave our places. We never had any one to help us. We do our duty, we work all the day and twinkle in the dark night to make the skies more beautiful.—But that is all we can do,” they added, as they smiled coldly at the sorrowful Moon.

Then the flowers smiled sweetly and said, “We do not know how we can help you. We live always in one place—in a garden near the most beautiful maiden in all the world. As she is kind to every one in trouble we will tell her about you. We love her very much and she loves us. Her name is Tseh-N’io.” Still the Moon was sad. So one evening he went to see the beautiful maiden Tseh-N’io. And when he saw her he loved her at once. He said, “Your face is very beautiful. I wish that you would come to me, and that my face would be as your face. Your motions are gentle and full of grace. Come with me and we will be as one—and perfect. I know that even the worst people in all the world would have only to look at you and they would love you. Tell me, how did you come to be so beautiful?”

“I have always lived with those who were gentle and happy, and I believe that is the cause of beauty and goodness,” answered Tseh-N’io.

How the Moon Became BeautifulAnd so the Moon went every night to see the maiden. He knocked on her window, and she came. And when he saw how gentle and beautiful she was, his love grew stronger, and he wished more and more to be with her always.

One day Tseh-N’io said to her mother, “I should like to go to the Moon and live always with him. Will you allow me to go?”

Her mother thought so little of the question that she made no reply, and Tseh-N’io told her friends that she was going to be the Moon’s bride.

In a few days she was gone. Her mother searched everywhere but could not find her. And one of Tseh-N’io’s friends said,—”She has gone with the Moon, for he asked her many times.”

A year and a year passed by and Tseh-N’io, the gentle and beautiful earth maiden, did not return. Then the people said, “She has gone forever. She is with the Moon.”

The face of the Moon is very beautiful now. It is happy and bright and gives a soft, gentle light to all the world. And there are those who say that the Moon is now like Tseh-N’io, who was once the most beautiful of all earth maidens.”

(source: https://americanliterature.com/author/anonymous/short-story/how-the-moon-became-beautiful)

Japan

Amaterasu was the Sun goddess of the oldest Japanese religion, Shinto, the one born from Izanagi’s tears falling from his left eye, playing an important role in Japanese culture.

It is said that she had married her brother Tsukiyoumi-no-mikoto (the Moon God - born from Izanagi’s tears shed for his wife, Izanamy, falling from his right eye) and lived together for a while but then, after a strife, they separated. Not long after the first fight with her brother, Tsukiyomi no mikoto, a second conflict was to happen, this time between Amaterasu o mi kami and Susanoo no mikoto, the terrible man, who, after being born showed discontent to the mission he was invested with, the one of reigning over the world of darkness. He very much wanted to live next to his sister in the upper world, the High Skies’ Plain (Takama ga hara) where the goddess of the sun was so, he climbed up there pretending that he was going to bid farewell to his sister. Only afterwards was he to go down into the world of darkness where Izanami no mikoto, Izanagi’s wife was. Mistrustful, Amaterasu prepared herself for a battle. She tied her hair like a man and put jewelry on, counting 500 jewels of Yasaka down her neck adding also a few bracelets but also took a bow and a bag of a thousand arrows and another one with five hundred arrows. Being thus prepared for a battle she strongly hit the ground with her foot creating a trench great enough to serve as a defense mechanism. The gods disagreeing with the violent bloody confrontation announced so they agreed that a competition between the two was more of an appropriate action. They were about to give birth, each of them, to as many gods they could and the winner was going to be the one who gives birth to more children-gods. Their covenant happened on the two shores of the celestial river, Ame no yasu gawara, the one that parted the sky in two halves. Found on opposite shores, they began. Susanoo offered his sword to his sister who broke it in three. She washed the three parts of the sword in the fountain Ama no mana-i, chewed them and exhaled a breath like a luminous fog from which three female-gods appeared. At his turn, Susanoo took from his sister five bow-chords along with the jewels she was wearing, broke them with his teeth breathing out a luminous steam from which five masculine deities got born. But Susanoo was not going to win since Amaterasu considered herself victorious claiming the five deities as hers since they were born from her jewelry. Unsatisfied with the results of the competition, Susanoo no mikoto outraged the gods with his blameworthy actions. First, he destroyed the fields of rice of Amaterasu compromising the crops. Then he burst into the Sacred Palace where Amaterasu with other goddesses were making robes for the gods. The divine weavers panicked as he took with him a raw striped horse that was already dead that he threw in the middle of the group. One of the weavers, a sister to Amaterasu, hurt herself with the shuttle and died. Upset with these events Amaterasu o mi kami dressed her brilliant robe and ran away disappearing in the blue of the skies looking for Ame no iwato, a cave in which she stood hidden for quite a while, leaving the world in complete darkness. Immediately after the retreat of the goddess into the cave of the mountain a council of gods convened, tried to find the solution to this new problem. A lot of cocks were brought to the entrance of the cave. A large sakaki tree was also planted in front of the cave and jewels were placed on its branches; in the middle, a new mirror placed and down below two fabrics, one of them blue, the other white; also many other offerings were brought to please the goddess. In the end Ame no Uzume no mikoto, the goddess of dance appeared and pleased the gods with her erotic dance saying loud that another goddess, a better one was found to replace Amaterasu. Curious about all this Amaterasu o mi kami comes to the surface and is taken out by a daring strong god, Ame no tojikarao. Another god placed a long rope made of straw behind to prevent her from going inside again and a third one blocked the cave with a boulder. This is how the light was brought back to Earth and to the entire Universe. The gods then decided to punish Susanoo; they shaved his beared and cut his moustache then threw him out of the sky. All the offerings brought to the goddess were transformed in seeds that were planted by another divinity and put to the use of humans. At the same time the silk-worms appeared, also put to the use of humans. The ambitious Amaterasu thought to send to Izumo, to reign over the area, her son, Ama no oshiho mimi but, before he left he looked over the floating bridge and saw disorders among the people where was reigning then a son of Susanoo no mikoto. The god refused to go and take over the region. All the Eight hundred milion gods were called then and the god that gathers thoughts, Takami musubi, decided that a messenger was to be sent first. This one had to discover what was going on in the “world of rice crops”. The choice was the persona of the god Ama no ho-hi. He and other messengers disappointed the gods because they let themselves lured into taking personal advantages in Izumo getting married to local deities. Eventually Amaterasu’s wish that some of her descendants reigned over Izumo was fulfilled as she was asked to sent to Earth a nephew of hers, Ninigi no mikoto. When he left she offered him the jewels of the sky (magatama from Yasakuni), the renowned sword Kusanagi no tsurugi found by Susanoo in the tail of the eight-headed dragon, killed by the god himself, and the mirror (yata no kagami) that was put in the middle of the sakaki tree and which attracted the goddess out the cave. Moreover, a number of trustful god-attendants was formed, among which Ame no Uzume. Before they left, Amaterasu held a discourse: “The luxuriant country of the reed plains is the one in which our descendants are reigning as monarchs. Go, then, imperial nephew, and reign over it for the age to come. Our imperial line shall continue uninterrupted and may it forever be prosperous like the earth and the sky.” (rephrased by Theodora Oniceanu: excerpt from “Moons of Amaterasu”, text created using the “Japanese Mythological Thesaurus” by Octavian Simu)

India

Surya (also known as Aditya) is the Hindu god of the Sun, being considered the creator of the universe and the source of all life, the supreme soul who brings light and warmth to the world. “Each day he travels across the sky in his golden chariot pulled by seven horses and driven by red Aruna, a personification of Dawn.” This god’s most famous temple is at Konarak in Orissa, in north-east India. He was also worshipped across the Indian subcontinent. “Still an important figure in Hinduism today, he is also a minor deity in Buddhism.” (sourse: https://www.ancient.eu/Surya/)

Known by many alternative names and epithets which include Vivasvat (Brilliant), Savitr (the Nourisher), Bhaskara (Light-maker), Dinakara (Day-maker), Lokacaksuh (Eye of the World), Graharaja (King of the Constellations), and Sahasra-kirana (Of a 1,000 rays), Surya’s function is later replaced in the Hindu pantheon by Vishnu, who is referred to as Surya-Narayana in his incarnation as the sun.

Surya was thought to ride his chariot across the sky and defeat the demons of darkness, being represented as such in a doorway relief at the 2nd-century BCE Buddhist cave temples and monk cells of Bhaja, Shunga in western India.

“According to some myths Surya is the son of Kasyapa (a Vedic sage) and Aditi (Infinite Heavens), in others he is the offspring of Dyaus (Sky), and in still others his father is Brahma. Surya had three offspring with Samjna or Sanjña (Conscience), the daughter of Visvakarma. These were Vaivasvata (one of the 14 original men or Manu), Yama (god of the dead), and Yami (goddess of the Yamuna river).”(source: https://www.ancient.eu/Surya/)

“Sanjña’s story is told in the Mahabharata, the great epic poem of India. Her husband was Lord Surya, the king of our solar system. He’s not just some historical figure who died thousands of years ago. You can go outside any time during the day and see him riding slowly across the sky in the blazing ball of light we Westerners call the Sun. His Sanskrit name, Surya, comes from the root “sur”, which means “to shine.”

“Surya was a faithful and devoted husband, but Sanjña couldn’t bear to be near him as he shone so brightly she couldn’t look at him. So, one day she asked her maid Chhaya (whose name means “shadow” and who looked quite a bit like Sanjña) to secretly take her place, and she slipped away to Earth to live anonymously in our world.

“Chhaya enjoyed posing as the queen. She even had a son with Lord Surya: the planet Saturn, who was slow-moving, rather glum, and not very bright at all. Still Chhaya doted on him and neglected Sanjña’s children. They finally reported her to their father. “Mom just isn’t herself,” they told him. “She ignores us completely. She only plays with Saturn!”

“Surya’s suspicions were aroused. So when he got home at the end of the day he would watch her closely, and sure enough, she was only a shadow of her old self. Eventually he realized, to his shock, that this wasn’t his wife at all! “Who are you?” he demanded. “What have you done with Sanjña?” “Chhaya was terrified - Surya usually glowed with magnanimity, but at times like this he could be formidable. So she told him the painful truth - that his wife had found his presence unbearable and deserted him.

“Surya rushed to the Earth to seek out his beloved. He found her trotting in a pasture in the form of a mare, so he took the shape of a stallion and went galloping after her. When he caught up he nuzzled her muzzle, breathing into her nostrils. Sanjña thereby got pregnant, and soon two sons, the Ashvins, were born. You can see them on a clear night: they’re the two bright stars in the head of the constellation Aries. “But Sanjña wasn’t eager to return to heaven. “You hurt my eyes!” she complained to Surya. “You’re just too bright!”

“In hopes of persuading Sanjña to take him back, Surya enlisted the help of his father-inlaw, Vishvakarman, the great architect whose masterwork is our universe. “It’s not proper for a wife to abandon her husband and children,” he scolded. But Sanjña was adamant: she was staying on Earth, where she was more comfortable. “Finally Vishvakarman came up with the perfect compromise - he invited the Sun to lie down on his lathe, and carefully sawed off much of Lord Surya’s light. Then he sent his pared-down son-in-law to Sanjña. When she caught sight of her husband she could scarcely believe her eyes. “You’re the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen!” she exclaimed. The dazzling couple returned to heaven and lived happily ever after.” (source: Solar-Folklore.pdf_ by Deborah Scherrer).

Garuda

In the an ancient Indian mythology Garuda is a creature, believed to be a devourer of serpents and the king of the birds. His body, half man and half eagle, is often depicted in Hindu mythology as flying across the sky carrying the supreme god Vishnu and his wife Lakshmi.

“In some Hindu stories it is said to represent the Sun’s rays. His father was one of the seven great sages, the Rishis. It is told that Garuda stole the water of life from Indra. In the battle to get it back, Indra had his thunderbolt broken by the flying creature.” (source: https://www.windows2universe.org/mythology/garuda.html)

Chandra

Chandra, the son of Rishi Atri and Ansuya, is the god of the Moon in Hindi mythology. He is a lunar deity, also called Soma. Chandra is one of the Navagrahas presiding over Monday. He is also regarded as a fertility god. Other names for Chandra are Rajanipati, Indu and Kshuparaka.

Legend has it that Ansuya (the mother) welcomed the Trideva in her hut, as they were desguised as beggars. They asked for the food to be served immediately as they couldn’t wait for Atri to arrive home. But their request was unusual as they asked for the food to be served to then disrobed. Certain of her husband’s spiritual strength, Ansuya did so but when she entered the room she found three babies instead of the three beggars. When Atri came home he found her with the three babies and “realized that they were none other than the Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. The Trideva assumed their real forms and Atri greeted them with folded hands. The Trideva requested Ansuya to ask for a boon. She asked that Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva actually become their children. They granted the boon and vanished. After some time, three sons were born to Atri and Ansuya: Dattatreya, Chandra, and Durvasa. Dattatreya was Vishnu, Chandra was Brahma, and Durvasa was Shiva.” (source: https://glorioushinduism.com/2016/07/27/chandra/)

Time passed and the children grew, Durvasa asking for permission to go on a pilgrimage and Chandra deciding to become part of the Navagrahas.“After taking the permission of their parents, Durvasa left for a long pilgrimage and Chandra left for the Moon. Dattatreya remained with Ansuya and Atri in their hermitage.”

“Chandra soon married 27 of Daksha‘s daughters. Chandra loved all of his wives, but he especially loved Rohini. When the other 26 wives realized this, they became agitated and went to Daksha. They told him about how Chandra favored Rohini. Daksha also didn’t like this. He went to Chandra and said, “Oh Chandra, how can you love one more than the rest. Please don’t do this.” But Chandra did not listen to Daksha. He was deeply in love with Rohini, so he ignored the rest. After requesting a couple more times, Daksha became distressed. He cursed Chandra,” You haven’t listened to me multiple times. Thus, I curse that a wasting disease will fall upon you!”

When the devas and the rishis heard about this, they became agitated. They went up to Brahma and informed him about the situation. Brahma said, “Chandra has done many wicked things. He kidnapped Brihaspati’s wife and at one point, allied himself with the Asuras. But if Chandra wants to be cured, then he must go to the auspicious place of Prabhasa and please Shiva.”

On hearing the words of Brahma, the devas came to the place where Chandra and Daksha were present. They consoled Daksha and took Chandra to Prabhasa. For the next six months, Chandra performed penance using the Mrutyunjaya mantra to please Lord Shiva.

Finally, Shiva presented himself in front of Chandra. “Please make it so that my body doesn’t decay.” Shiva granted him the boon and then vanished. All of the devas and rishis rejoiced.” (source: https://glorioushinduism.com/2016/07/27/chandra/)

Philippine

In several ancient myths, Apolaki appears as a god of war, a counterpart of the Roman god, Mars.”The Tagalogs revered Apolaki as the sun god as well as patron of the warriors. He shares almost the same qualities with the Kapampangan sun god of war and death, Aring Sinukuan.” (source: https://filipiknow.net/philippine-mythology-gods-and-goddesses/#9_Apolaki)

“In Tagalog mythology, Mayari (also known as Bulan) is the beautiful and most charming lunar deity who was the daughter of Bathala, the king of the gods, to a mortal woman. She is the Goddess of Combat, War, Revolution, Hunt, Weaponry, Beauty, Strength, Moon and Night. Known as the most beautiful deity in Bathala’s court, the sister of Tala, the goddess of stars and Adlaw (also known as Apolaki), god of the sun (in some mythology, Tala is Mayari’s daughter) she is depicted wearsing a “fiery multi-layered ensemble decorated with bright beads as she holds two fighting “sticks”, a baston and a yantok.” (source: https://malyaritribe.wixsite.com/site/post/mayari-goddess-of-beauty-and-strength)

“The book “Philippine Myths, Legends, and Folktales” by Maximo Ramos contains the story of how the sun became brighter than the moon. In the said myth, Bathala sired two children from a mortal woman. He named his son Apolaki and his daughter Mayari.” (source: https://filipiknow.net/philippine-mythology-gods-and-goddesses/#9_Apolaki)

“In a Pampangan myth, Bathala died without leaving a will and Apolaki and Mayari fought over who would rule the earth. Apolaki wanted to rule the earth alone while Mayari insisted on equal rights. The two fought out the conflict with bamboo clubs until Mayari lost an eye. After Apolaki saw what he had done, he agreed to rule the earth together but at different times. However, her light is dimmer than her brother’s due to the loss of her eye.” (source: https://mythology.wikia.org/wiki/Mayari)

There’s a little Philippine folk-story explaining the travel of the Sun and the Moon across the sky. And the story goes like this:

“Once upon a time the Sun and the Moon were married, and they had many children who were the stars. The Sun was very fond of this children, but whenever he tried to embrace any of them, he was so hot that he burned them up. This made the Moon so angry that finally she forbade him to touch them again, and he was greatly grieved.

One day the Moon went down to the spring to do some washing, and when she left she told the sun that he must not touch any of their children in her absence. When she returned, however, she found that he had disobeyed her, and several of the children in had perished.

She was very angry, and picked up a banana tree to strike hime, whereupon he threw sand in her face, and to this day you can see the dark marks on the face of the Moon.

Then the Sun started to chase her, and they have been going ever since. Sometimes he gets so near that he almost catches her, but she escapes, and bay and bay she is far ahead again.” (source: https://www.univie.ac.at/voelkerkunde/apsis/aufi/folk/folk-v01.htm)

Slavic mythology

Dažbog “was the sun god, the patron of the ones who wanted to carry the power in their hands, whose fame became so huge that he started to be considered a culture hero. People used to ask him for help when they desired wealth. A Serbian version of the legend describes him as a lord of the underground, quite dark but also impressive God, whose attributes are precious metals.”

In Slavic culture, the moon god is Xors Jutrobog, but he is also the moon light at daybreak, whence the meaning of his name, “Morning God” or “Morning Giver”. He was particularly important to the Slavs, “regarded as the dispenser of abundance and health, worshipped through round dances, and in some traditions considered the progenitor of mankind.” (source: https://ro.pinterest.com/pin/659425570418579773/)

“The general Slavic term for “god” or “deity” is бог bog, whose original meaning is both “wealth” and its “giver”.

Malaysia

“In the beginning of the world there were two moons in the heaven. One of them was a male moon and the other was a female moon. The two of them always arose in the east.

On earth there lived a man named Sigunting, a hero among the folk at that time. One day he had a dream. He dreamt that an old man was very cold and complained that there was no heat to warm the world.

“What must we do to obtain heat to warm this world?” Sigunting asked. The old man replied, “Young hero, take your magic bow and arrow, climb to the top of Mount Kinabalu and shoot an arrow eastward”.

