The Common Link: Moon, World Astrology and Ancient Texts

Hi ATS,

I have seen quite a few ‘conspiracy theorists’ who profess that the moon is an artificial object dragged into Earth’s orbit by an alien species with an express desire to inhabit and colonize earth (some say Mars was previously colonized too). Could this really be true? I find this very fascinating and thought of doing some research of my own. Where better to start than to turn to the ancient texts, primarily astrology which most civilizations religiously followed (including the magi). What I found dumbfounded me as almost all civilizations across the globe from East to West all seem to correlate to a same single source. Could this point to the one true source of our origins which our so-called ‘creators’ didn’t want us to know – hence multiplied us in tongues and cultures that we could not build the tower of Babel?

For example, would you for a moment have thought that Lithuania’s Baltic Mythology which is decidedly pagan (and dare I say castigated in medieval times) in fact shared the same gods related to in Vedic Hinduism? Vedic Hinduism is also finds exact matches to Greek mythology. Greek mythology also matches with Roman mythology. Vedic Astrology in turn also matches to Thai Astrology which also relates to Tibetan and other Far Eastern astrology. How could that be unless at some point in time they all did correlate to a single source?

And how does the moon fit into all these mythologies? Well in almost all them, the moon is the interfering factor. For example, in Vedic astrology the moon is depicted as beautiful, handsome Lord, but the one who upsets the balance of other solar deities; and thus is castigated to the outer realms as the bad guy. This is exemplified today when we see how Vedic astrologers study an individual’s chart by correlating the individual’s ruling constellations vis-à-vis the ‘lunar’ mansions the constellations reside in at the point of his/her birth as well as its current positioning. The same can be said when we talk of Chinese astrology, which only follows the “Lunar” calendar and demonstrates highly accurate readings of human behavior based on the lunar year of birth.


Eastern Moon versus Western Moon:


In order to elaborate further, let’s compare how the moon’s characteristic in two cultures: Vedic mythology versus Baltic mythology.

In Vedic astrology, the moon, Chandra is the lord of plants and vegetation. He is described as young, beautiful, fair. He is one of the gods of fertility. Chandra is however, unfortunate in life. Born in the Ocean of Milk (the gods (aliens?) were churning it for millennia in order to create immortal life), and nearly blinded the gods with his bright glow. The gods gave Chandra the status of a planet and placed him in the cosmos. Chandra is known for having disastrous love affairs. His first lover, Tara, was the wife of Brihaspati (Jupiter, Zeus). From their union, Tara became pregnant with Budha (Mercury, not to be confused with the other Buddha). Because of how he was conceived, Mercury hated his father and their rivalry continues to this day (Mercury in retrograde, anyone?). For the sin of abducting another god's consort, Brahma (the Universal Creator) banished Chandra to the outer atmosphere (explains Moon’s fixed orbit around the Earth instead of the Sun). After which Chandra sets out to marry the 27 daughters (lunar mansions) of Daksha. Daksha allowed this on condition that the moon does not favor any daughter over the other. Chandra failed to do this, and Daksha placed a curse on him that took away his luster.

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Now compare that to some factual points to note here:
1) The surface of Mercury closely resembles that of the moonthan any other planet.
2) Moon doesn’t orbit around the sun, but around the Earth (credence to ‘banishment’ from ‘planetary’ status)
3) All life (be it a woman’s menstruation cycle or a plant’s regenerative capacity or the oceans’ tides) is directly related to the moon.

Now comparing the above to Lithuanian Mythology:
Saule and Menuo/Meness (the Moon) were wife and husband. Menuo fell in love with Aušrine (the morning star or Venus). For his infidelity, Perkunas, the thunder god (i.e. Zeus/Jupiter) punished Menuo.

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What’s even more amazing is the words in such a far-fetched Baltic mythology even matches to the Sanskrit wording used in Vedic Hinduism. For example, Jupiter is Indraja (Baltic) and correlates to Indra (Sanskrit) in the Vedas. And the Baltic word Dievas (gods) matches to Devas (gods) in Sanskrit.

Furthermore, the twin vedic divine horsemen Ashvins (Greek Castor and Pollux) correlate to Asvieniai in Lithuanian mythology. In Vedic Hinduism Ashvins are the sons of Saranya (Orion belt- female) and Surya (Osiris, Sirius – male; same as in Egyptian mythology). Both are represented either by head of a horse (Aries) or by honey or beehives. Lithuanian culture too depicts the Asvieniai with common motifs on beehives, horse harnesses and other household objects. This is also similar to the Latvian Dieva deli as well as Alcis (twin male gods) worshipped by the Naharvali, an ancient Germanic tribe.

