Re: [tied] Gender of the Moon

I think it's very difficult to determinate the sex of PIE moon deity.
I've ever worked with the concept that Moon was a goddess, considering that
Luna and Sellene were female, but I've never find more elucidative
reconstructed myths for her.
So, we can't discard the hypothesis that Moon was a IE god. Now I'm
thinking at the possibility that Indian Pushan &Greek Pan+Hermes was the
Moon-God (The lunar trait of Hermes can be related to the Hittite
Jarmash/Irmash). A god of shepherds, protector of cattle, protector of the
ways and travellers, protecting against the wolves (the earthly wolves,
danger to the cattle; the celestial wolves, danger to the Moon, eclypsis).
The Indian Moon-God born from the churning of Milk Sea. Perhaps he is leader
of Vanir-like deities.
There's another complex in Northern Europe. There, we have a couple Moon-God
and Sun-Goddess, a fraternal or marital couple. So, ON Ma:ni and So:l;
Lithuanian Menuolis and Saule; Latvian Me:ness and Saule; Celtic Sulis?.
Other possibility is that Moon was the Fate trio (Parcae, Moirai, Nornir,
Rodenitsa), but it can be just an influence of Old European Creatrix.

Joao SL
Rio

----- Original Message -----
From: John Croft <jdcroft@...>
To: <cybalist@egroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 28, 2000 4:18 AM
Subject: [tied] Gender of the Moon


> Consider the following
>
> Canaanite
>
> Yarikh is the moon god. 'The illuminator of myriads (of
> stars)', 'lamp of heaven', possibly also the crescent moon and 'lord
> of the sickle' and thereby the father of the Kotharat. He is patron
> of the city Qart-Abilim. Kotharat, the skillfull were the Goddesses
> of childbirth. They are a group of goddesses associated with
> conception and childbirth. '...The swallow-like daughters of the
> crescent moon.' (Gibson p. 106). They are also associated with the
> new moon. They attend Daniel for seven days to aid in the conception
> of Aqhat and receive his sacrifice.
>
> Hurrian-Hittite
>
> Kashku (Moon-god - Hurrian ) - He fell upon the 'killamar', the gate
> complex, from heaven and disappeared. Storm-god/Taru rain-stormed
> after him, frightening him. Hapantali went to him and uttered the
> words of a spell over him. While known to bestow ill omens, he can
> be appeased by sheep sacrifice.
>
> Sumerian-Akkadian
>
> Nanna (Sin, (Suen), Ashgirbabbar) Nanna is another name for the moon
> god Sin. He is the product of Enlil's rape of Ninlil. (Kramer, 1963,
> pp. 146-7.) He travels across the sky in his gufa, (a small, canoe-
> like boat made of woven twigs and tar), with the stars and planets
> about him. (Kramer 1961 p. 41) Nanna was the tutelary deity of Ur
> (Kramer 1963 p. 66), appointed as king of that city by An and Enlil.
> (Kramer 1963 pp. 83-84) He journeyed to Nippur by boat, stopping at
> five cities along the way. When he arrived at Nippur, he proffered
> gifts to Enlil and pleaded with him to ensure that his city of Ur
> would be blessed, prosperous, and thus, not be flooded. (Kramer 1963
> pp. 145-146, Kramer 1961 pp. 47-49) Nanna was married to Ningal and
> they produced Inanna and Utu. (Wolkstein and Kramer pp. 30-34; Kramer
> 1961 p. 41) He rests in the Underworld every month, and there decrees
> the fate of the dead. (Kramer 1963 p. 132, 135, 210) He refuses to
> send aid to Inanna when she is trapped in the underworld. (Kramer
> 1963 pp. 153-154) He established Ur-Nammu as his mortal
> representative, establishing the third Ur dynasty. (Kramer 1963 p. 84)
>
> With the moon represented as masculine throughout the cultures on the
> Middle East, can we say that the representative of the moon as
> feminine (eg. Artemis, Diana, Luna etc) is a PIE characteristic - not
> found amongst the peoples of the ancient Near East and Anatolia.
>
> Does this mean that Glen's identification of the moon with the hag in
> Anatolia does not bear any wei
>
> Regards
>
> Johnght?
>
>
>
>
>
>