List of lunar deities

A lunar deity is a deity who represents the Moon, or an aspect of it. Lunar deities and Moon worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms. The following is a list of lunar deities:

Name	Mythology / Religion	Details
Abuk	Dinka	Goddess of fertility, morality, creativity, and love
Amesemi	Kushite	Protective goddess and wife of Apedemak, the lion-god. She was represented with a crown shaped as a falcon, or with a crescent moon on her head on top of which a falcon was standing.
Ayyur	Berber
Gleti	Dahomean
Mawu	Dahomean
Iah	Egyptian
iNyanga	Zulu	Goddess of the Moon
Khonsu	Egyptian	The god of the moon. A story tells that Ra (the sun God) had forbidden Nut (the Sky goddess) to give birth on any of the 360 days of the calendar. In order to help her give birth to her children, Thoth (the god of wisdom) played against Khonsu in a game of senet. Khonsu lost to Thoth and then he gave away enough moonlight to create 5 additional days so Nut could give birth to her five children. It was said that before losing, the moonlight was on par with the sunlight. Sometimes, Khonsu is depicted as a hawk-headed god, however he is mostly depicted as a young man with a side-lock of hair, like a young Egyptian. He was also a god of time. The centre of his cult was at Thebes which was where he took place in a triad with Amun and Mut. Khonsu was also heavily associated Thoth who also took part in the measurement of time and the moon.
Nzambici	Bakongo	She is the eternal God of Essence, as well as Goddess of Moon, Earth and Sky Mother
Thoth	Egyptian	God of wisdom, the arts, science, and judgment
Yemọja	Yoruba	Goddess of Creation, Water, Moon, the Motherhood, and Protection

Name	Mythology / Religion	Details
Arianrhod^{[citation needed]}	Welsh
Artemis	Greek	Artemis is the ancient Greek goddess of the hunt, wilderness, wild animals, chastity, and occasionally the Moon due to being mistaken for Selene.^[31]^[32] She is the daughter of Zeus and Leto and the twin sister of Apollo.^[33] She would eventually be extensively syncretized with the Roman goddess Diana. Cynthia was originally an epithet of the Greek goddess Artemis, who according to legend was born on Mount Cynthus. Selene, the Greek personification of the Moon, and the Roman Diana were also sometimes called "Cynthia".^[34]
Artume	Etruscan
Ataegina	Lusitanian
Sen		Mesopotamian Religion
Bendis	Thracian
Devana	Slavic	Devana was the Slavic goddess of wild nature, forests, hunting and the moon, equated with the Greek goddess Artemis and Roman goddess Diana.
Diana	Roman	Diana is a goddess in Roman and Hellenistic religion, primarily considered a patroness of the countryside, hunters, crossroads, and the Moon. She is equated with the Greek goddess Artemis (see above), and absorbed much of Artemis' and Selenes mythology early in Roman history, including a birth on the island of Delos to parents Jupiter and Latona, and a twin brother, Apollo,^[35] though she had an independent origin in Italy.
Elatha^{[citation needed]}	Irish	Elatha was a king of the Fomorians in Irish mythology. He succeeded his father Delbáeth and was replaced by his son Bres, mothered by Ériu.
Hecate	Greek	While associated with the Moon, Hecate is not actually considered a goddess of the moon.
Hëna	Albanian	Hëna ("the Moon) is a personified female deity in Albanian mythology.
Hors	Slavic
Hjúki and Bil	Norse
Ilargi	Basque
Kuu	Finnish
Losna	Etruscan
Luna	Roman	Roman counterpart to the Greek Titaness Selene. Sibling to Sol and Aurora. Considered one of the 20 principal deities of Rome, having had temples on both the Aventine and Palatine hills.
Mano	Sámi
Máni	Norse	Máni is the personification of the Moon in Norse mythology. Máni, personified, is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. Both sources state that he is the brother of the personified sun, Sól, and the son of Mundilfari, while the Prose Edda adds that he is followed by the children Hjúki and Bil through the heavens.
Mehnot	Proto-Indo-European mythology
Meness	Latvian
Myesyats	Slavic
Phoebe	Greek
Selene	Greek	Selene is a Titan goddess and personification of the moon. She was depicted as a woman riding sidesaddle on a horse or driving a chariot drawn by a pair of winged steeds.
Tõlze	Mari	the god of the Moon for Volga Finns peoples
Triple Goddess	Wicca

African

American

Nivaclé Mythology

East Asian

European

Oceanic

Western Asian

Elamite

See also

References

Bibliography