The Moon: The Divine Luminary Of Nourishment And Mind

The luminary besides the Sun is the queen of nourishment, because of whom life exists as we witness. In Vedic lore, it is known as Chandra Dev, who took pride in his beauty and was cursed by Shri Ganesh Ji over his humiliation to become Amavasya, the no moon day. Upon forgiveness, Ganesh Ji blessed him to wax and wane through his phases, because of which we today experience the ups and downs with changing environments in our lives. Its waxing phase is called Shukla Paksha, and the waning one is termed Krishna Paksha.

The most important phase is termed Poornima, when the Moon is at its full brightness, providing the necessary nourishment to our mind and imagination. Its element is water, which holds control over all water bodies.

The stories of eclipses have significant meaning on the manifestation of evil forces, where when the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon, the lunar eclipse prevails, producing destructive events both in the world and our personal lives, and so one is advised never to behold a lunar eclipse directly.

The Moon is also known as Shiva Shekhar, from where pours the celestial nectar which nourishes the universe, and a few drops of which can give immortality.

In astrology, it rules over our mind, imagination, mother, and universal consciousness and subconsciousness. Its creativity is expressed through its nakshatras—Rohini, Hasta, and Shravana—and is ruled by the sign Cancer. It takes approximately 2.5 days to travel one zodiac and manifest different daily phases of our lives through its divine feminine energy.

In Greek mythology, Selene was the Titan goddess and personification of the Moon. She was depicted as a beautiful woman riding a chariot pulled by white horses or oxen across the night sky. Artemis, while primarily the goddess of the hunt, wilderness, and childbirth, became increasingly associated with the Moon over time, sometimes equated with Selene.

In Roman folklore, Luna was the Roman counterpart to the Greek Selene, also depicted as a goddess driving a chariot. Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt, wild animals, and the Moon, often syncretized with the Greek Artemis.