Upon awakening from the dream, Sigunting climbed the mountain as asked by the old man. He shot an arrow with his magic bow. The arrow struck the male moon and blinded him. As a result, the earth was even darker than before, as there was only one moon left. The owls began to cry because the male moon did not appear as usual. However, Sigunting and the folk began to celebrate their success with a big feast. As usual, according to tradition, they beat the gongs, slaughtered cattle and drank wine tapai and had a good time. However, they realized that they felt even colder than before.

After some time, when the situation seemed quite hopeless, the male moon suddenly appeared.

To their surprise there was an arrow stuck in the eye of the moon. In a mournful mood, the moon told them that he was very ashamed to meet his wife, the female moon, and he promised that if anyone could help him to remove the arrow he would help to generate heat for them. The folk sat down in a meeting to discuss on how they could help as the moon was so far away.

In olden days, some animals and birds could communicate with human beings. A huge bird came along in the midst of their meeting. “Whoever is brave enough to sit on my back will be flown by me up to the moon to remove the arrow”. Sigunting agreed to follow the bird on this mission.

They flew off at the first light of dawn. When they reached the moon, the moon begon to cry and related to them his sorrow. He was ashamed to meet his wife because he was blinded by the arrow. However he was delighted that they had eventually come to remove the arrow. On completion of their task the male moon instructed them to fly back immediately as he had promised to generate heat in return for removing the arrow. Sigunting was told to show the arrow to the villagers and wait for the heat the moon had promised.

When they returned to the village, the people were still seen praying to the stones and trees hoping for a miracle.

They were happy indeed on seeing Sigunting safely returned with the arrow in his hand. By now they were feeling the heat. Only this village knew the secret. Other villages, not knowing the secret, enjoyed the heat as well and began to celebrate.

There was much relief everywhere when the heat touched them. They celebrated as usual, beating gongs, feasting and dancing. But the funniest of all were the dancing animals such as the dogs, cats, goats, pigs, monkeys and cows.

This funny sight caused the hot moon to laugh and drips of red hot saliva flowed from his mouth. The saliva was believed to have accidentally caused many of the folk to turn into stone boulders, some in small, others in huge groups. The unlucky individuals who had turned into stones were mainly the farmers as well as some of their animals. These stones can still be seen scattered along the foothills of Mount Kinabalu.”

(source: http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/userstory2781-the-story-of-the-sun.html)

The Sun, Moon and Stars

A Navajo Traditional Story (source: http://www.hanksville.org/voyage/stories/sunmoonandstars.php3)

“In this present, or Fifth World, the First People had four lights which had been brought from the lower world. White light appeared over the eastern mountains, blue light spread across the sky from the southern mountains, yellow light came from the western peaks and darkness from the north. These lights were far away and carried no heat, so the air was always of one temperature and no seasonal changes occurred although there was darkness and daylight.

“We do not have enough daylight,” the people complained. “We surely need more light.”

So First Woman sent Glowworm to the east and told Fox Fire to go to the south, Lightning Beetle to the west, and Firefly to the north. Then, when anyone needed extra light, these four were ready to serve him.

For a time this plan worked very well, but it was not long before the First People were saying, “These lights are too small. They flicker on and off so they are of little use to us. We cannot work in such dim light!” Then others asked, “How can we see to do anything? We do not have night eyes like Hosteen Owl or little Bat!”

It seemed that First Woman could never please them. Finally she thought of Fire Man and his glowing mountain, so she sent a messenger to ask the Fire Man if he could help her.

“Yes,” agreed Fire Man, “I can make the land bright all around Fire Mountain, but the light will not reach the edges of the land, and there will be smoke.” After that flames leaped high above the mountain top, and there was no more darkness for some distance. But soon the people were again complaining.

“We do not like the heat and the smoke that is coming from Fire Mountain,” they declared. “The heat scorches the earth and we are choked by the smoke!”

As everyone was complaining and no one was satisfied, First Woman decided that she must find a different way by which to light the earth. After consulting with a council of wisemen, she told her helpers to bring her a large, flat slab of the hardest and most durable rock they could find. After visiting every mountain and rocky pinnacle, they returned with a large, flat slab of quartz; it was twice as long as it was wide, and, when the helpers had placed it on the ground in front of her, First Woman decided it was large enough to make two round wheels of equal size. She had hoped to make four in order to have one for each of the four directions, but the rock was too small for that many, so only two could be made.

After First Woman had marked two large circles on the slab, they all set to work with sharp flints and stone hammers, cutting out the two equal sized wheels. This was not an easy task, as the quartz was just as hard as the implements with which they were working, but after a time two round, flat discs lay shaped and ready for their purpose. Then First Man and First Woman started decorating the stones in a manner that would signify the powers that each was to be given. The first was given a mask of blue turquoise to produce light and heat, then red coral was tied to the ear lobes and around the rim. A horn was attached to each side to hold male lightning and male rain. Feathers of the cardinal, flicker, lark, and the eagle were tied to its rim to carry it through the sky, and also to spread the rays of heat and light in the four directions. Four zig-zag lines of male wind and male rain stood at the top and four more hung at the bottom, and four sunspots were placed for guardians who sometimes stood on its face, but more often took their places in the four directions.

“Now it is finished,” said First Man, “and I will give it a blessing of mixed pollens, and also a song which will be sung by a lark who hereafter will be known as the `sun’s voice’.”

“But this cannot remain here!” stated First Woman. “It must be placed in the sky!”

No one seemed to know how this was to be done until Fire Man suggested that it should be carried to the top of the highest mountain and placed on the tallest peak at the edge of the earth where it could shine on all of the land at the same time. So it was taken to the eastern mountains and fastened to the sky with darts of lightning.

Then First Woman and her helpers went back to decorate the second, round stone disc, which was the same size as the first. but First Woman said, “We do not need another bearer of heat and light, so this one will carry coolness and moisture.” Then they decorated its face with white shell, placed a band of yellow pollen on its chin, and made a rim of red coral. Magpie, nighthawk, turkey and crane feathers were fastened on four sides to bear its weight and its horns held female lightning and soft winds. Four straight lines placed at the top, and another four at the bottom, gave it control over the summer rains. When it was finished this, too, was taken to the top of an eastern peak and fastened to the sky with sheet lightning.

“Now everyone should be satisfied,” remarked First Woman as she looked at the discs. “Now we have light, heat and moisture, all coming from the sky.”

But again many of the First People were complaining. “This is not right,” they said. “If the sun stays in the east all the time it will always be summer on that side of the land, and it will always be winter on the other side.”

“The sun must move across the sky,” First Man agreed, “but how can it move when it is only a stone and has no spirit?”

Everyone looked at the two discs and knew that they were just decorated stones with no life of their own, and they wondered what could be done about it. Then two very old and very wise men stepped forth and said, “We will give our spirits to the sun and the moon so they will have life and power to move across the sky.” One entered the turquoise disc and he was called Jóhonaa’áí, or Sun Bearer; the other entered the white disc and he was called Tl’éhonaa’áí, or Moon Bearer. Immediately the two stones began to quiver and show signs of moving.

“But how shall I know where to go or which paths to follow?” asked the sun; and the moon asked the same question.

“The eagle is guided by his tail feathers,” said First Man. “We will give you each twelve feathers from the eagle’s tail to point the correct paths you are to follow, and the changes in the paths will mark the changes in the seasons.” So twelve tall, white feathers were fastened to the top of each headdress to indicate a different path for each month of the year.

Sun was the first to start on his journey across the sky, while Moon waited all day, until Sun had reached the peaks of the western mountains but was still looking back across the land.

At this point Moon queried, “Now?”

And Sun answered, “Now!”

So Moon was about to climb into the sky, when Wind Boy, who had been standing just behind him, thought he would help by pushing with a stiff breeze. This breeze hit the Moon Bearer in the back and blew the twelve feathers forward across his face, so he could not see where he was going. All he could do was follow where the tips of the feathers pointed, and, as these were now slanted in different directions, Moon has always followed strange paths across the sky.

First Man and First Woman could do nothing about this, so everyone went back to where they had been working on the slab of quartz. On the blanket which had held the two large discs were now many small pieces of stone of every size and shape, along with the dust that the chipping and shaping had created.

“Look at all this good quartz that is left!” First Man exclaimed.

And First Woman said, “It must not be wasted! We will use it to make more lights in the night sky.”

So again they took their flint knives and their chisels and stone hammers, to shape the stars that would shine only at night. There were a few very large pieces of quartz but there were myriads of small chunks, and much stardust by the time they had finished their work.

When all the stars were ready to be placed in the sky First Woman said, “I will use these to write the laws that are to govern mankind for all time. These laws cannot be written on the water as that is always changing its form, nor can they be written in the sand as the wind would soon erase them, but if they are written in the stars they can be read and remembered forever.”

After that she drew a sky pattern on the ground and placed one of the large stars in the north. “This will never move!” she said, “and it will be known as the Campfire of the North. It will also be known as the traveler’s guide and as the lodestar.” Then she placed large stars in the other three directions and one in the very center of her sky pattern. “These must be placed in the sky in their correct positions,” she told Fire Man, who had shot two crooked fire arrows into the sky so their trails formed a ladder, and who now undertook the task of placing the stars in their proper locations on the blanket of night. Before Fire Man picked up the first one, First Woman had traced in the sand a path for each to follow across the skyways, and First Man had tied a prayer feather on its upper point, giving each star a prayer to chant as it marched along its designated path.

Fire Man began with the north star and continued climbing the ladder until all the large stars were in the sky, while First Woman placed other stars into groups to form the constellations. It was slow work, as there were many stars and the ladder was very tall.

While all this work was taking place Coyote had been standing close by, watching every move Fire Man made. Now he saw one fairly large star still lying on the ground, so he asked First Woman if he might have it for his own. “You may have that star,” First Woman agreed, “if you will place it in the sky directly over your mountain. Part of the time it will be quite dim, but when it shines brightly its brilliance will indicate your mating season.” So Coyote carefully climbed the zig-zag ladder, clinging to the rungs with one paw while grasping the the star with the other, and placed Canopus, which the Navajo call Ma’ii Bizo’, in the southern sky directly over Coyote Mountain.

The first two constellations designated by First Woman were Ursa Major, which was named Náhookos, meaning Cold Man of the North, and Cassiopeia his wife, who was called Nahookás Ba’áád. These two were placed on opposite sides of So’tsoh, or the North Star, which was their home fire; they move around its center and never leave it. No other constellation approaches them to interfere with their set routine. This arrangement of constellations established a law that has persisted to this day. This law stipulates that only one couple may live by one hogan file.

After these, First Woman designed a slender constellation in the shape of two rabbit tracks, one following the other. This is the constellation that governs all hunting, and, during the spring and early summer when the open end points upward, no one may hunt game animals. In the late fall, when the open end tips toward the earth, the hunting season begins. In the days when the Navajo people depended mostly on game for their food, the laws governing hunting were very strict. No hunting was allowed during mating season nor when the young were still with their mothers; and no deer or antelope under the age of two years were ever killed. Even today the Navajo do not care for meat from lambs or young kids, and, now that deer and antelope have almost disappeared from Navajo territory and have been replaced by sheep and goats, they use only the older ones for their food, as they believe the meat provides greater strength.

The next pattern to be made by First Woman was one recognized as a man with wide shoulders standing in a stooped position with his hands on his knees in order to support a heavy load of harvest. This constellation, or “the harvester,” commands the Dine’é to work hard during the harvest season so they may garner sufficient food for the long, cold winter.

Thunderbird, who carries all the clouds in his tail and all the rains under his wings, was the next constellation, along with Hydra, “the horned rattler,” who was given charge of the underground water channels. the task of placing all of these stars in their proper places was going slower and slower, for Fire Man could take only a few stars at a time as he climbed the ladder.

Coyote became impatient as he watched this slow process of placing the constellations. He said to First Woman, “This is taking too long! Why do you not permit me to help? Then we would have this work finished twice as fast!”

First Woman answered, “You always make mistakes and then there is trouble.”

But Coyote insisted, saying “I will do exactly as you say and follow the pattern just as you have placed it on the ground.”

First Woman was putting two identical stars into her pattern and had named them “the twins.” The two lines which marked their paths ran side by side across the sky. She pointed to them and said to Coyote, “Take these two stars and place them somewhat to the west where they will walk hand in hand across the center of the sky.”

Then Coyote picked up the two identical stars (Gemini), one in each hand, and walked to the ladder. He had seen Fire Man climb the ladder with his hands full of stars and thought he could do the same, but when he was half way up he chanced to look down, and the distance was so great that he became dizzy and almost fell. To make matters worse, Wind boy came whistling by to see what Coyote was doing, and shook the ladder from east to west. Quickly shifting the star in his right hand into his left which then carried both stars, he continued to climb, using his right hand to cling to the ladder. When he reached the sky he soon found the two places where the stars belonged, but when he looked at the stars in his hand he could not tell them apart and did not know which one went to the right or which to the left. So he closed his eyes and put one star in place with his left hand and the other with his right. Immediately a harsh, grating noise was heard, and he knew they were in the wrong spots and were trying to change places. He could do nothing about it now, as they were well beyond his reach, so he hurried down the ladder while the two stars crossed, one in front of the other to gain their proper paths. First Woman met him at the foot of the ladder and berated him with angry words and fierce gestures. “Now look what you have done!” she cried. “Those two were supposed to establish peace and friendship among all peoples of the earth. Now they will cause enmity, strife, and dissension that will plague mankind forever. You shall carry no more stars to the sky!”

Coyote grumbled as he walked away, “It was not my fault! Wind Boy shook the ladder and I almost fell off!”

First Woman told him to go away as she was too busy to be bothered, and went on laying out patterns for constellations which Fire Man carried to the sky. There was K’aalógii, or Butterfly; Tsídiitltsoii, the lark who sang his song to the sun every morning; there was Na’ashoii, the lizard; Ma’iitsoh, the wolf; Atsá, the eagle; Dahsání, the porcupine, who was given charge of the growth of all trees on the mountains; and the caterpillar. First Woman made many, many more until nearly every animal, bird, and insect had star counterparts in the sky.

As Fire Man bore these up the ladder he carried his fire torch which held burning coals strapped to his left arm, and as each star was put into the sky he gave it a spark of fire to light its path so it could find its way even through the darkest night. All was going very well, but, as Fire Man was carrying a medium sized star to the east, the straps that held his torch came loose and the torch fell to the ground so he had no spark to give this star. He placed it in the sky, ran down the ladder to recover his torch, and then hurried back to give it a light, but he could not find it, as it had started to move and had lost its path in the darkness. This is called the “black star;” it wanders here and there and brings bad luck wherever it goes. It sends out little black arrows to cause pain and sickness and, if a person who is travelling at night feels a sharp prick in his shoulder or his back, he will know that the black star is not far away.

When Fire Man returned to earth, First Woman did not know whether to give him another constellation to carry to the sky, or not. Not many stones left on the blanket were large enough to make stars, but many chips and piles of dust remained. She filled Fire Man’s hands with stone fragments, and he started climbing; he was halfway up the ladder when he glanced at the stones in his hands and decided that they were too small and too many to place individually, so he gave each one a spark of fire and then, handful by handful, he threw them against the night sky. Here they may still be seen as close groups of small stars which represent the small, fire carrying creatures of the earth such as the lightning beetle or firefly, and the glowworm.

As Fire Man was descending the ladder, Coyote stepped up to the blanket and, grasping it by two corners, swung it into the air so the stone fragments and the star dust swept across the sky in a great arc that reached from horizon to horizon. This formed the Milky Way which the Navajo call Yikáísdáhí. They believe it provides a pathway for the spirits traveling between heaven and earth, each little star being one footprint.

The Coyote dropped the blanket and everyone looked at the sky which was now filled with stars. First Woman said, “Now all the laws our people will need are printed in the sky where everyone can see them. One man of each generation must learn these laws so he may interpret them to the others and, when he is growing old, he must pass this knowledge to a younger man who will then be the teacher. The commands written in the stars must be obeyed forever!”

Nowadays, it is only the Navajo medicine men who know the constellations and can explain the laws they represent.” (source: http://www.hanksville.org/voyage/stories/sunmoonandstars.php3)

II. Modern-day stories

The Sun and The Moon

By Cassie Beggs

“A long, long time ago, the Sun and the Moon walked the earth, living among humans as equals. Without their light, the Earth turned peacefully beneath the light of the stars.

For generations, the people of the world were happy this way, watched over by their two guardians.

The first guardian was mysterious and beautiful, with flowing hair that glistened silvery white, glowing eyes of deepest blue and skin paler than milk.

Every step she took caused new stars to burst from the ground and leap into the sky, and her people worshipped her as a symbol of feminine beauty. They called her Moon.

The second guardian was strong and handsome, with warm golden eyes, copper-brown skin and a mane of soft black curls.

Even his very laugh could make spring roses bloom from their buds, and his followers adored him for his easy ways and the bright glorious smile with which he could light up the whole world.

He was the Sun, and despite their differences, he shared with the Moon a great friendship and respect.

Although the humans loved their Sun and Moon, they took little notice of the other force with whom they shared their land.

The Wind was vicious, and he had long been jealous of the power the Sun and the Moon held over the earth, and of the love that the people had for them.

Slipping through windows and under doors, the Wind whispered poisonous liesNobody loved the Wind, for he blew icy breath across the land, and howled in the ears of children.One day, the Wind began wondering how he could claim the land as his own.

“If the Sun and the Moon go to war,” the Wind pondered to himself, “they will destroy each other and I will be free to take their lands and people for myself!”

The Wind plotted and schemed and plotted some more, forming a deadly plan. He sent a message to the Sun and Moon, sending them on an urgent fool’s errand to the North.

Slipping through windows and under doors, the Wind whispered poisonous lies into the ears of the people, turning them, against each other.

To the Moon’s tribe, he claimed that the Sun himself had lured the Moon away from her home and was planning to lock her in the darkest cave far away, where her light could never shine.

“Surely not!” they cried, horrified. “It is so,” he assured them, “and I hear that the Sun followers will lead a march, here, soon! They seek a battle to destroy the Moon’s home so that the Sun alone might rule.”

Aghast, the Moon’s followers began gathering their forces, determined to defend their goddess against their former allies.

In turn, the Wind blew over to the Sun worshippers and whispered into their ears.

“The Moon worshippers are planning a brutal attack on your tribe!” he told them. Furious, the Sun followers thanked the Wind for his support and mustered their armies to retaliate.

When the Moon and the Sun returned, they were appalled by the devastation that greeted them. They pleaded desperately with their people, but to no avail.

