Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Any myths about the moon being out during the day?

This is topic Any myths about the moon being out during the day? in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by genevive42 (Member # 8714) on :

With all of the ancient myths about the sun and the moon I have never heard of one dealing with what happens when the moon is out during the day.

There are stories about the moon goddess devouring the sun (Aztec)and such, but how do they explain them both being in the sky at the same time?

Of all the phenomena that are explained by myths has this one been ignored? If so, why?

I've always wondered about this so I thought I'd put it out here and see what all of your mighty brains come up with.

Some day soon I will write a story about this so I will thank you now for helping me with the research.

Posted by Bent Tree (Member # 7777) on :

I am not sure how widespread this is and it is more a folky sort of thing, but my grandmother used to say that the moon apears to follow those with a guilty consious about their sins from the previous night. Or something along those lines anyway.

Posted by MartinV (Member # 5512) on :

Are we talking about the full moon? Because when the moon is not full it can be seen in the day.

Posted by Kitti (Member # 7277) on :

I don't know any off the top of my head, but you might consider starting with legends regarding eclipses and see if that gets you anywhere.

Posted by genevive42 (Member # 8714) on :

Any moon will do.

How about any superstitions about the moon? Like Bent Tree posted.

Posted by extrinsic (Member # 8019) on :

Several societies named full moons and tracked the passage of months by the Moon. I'm partial to the Algonquian names. The Cherokee names are similar to them. I also like the Neo Pagan and Celtic names. Thirteen moons to a year.

http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moonnames.htm

A full moon rises about sunset and sets about sunrise, being at its peak roughly at local midnight. Only a full moon can result in a total lunar eclipse and only a new moon can cause a total solar eclipse. A new moon rises and sets with the Sun. Moons visible in daytime generally are from half moon waning to waning crescent phases, then the dark new moon, and then waxing crescent to waxing half moon. Gibbous moons are visible in daylight and either setting after sunrise or rising before sunset.

The high priestess moon depicts an occultation of Venus by a crescent moon. The wanderer "star" shows between the horns of the crescent. There's a dexter and a sinister high priestess moon depending on whether the crescent phase is waxing or waning. Jupiter and Saturn also are sometimes associated with high priestess moons. Mars, not that I know of, but that's ripe for creative potential, a baleful red-eyed star in between the horns.

Sailors superstitiously believe that something evil is pending when a "star" dogs the moon.

"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1797) has a passage that depicts a high priestess moon.

quote:
We listened and looked sideways up !
Fear at my heart, as at a cup,
My life-blood seemed to sip !
The stars were dim, and thick the night,
The steerman's face by his lamp gleamed white ;
From the sails the dew did drip--
Till clomb above the eastern bar
The hornéd Moon, with one bright star
Within the nether tip.

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/stc/Coleridge/poems/Rime_Ancient_Mariner.html

[This message has been edited by extrinsic (edited September 30, 2009).]

Posted by rstegman (Member # 3233) on :

I did a quick glance through
CASSELL DICTIONARY OF SUPERSTITIONS by David Pikering. It had two pages on the moon, but I did not see anything specifically about the moon in daylight. Most everything was about the phases of the moon and what they mean.