The moon has always played an important part in human culture. The moon's phases were the most important way of measuring time before other methods were developed, and still are in many cultures today. Since before ancient times, people have watched the moon wax and wane and wondered at its beauty.
The Moon in Religion
The moon is an important figure in many religions, and once was in many religions that no longer concern the moon. Many religions see the moon as a god or goddess. Some moon gods are or were: Alignak (Inuit), Baime (Aboriginal), Chandra (Aryan), Eterah (Semetic), Fati (Polynesian), Bou (Benin), Jacy (Amazonian), Khonsu (Egyptian), Mani (Nordic), Sin (Assyrian), and Taukiyomi (Japanese). Some moon goddesses are or were: Allat (Arabian), Anu (Irish), Artemis (Greek), Athenesic (Algonquin), Cerridwen (Celtic), Chang-O (Chinese), Dae-Soon (Korean), Diana (Roman), Gnatoo (Polynesian), Hanwi (Oglala Sioux), Hecate (Greek), Hina (Hawaiian), Ishtar (Babylonian), Isis (Egyptian), Jarah (Hebrew), Jezanna (Central African), Komorkis (Blackfoot), Kuu (Finnish), Luna (Roman), Mari (Basque), Menulis (Old Indo-European), Re (Phoenician), Selene (Greek), Sina (Polynesian), Ursula (Slavic), White Shell Woman (Native American), Yellow Woman (Pueblo), Yalaikaison (Navajo), and Zirna (Etruscan). Many Neo-Pagans worship the moon as a representation of the Goddess.
The Moon in Stories and Legends
There are many stories about the moon from all over the world. The Native Hawaiians talk about how Hina fled to the moon after she got tired of working for her brother. A Navajo myth tells about how the moon goddess Yolaikaison was formed from an abalone shell. The Bushmen of Southern Africa say that a Lunar Eclipse is caused by a lion reaching up and covering the full moon with his paw so that he can hunt in the dark. Even those who don't consider the moon sacred have beliefs about it or explanations of its changes. Many cultures have linked the moon with change, death, and rebirth, and many cultures consider the moon to have feminine powers because of how it affects menstruation. Eclipses are often seen as a sign of bad luck. In the Middle Ages in Europe, there were many superstitions about the moon, such as sleeping in moonlight would cause someone to go insane, and the word lunatic comes from the Latin word for moon. Werewolves were thought to appear on the night of a full moon. Many people had stories about the markings on the moon, such as "the Man in the Moon" who had been imprisoned there for breaking the Sabbath. Some people have thought that there was life on the moon, such as the Greek writer Plutarch, who wrote about moon demons who lived in caves, and the astronomer W. H. Pickering, who in the 1920s thought that insects might live on the moon.
The Moon Literature and Art
The moon has been important in literature and art, as well. Many plays, poems and stories mention the moon, by writers such as Shakespeare, Percy Bysshe Shelly, Walt Whitman, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Edward Lear. Science Fiction books have been about the moon, such as From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne. Many songs have been about or included lines about the moon, such as "Moon River", "Moonlight Sonata", and Cat Stevens' song "Moonshadow."
Studying the Moon
Beginning in the 1600s astronomers and selenographers (scientists who study the moon) began mapping out the moon using telescopes and figured out its size, motion and distance. When the camera was invented in 1850, scientists began taking photographs to study the moon. In 1959, the Soviet Union sent Luna 2 to the moon, which was the first man-made object to land on the moon. Many other unmanned spacecrafts were sent to the moon after that, including crafts that took detailed photos of the moon's surface. Then in 1969, Apollo 11 was the first manned spacecraft to reach the moon, and until 1972, several other manned spacecrafts were sent there.