“Stop!” cried the Moon, but alas, they could not hear her for her voice was too soft and the people’s anger was too fierce.

“Enough!” begged the Sun, but the people would not hear him either.

Unable to make themselves heard, the Sun and the Moon retreated from the battlefield, sitting together in deepest despair. The war raged on, but neither side would admit defeat, and soon even the Wind grew sick of the chaos he had wrought.

“O Sun,” sighed the Moon, “I am so very weary of these battles.”

“As am I, sweet Moon,” replied the Sun woefully, “but what can we do?”

The two sat in mournful silence for a long, long while, wondering what in the world could have caused such a conflict. After some time, the Moon’s keen ears caught the sound of the Wind, talking idly to himself as he ruffled the surface of a lake behind a distant mountain.

“Poor Wind,” said the Moon, “I fear that this endless fighting has driven him quite mad. We should visit him, and see if we can ease his troubles.”

With the Sun in agreement, they began the long journey to join the Wind beside his lonely lake. Before they reached him however, his words became clearer and they heard quite distinctly as he raved about the uselessness of his failed plan.

Enraged by the Wind’s betrayal and distraught at the damage he had caused to their people, the Sun and Moon swept over the mountain. Determined to stop the Wind from ever hurting their people again, they took from him all words and ability to speak, leaving him helpless to howl his wordless rage to the sky for the rest of time.

Now that they knew the source of their people’s troubles, the Sun and Moon returned to the battlefield strengthened and with new purpose.

They threw themselves between the warring tribes and together their voices boomed out, stopping the fighters in their tracks. They explained what the Wind had done, and declared that the battles must cease at once.

With the Wind silenced, the Sun and Moon hatched a plan of their own to prevent the war from starting anew.

“We shall rule together, high in the sky,” said Moon, “so that we may never stop guarding you against danger.”

“For twelve hours, I will rise and watch over you,” continued Sun, “and we will call this ‘Day’.”

“And when those twelve hours end,” proclaimed Moon, “I shall rise with the stars and we shall call this ‘Night’.”

The people agreed, laying down their arms and returning to a state of richness and calm.

So it was that the Sun and the Moon took to the sky, rising in turn with Night and Day, to watch over their beloved people in peace and harmony for evermore.”

(source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4FxFGcR5SP6gfytDqFlQP5K/the-sun-and-the-moon)

How the Sun and the Moon Came to Be

[[Mist, Gyðja of Kenaz Kindred, born Larisa Hunter]

[Excerpted from At Frigga’s Feet: A Collection of Stories for Children]

Once upon a time in a small village there lived a mother and father who had two beautiful children: a girl with golden curls that looked like rays of sunshine, and a boy with raven black hair and silvery eyes who seemed to prefer the night. The girl was always pleasant and kind, as was her brother, and they played contently as children.

One day the parents decided to take them to the village elder so that they might be given fitting names. They entered the hut of the elder, who, after looking at the children, thought a few moments and said: “the runes say these two are not just your children, but also those of Sol, the goddess of the sun, sent to us for a short time.”

The parents just looked at one another, then asked the elder, “What shall we do if they are the descendants of the gods?”

The elder looked grimly at the parents. “It will be for them to decide.” With that, she sprinkled sacred herbs over the fire and called the names of Frigga and Odin. “Come, great mother and father, and tell us what to do.”

Sparks flew from the fire and a voice appeared from nowhere:

“Children of the sun and moon, we give you the gift of two names: Sunna of the sun and Mani of the moon. When these two reach their eighteenth birthday they must come to this hut once more and leave their earthly home for a life amoung the gods.”

The parents were saddened by this, but they had no choice. They raised them well and the village revered and loved the goddess’ children. Sunna, like the sun, was always kind and generous to her people, bringing light wherever she went. Her brother Mani lit the way for the hunters at night, illuminating the forest with his silvery eyes.

When they turned eighteen, they again entered the hut of the elder.

“You have returned, children of the sky,” she said. This time the fire burned brighter and out of the flames walked Frigga .…

“Children, it is time,” she said reaching out her hand. And with that Sunna and Mani were taken to the world of the gods. There in the largest hall of the gods they were brought by Frigga to receive their duties. There in the hall they met the goddess Sol, their mother, who looked at the children with pride and love.

Sol smiled and said: “Sunna, here is your shield. May it keep the rays of sun from the Earth as you ride. Take this with your chariot and steed. Forever after this day shall you ride across the sky. And to Mani, here is your shield. May it shine forever across the sky as a reminder to the Earth of the nightly journey of the Moon …. Forever after this day, you shall chase your sister across the sky.”

At this she shed a single tear and held them both, saying “For never shall you see one another again, for as one rises, one sets. As one travels across the sky, the other hides in the underworld …. Never again shall you see each other except for times when the moon and sun rest together in the sky.”

And so with sadness Mani and Sunna boarded their chariots and rode off in the sky together for a short while until they parted ways .…

But this was not the end, for deep in the dark forests of Ironwood, there among the wolves there sleeps two little cubs whose father was Fenris the great wolf, the bane of Odin. The wolf cubs woke to a bright light moving across the sky.

“What is that light mother?” they asked.

“I am unsure my cubs. We shall go and ask your father,” she replied.

But they could not go outside of the cave for the light was so bright it made their fur hot and uncomfortable. It was so hot, in fact, the cubs could barely stand longer than a second in its bright rays. And so their mother tucked them back into the cave until nightfall.

However that changed nothing. That night when the mother wolf went out to hunt, she found the light of the moon shone so brightly she could not hide and thus all in the wood were able to flee from her hungry jaws.

This angered the wolves! No longer able to walk out in the day to roll in the long grass, no longer able to hunt, they were trapped like rats in the cave.

The mother wolf finally decided to do something about this. One night, she stuck her head out of the cave and howled the loudest howl she could manage. So loud was it that, several miles away, the great father of the cubs, Fenris himself, stirred and woke. Despite the heat and the light, the great wolf journeyed towards the cave.

Fenris looked at his wife and said ”It seems, my dear, we have need to act, although it angers me to have to do this now. But what choice do we have? This constant light is enough to drive one mad.”

“It is true, Fenris, we must do something. But what?”

The cubs came out and looked deep into their father’s eyes. “Send us father!” they exclaimed. “We are strong and no one in the nine worlds has seen us yet. They won’t be looking for us. We shall go chase the sun and her brother the moon and catch them in the sky as the move, thus ending the light in the woods, and enabling us to sleep once more.”

Fenris and his wife agreed. The two wolves would be sent into the sky. The little cubs were kissed and cuddled and leapt strongly into the sky. As soon as they saw the chariots, they gave chase. Sunna drove her chariot faster as the wolves grew closer, but still they ran, still they followed. No matter how fast she drove, they were there, nipping at her wheel. The wolves tried to run between her and her brother, but the two could not keep up with the chariots and seemed just one tooth away from each chariot.

However, every once in a while, the wolves catch the sun or the moon — but Sunna and Mani struggle and pinch until the wolves set them free. And so, each time you see the sun black or the moon red, know that they are within the jaws of the wolves and thus it is our duty to raise our voices and convince those rogues to release them. So, with your loudest voice yell out:

Hail Sunna, goddess of the Sun!!

Hail Mani, god of the moon!!

Hail, Hail, Hail!!

(source: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/autumn-equinox-2012/how-the-sun-and-the-moon-came-to-be-a-creation-story-for-heathen-children/)

Proudy Moon

Published by Deepika Mediratta

“One night stars went near the moon and said,”Can you tell who shines brighter ?”

Moon said proudly,”It’s obviously me”

Stars started smiling and said, “Oh no ! Its not you, its we “.

Moon said , “No,its me”.

The stars said ,”Ok, lets ask the children”.

They went near one window and asked the children to tell us who shines brightly.

Children said,”Moon”.

Suddenly one big cloud came in front of moon, then children said “Stars”.

When cloud disappear they again said ,”Moon”.

The stars said,” Lets go to some other person”.

They both went to another window and saw one old man. They asked him to tell who shines brighter.

Old man said,” Oh, its very difficult for me to tell because I am too old so I can’t see clearly. So, please I am sorry I can’t help you”.

Then they went to another window where they saw one mother was singing a song for her baby so that he could get sleep. The moon and stars asked her to tell who is brighter among us. She replied that my baby’s face is brighter than both of you.

Then they approached Earth. The moon was very happy, he felt that mother Earth will show him favour.

On asking mother Earth replied, “It is true that the moon shines brightly in the night and its light is very useful for fruits, vegetables and green plants. But my son ! Don’t be proudy. Remember this light is not your own, you are getting it from the Sun. So don’t feel proud on that which is not yours “.

The Earth continued , “The twinkling little stars are really not so small. They are the budddies of sun because sun itself is also a star. Don’t be ignorant, if a few stars come together their heat and light will be unbearable for us. The twinkling of stars also provide beauty to the night. Don’t fight with each other.”

Each one felt satisfied and thanked Earth.”

(source:https://yourstoryclub.com/short-stories-for-kids/short-story-for-kids-proudy-moon/index.html)

Eclipsed A Sun And Moon Creation Story

By Kaileia Kostroun

Her hair was fire. She was a soft, glimmering beacon of light. A romantic glow in the blackness of the Universe. Her lips melted any majesties who dared steal a kiss. Many moons swam through galaxies in search of her warm embrace. She’d had many lovers— and likewise, many children.

His face was silver-crusted rock. He was a dark and mysterious traveler. Though he had seen many stars on his voyage, it was obvious Sun was different. Elusive as she was, he welcomed her radiance as the single force strong enough to draw him near. His mind played out all kinds of fantasies depicting the possible repercussions of their physical interaction. Hope convinced him if he could touch her heart, together they would shape a love unlike anything seen or felt between two celestial bodies before.

Sun watched in anticipation as Moon smiled at her from a billion miles away. She feared she might burn him if they were to touch, even for just a moment.

“Hello, Sun! You have illuminated my path with your stunning light. I seek only to be yours in the vastness of this night,” he called out into space.

“Hmm,” she said, smiling seductively. “The past moons I’ve beamed never dared ask to stay. If you were mine, would you? Or would you be afraid?”

“I’ve seen billions of stars in thousands of galaxies, but none that intrigued me more than you, Sun. Believe me.”

She felt her rays extend towards him, her fire radiating at a rapid rate.

Just then, Moon shrank back at the sight of her eight dancing children, whose orbits nearly clashed with his own.

Sun disguised her disappointment with disgust. “I want a counterpart, not a sliver. Goodbye, Moon.”

“Goodbye, Sun,” he said, defeated. “I hope to see you again soon.”

Moon continued on his path, sulking. Wandering through the darkness, his craters expanded and contracted.

Moons were supposed to earn their craters by protecting their loved ones. This moon perceived his, however, to be a physical embodiment and constant reminder of his inability to do just that. His craters were more severe than those of other moons, and where they carried pride, he held shame.

So Moon did what he had to. He hid in the darkness for eons. There, he was safe. In isolation, he would never have to bare his scars. It wasn’t until he came across Sun that he had even considered the possibility of finding love again. If he entered the light, he’d be vulnerable. In a star’s presence as bright as Sun’s, he would have nowhere to hide.

Sun had wisdom beyond cosmic comprehension. Of all entities that existed in the Universe, only she had the ability to remain still. This advantage allowed her to observe the Milky Way with all-encompassing eyes.

As a mother, she would protect her children at all costs. They were always her priority. After Moon left, she sang all eight of her children to sleep. They danced around her as they dreamed. There was no denying Sun was mystified by her secret admirer. Her song echoed like a prayer from her heart that was then cast out into the Universe.

There’s a place in the sun

For a silver boat of love

With the taste of one kiss

I’ll find myself eclipsed

Then I’ll cradle in my womb

Both my baby and my moon

Sun’s youngest child, Pluto, had been born prematurely with an enlarged heart. He orbited slower than all the other planets. Sun extended her rays to clear his orbital path of debris. Keep him safe. Keep him warm. And though she was trying everything in her power to prevent it, he was drifting away from her against his own will. Pluto’s face was tinted a dark shade of red, but his surface remained cold and thin. He was growing weaker by the minute.

“Mama, I can’t breathe,” he choked. Cold tears seeped from his eyes and frosted his cheeks.

Sun cradled the baby planet in her rays and rocked him back and forth.

“Am I dying, Mama?”

“No, honey. You’re going to be just fine. I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

In that moment, though she tried to convince them both otherwise, Sun knew her baby wasn’t going to last much longer.

“Mama! Mama! Mama!” called Mercury. “Uranus is playing by the edge of the Milky Way again! I told him to stop but he told me to shut up, again.”

“Alright, I’ll take care of it. You just go on back into your orbit. Tell Neptune to wake up and come watch Pluto. I’ll be right back, okay?”

“Yes, Mama,” Mercury replied.

Sun’s rays stretched across the galaxy and laid a soft, healing glow on Uranus’s back.

“Hey, what are you doing all the way over here?”

“I thought if I could catch a star and bring it home, it would make him orbit faster and keep him warm.”

“That’s sweet of you to think of your little brother, Uranus, but unfortunately, a single star isn’t going to be of any help.”

“So we’re just going to let him die?” Uranus said.

“It’s…more complicated than that, sweetie. We’ll do everything we can.”

Out of the corner of her eye, far off in the distance, Sun spotted Moon. There was something different about him this time. She thought it could be his smile or maybe the way he carried himself. He was brighter than before, but still had an air of mystery about him.

Moon felt her presence, the warmth emanating from her eyes. He stopped for a brief moment and allowed her light to soak into the porous craters on his surface. As he stood there glowing in the dark, for a second, he remembered how beautiful it was to be in love. He feared that, as he was, he still wouldn’t be enough for Sun, and used all of his strength to plunge forward without glancing at her.

Sun kissed Uranus on his cloudy blue marbled cheek and carried him back into his orbit.

When she returned to Pluto, Neptune was weeping by his side.

“Mama, I had the most awful dream last night and I prayed it wasn’t true. But it is. He’s dying, isn’t he?”

Sun brushed her golden locks behind her ears and sighed, “I’m…afraid so.”

“Mama, we have to do something. There has to be something we can do.”

“We have to be here for him. That’s what we can and must do. Go get your brothers and sisters, and let us dance.”

A colorful rush of celestial bodies came soaring through the cosmos. Their features blended as they whirled around Pluto, laughing and smiling, together as one big happy family.

Suddenly, Saturn’s rings brought her to a halt, which in turn, caused the other planets to follow suit.

“What’s the matter, sister?” Jupiter asked, concerned.

“Where’s Uranus?”

“Oh, no. Not again!” said Mercury.

Sun sighed. “Mercury, hush. Jupiter, I trust you and Saturn to go find him and bring him back. I have to stay here with Pluto. But please, my children, be careful.”

Determined this time to bring back a cluster of stars, Uranus had strayed from his orbital path and plunged deep into the depths of the Oort Cloud. Along the edges, beautiful stars painted the galaxy in sparkles of silver and white, unlike any he’d seen back home. For a few moments, he was able to escape from reality and move around outside his confined orbit in the Solar System. He was mesmerized by the nebulas that surrounded him on all sides. As he approached the very edge of the galaxy, the gravitational tides picked up and Uranus could not escape.

He called out, “Mama!” but Sun could not hear him.

Likewise, Jupiter and Saturn still trailed too far behind.

“Oh no!” he cried. Uranus thought he’d never see his mother again, nor any of his brothers or sisters. Now, he would cause Sun to lose not only one, but two children. Overwhelmed with guilt, he tried to process his fate when he saw a black hole emerge far off in the distance. Within milliseconds, it began to drag bits and pieces of ice and rock inside of it. If he continued to move at this pace, he too was going to be swallowed whole in a matter of minutes. There was no way out.

“Uranus!” Jupiter’s voice echoed. “Where are you?”

“I don’t see him,” said Saturn. “What are we going to tell Mama?”

“We are not going to have to tell Mama anything because we are going to find him. Do you hear me?”

“And if we don’t?”

“Saturn, don’t be ridiculous. Of course we’ll find him. Just keep looking!”

They scouted the areas where Uranus usually played before moving outwards, finally headed in his direction.

“Oh my god, Saturn look!” Jupiter screamed.

Uranus was about to be obliterated by massive chunks of galactic debris.

Just then, Moon, a million miles away, saw him in his peripheral vision. He remembered his own child, his first star. He remembered the loss of love.

“No, I can’t let this happen. Not again,” he said and hurried to stand in the way.

Moon braced himself. The massive debris struck harder than he imagined. His body ached and throbbed with every round of hits. The smaller bits, with more force, whipped his face. He held back his tears as the final blow tore open his craters, widening his already embedded scars. Moon was battered, bruised, and left barely breathing. As the sisters approached the scene, they noticed Uranus was tilted over on his side.

“He saved me,” Uranus whispered.

His sisters hugged him and rejoiced.

They looked to Moon first, then Uranus, and finally, each other, before bringing them both back to the Solar System. Though Moon expressed resistance, he was too injured to prevail against the gaseous giants lugging him to safety.

As they neared Sun, her light forced Moon out from the shadows, revealing his fresh wounds and old scars alike. He was humiliated. Though they tried to correct his tilt, Uranus would spend the rest of his life spinning on his side. He was alive, though, and that’s what mattered most to his mother. She thanked her daughters for their bravery and insisted they return to their orbits. Venus and Mars each covered one of Mercury’s ears as they eavesdropped on their Mother’s conversation with their brother’s savior.

“You saved my son, and for that, I am so grateful. I am inclined to ask why, but you stand here before me, nearly all of your past and present pains on display. I won’t ask you to become any more vulnerable than you are now. You are free to go.”

Moon winced in pain, but managed to whimper the words that had been beaming through him since the moment they first met. “I love you.”

Sun’s hair went up in flames. “What did you say?” she replied in shock.

“You heard me.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter, because you’re leaving. You have to go,” she insisted.

Moon faced her and said, “I’m not going anywhere.”

He inched closer.

Tears began to well in her eyes. “Don’t. I don’t want you to get hurt,” she said, turning away from him.

“Just look at me.”

“I can’t,” she whispered.

“Mama!” Neptune’s voice shrieked in the distance. “It’s Pluto!”

Without another word, Sun zoomed over. She watched in horror as her youngest child came to a halt in his orbit.

Sun couldn’t speak. She could barely breathe. She remembered the first time she held her baby, the first time she heard him laugh, the last time they spoke…the promise she made but failed to keep; I won’t let anything happen to you.

