Moon and the Gods

The Moon is rich in history and folklore, and to many sky watchers, the Moon is home to the gods.

Plutarch, a first-century Greek essayist, considered it a way station for the coming and going of souls.

Lunar eclipses, some believed, were instances of the Moon being eaten up. Various rituals were enacted to bring the Moon back, whether from eclipse or its monthly new Moon phase disappearance.

"Shooting the Moon"—now an expression of great ambition—was an attempt to rekindle the light of the Moon with fiery arrows.

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