How The Moon Was Named

Nearly every planet in our solar system and their own moons have names derived exactly from Roman and Greek mythology.

The Moon were called different names, well known among them, and in keeping with the naming arrangement of other local celestial bodies, was one taken from the name of an ancient and powerful goddess - Luna, the Roman Goddess of the Moon. The word “Luna” is still correlated with the Moon. For example, “Luna” is renowned as being the root of words like “lunar”. But, “Luna” as a name is still preceded by early derivatives of the word moon.

In any case, when humans learned there were other planets out there, we still weren’t certain that these planets had their own moons until four of Jupiter’s satellites were quickly noticed by Galileo Galilei in 1610.

While humanity first discovered other moons orbiting the planets in our solar system, one of the main reasons they were given names was to distinguish them from the Moon, wherein, as stated by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the group assigned with naming every celestial body in the night sky, is still the formal name of our moon in English.

The word “moon” can be recollected to Old English, where it is presumed to have taken from the Proto-Germanic word “menon”, which sequentially acquired from the Proto-Indo-European “*menses”, meaning “month, moon.” This brings out how far back the relation between the Moon and the movement of time goes.

You may often see the Moon related to women, fertility and many customarily ascribed “female” characteristics. Why? Menstrual cycles more or less correspond with the stages of the Moon. 

Women’s bleeding cycles are connect to the cycles of the moon and the tides. In fact, the word menstruation comes from the Greek word, menus which translates to moon, power and month. Plus in ancient Greece, menstrual blood was even used to support crops to grow. Women would often bleed together on the new moon and ovulate on the full moon.

Many moons ago in ancient times, before patriarchal took over society worship, when a woman was having her period it was believed that she held the power of creation, wisdom and deep spirituality. During this time, women were encouraged to listen to their inner voice and her tribe would look to her for advice and guidance.

As notable and glowing as the Moon, check out our Levitating Mystic Moon Lamp and remember that we all shine, like the Moon, the Stars, and the Sun. With faith and confidence, keep moving in the direction of your dreams!

sources: wikipedia, ancient origins, starchild



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