She cradled Pluto in her rays for the very last time and sobbed. Her warm tears fell upon him, but he lay cold and lifeless. She examined every inch of her baby before letting him fall through her rays and melt back into space. She wept and she sang. Each breath of air she took between verses, she cherished in the way her baby never again would.

Thought I’d cradle in my womb

Both my baby and my moon

But my baby gone too soon

My baby gone too soon

“Mama,” Venus called. “Look!”

Sun shifted her gaze over to the part of the sky where a bright white light glowed in the distance. She thought it could be a star, but to her surprise, it was Moon. This time, his entire body lit up. He was completely exposed. When he caught her gazing upon him, he began to serenade her.

If there’s a place in the sun

For a silver boat of love

With the taste of one kiss

We’ll find ourselves eclipsed

Between us there is room

For another love to bloom

If you’ll let me, though it may be too soon

I love you and I’d love to be your moon

Sun was touched by his song but knew it was indeed too soon. “I don’t know what to say.”

He moved closer to her and whispered, “Then don’t say anything.”

The two bodies faced one another. As their lips bridged the gap between them, a spark ignited in the center of the Universe. The spark grew bigger until it imploded on itself, forming a solid core, a foundation that their love would continue to build upon. The attraction between them manifested in the form of blue glistening tides that would flow in harmony, so long as they were both in harmony with each other. A large mass of land emerged from the sea.

The love between Sun and Moon continued to grow. The more passion they felt for one another, the more intensely they loved, allowing the planet’s atmosphere to warm and cool as needed. Rocks formed, plants sprouted from the ground, and the surface of the planet grew more and more colorful. Life was born. Their daughter was created out of love. Neither Sun nor Moon had ever seen anything like it.

“She’s beautiful,” said Moon, “Just like her mother.”

Next, there were creatures that roamed the land and swam through the seas in search of their own lovers. The moment Sun and Moon eclipsed signaled to the rest of the Universe that the creation of new life was destiny. Love was the main purpose and mode of creation for all living things. The new planet would be named Earth.

Earth opened her eyes and enchanted her parents with her soft laugh. She reached out with the arms of her atmosphere and tried to play with her mother’s golden locks. Sun held her in her rays and Moon watched his two loves. He had finally realized his purpose. He had never felt so full. In fact, he finally understood that he had been full all along. The light from his lover had allowed him to accept and embrace the moon he always knew he was and had always wanted to be. And together, they created a family.

“Look what we did!” Sun extended her rays in pure joy.

The planets rejoiced at the sight of their new baby sister.

“I like it!” said Mercury as he zoomed around her with excitement.

“Hey! We’re the same size,” Venus exclaimed.

“Now I have someone to race with!” said Mars.

Jupiter and Saturn admired her from a distance. “Let her breathe, guys!”

Neptune whispered to Uranus, “It’s a dream come true!”

Uranus approached Earth, hesitant. His icy hands were capable of freezing anything he touched. When he held her on each end, the North and South poles were created. She didn’t seem to mind. “Pluto would have loved you,” he said before planting a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll show you where your orbit is.”

The children went off to sleep, leaving Sun and Moon with a moment to themselves.

“I’ve always been alone. I don’t know how else to be,” said Sun. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. I fell in love with you for who you are. I’m not expecting anything more. You don’t have to commit to anything you’re not ready for.”

“I’m just scared. I don’t want you to come too close because it will hurt more when you go.”

“I was scared too. My craters have controlled me for so long, but I knew I was meant to be with you,” Moon replied.

“In the past, when moons left, I let them. I didn’t want to admit that I wanted one to stay, and I didn’t think there’d come a day when it would happen. But then you came—”

“—and everything changed,” they said in unison.

Moon began to shrink, slowly. It was time for him to begin a new journey, a new adventure.

“Will I see you again?” asked Sun.

“Of course. Trust me, this is not goodbye,” Moon said with a sparkle in his eye.

Sun trusted that he would return. She held onto his word and then gave him hers.

“I love you too, Moon.”

https://www.mookychick.co.uk/lit-community/short-stories/eclipsed-a-sun-and-moon-creation-story-by-kaileia-kostroun.php

Proudy Twinkling Stars And The Calm Moon (Daily Prompt- Chuckle)

“One night moon and clouds decided to stroll around in the dark sky. Millions and billions Stars were twinkling around their way. One proudy group of twinkling stars saw moon and few clouds coming from a distance. Proud for being the most beautiful among others, they decided to tease them. When they came near, one twinkling star said, “Hey Moon, You are just a plain white ball and that too with craters. Look at us… we are so beautiful, colorful twinkling happily and Look at these clouds…. ” she and Other stars started laughing. Suddenly one star from their group fell down. “There goes the beauty…” Cloud said and chuckled.

Moon calmly smiled and said, ” Beauty lies in the eyes of the admirer, that’s why I am the most favourite on Earth. There is beauty in every small thing in the universe. Don’t be so proud for your beauty as it is for few moments, days or weeks and so are you all… but I am here forever. People admire you when I rise and my friend clouds can hide you whenever they want to.”

Stars were silent.. By then one more star fell down and others just kept staring at the shooting star.”

(Truth… You Exist Because I Exist.)

(source:https://throughmyheartweb.wordpress.com/2017/04/19/proudy-twinkling-stars-and-the-calm-moon-daily-prompt-chuckle/)

Silly Moon

by Gayatri

“While circling the earth as usual, the moon’s eyes fell upon a beautiful lake on the earth.

There was a couple sitting by a beautiful lake. The man pointed towards the lake whispering something in the lady’s ear which made her smile. She turned her gaze to the moon and smiled again.

The moon pressed its ear hard to listen to what was he saying. He heard the man saying poetry about how beautiful the moon looked and how the woman in his arms was prettier than the moon. The moon chuckled.

But then his eyes fell upon the lake. He had never seen such a beauty. The lake’s water was still, occasionally disturbed by falling leaves from trees around it. It was partially covered with plants such as Lotus, Water Lilies and Water Iris. In the middle of all those flowers, was the moon’s reflection. He stared at it for a few moments. “Wow I look handsome!” he said to himself. “All these years I have been so busy rotating around the earth and never even bothered to look at it!” he wondered to himself while continuing hiss journey.

Next day the moon was eager to reach the spot of Lake and check himself again.

He could hardly wait and wanted to run faster than his usual speed to see his reflection one more time. But as he approached the lake, he noticed that his brightness had reduced and his shape wasn’t a perfect circle like the previous night.

He was disheartened. Wondering why he looked paler than the previous day. Nonetheless, he continued his journey as usual.

As days passed, the reflection became thinner and paler. The moon started to worry what was happening to him. “I have been eating properly; I Haven’t changed anything in my routine... Then why am I looking so thin?” he said to himself staring at a thin line barely visible in the lake.

And the next day it had vanished completely. The moon panicked. He checked every possible corner and angle to no avail.

His heart sank “There must be something terribly wrong with me” he thought.

But he didn’t know whom to ask. He dragged his feet on his usual course for the rest of the time.

But within a couple of days, he started to appear in the lake again. Slowly but gradually he regained his full size and brightness.

He was again looking at his handsome reflection in the lake one night. After a few days of observation, he realised that it happens periodically and became used to it.

As summer started, the water in the lake started to diminish. Every night the moon had to make an effort to check his reflection. One fine night, it disappeared completely leaving the moon clueless about why he couldn’t see his reflection anymore.

At first, he thought it was one of the regular phenomena when he vanished completely for one or two days. But he started to get worried when he couldn’t see himself even after a week had passed.

“Is there something wrong? Maybe I am dying” He grew sadder and sadder each passing day. He had lost all his interest in going around the earth and dragged himself all the way, every day. Days passed without the moon feeling any better.

All this time the god had been watching the moon. Unable to bear anymore, the god approached the moon and asked him “What happened my child? Why do you look so sad?”

Seeing god, a ray of hope appeared in the Moon’s eyes. “Something is wrong with me. I cannot see myself in the eyes of lake anymore. Have I lost so much weight that I am not visible? Am I dying?” The moon asked eagerly.

The god laughed shaking his head in disbelief. “Come with me” saying this the god took the moon to an ocean. “Do you see yourself in its eyes?” the god asked. “Yes!!” the moon replied cheerfully.

“There is nothing wrong with you, there never was, even on the days when you find yourself thin and pale. It was only your reflection in the eyes of the lake which was changing. The water in the lake has diminished due to summer, because of which there was no water left in it to show you your reflection.

All this time you have been sad over how your reflection is changing in one lake’s eyes, forgetting all about the greater role you play in the larger scheme.” The moon stared at the god with blank expressions.

“You are so precious to me! You are precious to every living and non-living thing on the earth. You are the reason the oceans on the earth have high tide and low tide. You have contributed to the evolution of human life many thousand years ago. But you didn’t realise your importance in this world, wasting your time worrying about your reflection in one lake’s eyes” the god reprimanded.

The moon looked down with shame. “No matter what you look like in somebody else’s eyes. I have created you, not only you but every creature with a bigger purpose in life. Don’t waste it over petty matters such as how your reflection looks in one set of eyes. But think about your importance in all those lives you affected positively.” saying this god left.

Ever since that day, the moon has been continuing to serve his bigger purpose without bothering to check its reflection in anything.”

(source: http://www.gayatrigadre.com/blog/silly-moon/)

The Sun and the Moon (A Short Story)

by Gavin Whyte

“There was a time when the Sun and the Moon were so close that they rose and set together.

The people who populated Young Earth looked up in delight at the amazing exhibition of two heavenly bodies, side by side.

What the people didn’t know was that their lives were on the verge of changing forever.

The Sun was always the optimist of the two, always looking on the bright side of every occasion. This irritated the Moon and naturally it began to fall into the shadows. Whatever the Moon could do the Sun could do it brighter.

Because of this, the Moon began to foster feelings of envy.

‘People adore you,’ the Moon complained.

‘They adore you, too,’ consoled the Sun.

‘I doubt it!’ said the Moon. ‘When you appear, they give thanks. They’re not bothered when I come along. In fact, the majority of them go to bed! Every time we rise and set together I see eyes of millions staring at you.’

This sad state of affairs continued for quite some time. Until, one day, the Moon saw the Sun yawning.

‘Are you tired, Sun?’ asked the Moon, rather taken aback.

‘I think so,’ said the Sun. ‘We might have to set earlier today.’

The Moon felt an idea stirring beneath its smooth, chalk-like surface, for its scars that we see today didn’t come until much later.

‘Why don’t you go and have some rest, over there in the West?’ said the moon.

‘Are you sure?’ yawned the Sun, stretching its rays of deep amber.

‘Of course, my friend. You shine so brightly all the time, I’m not surprised you’re exhausted.’

‘But what about our people?’ said the Sun.

The Moon smiled. ‘I’ll look after them, until you rise, and then I’ll take a rest.’

‘It sounds like a good idea,’ said the Sun, sleepily.

So the Sun plodded ever so slowly over to the West and laid its head down to rest. And the Moon shone proudly and watched over the people, as they slept.

On one clear night the Moon noticed a small child pointing in its direction. The Moon was over itself with delight.

It had been spotted!

It almost went and woke up the Sun with utter excitement. To the Moon’s amazement the child wasn’t finished, for then it yelled,

‘Mum! Dad! Come and look at the Moon! Look how big and bright it is!’

The Moon puffed itself up and lit up the night sky like never before. It was full of itself. This is where the term Full Moon originally comes from.

People couldn’t help but notice it.

Poems were written about it.

Songs were sung.

Paintings were painted.

The seas and lakes chose to reflect on it.

The tides began to listen to it.

Cows dreamt of leaping over it.

People would take late night walks and thank it for its guidance along their path.

‘I no longer envy the Sun,’ uttered the Moon, one night as it sat reflecting. ‘All this time I thought the Sun and I should share the same purpose, but I was wrong. I am happy for the Sun to shine so brightly during the day, because I’m able to shine so brightly at night.’

Not many people know this, but the Sun gets many nightmares. It ends up being all hot and bothered and comes out in a fever. So on clear nights, when the Moon is nowhere to be seen, please know it hasn’t grown impatient and left its post. It is quietly humming the Sun to sleep and will be back in no time at all.”

(source: https://gavinswhyte.wordpress.com/2017/05/15/the-sun-and-the-moon-a-short-story/)

The Moon And The Stars

by Rachel Harper

“One night, high in the midnight black sky the moon was happily watching her children, the stars playing. One of the stars was sitting by itself and not glowing as brightly as all the other stars.

“What’s the matter little one? Why are you not playing with all the other stars? And why are you so sad?” asked the moon.

“Mother, what happens to us when you send us down to earth?” asked the star with a small whimper.

The moon smiled to the star as some of the other stars heard the question and gathered around “Yes mother, what happens to us after you have sent us down to earth?” another star asked

“Oh please tell us,” said another.

The moon looked around at all her children: “When you are all old enough and your lights are starting to go out, I send you to earth so you can start your next life. When I have sent you down, you will be re-born into something you see down there,” she said, motioning to the earth below her “some of you will be trees and other plants, some of you the animals and some will even be the people that live and admire us from so far away. Then when your time on earth is done, you will be sent back to me.”

All the stars smiled and started to chatter about the things they wanted to see or wanted to be, but the little star still seemed sad: “What if we don’t want to leave?” said the little star.

“Why wouldn’t you want to leave little one?” asked the moon.

“I’m next to leave and I don’t know if I’m ready to leave yet,” said the star, looking down on earth.

“One day you will come back to me and the other stars and you will have many stories of all the things you did and saw when you were down there.”

The little star liked that idea of coming back and having a story to tell and smiled “In that case,” it said “I can’t wait till I go down there.” it exclaimed.

The moon smiled and sent the little star down, watching it glow bright as it approached the earth. The other stars smiled and watched the star, talking about what it was they thought the star would see and do while on earth.

So, on went the life cycle of the stars. The moon would send her children down to earth when their lives as stars had ended and watch over them every night, watching what things they did and the people they saw, until it was time for them to join her once more as a star. She would smile when her children would tell her stories of what they did when they lived on earth. And so, on the cycle went, the stars coming and going telling the moon the stories they had from one life to the next.”

(source: https://www.write4fun.net/view-entry/103849)

III. Poems

1. Henry Howard, Set Me Whereas the Sun Doth Parch the Green

Set me whereas the sun doth parch the green

Or where his beams may not dissolve the ice;

In temperate heat where he is felt and seen;

With proud people, in presence sad and wise;

Set me in base, or yet in high degree,

In long night or in the shortest day,

In clear weather or where mists thickest be,

In lost youth, or when my hairs are grey …

2. William Shakespeare, Sonnet 33

Even so my sun one early morn did shine,

With all triumphant splendour on my brow;

But out, alack, he was but one hour mine,

The region cloud hath mask’d him from me now.

Yet him for this my love no whit disdaineth;

Suns of the world may stain when heaven’s sun staineth.

3. John Donne, The Sun Rising

Busy old fool, unruly sun,

Why dost thou thus,

Through windows, and through curtains call on us?

Must to thy motions lovers’ seasons run?

Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide

Late school boys and sour prentices,

Go tell court huntsmen that the king will ride,

Call country ants to harvest offices,

Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,

Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time …

4. Walt Whitman, O Sun of Real Peace

O sun of real peace! O hastening light!

O free and extatic! O what I here, preparing, warble for!

O the sun of the world will ascend, dazzling, and take his height—and you too, O my Ideal, will surely ascend!

O so amazing and broad—up there resplendent, darting and burning!

O vision prophetic, stagger’d with weight of light! with pouring glories!

O lips of my soul, already becoming powerless!

O ample and grand Presidentiads! Now the war, the war is over!

5. Emily Dickinson, I’ll tell you how the Sun rose

I’ll tell you how the Sun rose –

A Ribbon at a time –

The Steeples swam in Amethyst –

The news, like Squirrels, ran –

The Hills untied their Bonnets –

The Bobolinks – begun –

Then I said softly to myself –

‘That must have been the Sun!’

6. A. E. Housman, How clear, how lovely bright

Ensanguining the skies

How heavily it dies

Into the west away;

Past touch and sight and sound

Not further to be found,

How hopeless under ground

Falls the remorseful day.

7. Edward Thomas, There’s Nothing Like the Sun

There’s nothing like the sun as the year dies,

Kind as it can be, this world being made so,

To stones and men and beasts and birds and flies,

To all things that it touches except snow

Whether on mountains side or street of town.

The south wall warms me: November has begun,

Yet never shone the sun as fair as now

While the sweet last-left damsons from the bough

With spangles of the morning’s storm drop down

Because the starling shakes it, whistling what

Once swallows sang …

8. Louis MacNeice, The Sunlight on the Garden

The sunlight on the garden

Hardens and grows cold,

We cannot cage the minute

Within its nets of gold,

When all is told

We cannot beg for pardon.

Our freedom as free lances

Advances towards its end;

The earth compels, upon it

Sonnets and birds descend;

And soon, my friend,

We shall have no time for dances.

The sky was good for flying

Defying the church bells

And every evil iron

Siren and what it tells:

The earth compels,

We are dying, Egypt, dying

And not expecting pardon,

Hardened in heart anew,

But glad to have sat under

Thunder and rain with you,

And grateful too

For sunlight on the garden.

9. Philip Larkin, Solar

Suspended lion face

Spilling at the centre

Of an unfurnished sky

How still you stand,

And how unaided

Single stalkless flower

You pour unrecompensed.

The eye sees you

Simplified by distance

Into an origin,

Your petalled head of flames

Continuously exploding.

Heat is the echo of your

Gold.

Coined there among

Lonely horizontals

You exist openly.

Our needs hourly

Climb and return like angels.

Unclosing like a hand,

You give for ever.

10. Jenny Joseph, The sun has burst the sky

The sun has burst the sky

Because I love you

And the river its banks.

The sea laps the great rocks

Because I love you

And takes no heed of the moon dragging it away

And saying coldly ‘Constancy is not for you’.

The blackbird fills the air

Because I love you

With spring and lawns and shadows falling on lawns.

The people walk in the street and laugh

I love you

And far down the river ships sound their hooters

Crazy with joy because I love you.

11. Walt Whitman, A Clear Midnight

THIS is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless,

Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done,

Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best.

Night, sleep, and the stars.

12. Walt Whitman Give me the Splendid, Silent Sun

1

GIVE me the splendid silent sun, with all his beams full-dazzling;

Give me juicy autumnal fruit, ripe and red from the orchard;

Give me a field where the unmow’d grass grows;

Give me an arbor, give me the trellis’d grape;

Give me fresh corn and wheat—give me serene-moving animals, teaching content;

Give me nights perfectly quiet, as on high plateaus west of the Mississippi, and I looking

up

at the

stars;

Give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers, where I can walk

undisturb’d;

Give me for marriage a sweet-breath’d woman, of whom I should never tire;

Give me a perfect child—give me, away, aside from the noise of the world, a rural,

domestic

life;

Give me to warble spontaneous songs, reliev’d, recluse by myself, for my own ears

only;

Give me solitude—give me Nature—give me again, O Nature, your primal sanities!