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Colors of the Day

This correlating pattern is not just restricted to Baltic culture but can also be found in Greek/Roman mythology as well. For example the naming convention of days in a week used in English today correlates to the latter-day lingua franca used by Indians today (not just the Northern Hindi, but even Southern Dravidian languages like Tamil, Malayalam). For example, each day we have today is attributed to a Roman god, which in turn is the same in Vedic Hinduism (also the day also corresponds to the same naming convention in Indian languages).

Day Roman Vedic
Sunday Sun Surya
Monday Moon Chandra
Tuesday Mars Mangala
Wednesday Mercury Budha
Thursday Jupiter Brihaspati (Indra)
Friday Venus Shukra
Saturday Saturn Shani

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Further more, Thai Astrology attributes colors for each of these days which is the same concept as colors of the chakras. Have you noticed that during meditation; the colors of the chakras (auras) resemble that of a rainbow? Why is it that the same colors (and in same sequence) are used? Well, we know light when inter-dispersed through a prism breaks-down into rainbow colors; in the same fashion our human-body is spiritually attuned to Light. Light is the essence of our Creator - as attested to in the RigVeda and the Bible. We are made in the image of the Creator (i.e. Light). In other words, we essentially are light-beings. This is why meditating through the different rainbow colors are crucial for guided meditations, deep relaxation and past-life regressions (it awakens your pineal gland – known as the Third Eye).


(To be Contd)

There is remarkable semblance to thought-forms in ancient Western civilization indicating a common root source. For example: Monday, gets its name from the ancient Romans and Greeks who attributed the day to the Moon. Similarly, in Vedic astrology (and also in surrounding sanskritized South East Asian regions), Monday is attributed to Chandra (moon). In the same vein, Saturday gets its name after Saturn’s day. In Vedic astrology, Saturday is the day for the planet Shani (Saturn). The planet Saturn is considered most malefic of malefic, greatest punisher (grim reaper) and has his chariot as the raven (as in countless western horror movies). Saturn’s day is also considered as the day of rest and the enemy of Light (thus the ending of the week). Similarly Sunday is named after the Sun, is father, the firstborn (hence beginning of the week), and represented as King through Leo with the sign of a Lion (also note, Lion is traditionally considered to be king of the Animal kingdom).

Abrahmanical Faiths

Could it be that the Abrahamanical faiths are mere representations of astrological powers at play? The Bible could be characterization of the cosmic world. If we look at that way – all classic tales pertaining to the grand cosmic tug-of-war would concur with how we view god through the main major religions. Like how September is Mother Mary’s birthday for Catholics (Virgin = Virgo). Like the 12 tribes of Israel, 12 disciples of Jesus (12 zodiac signs?). As explained above, we all know Hinduism is all about cosmology. Jyothish/Vedic astrology narrates how Mercury is born from an illegitimate affair of the Moon with Tara (Terra - Earth?); Jupiter’s wife. Astronomically speaking, this is true as well Mercury’s surface closely resembles the moon’s more than any other planet. Also, the moon satellites around Earth as opposed to the Sun; the Vedas say the moon was banished by Brahma to “outerspace” devoiding its planetary status, yet Hinduism refers it as a planet. So could it be that all what we discuss in our religious books is a depiction of a grand cosmic tug-of-war scene, with battlelines drawn across various alliances?

More can be found how we worship the holy days. Initially Saturday was the holy day for the Abrahmanical faith. This was Saturn’s day or Sabbaoth’s day. Vedic astrology considers Saturn as the most malefic of malefic who is strict, wise, judgmental and of old age bringing death. In the same vein early followers were strict adherents that mandated to keep His rules. And for those who did keep His rules, He was considered benevolent too, albeit judgmental. Vedic astrology says Saturn’s color is purple – which was found ordained in the priestly robes during temple worship. His worship demanded a sacrifice of an unblemished animal (usually a lamb-kid or calf) – perhaps an indication of the passage of judgment, death and rebirth. His sign the Hexagram (the six-pointed star) can literally be found at planet Saturn’s North Pole. Saturn’s followers saw Him as judgmental, thus a Jealous God. He brought death, thus His day was to be the day of rest. In Vedic astrology, he is described that even if He was the child of the Sun, the Sun had go into an eclipse when He was born – thus He is considered the antithesis of Light (or Darkness), His chariot is the black raven (found in countless horror movies, the grim reaper). From Astronomy’s point-of-view, Saturn is a mature dying star and not a definitive planet. It is the oldest of the heavenly bodies in the solar system (i.e. old, mature) and thus the slowest of all heavenly bodies to revolve around the Sun.

