Moon Gods and Moon Goddesses

To those of us in the West, the most familiar deities of the moon are female -- moon goddesses. Our word lunar, as in the lunar cycle of full, crescent, and new moons, comes from the feminine Latin Luna. This seems natural because of the association of the lunar month and the female menstrual cycle, but not all societies envision the moon as a woman. Here are some of the moon gods and moon goddesses of major ancient religions.

1. Artemis

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Greek
Moon Goddess
In Greek mythology, the sun god was originally Helios (whence words like heliocentric for our sun-centered solar system) and the moon goddess Selene, but over time, this changed. Artemis and Selene, just like Apollo and Helios, came to be associated. Apollo became a sun god and Artemis became the goddess of the moon.

5. Ix Chel

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Maya
Moon Goddess
Lady Rainbow was a Maya old woman moon goddess.

8. Selene or Luna

Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons.

Greek
Luna in Latin.
Moon Goddess
Actually, moon Titan (Titaness) daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Thea. Selene is the sister of the sun god Helios.