—These, demanding to have them, (tired with ceaseless excitement, and rack’d by

the

war-strife;)

These to procure, incessantly asking, rising in cries from my heart,

While yet incessantly asking, still I adhere to my city;

Day upon day, and year upon year, O city, walking your streets,

Where you hold me enchain’d a certain time, refusing to give me up;

Yet giving to make me glutted, enrich’d of soul—you give me forever faces;

(O I see what I sought to escape, confronting, reversing my cries;

I see my own soul trampling down what it ask’d for.)

2

Keep your splendid, silent sun;

Keep your woods, O Nature, and the quiet places by the woods;

Keep your fields of clover and timothy, and your corn-fields and orchards;

Keep the blossoming buckwheat fields, where the Ninth-month bees hum;

Give me faces and streets! give me these phantoms incessant and endless along the

trottoirs!

Give me interminable eyes! give me women! give me comrades and lovers by the thousand!

Let me see new ones every day! let me hold new ones by the hand every day!

Give me such shows! give me the streets of Manhattan!

Give me Broadway, with the soldiers marching—give me the sound of the trumpets and

drums!

(The soldiers in companies or regiments—some, starting away, flush’d and

reckless;

Some, their time up, returning, with thinn’d ranks—young, yet very old, worn,

marching,

noticing nothing;)

—Give me the shores and the wharves heavy-fringed with the black ships!

O such for me! O an intense life! O full to repletion, and varied!

The life of the theatre, bar-room, huge hotel, for me!

The saloon of the steamer! the crowded excursion for me! the torch-light procession!

The dense brigade, bound for the war, with high piled military wagons following;

People, endless, streaming, with strong voices, passions, pageants;

Manhattan streets, with their powerful throbs, with the beating drums, as now;

The endless and noisy chorus, the rustle and clank of muskets, (even the sight of the

wounded;)

Manhattan crowds, with their turbulent musical chorus—with varied chorus, and light

of the

sparkling eyes;

Manhattan faces and eyes forever for me.

13. Thomas Hardy, The Sun On The Bookcase

Once more the cauldron of the sun

Smears the bookcase with winy red,

And here my page is, and there my bed,

And the apple-tree shadows travel along.

Soon their intangible track will be run,

And dusk grow strong

And they have fled.

Yes: now the boiling ball is gone,

And I have wasted another day....

But wasted--wasted, do I say?

Is it a waste to have imagined one

Beyond the hills there, who, anon,

My great deeds done,

Will be mine alway?

14. Emily Dickinson, The Sun and Moon must make their haste

The Sun and Moon must make their haste -

The Stars express around

For in the Zones of Paradise

The Lord alone is burned -

His Eye, it is the East and West -

The North and South when He

Do concentrate His Countenance

Like Glow Worms, flee away -

Oh Poor and Far -

Oh Hindred Eye

That hunted for the Day -

The Lord a Candle entertains

Entirely for Thee -

15, Robert Frost, The Freedom of the Moon

I’ve tried the new moon tilted in the air

Above a hazy tree-and-farmhouse cluster

As you might try a jewel in your hair.

I’ve tried it fine with little breadth of luster,

Alone, or in one ornament combining

With one first-water start almost shining.

I put it shining anywhere I please.

By walking slowly on some evening later,

I’ve pulled it from a crate of crooked trees,

And brought it over glossy water, greater,

And dropped it in, and seen the image wallow,

The color run, all sorts of wonder follow.

16. William Butler Yeats, The Crazed Moon

Crazed through much child-bearing

The moon is staggering in the sky;

Moon-struck by the despairing

Glances of her wandering eye

We grope, and grope in vain,

For children born of her pain.

Children dazed or dead!

When she in all her virginal pride

First trod on the mountain’s head

What stir ran through the countryside

Where every foot obeyed her glance!

What manhood led the dance!

Fly-catchers of the moon,

Our hands are blenched, our fingers seem

But slender needles of bone;

Blenched by that malicious dream

They are spread wide that each

May rend what comes in reach.

17. William Butler Yeats, The Cat And The Moon

The cat went here and there

And the moon spun round like a top,

And the nearest kin of the moon,

The creeping cat, looked up.

Black Minnaloushe stared at the moon,

For, wander and wail as he would,

The pure cold light in the sky

Troubled his animal blood.

Minnaloushe runs in the grass

Lifting his delicate feet.

Do you dance, Minnaloushe, do you dance?

When two close kindred meet.

What better than call a dance?

Maybe the moon may learn,

Tired of that courtly fashion,

A new dance turn.

Minnaloushe creeps through the grass

From moonlit place to place,

The sacred moon overhead

Has taken a new phase.

Does Minnaloushe know that his pupils

Will pass from change to change,

And that from round to crescent,

From crescent to round they range?

Minnaloushe creeps through the grass

Alone, important and wise,

And lifts to the changing moon

His changing eyes.

18. William Butler Yeats, The Phases Of The Moon

An old man cocked his car upon a bridge;

He and his friend, their faces to the South,

Had trod the uneven road. Their hoots were soiled,

Their Connemara cloth worn out of shape;

They had kept a steady pace as though their beds,

Despite a dwindling and late-risen moon,

Were distant still. An old man cocked his ear.

Aherne. What made that Sound?

Robartes. A rat or water-hen

Splashed, or an otter slid into the stream.

We are on the bridge; that shadow is the tower,

And the light proves that he is reading still.

He has found, after the manner of his kind,

Mere images; chosen this place to live in

Because, it may be, of the candle-light

From the far tower where Milton’s Platonist

Sat late, or Shelley’s visionary prince:

The lonely light that Samuel Palmer engraved,

An image of mysterious wisdom won by toil;

And now he seeks in book or manuscript

What he shall never find.

Aherne. Why should not you

Who know it all ring at his door, and speak

Just truth enough to show that his whole life

Will scarcely find for him a broken crust

Of all those truths that are your daily bread;

And when you have spoken take the roads again?

Robartes. He wrote of me in that extravagant style

He had learnt from pater, and to round his tale

Said I was dead; and dead I choose to be.

Aherne. Sing me the changes of the moon once more;

True song, though speech: “mine author sung it me.’

Robartes. Twenty-and-eight the phases of the moon,

The full and the moon’s dark and all the crescents,

Twenty-and-eight, and yet but six-and-twenty

The cradles that a man must needs be rocked in:

For there’s no human life at the full or the dark.

From the first crescent to the half, the dream

But summons to adventure and the man

Is always happy like a bird or a beast;

But while the moon is rounding towards the full

He follows whatever whim’s most difficult

Among whims not impossible, and though scarred.

As with the cat-o’-nine-tails of the mind,

His body moulded from within his body

Grows comelier. Eleven pass, and then

Athene takes Achilles by the hair,

Hector is in the dust, Nietzsche is born,

Because the hero’s crescent is the twelfth.

And yet, twice born, twice buried, grow he must,

Before the full moon, helpless as a worm.

The thirteenth moon but sets the soul at war

In its own being, and when that war’s begun

There is no muscle in the arm; and after,

Under the frenzy of the fourteenth moon,

The soul begins to tremble into stillness,

To die into the labyrinth of itself!

Aherne. Sing out the song; sing to the end, and sing

The strange reward of all that discipline.

Robartes. All thought becomes an image and the soul

Becomes a body: that body and that soul

Too perfect at the full to lie in a cradle,

Too lonely for the traffic of the world:

Body and soul cast out and cast away

Beyond the visible world.

Aherne. All dreams of the soul

End in a beautiful man’s or woman’s body.

Robartes, Have you not always known it?

Aherne. The song will have it

That those that we have loved got their long fingers

From death, and wounds, or on Sinai’s top,

Or from some bloody whip in their own hands.

They ran from cradle to cradle till at last

Their beauty dropped out of the loneliness

Of body and soul.

Robartes. The lover’s heart knows that.

Aherne. It must be that the terror in their eyes

Is memory or foreknowledge of the hour

When all is fed with light and heaven is bare.

Robartes. When the moon’s full those creatures of the

full

Are met on the waste hills by countrymen

Who shudder and hurry by: body and soul

Estranged amid the strangeness of themselves,

Caught up in contemplation, the mind’s eye

Fixed upon images that once were thought;

For separate, perfect, and immovable

Images can break the solitude

Of lovely, satisfied, indifferent eyes.

And thereupon with aged, high-pitched voice

Aherne laughed, thinking of the man within,

His sleepless candle and lahorious pen.

Robartes. And after that the crumbling of the moon.

The soul remembering its loneliness

Shudders in many cradles; all is changed,

It would be the world’s servant, and as it serves,

Choosing whatever task’s most difficult

Among tasks not impossible, it takes

Upon the body and upon the soul

The coarseness of the drudge.

Aherne. Before the full

It sought itself and afterwards the world.

Robartes. Because you are forgotten, half out of life,

And never wrote a book, your thought is clear.

Reformer, merchant, statesman, learned man,

Dutiful husband, honest wife by turn,

Cradle upon cradle, and all in flight and all

Deformed because there is no deformity

But saves us from a dream.

Aherne. And what of those

That the last servile crescent has set free?

Robartes. Because all dark, like those that are all light,

They are cast beyond the verge, and in a cloud,

Crying to one another like the bats;

And having no desire they cannot tell

What’s good or bad, or what it is to triumph

At the perfection of one’s own obedience;

And yet they speak what’s blown into the mind;

Deformed beyond deformity, unformed,

Insipid as the dough before it is baked,

They change their bodies at a word.

Aherne. And then?

Rohartes. When all the dough has been so kneaded up

That it can take what form cook Nature fancies,

The first thin crescent is wheeled round once more.

Aherne. But the escape; the song’s not finished yet.

Robartes. Hunchback and Saint and Fool are the last

crescents.

The burning bow that once could shoot an arrow

Out of the up and down, the wagon-wheel

Of beauty’s cruelty and wisdom’s chatter -

Out of that raving tide - is drawn betwixt

Deformity of body and of mind.

Aherne. Were not our beds far off I’d ring the bell,

Stand under the rough roof-timbers of the hall

Beside the castle door, where all is stark

Austerity, a place set out for wisdom

That he will never find; I’d play a part;

He would never know me after all these years

But take me for some drunken countryman:

I’d stand and mutter there until he caught

“Hunchback and Sant and Fool,’ and that they came

Under the three last crescents of the moon.

And then I’d stagger out. He’d crack his wits

Day after day, yet never find the meaning.

And then he laughed to think that what seemed hard

Should be so simple - a bat rose from the hazels

And circled round him with its squeaky cry,

The light in the tower window was put out.

20. William Butler Yeats, Blood And The Moon

I

Blessed be this place,

More blessed still this tower;

A bloody, arrogant power

Rose out of the race

Uttering, mastering it,

Rose like these walls from these

Storm-beaten cottages -

In mockery I have set

A powerful emblem up,

And sing it rhyme upon rhyme

In mockery of a time

Half dead at the top.

II

Alexandria’s was a beacon tower, and Babylon’s

An image of the moving heavens, a log-book of the sun’s journey and the moon’s;

And Shelley had his towers, thought’s crowned powers he called them once.

I declare this tower is my symbol; I declare

This winding, gyring, spiring treadmill of a stair is my ancestral stair;

That Goldsmith and the Dean, Berkeley and Burke have travelled there.

Swift beating on his breast in sibylline frenzy blind

Because the heart in his blood-sodden breast had dragged him down into mankind,

Goldsmith deliberately sipping at the honey-pot of his mind,

And haughtier-headed Burke that proved the State a tree,

That this unconquerable labyrinth of the birds, century after century,

Cast but dead leaves to mathematical equality;

And God-appointed Berkeley that proved all things a dream,

That this pragmatical, preposterous pig of a world, its farrow that so solid seem,

Must vanish on the instant if the mind but change its theme;

Saeva Indignatio and the labourer’s hire,

The strength that gives our blood and state magnanimity of its own desire;

Everything that is not God consumed with intellectual fire.

III

The purity of the unclouded moon

Has flung its atrowy shaft upon the floor.

Seven centuries have passed and it is pure,

The blood of innocence has left no stain.

There, on blood-saturated ground, have stood

Soldier, assassin, executioner.

Whether for daily pittance or in blind fear

Or out of abstract hatred, and shed blood,

But could not cast a single jet thereon.

Odour of blood on the ancestral stair!

And we that have shed none must gather there

And clamour in drunken frenzy for the moon.

IV

Upon the dusty, glittering windows cling,

And seem to cling upon the moonlit skies,

Tortoiseshell butterflies, peacock butterflies,

A couple of night-moths are on the wing.

Is every modern nation like the tower,

Half dead at the top? No matter what I said,

For wisdom is the property of the dead,

A something incompatible with life; and power,

Like everything that has the stain of blood,

A property of the living; but no stain

Can come upon the visage of the moon

When it has looked in glory from a cloud.

21. William Butler Yeats, Under The Moon

I have no happiness in dreaming of Brycelinde,

Nor Avalon the grass-green hollow, nor Joyous Isle,

Where one found Lancelot crazed and hid him for a while;

Nor Uladh, when Naoise had thrown a sail upon the wind;

Nor lands that seem too dim to be burdens on the heart:

Land-under-Wave, where out of the moon’s light and the sun’s

Seven old sisters wind the threads of the long-lived ones,

Land-of-the-Tower, where Aengus has thrown the gates apart,

And Wood-of-Wonders, where one kills an ox at dawn,

To find it when night falls laid on a golden bier.

Therein are many queens like Branwen and Guinevere;

And Niamh and Laban and Fand, who could change to an otter or fawn,

And the wood-woman, whose lover was changed to a blue-eyed hawk;

And whether I go in my dreams by woodland, or dun, or shore,

Or on the unpeopled waves with kings to pull at the oar,

I hear the harp-string praise them, or hear their mournful talk.

Because of something told under the famished horn

Of the hunter’s moon, that hung between the night and the day,

To dream of women whose beauty was folded in dis may,

Even in an old story, is a burden not to be borne.

22. Thomas Hardy, In The Moonlight

“O lonely workman, standing there

In a dream, why do you stare and stare

At her grave, as no other grave where there?”

“If your great gaunt eyes so importune

Her soul by the shine of this corpse-cold moon,

Maybe you’ll raise her phantom soon!”

“Why, fool, it is what I would rather see

Than all the living folk there be;

But alas, there is no such joy for me!”

“Ah - she was one you loved, no doubt,

Through good and evil, through rain and drought,

And when she passed, all your sun went out?”

“Nay: she was the woman I did not love,

Whom all the other were ranked above,

Whom during her life I thought nothing of.”

23. Thomas Hardy, At a Lunar Eclipse

Thy shadow, Earth, from Pole to Central Sea,

Now steals along upon the Moon’s meek shine

In even monochrome and curving line

Of imperturbable serenity.

How shall I link such sun-cast symmetry

With the torn troubled form I know as thine,

That profile, placid as a brow divine,

With continents of moil and misery?

And can immense Mortality but throw

So small a shade, and Heaven’s high human scheme

Be hemmed within the coasts yon arc implies?

Is such the stellar gauge of earthly show,

Nation at war with nation, brains that teem,

Heroes, and women fairer than the skies?

24. Robert Hayden, Full Moon

No longer throne of a goddess to whom we pray,

no longer the bubble house of childhood’s

tumbling Mother Goose man,

The emphatic moon ascends--

the brilliant challenger of rocket experts,

the white hope of communications men.

Some I love who are dead

were watchers of the moon and knew its lore;

planted seeds, trimmed their hair,

Pierced their ears for gold hoop earrings

as it waxed or waned.

It shines tonight upon their graves.

And burned in the garden of Gethsemane,

its light made holy by the dazzling tears

with which it mingled.

And spread its radiance on the exile’s path

of Him who was The Glorious One,

its light made holy by His holiness.

Already a mooted goal and tomorrow perhaps

an arms base, a livid sector,

the full moon dominates the dark.

25. Oscar Wilde, La Fuite de la Lune

To outer senses there is peace,

A dreamy peace on either hand

Deep silence in the shadowy land,

Deep silence where the shadows cease.

Save for a cry that echoes shrill

From some lone bird disconsolate;

A concrake calling to its mate

The answer from the misty hill.

And suddenly the moon withdraws

Her sickle from the lightening skies,

And to her sombre cavern flies,

Wrapped in a veil of yellow gauze.

26. Oscar Wilde, ENDYMION (For music)

The apple trees are hung with gold,

And birds are loud in Arcady,

The sheep lie bleating in the fold,

The wild goat runs across the wold,

But yesterday his love he told,

I know he will come back to me.

O rising moon! O Lady moon!

Be you my lover’s sentinel,

You cannot choose but know him well,

For he is shod with purple shoon,

You cannot choose but know my love,

For he a shepherd’s crook doth bear,

And he is soft as any dove,

And brown and curly is his hair.

The turtle now has ceased to call

Upon her crimson-footed groom,

The grey wolf prowls about the stall,

The lily’s singing seneschal

Sleeps in the lily-bell, and all

The violet hills are lost in gloom.

O risen moon! O holy moon!

Stand on the top of Helice,

And if my own true love you see,

Ah! if you see the purple shoon,

The hazel crook, the lad’s brown hair,

The goat-skin wrapped about his arm,

Tell him that I am waiting where

The rushlight glimmers in the Farm.

The falling dew is cold and chill,

And no bird sings in Arcady,

The little fauns have left the hill,

Even the tired daffodil

Has closed its gilded doors, and still

My lover comes not back to me.

False moon! False moon! O waning moon!

Where is my own true lover gone,

Where are the lips vermilion,

The shepherd’s crook, the purple shoon?

Why spread that silver pavilion,

Why wear that veil of drifting mist?

Ah! thou hast young Endymion

Thou hast the lips that should be kissed!

27. Amy Lowell, The Last Quarter of the Moon

How long shall I tarnish the mirror of life,

A spatter of rust on its polished steel!

The seasons reel

Like a goaded wheel.

Half-numb, half-maddened, my days are strife.

The night is sliding towards the dawn,

And upturned hills crouch at autumn’s knees.

A torn moon flees

Through the hemlock trees,

The hours have gnawed it to feed their spawn.

Pursuing and jeering the misshapen thing

A rabble of clouds flares out of the east.

Like dogs unleashed

After a beast,

They stream on the sky, an outflung string.

A desolate wind, through the unpeopled dark,

Shakes the bushes and whistles through empty nests,

And the fierce unrests

I keep as guests

Crowd my brain with corpses, pallid and stark.

Leave me in peace, O Spectres, who haunt

My labouring mind, I have fought and failed.

I have not quailed,

I was all unmailed

And naked I strove, ‘tis my only vaunt.

The moon drops into the silver day

As waking out of her swoon she comes.

I hear the drums

Of millenniums

Beating the mornings I still must stay.

The years I must watch go in and out,

While I build with water, and dig in air,

And the trumpets blare

Hollow despair,

The shuddering trumpets of utter rout.

An atom tossed in a chaos made

Of yeasting worlds, which bubble and foam.

Whence have I come?

What would be home?

I hear no answer. I am afraid!

I crave to be lost like a wind-blown flame.

Pushed into nothingness by a breath,

And quench in a wreath

Of engulfing death

This fight for a God, or this devil’s game.

28. Amy Lowell, The Crescent Moon

Slipping softly through the sky

Little horned, happy moon,

Can you hear me up so high?

Will you come down soon?

On my nursery window-sill

Will you stay your steady flight?

And then float away with me

Through the summer night?

Brushing over tops of trees,

Playing hide and seek with stars,

Peeping up through shiny clouds

At Jupiter or Mars.

I shall fill my lap with roses

Gathered in the milky way,

All to carry home to mother.

Oh! what will she say!

Little rocking, sailing moon,

Do you hear me shout -- Ahoy!

Just a little nearer, moon,

To please a little boy.

29. Matsuo Basho, Autumn moonlight

Autumn moonlight--

a worm digs silently

into the chestnut.

30. Matsuo Basho, Moonlight slanting

Moonlight slanting

through the bamboo grove;

a cuckoo crying.

31. Charles Baudelaire, The Sadness of the Moon

THE Moon more indolently dreams to-night

Than a fair woman on her couch at rest,

Caressing, with a hand distraught and light,

Before she sleeps, the contour of her breast.

Upon her silken avalanche of down,

Dying she breathes a long and swooning sigh;

And watches the white visions past her flown,

Which rise like blossoms to the azure sky.

And when, at times, wrapped in her languor deep,

Earthward she lets a furtive tear-drop flow,

Some pious poet, enemy of sleep,

Takes in his hollow hand the tear of snow

Whence gleams of iris and of opal start,

And hides it from the Sun, deep in his heart.

32. Carl Sandburg, Under the Harvest Moon

Under the harvest moon,

When the soft silver

Drips shimmering

Over the garden nights,

Death, the gray mocker,

Comes and whispers to you

As a beautiful friend

Who remembers.

Under the summer roses

When the flagrant crimson

Lurks in the dusk

Of the wild red leaves,

Love, with little hands,

Comes and touches you

With a thousand memories,

And asks you

Beautiful, unanswerable questions.

33. Carl Sandburg,Child Moon

The child’s wonder

At the old moon

Comes back nightly.

She points her finger

To the far silent yellow thing

Shining through the branches

Filtering on the leaves of golden sand,

Crying with her little tongue, “See the moon!”

And in her bed fading to sleep

With babblings of the moon on her little mouth.

34. Carl Sandburg, Early Moon

The baby moon, a canoe, a silver papoose canoe, sails and sails in the Indian west

A ring of silver foxes, a mist of silver foxes, sit and sit around the Indian moon

One yellow star for a runner, and rows of blue stars for more runners, keep a line of watchers.

o foxes, baby moon, runners, you are the panel of memory, five-white writing to-night of the Red Man’s dreams.

(for the entire poem go to: http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/carl_sandburg/poems/1233.html)

35. Claude McKay, Song of the Moon

The moonlight breaks upon the city’s domes,

And falls along cemented steel and stone,

Upon the grayness of a million homes,

Lugubrious in unchanging monotone.

Upon the clothes behind the tenement,

That hang like ghosts suspended from the lines,

Linking each flat to each indifferent,

Incongruous and strange the moonlight shines.

There is no magic from your presence here,

Ho, moon, sad moon, tuck up your trailing robe,

Whose silver seems antique and so severe

Against the glow of one electric globe.

Go spill your beauty on the laughing faces

Of happy flowers that bloom a thousand hues,

Waiting on tiptoe in the wilding spaces,

To drink your wine mixed with sweet drafts of dews.

36. Roger Mc Gough, Mrs Moon

Mrs Moon

sitting up in the sky

little old lady

rock-a-bye

with a ball of fading light

and silvery needles

knitting the night.

37. James Joyce, What Counsel has the Hooded Moon

What counsel has the hooded moon

Put in thy heart, my shy;y sweet,

Of Love in ancient plenilune,

Glory and stars beneath his feet ---

A sage that is but kith and kin

With the comedian Capuchin?

Believe me rather that am wise

In disregard of the divine,

A glory kindles in those eyes

Trembles to starlight, Mine, O Mine!

No more be tears in moon or mist

For thee sweet sentimentalist.

38. Carl Sandburg, Moonset

Leaves of poplars pick Japanese prints against the west.

Moon sand on the canal doubles the changing pictures.

The moon’s good-by ends pictures.

The west is empty. All else is empty. No moon-talk at all now.

Only dark listening to dark.

39. Carl Sandburg, River Moons

The double moon, one on the high back drop of the west, one on the curve of the river face,

The sky moon of fire and the river moon of water, I am taking these home in a basket, hung on an elbow, such a teeny weeny elbow, in my head.

I saw them last night, a cradle moon, two horns of a moon, such an early hopeful moon, such a child’s moon for all young hearts to make a picture of.

The river—I remember this like a picture—the river was the upper twist of a written question mark.

I know now it takes many many years to write a river, a twist of water asking a question.

And white stars moved when the moon moved, and one red star kept burning, and the Big Dipper was almost overhead.

40. David Berman, The Moon

A web of sewer, pipe, and wire connects each house to the others.

In 206 a dog sleeps by the stove where a small gas leak causes him

to have visions; visions that are rooted in nothing but gas.

Next door, a man who has decided to buy a car part by part

excitedly unpacks a wheel and an ashtray.

He arranges them every which way. It’s really beginning to take shape.

Out the garage window he sees a group of ugly children

enter the forest. Their mouths look like coin slots.

A neighbor plays keyboards in a local cover band.

Preparing for an engagement at the high school prom,

they pack their equipment in silence.

Last night they played the Police Academy Ball and

all the officers slow-danced with target range silhouettes.

This year the theme for the prom is the Tetragrammaton.

A yellow Corsair sails through the disco parking lot

and swaying palms presage the lot of young libertines.

Inside the car a young lady wears a corsage of bullet-sized rodents.

Her date, the handsome cornerback, stretches his talons over the

molded steering wheel.

They park and walk into the lush starlit gardens behind the disco

just as the band is striking up.

Their keen eyes and ears twitch. The other couples

look beautiful tonight. They stroll around listening

to the brilliant conversation. The passionate speeches.

Clouds drift across the silverware. There is red larkspur,

blue gum, and ivy. A boy kneels before his date.

And the moon, I forgot to mention the moon

41. Tu Fu, Moonlit Night

Tonight at Fu-chou, this moon she watches

Alone in our room. And my little, far-off

Children, too young to understand what keeps me

Away, or even remember Chang’an. By now,

Her hair will be mist-scented, her jade-white

Arms chilled in its clear light. When

Will it find us together again, drapes drawn

Open, light traced where it dries our tears?

42. Sylvia Plath, The Moon and the Yew Tree

This is the light of the mind, cold and planetary.

The trees of the mind are black. The light is blue.

The grasses unload their griefs at my feet as if I were God,

Prickling my ankles and murmuring of their humility.

Fumy spiritous mists inhabit this place

Separated from my house by a row of headstones.

I simply cannot see where there is to get to.

The moon is no door. It is a face in its own right,

White as a knuckle and terribly upset.

It drags the sea after it like a dark crime; it is quiet

With the O-gape of complete despair. I live here.

Twice on Sunday, the bells startle the sky –

Eight great tongues affirming the Resurrection.

At the end, they soberly bong out their names.

The yew tree points up. It has a Gothic shape.

The eyes lift after it and find the moon.

The moon is my mother. She is not sweet like Mary.

Her blue garments unloose small bats and owls.

How I would like to believe in tenderness –

The face of the effigy, gentled by candles,

Bending, on me in particular, its mild eyes.

I have fallen a long way. Clouds are flowering

Blue and mystical over the face of the stars.

Inside the church, the saints will be all blue,

Floating on their delicate feet over cold pews,

Their hands and faces stiff with holiness.

The moon sees nothing of this. She is bald and wild.

And the message of the yew tree is blackness –

blackness and silence.

43. Nadia McGhee, Sun and Moon

I once met the sun

And she was very bright

She always talked

She was a huge ball of light

She told me about the things

She sees throughout the day

And when I thought she was done talking

She suddenly had more to say

And when she left at dusk

I did not feel completely whole

And I realized all of her talking

Did nothing for my soul

I once met the moon

And she was very calm

She looked at me as if she knew the secrets

That I held in my palm

She did not speak once

The silence brought me peace

It was as if her silence

Was fixing me piece by piece

And when she left at dawn

I felt something deep within me

And I knew that her silence

Had set my soul free

44. Lucy Maud Montgomery, Harbor Moonrise

There is never a wind to sing o’er the sea

On its dimpled bosom that holdeth in fee

Wealth of silver and magicry;

And the harbor is like to an ebon cup

With mother-o’-pearl to the lips lined up,

And brimmed with the wine of entranced delight,

Purple and rare, from the flagon of night.

Lo, in the east is a glamor and gleam,

Like waves that lap on the shores of dream,

Or voice their lure in a poet’s theme!

And behind the curtseying fisher boats

The barge of the rising moon upfloats,

The pilot ship over unknown seas

Of treasure-laden cloud argosies.

Ere ever she drifts from the ocean’s rim,

Out from the background of shadows dim,

Stealeth a boat o’er her golden rim;

Noiselessly, swiftly, it swayeth by

Into the bourne of enchanted sky,

Like a fairy shallop that seeks the strand

Of a far and uncharted fairyland.

Now, ere the sleeping winds may stir,

Send, O, my heart, a wish with her,

Like to a venturous mariner;

For who knoweth but that on an elfin sea

She may meet the bark that is sailing to thee,

And, winging thy message across the foam,

May hasten the hour when thy ship comes home?

45. Giacomo Leopardi, To the Moon

Oh, gracious moon, new as the year turns,

I remember how, heavy with sirrow,

I climbed this hill to gaze on you,

And then as now you hung above those trees

Illuminating all. But to my eyes

Your face seemed clouded, Tenulous

From the tears that rose beneath my lids,

So painful was my life: and is, my

Dearest moon; its tenor does not change.

And yet, memory and numbering the ephochs

Of my grief is phasing to me. How welcome

In that youthful time - when hope’s span is long,

And memory shot - is the remembrance even of

Past sad things whose pain endures.

46. April, Sun & Moon

(source:https://weheartit.com/articles/333563555-sun-moon-poem)

I was the Moon.

You were the Sun

Going in constant circles,

On the run.

I would rise at the night,

But you were still gone,

Waiting to shed your light

On tomorrow’s dawn.

You would long for me.

I would ache for you.

Curse this persistent gravity

That keeps me from you!

I worry that you’ll look at Neptune

Like you look at me.

With her nebula hues

That you can’t see on me.

Still we chase all around,

Praying that one day we’ll meet,

But this endless cycle

Is somewhat bittersweet.

So, when I see the stars

In the heavenly skies above,

I’ll think of you, my Pain, my Sun, my Love.

47. Pablo Neruda, Ode to a beautiful nude

With a chaste heart

With pure eyes I celebrate your beauty

Holding the leash of blood

So that it might leap out and trace your outline

Where you lie down in my Ode

As in a land of forests or in surf

In aromatic loam, or in sea music

Beautiful nude

Equally beautiful your feet

Arched by primeval tap of wind or sound

Your ears, small shells

Of the splendid American sea

Your breasts of level plentitude

Fulfilled by living light

Your flying eyelids of wheat

Revealing or enclosing

The two deep countries of your eyes

The line your shoulders have divided into pale regions

Loses itself and blends into the compact halves of an apple

Continues separating your beauty down into two columns of

Burnished gold

Fine alabaster

To sink into the two grapes of your feet

Where your twin symmetrical tree burns again and rises

Flowering fire

Open chandelier

A swelling fruit

Over the pact of sea and earth

From what materials

Agate?

Quartz?

Wheat?

Did your body come together?

Swelling like baking bread to signal silvered hills

The cleavage of one petal

Sweet fruits of a deep velvet

Until alone remained

Astonished

The fine and firm feminine form

It is not only light that falls over the world spreading inside your body

Yet suffocate itself

So much is clarity

Taking its leave of you

As if you were on fire within

The moon lives in the lining of your skin.”

48. Barry Andrew, The Moon and the Sun

The Sun shines,

the fog blinds,

together they make,

a rainbow in the sky.

The Moon stares,

into a lake,

and wonders why,

he’s a big mistake.

Why can’t he be the Sun,

and light up the day.

Why can’t he be the one,

to make the bad go away.

Why can’t he be the light,

that brightens everyones day.

Instead he sits in the night,

wishing the Sun would go away.

The Moon glows,

the stars show,

a pattern of love,

that lights the Earth below.

To himself,

the Sun confides,

that he wishes,

he controlled the tides.

Why can’t he be the Moon,

and turn darkness into light.

Why can’t he be the one,

to light up the great night.

Why can’t he have the grace,

of being with the stars.

Instead he sits up in space,

wishing he could take his place.

But what they both don’t know is,

they need each other.

What they both don’t know is,

that they are brothers.

We live in jealousy,

envying each other.

Please, just be thankful,

and happy for others.

The Sun needs the Moon,

to keep the night lit bright.

The Moon needs the Sun,

to produce his shining light.

The Sun needs the Moon,

and the Moon needs the Sun.

If they work together,

they can be one.

If they work together,

they can be one.

if they work together,

they will be one.

If we work together,

we could be one.

If we work together,

we will be one.

49. Barbara Elizabeth Mercer, February Moon - Storm Moon - Hunger Moon - Snow Moon

Shined in on me tonight

A phosphorescent presence loomed

Bathed me in my bed tonight

Filled my lighthouse in the sky

With brightness of your eyes

Awoke me with soft caress

Whispering words of love that bless

Out of my dreaming

You appeared

Replaced the loneliness

I had feared

Now with tender warmth

You enfold me in embrace

As the dawn is breaking in my heart

The moon slips silently into space

And you assure me

We will never part

50. Indira Renganathan, Symbol Moon-1

This day Chithragupta’s ledger is approvable

Our sins and virtues are now accountable

Providential check-in is going on accomplishable

There, she’s the proof proven amicable

Revealed Heaven’s allowing the good adoptable

Opened Hell’s scoring sins punishable

Atoning austerities on Earth cherishable

There, she’s the proof proven amicable

Aesthetic her fulgency shining noticeable

Can never be hidden erratic Chithragupta actionable

And Chithragupta is but our karmic shade amendable

There, she’s the proof proven amicable

Amicable with ascending Chithra twinkling

Amicable with freshened Chithirai newly seasoning

Amicable with Chithragupta recording

She’s Chithra Pournami, testimony of our doing

51. Indira Renganathan, Symbol Moon-2

Great mother earth’s pregnant beaming

Silvery of the blue moon bubbling

Vaisakha or Vaikasi it be revelling

Asterism of Visaka as up hiking

Great mother earth’s birthed a divine incarnate

Six-headed, twelve-handed to disincarnate

Demons thrice and all evil corporate

Tropical night while enlightened to celebrate

Great mother earth’s pregnant more beaming

Silvery more of the blue moon bubbling

As prophesied the providence yet more birthing

Argent terra-ball fledged more of moonlit shining

Great mother earth’s birthed Buddha the great

And Nammalvar with Visaka to relate

Together with Shanmukha all divine incarnate

Under Vaikasi-moon’s auspice Visaka to reverberate

52. Sriranji Arankar, While I Swallow Moon-Tablet

While I swallow moon-tablet,

My body turns into a river

A boat made of moon-light

Floating and rows Mr. Fiver.

53. Sriranji Arankar, Moon-Light-Flooded Forestland

Moon-light-flooded forestland

Green leaves painted in dark colour

Far-off stream made of silver thread

Fragrance emitted evening-flower

54. Ramesh T A, A Crescent Moon In New Moon!

When Moon comes twice in the same month,

The second Moon is known as Blue Moon...!

But the first Crescent Moon appearing when

The new Moon comes in a month is rare indeed!

Crescent Moon hidden with the Black Moon,

That is new Moon is appearing tonight to see!

A rare phenomenon of Nature to witness once

In hundred years, they all say, is quite new indeed!

Before going to see the Sky, one will be disappointed,

If the Sky is covered with rain clouds to make true

The prediction of Meteorological department that a

Heavy rain will fall in the night is a great disturbance!

When we are all eager to witness a rare phenomenon of

Nature, it will be quite a distraction, if the rain clouds

Come and stand as buffaloes standing on the centre of

The high way road blocking the fast run of a car or bus!

55. Swaro lipi, The Home Of Moon-Dot

The honorable court, ‘my last wish is,

on my grave I will spread sheuli flower.

So before you finish your work at the end of the day,

just one time at night, try to read something.

I’ve heard all are equal in your eyes.

Whether you are able to or not,

You should read

We must ponder upon our basic human instincts

56. Vincent Onyeche, Lines Of A ‘moon-Smith’

We may not know the value

Of the minas of Gold

And shekels of silver.

Love is an intense light

That gets us amazed

And delighted.

In darkness of hatred

Pretense

Can’t subdue its presence.

It stems from the bottom foot

Through the innermost liver,

It shines red and white roses

And reflects through the eyes

The burning of the heart

As an intense light.

We are all ‘moon-smith’

Someday, we would mould

A fullmoon of love.

57. Jasbir Chatterjee, When One Moon Loves Another Moon

Dressed in a silk sari,

Draped over a silk blouse

And a painfully tight petticoat,

Its waist string sadistically

Lacerating my skin...

With beads of sweat running

Off my forehead,

Across my kajal-lined eyes and lipsticked lips,

I once waited restlessly

Outside a Metro station

Of Delhi,

Huffing, puffing, and fretting

On a hot, dusty evening

Of May 2017.

An then, a few moments later, dressed in a blue skirt,

Over a white blouse,

A big bag hanging from one arm,

Another bag hanging from the other arm,

A young girl came and sat on the opposite seat.

She was also waiting restlessly;

She kept getting up and pacing about anxiously

Suddenly she looked up and gazed longingly

at the moon!

What a lovely picture she made!

I forgot all about the tight waist string, the sweaty blouse

and my fast dissolving makeup.

And I thought so that’s how it looks

When one moon loves another moon...

58. Márcio- André, Moon-blade-shoulder blade

(Translation: Ana Hudson)

moon-blade-shoulder blade

the porcelain dog shattered over the porcelain of the constellation

or this heavy water in the light clots

over there where stars are forged

out of sun soft matter

I reached the age I once dreamed of

but the dream didn’t stand the age

over here in this faraway land

beforehand before all that was created

[there are places that forget to update as they are mapped]

the immortals coined man

so they could see the world through man’s eyes

but throughout our whole lives we’ve waited for something

on the reverse side of those lives

of all possible realities we are only aware of that

in which everybody comes ready for machine fitting

systems can be subverted -

let’s then subvert the stars which we do not own

[language:

the astrolabe of the mouth’s sky-dome]

59. Gajanan Mishra, Moon-Life

Red-heart and moon-life,

I care for you.

I appear there,

In your kingdom- a clear space.

Still, everything

And high and low.

Life-moon and the ocean,

Unending oracles.

60. Chenou Liu, Moon-Drenched Field Haiku

moon-drenched field

the cries of wild geese

darken the night

Astrid Elisabeth Kathleen Schmid, Sun Of My Moon, Moon Of My Stars

You’re the sun of my moon, the moon of my stars

The blood in my veins, the beat of my heart

The light of my eyes, the key to my soul

The sound of my voice, the thoughts in my head

The door to heaven, my light in darkness

The color in my life, the joy of my happiness

The music in my ears, the desert of my tears

The air in my lungs, the fire of my sun

The protection from my evil sins, the source of goodness in my heart

The relief of my pain, my shelter from troubled winds

The solution to my problems, the savior from my ego

You’re all that I need and all that I hold

You are as pure as pure love can be.

61. Emily Jane Brontë, Moonlight, Summer Moonlight

‘Tis moonlight, summer moonlight,

All soft and still and fair;

The solemn hour of midnight

Breathes sweet thoughts everywhere,

But most where trees are sending

Their breezy boughs on high,

Or stooping low are lending

A shelter from the sky.

And there in those wild bowers

A lovely form is laid;

Green grass and dew-steeped flowers

Wave gently round her head.

62. Robert William Service, Moon-Lover

I

The Moon is like a ping-pong ball;

I lean against the orchard wall,

And see it soar into the void,

A silky sphere of celluloid.

Then fairy fire enkindles it,

Like gossamer by taper lit,

Until it glows above the trees

As mellow as a Cheddar cheese.

And up and up I watch it press

Into appalling loneliness;

Like realms of ice without a stain,

A corpse Moon come to life again.

Ruthless it drowns a sturdy star

That seeks its regal way to bar;

Seeming with conscious power to grow,

And sweeter, purer, gladder glow.

Dreaming serenely up the sky

Until exultantly on high,

It shimmers with superb delight,

The silver navel of the night.

II

I have a compact to commune

A monthly midnight with the Moon;

Into its face I stare and stare,

And find sweet understanding there.

As quiet as a toad I sit

And tell my tale of days to it;

The tessellated yarn I’ve spun

In thirty spells of star and sun.

And the Moon listens pensively,

As placid as a lamb to me;

Until I think there’s just us two

In silver world of mist and dew.

In all of spangled space, but I

To stare moon-struck into the sky;

Of billion beings I alone

To praise the Moon as still as stone.

And seal a bond between us two,

Closer than mortal ever knew;

For as mute masses I intone

The Moon is mine and mine alone.

III

To know the Moon as few men may,

One must be just a little fey;

And for our friendship’s sake I’m glad

That I am just a trifle mad.

And one with all the wild, wise things,

The furtive folk of fur and wings,

That hold the Moon within their eyes,

And make it nightly sacrifice.

O I will watch the maiden Moon

Dance on the sea with silver shoon;

But with the Queen Moon I will keep

My tryst when all the world’s asleep.

As I have kept by land and sea

That tryst for half a century;

Entranced in sibylline suspense

Beyond a world of common-sense.

Until one night the Moon alone

Will look upon a graven stone. . . .

I wonder will it miss me then,

Its lover more than other men?

Or will my wistful ghost be there,

Down ages dim to stare and stare,

On silver nights without a stir--

The Moon’s Eternal Worshipper?

63. John Tiong Chunghoo, 01 and The Moon And The Stars And The World

long walk at night

the breeze freezes my spirit

the moon warms it up

pulling at my poetic soul

the crickets sing their poems to the night

a million other insects contribute their share

to loosen up the night

for lovers, husbands and wives

while a tide of words too

creeps in all directions in my mental sphere

saturates the poetic bar of the intellect

waiting to be strummed into verses

the rhythm swims along with them

as i write out verse by verse

the moon my friend shares its light

the night wind inspires

lovelorn stars wave all the way

a million light years away

heralding the birth of a song

sparkling, twinkling

guided by intricate orchestration of the night

before gracing the written page

long walk in the night

even the insects with the lamps

start to lend me their lights

between the twinke of the stars

they dance, sing, beat out a dance

64. Hap Rochelle, Moon’s Delight (Haiku)

starlight

danced through the night

to moon’s delight

65. Hap Rochelle, Moonle ss

starlight

floods a moonless night

vague shadows

66. Hap Rochelle, Reaching For The Moon (Haiku)

reaching for the moon ~

the child cannot quite grasp ~

dreams elude the light

67. Hap Rochelle , The Man In The Moon

the man in the moon

admires you and envies me

feigns indifference

68. Raj Arumugam, Winter Moon, Misty Moon

winter moon, misty moon

playful behind the trees

over the hidden Brisbane river

that makes the air thick with mist;

winter moon, full-moon

luminous and rolling

behind brooding giant trees;

winter moon, misty moon

that makes its area luminous and clean

and cares not if everything else is indistinct

69. Mark Heathcote, Full Moon Madness

When a full moon rises

above the mountain top—

like a cherry atop a Bakewell tart;

Folk-are-heard singing wildly in the trees,

loons wail come down! Come down!

‘The birds they’ll all get muddied knees.

When the same folk-go

skinny-dipping without panties on,

loons have been heard-wailing, get out! Get out!

‘The fish they’re hiding, fearfully in the reeds.’

‘My child life’s story is always like this?

A jigsaw with many a missing piece.’

70. Reyvrex Questor Reyes, Love Sonnet 198: ‘Moonlights Without Love, Just A Waste Of Moons’

Moonlights without love, just a waste of moons,

Loose, empty hugs, apt tunnels for the wind,

Sand castles built upon the shifting dunes,

Such sorry wastes, I’m hapless to rescind;

A showy dress of living contents, nil,

A lovely face, to mask the lack of soul,

Might Galatea all my dreams fulfill,

If statues bear the charms that I extol;

But surely soon, a love, some goddess brings,

Much better though if decked with ancient gems,

Such precepts on which olden wisdom clings,

The best for any lass to wear than diadems;

......My fault, I yearn the past so much, it seems,

......To oft confuse the memories with dreams.

71. Romeo Della Valle, Feeling Like Ablue Moon

When home is no longer there

And there’s no place

To spend the holidays,

Except where you are

And you are totally alone-

Choking, realizing

Your unripe independence

And needing the security

And warmth

Of a real family...

But cannot reach to your own

And everyone’s away with theirs

You are small

Very, very small

Until you disappear

Like things forgotten...

72. Sherif Monem, Dancing In The Moon Light

Dance, love and romance

Turn on the music and let’s dance

Pour the Champagne in the glass

The moon is singing a serenade

Listen to the music melodies

and the joyful happy tunes

Hold your partner closer

Float around and around

Tap your feet on the floor

Follow the music soft beat

Awake your inner dreams

Look at the silver bright moon

Look at the lucky diamond stars

shining in the dark night

This panorama magnificent sky

Feel the night chill

the cool breeze

Dance a bit closer

feel your partner body warm

Dance, all joy and romance

to the late hours of the night

to the wee hours of the morning

Let the happy times roll by

Hope and wish it never ends

73. Philo Yan, The Moon And The Pine Tree

If the moon could truly speak,

what fantastic tales it can reveal in Greek.

And the tall pine tree can only sneak a peek

from far below up to the skies wondering

not listening to the pine cone’s deciphering....If the moon could truly speak,

what fantastic tales it can reveal in Greek.

And the tall pine tree can only sneak a peek

from far below up to the skies wondering

and listening

to the pine cone’s deciphering....

74. Georgios Venetopoulosm, Laughing Moon 1st

An ocean path defines this night’s dark trust;

reminds time’s falsities - keeps me awake;

the brines engulf me again - same sleepless past,

with demons transferring that route’s mistakes

They are my long lost pals! From dark sea depths,

they jump and dance dressed like buffoons,

and hold a violin or brass trumpet,

to celebrate around with looney tunes.

I like that group! Some theater folklore,

with drunk musicians, and chords distuned,

who awkward smile with swollen lips to yore,

in front of a half-hidden laughing moon.

I love their feast! Hoarse sounds and guitar strings,

brass horns, vociferous trombones and lyres;

my joker pals in air they jump and sing!

Inheriting their foolish laughs and tears.

One dancer though among them higher jumps

(‘mid pandemonium tunes - on barren delf!)

while laughingly the chorus plays paeans;

and this buffoon somehow resembles myself.

75. John Powers, Me And The Moon

I stepped into the dark to grab a light,

and saw above me the moon in the night.

i stood alone in the cold and wondered what i am,

all the rest had gone to sleep, just shy of 5 am.

The air was frigid and the ground was frail,

the smoke around me burned cool with a trail.

The lamp lit the snow and all that was around

and all was broken, but me and the moon.

So i stood and watched my breath

i tasted the tar on my teeth

i wanted to beg at the foot of the sky

but knew no answer was there to hear.

Only the moon, burning white thru clouds

gave me comfort, it stood with me.

Down on the earth i looked down the path

to see memories and memorials of the past

So much was gone, twisted and stained

i knew who had lived, had left, had strayed.

Once there was me, a use, and a need.

i stepped out further into the night

and ashes fell from my hand again.

the salt cracked under my feet,

my toes were numb from the cold.

i looked to where i’d come from, why i was there

and i looked back to the moon, now thru the trees

Behind me i thought where did they go,

could i really have gotten here all alone?

Those by my side never wanted to stay

When they were here, i stood alone anyway.

Where was i going, is it to be?

Can these feet make it, carrying me?

The coal still burned bright red

just a bit left and then to the filter

And i heard a laugh, then two from up ahead

A boy and a girl walking down from the hill

her head on his shoulder, his arm locked with hers

i looked to the moon, it’d sunk to a glow behind a wall.

i went back inside as my cigarette flickered in the snow.

76. Clark Ashton Smith, Moon-Dawn

The hills, a-throng with swarthy pine,

Press up the pale and hollow sky,

And the squat cypresses on high

Reach from the lit horizon-line

They reach, they reach, with gnarlèd hands—

Malignant hags, obscene and dark—

While the red moon, a demons’ ark,

Is borne along the mystic lands.

77. Mark Heathcote, The Curdling Moon

As a bird sang softly, I leaned out

On leaning out; on the ledge

I heard a commotion fraught

Dark it ominously held danger.

It’s then I heard her murderer

As the curdling moon turned blood red.

An owl began to hoot

It’s then I felt a compulsion.

“Not to give a hoot”.

78. Naveed Khalid, To The Moon I

I’ll write, I’ll write thee more so

what is hid from thine eye,

and all things of beauty, great and small,

are in the world of a vanished sight;

but you in whose presence this verse,

I can never bring to light,

a borrowed face of the sun,

that in the beehive, of cherubim wings,

bespeaks a glory of the mind

o’er all else that is not real,

nor a shadow in the mirror

can ever reflect thy love.

79. Naveed Khalid, To The Moon II

O bright-lit mirror of the world!

not half thy part thou hide

from this bewailing night asleep;

nor from day’s old look when he looks in thee,

and whoe’er else beguiles thee so

on thy behalf, his love’s faults more

than thy beauty’s face can show;

which, too, but in love of thee goes blind,

that, thus, thou returnest in the same light

what his eyes would receive from the skies,

no one hath e’er seen things so fair, bereft of sight:

when on that darkest day of history,

God, Lord of the heavens and the earth,

set ablaze thy name abroad,

all mankind stood aghast;

it was a total black out,

the eclipse of the constellations,

until from the pedestal of his throne,

he stepp’d down to visit the world twice,

for one look of thee since then,

all seek light of the last blue moon.

80. Juliet L. Languedoc, The Moon

She sleeps in the day and dreams

on her way with her crust, mantle, and core

then gets up, winks, and welcomes all with her

powerful to soothe and cool, the excessive heat.

She never disobeyed,

she gives way to the day

and awaits her time to share

in an impressive way.

She loves when the evening tiptoes

in; to highlight her emotions

and romantic actions.

She hangs aloft the cotton

ball and caresses the

the world with magnificent her love.

Her gentle reflection wipes

away depression while she soars

and enjoys her many other tours.

She is very evocative with her

global view, atmospheric,

Compelling, and descriptive too.

She is soft and gigantic

and quickly obeys as soon as

it dawns she goes to sleep.

81. Mark Heathcote, If I Saw You In The Moonlight

If I a shadow, hadn’t stumbled over you

And made that gentle bow, like a blade of grass

Would you not of shimmered-like the morning dew?

For me; always and forever.

If the ocean makes the sand

Who made the moon-grains pearl?

Who made the mountain that stands?

Like a bottomless, hourglass

Reflecting-up - up but still below you.

If a reeling cloud dressed Venus, ethereal as a snow drift.

Would I just not undress to tremble, invisible, next to you?

Just to listen to my angels melting, tiptoes

Disappearing; with her jingles go.

If I sang to the moon, would not all the stars rejoice?

If a shadow hadn’t stumbled over you

And took a bow like a blade of grass

Would you not of beheld me

Quaking in my splintering, boots of glass.

If I was a scarlet; sky, enfolding all your love.

Would you not turn the potter’s wheel anti clockwise?

To make it slow… into an eternal clay catalyst.

If I sing to the moon, would not all the stars rejoice?

If the solar system and the wheels are kind,

And I say it with flowers

Would you not hear a brass band a symphony?

From; some long forgot starlit paradise.

82. Clayton Anderson, Summer Moon

Under the moon of a clear summer night

With distance between them two lovers take flight

Their hearts intertwined without explanation

Their souls tuned in like a radio station

She sweetly speaks, with a twang in her voice

He tries to play calm, but his minds made a choice

She hides in the shadows of walls he can’t see

He reaches for her almost effortlessly

They are seemingly pulled, as if drawn together

They speak of the future as if connected forever

She feels his words touch her, his arms closing in

He speaks without caution ‘cause he knows she’s for him

And under the glow of a warm summer moon

They promise to be with each other soon.

83. Ella Wheeler Wilcox, The Old Moon In The New Moon’s Arms

The beautiful and slender young New Moon,

In trailing robes of pink and palest blue,

Swept close to Venus, and breathed low: ‘A boon,

A precious boon, I ask, dear friend, of you.’

‘O queen of light and beauty, you have known

The pangs of love - its passions and alarms;

Then grant me this one favour, let my own -

My lost Old Moon be once more in my arms.’

Swift thro’ the vapours and the golden mist -

The Full Moon’s shadowy shape shone on the night,

The New Moon reached out clasping arms and kissed

Her phantom lover in the whole world’s sight.

84. Elisabeth Padillo Olesen, The Sun, The Moon and Truth Cannot Be Hidden

The sun shines and brightens our days

seeping waters up to the sky and

and pouring them back to earth as rain.

The sun is real to our own eyes.

The moon shines during nights

as full moon, half moon,

new moon or no moon;

it rotates on eath’s axis

bringing to us our months in milleniums.

The moon is real before our eyes.

The sun and the moon are faces of

thruth during days and nights in our lives:

never alternative truths, never half truths,

never fake truths of our digital genius.

Truth is there in time and beyond time

revealed by lights from sun and moon

reflecting coincidence of the human mind.

85. Luo Zhihai, Salvage The Sun And Moon

Voice and countenance are charming and

the lotus pond is green

Postures are unique, swallows shuttle back and

forth through the willows green

Very romantic, battje in the rivers and lakes to

seek the sweet dreams

A net easy to salvage the sun and moon to llok for the deep feelings.

86. O Anna Niemus, Capricorn Pisces Moon

His capricorn sun wanted

the fir forest framed

mountain lakes of the highlands

while his pisces moon:

the empty easel of

sky sun and sea in

the lowlying islands.

87. Pablo Neruda, Sonnet Xcv:Who Ever Desired Each Other As We Do

If your eyes were not the color of the moon,

of a day full [here, interrupted by the baby waking - continued about 26

hours later ]

of a day full of clay, and work, and fire,

if even held-in you did not move in agile grace like the air,

if you were not an amber week,

not the yellow moment

when autumn climbs up through the vines;

if you were not that bread the fragrant moon

kneads, sprinkling its flour across the sky,

oh, my dearest, I could not love you so!

But when I hold you I hold everything that is -

sand, time, the tree of the rain,

everything is alive so that I can be alive:

without moving I can see it all:

in your life I see everything that lives.

88. Pablo Neruda, If You Forget Me

I want you to know

one thing.

You know how this is:

if I look

at the crystal moon, at the red branch

of the slow autumn at my window,

if I touch

near the fire

the impalpable ash

or the wrinkled body of the log,

everything carries me to you,

as if everything that exists,

aromas, light, metals,

were little boats

that sail

toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,

if little by little you stop loving me

I shall stop loving you, little by little.

If suddenly

you forget me,

do not look for me,

for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,

the wind of banners

that passes through my life,

and you decide

to leave me at the shore

of the heart where I have roots,

remember

that on that day,

at that hour,

I shall lift my arms

and my roots will set off

to seek another land.

But

if each day,

each hour,

you feel that you are destined for me

with implacable sweetness,

if each day a flower

climbs up to your lips to seek me,

ah my love, ah my own,

in me all that fire is repeated,

in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,

my love feeds on your love, beloved,

and as long as you live it will be in your arms

without leaving mine.

88. Pablo Neruda, Ode To A Naked Beauty

With chaste heart, and pure

eyes

I celebrate you, my beauty,

restraining my blood

so that the line

surges and follows

your contour,

and you bed yourself in my verse,

as in woodland, or wave-spume:

earth’s perfume,

sea’s music.

Nakedly beautiful,

whether it is your feet, arching

at a primal touch

of sound or breeze,

or your ears,

tiny spiral shells

from the splendour of America’s oceans.

Your breasts also,

of equal fullness, overflowing

with the living light

and, yes,

winged

your eyelids of silken corn

that disclose

or enclose

the deep twin landscapes of your eyes.

The line of your back

separating you

falls away into paler regions

then surges

to the smooth hemispheres

of an apple,

and goes splitting

your loveliness

into two pillars

of burnt gold, pure alabaster,

to be lost in the twin clusters of your feet,

from which, once more, lifts and takes fire

the double tree of your symmetry:

flower of fire, open circle of candles,

swollen fruit raised

over the meeting of earth and ocean.

Your body - from what substances

agate, quartz, ears of wheat,

did it flow, was it gathered,

rising like bread

in the warmth,

and signalling hills

silvered,

valleys of a single petal, sweetnesses

of velvet depth,

until the pure, fine, form of woman

thickened

and rested there?

It is not so much light that falls

over the world

extended by your body

its suffocating snow,

as brightness, pouring itself out of you,

as if you were

burning inside.

Under your skin the moon is alive.

89. Annette Wynne, Good-Morning, Sun

Good-morning, Sun,

Work’s begun

For every one;

While you stay

And make our day

Let me be as true

And good as you.

So,

When you go

Out to the West

I shall be glad for rest

And glad for the day

That went away.

Good-morning, Sun,

Work’s begun,

And play—

Thank you for the day!

90. Ray Hansell, The Stars, Sun and Moon

May the stars in the sky

Light a path for you

To help you find your way

In all that you do

May the sun in the sky

Always fond it’s way to you

To always keep you warm

As the day you walk through

May the full moon light the way

As it rises in the sky

May the wonders all around you

Always capture your eyes

(more poems on the Sun and the moon can be found on https://www.poemhunter.com/ as well as on http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/)

91. Theodora Oniceanu, Moon Reflection Morning

Morning came

bright as always

Smart shine unseen before.

Still, I remember well.

The sky is deep,

into the heights I look: the vastest blue!

There is no star to shine brighter than the sun here.

I should have one hot cup of coffee;

A nightmare proves to me that I have made a grave mistake

in a past I could not forgive myself for.

Now I can... have an idea or two about how to escape

the agony of being so cursed.

I pass...

A cup of fresh water to clean and wash away

the bitterness of the ugly past.

There’s brakfast well prepared

on the table,

fresh eggs and bacon,

I watch you eat.

I’ll have something later,

a shower would be nice, now, before leaving;

An office-business’s ready to receive me with its arms open wide...

Fresh air outside!

I walk with confidence

and proud of this day I am

as if it were my fault

it’s splendour.

Above city-trees, blue depths of a sky fresh and luminous

meet the reflection of a white moon.

Away!

she is so far away...

He is in love with her beauty,

the proud moon of today.

“Somewhere a rainbow drops colours of adored eternity.”

92. Theodora Oniceanu, Ode to the Sun

You shine again for us,

we embrace the gift of life,

your righteousness, so great and us so humble!

Adored, oh, worshipped star we loved

for that beauty we’re allowed to watch and let ourselves defeated by its power!

To see, accept, believe...

Out of the dark,

Much loved, Oh, our beloved star,

we are looking into the skies of evening with hope;

you will return to her, your love, once more, for momnets of joy

to be returned,

to be returned,

to be returned.

to all those worthy of your love;

to be returned, to be returned

to their beloved!

Much loved star, oh beloved star,

You still shine for us,

letting us embrace the gift of life!

Oh, Brightest

Oh, brightest star of morning

where is my soul,

what did you do to me,

to it?

What happened to my spirit,

broken,

it came fast back

and wisely sat a soul with you at the table.

Oh, brightest stars,

what have I done?

to my soul, all poor, lost and broken...

spirit that was strong, why have I sinned so bad,

why did you hate me. why did you love me,

oh, why?

Rise and shine,

Imagine the goddess you once loved!

93. Theodora Oniceanu, Moon’s Garden

A garden keeps all roses proud

for admiration of the swans

is kept on floating boats

made of a lily;

two frogs are telling

to one another

words of good love.

The garden keeps them all well watered and fed,

for the moon to come and say

a few little words of blessing for two lovers to appear

in the garden.

But then, only then, when the sun will give his blessings,

will the two find their full-time of happiness.

Sweet moon is waitiong, patiently shrouding them,

caressing the swans, and the roses, the trees and the garden’s two lovers.

With her warmth she jaundices their faces, with her heart

she calms their wounded hearts.

94. Theodora Oniceanu, Muse of the night

In a corner, dimly llit, by the bed

stands the haughty silhouette of a guitar.

It’s strings touched by moonlight rays

shiver and frightful breezes of wind climb up and down the strings.

Note by note, the song gets composed:

“- Now it is time!”

the musician speaks as if only for himself, the moon and the stars.

95. Theodora Oniceanu, Under a waning moon

There’s anger, under a waning moon,

There’s regret and loneliness, distractions and hopes,

all crushed, ressurrected, revealed

under the cover of the night,

concealed by the loveliness of flickering stars.

Under the waning moon I can hope,

I can breathe, I can live!

The sun is no longer with us, dear!

There’s space to be filled with more dreams,

Thousands of plans,

all tossed mistakes on tons and tons of paper

until all right.

Under the cover of night,

There is love, there is power, there is hope.

96. Theodora Oniceanu, This moon obsession

This moon obsession

Growing with the season of fall,

the season of colour burning bright

In my soul!

Moon obsession, colouring the grounds of night

in silver-shades of mystic power.

97. Theodora Oniceanu, Moon Tale

Moon, you’ve been telling me lies

Of the unforgettable,

A bedtime story,

a children’s book you once wrote

For us to believe

In the magic of our spirit.

Moon, you’ve been telling us tales,

you’ve been nurturing feelings of importance,

in our minds you grew

ideals!

You’ve drawn us to new acts of cruelty

to make us sane;

You gave us the stars to learn good ways.

You’ve told us whom to trust and whom to let go,

From where to learn and how to pay for our fall

into the soft, protective arms you built

with your crocheting needles.

Moon, you’ve been telling the truth, all this time!

98.

98. Theodora Oniceanu, So, there’s justice

So, there’s justice after all, in your garden

where the sun shines so proud and strong,

where the moon smiles back at us

as we look for fairies in the grass and Santa in the skies!

“So, there is justice in the world”,

The child longed to know,

“There is more laugher and more joy, for us!”

“As we look for our dragons to tame, we learn how to dare!”

So, there is love of true, just like in a fairy-tale,

And we’re not allowed to hurt one another

in your garden, where the sun shines so strong and proud,

Defending the righteous, destroying the wrong...

But who made them wrong and why?

“Yes, there is justice in your world,

You are that powerful!”

A feathery touch of air brings medicine for my overheated brain.

“There’s justice in your world, my world!”

99. Theodora Oniceanu, Hurt

Her Venus body, inviting you to a close exploration,

Her pale skin, under the moonlight shining,

Her ruby lips, kissed by a rse-petal,

Sweet, like your embrace:

All yours, you deserve it. How come?

Her shadow’s silhoette,

Her hair, so long with golden lustre

streams over your body as she leans towards you,

On alabaster temples she deposes her kiss good night.

Your mind distracted, by soft rays of waning moon,

Reaches heights of the unbearable and breaks into visions

Of multiple ideals you like to believe your own;

It is how you’ve grown.

She paints invisible circles and curls on your cheecks,

down your neck, but you’re not there.

You’re half gone with the moon and she knows,

Your eyes miss her long stare.

Into your mind she breaks, she knows

When you need a doctor or a froend,

When you deserve her lips and when to put an end

To all her miserable existence there where you are.

Half naked, staring at the moon shining thorugh the veil,

You forget you’re alone in that bed you bought with her on sale.

Do you love her? Did you ever? Was she only a tool?

Perhaps an ideal to watch from time to time, to have.

She’s gone, now! You’re alone.

Your Venus found her way back home.

Her heart won’t matter now much more

But yours will!

100. Theodora Oniceanu, Hurt II

You had a goddess but you wanted the Moon,

The Moon didn’t want you but for a little game of hers.

“Nighty-night, little ones! May your paths be guided by stars!

May you be loved, may you be hugged, may you be kisses

By the sweetest Joy.”

As she weaves her precious light down to you

Your heart remembers: “She was a goddess but I went for the Moon,

Now I’m alone in silence,

And cruel is this night with me,

At this late hour I write sweet pathetic letters

to cover that soul of mine weeping with regret.

She was a goddess but I went for the Moon.”

The Sun and the Moon Story by Theodora Oniceanu

Mummy? Why does the moon shine so brightly, tonight?

- Because the sun wanted her see her friends and admirers.

- Why would the sun do that?

- To comfort her for not meeting with him like they used to, in the past.

- Mummy! Could you tell me a bed-time story?

Perhaps just one:...

Once upon a time there was a sky full of darkness and darkness was coveryng the grounds of Earth. Animals were hunting through darkness and only the ones who could see through the dark won the fight for survival... or the ones who had good feet to run faster or wings to help them fly away.

In those times two angels were sent to Earth to speak of the stars yet unknown to the people chosen. Heavens picked the family of a man who was worthy, a man who fought for his family, a man who protected and loved his kind - an inventor of weapons and tools.

So the angels descended and were welcomed by this chosen man and his woman in their hut.

- If those stars you speak of, the woman said, do exist, how can we get to see them?

- You buit a ladder to go up ti touch this dark sky and uncover the new one. The new sky will show you the stars you need to guide you well through the night!

- Very well, the man agreed.

And so, the man and his woman started working on the ladder. They built and built some more until the ladder became so great that they needed help from the man’s brothers to keep the ladder straight. But it wasn’t high enough, their ladder so, they worked on an on, incessantly. A long time passed and they realised they also needed the animals to help them keep the ladder straight up and stable. Now the ladder looked high and strong enough so the woman decided to climb. But when she reached to the top she yelled back:

- I can’t touch the sky yet, it is too far away! The cover is there, I can see it! We have to built some more, the woman advised after returning.

The man worked some more this time with more help from his brothers. The animals also offered to help and so the ladder grew even bigger. They worled until the woman could reach the cover of the sky and revealed the new sky, full of stars. But, as she uncovered the stars, the little playful Gemini got disturbed and misplaced. All the stars got upset with the chaos created by the two twins trying to get each on their right path. Roars and threats happened until the right order established. In all this turnoil, some animas got hurt and were taken up into the skies to form constellations. Then the woman fell down to earth and sunk into the sea.

Now the man grew weary and sad. Upset with this turn of events, he started looking for his wife, hoping that one day he will find her. One night, as he sat on the shore, watching the sky full of stars, he wept a tear. Collecting it with his right palm he threw the tear to the sea. It was then when the moon showed herself full and bright for the first time.

Amased by her beauty, the man threw himself in the ocean, swimming and swimming until exhaustion. All the man’s brothers gathered on the shore to admire the moon and mourn for their brother. But the moon got sad soon as her beloved sacrificed to reach the impossible. Weeping for her love and for the brothers lefr engrieved, she sank into the sea, shy and ashamed.

It is said that there, into the depths of the ocean, they found each other, the Moon and her love. It is there where a new life for the man began. Morning was born. For the first time in history the sun was seen rising from the sea.

It is said and well known it is that an agreement was made between the two, the Sun and the Moon, to always accomplish their duties. The Moon lighting the sky of the night, guiding it’s travellers, its poets and seekers of truth and meaning of their own existence. The Sun helping his brothers and sisters by shining so bright as to bring day into the lives of humans and animals, growing their crops and lighting all their pats on the surface.

Like sister and brother they know each other, now, and live together up into the sky, separated only by their duties. But as the sun helps the man and the woman during the day create and built and see well so does the moon inspires artists and lovers so they all sing their songs of peace and war, of love and beauty, of magic and cruel realities long passed.

As by magic, the Sun and the Moon meet only to speak well of the dead, worthy. As by magic they both create life for the world they loved enough to help them see both the sky and the earth.

INFORMATION, INSPIRATION AND QUOTES

I. Folk Legends and Myths

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lunar_deities

https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-was-apollo-program-58.html

https://www.windows2universe.org/?page=/mythology/freyr_sun.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugh

https://www.learnreligions.com/lunar-deities-2562404

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belenus

https://ro.pinterest.com/pin/555561304006762674/

https://michellemontague.com/2017/05/the-story-of-the-sun-and-moon-an-inspiration/

http://ashleekrammes.com/blog/the-story-of-the-moon

https://norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/the-vanir-gods-and-goddesses/freyr/

Romanian Stories II. The Sun and the Moon - Poisons of admiration - Culianu Ioan Petru

http://taraluizalmoxe.ro/dacii-si-cultul-soarelui-170

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folklore_of_Romania

https://norse-mythology.org/

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Phaethon

https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Figures/Phaethon/phaethon.html

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Phaethon-Greek-mythology

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Apollo-Greek-mythology https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/gods/apollo/

https://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_greece/apollo.php

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo

Icarus _ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s2QPQnuaGk

https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Mortals/Icarus/icarus.html

https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/goddesses/selene/

https://www.greekmythology.com/Other_Gods/Hecate/hecate.html

https://www.greekmythology.com/Titans/Selene/selene.html

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sol-Roman-god

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_(Roman_mythology)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Invictus

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Re

Solar Folklore by Deborah Scherrer: http://solar-center.stanford.edu/folklore/Solar-Folklore.pdf

https://www.livescience.com/20415-folklore-5-sun-myths.html

http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/names/peruvian-goddesses.htm

https://www.windows2universe.org/mythology/kuat.html

http://www.aboriginalastronomy.com.au/content/topics/moon/

https://www.windows2universe.org/mythology/maui_sun.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C4%81ui_(mythology)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hina_(goddess)

http://www.gateway-africa.com/stories/Sun_Moon_and_Stars_San.html

http://www. gateway-africa.com/stories

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malina_(mythology)

Australian Aborigine Creation Myth _ http://dept.cs.williams.edu/~lindsey/myths/myths_13.html

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shamash

https://www.windows2universe.org/mythology/sin_moon.html

https://mythopedia.com/chinese-mythology/gods/hou-yi/

https://americanliterature.com/author/anonymous/short-story/how-the-moon-became-beautiful

Japanese Mythological Thesaurus by Octavian Simu,

Tezaurul Mitologic Japonez, publishing house Saeculum, I.O., Bucharest

https://www.ancient.eu/Surya/

https://yogainternational.com/article/view/tales-from-the-mahabharata-lord-surya

https://www.windows2universe.org/mythology/garuda.html

https://glorioushinduism.com/2016/07/27/chandra/

https://www.aswangproject.com/bathalas-daughters-demigods-mayari-hanan-tala/

https://mythology.wikia.org/wiki/Mayari

https://filipiknow.net/philippine-mythology-gods-and-goddesses/#9_Apolaki

https://malyaritribe.wixsite.com/site/post/mayari-goddess-of-beauty-and-strength

(https://www.univie.ac.at/voelkerkunde/apsis/aufi/folk/folk-v01.htm)

https://www.slavorum.org/10-slavic-gods-you-should-know-about/

https://ro.pinterest.com/pin/659425570418579773/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deities_of_Slavic_religion

http://www.hanksville.org/voyage/stories/sunmoonandstars.php3

https://yourstoryclub.com/short-stories-for-kids/short-story-for-kids-proudy-moon/index.html

http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/userstory2781-the-story-of-the-sun.html

II. Modern-day stories

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4FxFGcR5SP6gfytDqFlQP5K/the-sun-and-the-moon

https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/autumn-equinox-2012/how-the-sun-and-the-moon-came-to-be-a-creation-story-for-heathen-children/

https://yourstoryclub.com/short-stories-for-kids/short-story-for-kids-proudy-moon/index.html

https://www.mookychick.co.uk/lit-community/short-stories/eclipsed-a-sun-and-moon-creation-story-by-kaileia-kostroun.php

https://throughmyheartweb.wordpress.com/2017/04/19/proudy-twinkling-stars-and-the-calm-moon-daily-prompt-chuckle/

http://www.gayatrigadre.com/blog/silly-moon/

https://www.write4fun.net/view-entry/103849

III. Poems

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-sunlight-on-the-garden-by-louis-macneice-1907-63-0rs83ph862v

https://interestingliterature.com/2017/06/10-of-the-best-poems-about-the-sun-everyone-should-read/

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/

https://weheartit.com/articles/333563555-sun-moon-poem

https://ro.pinterest.com/pin/855965472918668758/

https://hellopoetry.com/poem/90534/the-moon-and-the-sun/

http://www.outstandingpoems.com/sp-moon.htm

https://www.poemhunter.com/search/?a=0&w=title&q=sun+and+moon+poems&ord=&y=1&p=2

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/331222-with-a-chaste-heart-with-pure-eyes-i-celebrate-your

https://gatheringbooks.org/2013/11/15/poetry-friday-4/

https://discoverpoetry.com/poems/poems-about-the-sun/

https://allpoetry.com/Ode-To-A-Naked-Beauty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12W3FfOZaT0

https://www.free-ebooks.net/fiction/Moons-of-Amaterasu

More suggestions of stories that do not appear in this book:

1. Shreya Sharma, Sun and Moon Story: https://www.bedtimeshortstories.com/sun-and-moon-story

&

Luna the Moon https://www.bedtimeshortstories.com/luna-the-moon

2. Patricia Kings, The Sleepless Moon: https://www.shortkidstories.com/story/the-sleepless-moon/

3.Glenzetta Hall, Moon Stories: https://smackslide.com/slide/moon-stories-glenzetta-hall-iwp4ag

4.Çetin Göksu, The story of the Sun Village: https://www.bookdepository.com/Story-Sun-Village-Cetin-Goksu/9781949872194

5.https://www.amazon.com/Sun-Stories-Around-Illuminate-Nights/dp/006250276X

6. Stanislaw Grochowiak, Valentine Urbanek and Elias J. Schawartz, The Moon (Short story): https://www.jstor.org/stable/25777500?seq=1

7. https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/docs/MoonStoriesASP2019.pdf

Extra information:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/02/23/the-daughters-of-the-moon

https://www.history.com/news/7-unusual-myths-and-theories-about-the-moon

https://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/explore/marvelMoon/tales/

https://moon.nasa.gov/about/in-depth/

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/overview/

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