After Saturn’s age came to an end – the next yuga (age) began. Saturn’s day gave way to the following day – Sun’s day, aka Sunday to be commemorated as the Holy day; and thus His followers moved their holy day from Saturday to Sunday. His birthday was commemorated on 25th December as the birth of the Sun during the northern hemisphere’s winter solstice. Astrology states that the Sun is exalted through Leo; thus making the lion is His sign. His followers depicted their representative figures with a halo – indicating the presence of the Sun. As Light, he is the King of the rainbow (the chakra-energy life giving system), which controls every aspect of life. He is considered the firstborn (and thus the first day of the week), a redeemer through re-births (i.e. from Saturday), of new opportunities and life under a clean-slate. His priestly garb is red or copperish yellow to venerate Him. All his theological representations narrate the story of a rebirth/re-incarnation) from death, be it Krishna, Mithraism, Zoroastrianism or Jesus with a presence of a virgin mother (Virgo or Alpha Virginis).

Well even Islam follows the moons cycles and I think that their emblem is the moon. So it follows that many religions that are ancient follow the natural cycles of earth and other planets. Starting with the ancient egyptians who were infact astrologers and had a good understanding of this knowledge. They invented the astrology.

The Sumerians who had settled in Mesopotamia at about 4000 BC, worshipped the sun, moon, and Venus. They considered these to be the heavenly bodies gods or the homes of gods. The moon gods name was called Nanna, the sun god was called Utu, and the god of Venus was named Inanna.

Also there is a video about Jesus and how it relates to astrology his birthdate if youd like it.

I enjoyed the read OP. S&F

I've seen many references to Saturn throughout the years in several cultures. Saturn seems to be key as far back as we can go historically. Also references to Saturn being our first sun, instead of Sol.

Years ago, Star Trek: TNG did an episode that centered on the idea of mythology's relation to cosmology. A very interesting episode, and idea with some precedence imo.

Good work and well presented!
Enjoyed the read.Thanks!
Well,the moon is mysterious and so is the rest.So much I would like to know.....!

Nice work! S&F.

I'd like to add Chinese mythology to this. In Ancient China, the sun and the moon represent yin and yang, and this is reflected in their names: the sun is taiyang (ultimate yang) and an old name for the moon is taiyin (ultimate yin). The moon is usually feminine. The goddess of the moon is a female, Taiyin Xingjun.

Perhaps the most famous of the lunar deities is, however, Chang'e, who is celebrated every mid-autumn at the Zhongqiu (Mid-Autumn) festival. The legend goes that Houyi (a hero who's shot down nine suns, slain a dragon and lots of other amazing feats) was banished after shooting down nine suns who happened to be Di Jun (often said to be the same guy as Di Gu) and Xihe's kids (no pun intended on son). They wanted to return to the heavens, so Houyi went on a long and difficult quest for the elixir of life. Xiwangmu (the highest-ranking goddess in Chinese mythology) took pity on them and gave Houyi the elixir, but warned that they should each have half only. Chang'e, upon seeing the elixir, gobbled up the whole thing (the reason depends on the source) and went to the moon to become a lunar deity.

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn each represent one of the five elements, and those should be no surprise given their respective appearances:

Mercury -> Water
Venus -> Metal
Mars -> Fire
Jupiter -> Wood
Saturn -> Earth

Among them, Jupiter is said to have a corresponding planet called Taisui (usually spelt Tai Sui but my dictinoary confirms that it should be Taisui). Taisui is also a very scary god you don't want to meet. Another god to note is Taibai Jinxing, the god of Venus, who's a kind old man who gives second chances and resolves disputes (much unlike Taisui!).

The origin of the moon is very similar to Egyptian mythology. Instead of Horus, though, we have Pangu, who, after holding up the heavens for a long time, finally collapsed and his eyes became the sun and the moon respectively.

Anyway, this seems not to correspond to your OP at all. What do you think?

reply to post by FreedomEntered


Thanks for that. I will be sure to check out that video, must be really interesting..

reply to post by Klassified


Thanks. Isn't it interesting about the hexagram on Saturn.

reply to post by diqiushiwojia



I haven’t had the greatest of exposures to Chinese mythology. But even then, I do see some similarities with what you have posted. Mythologies can be vague and for this reason, one has to be careful. Especially when there are pantheons of gods, as found in Vedic Hinduism. There is the celestial lord (i.e. primary source itself - Chandra), associations of the celestial deity (e.g. Soma), as well as avatars of the celestial deity. So one has to be careful as to which representation the comparison is made to, or the stories will not correlate - even when the celestial deity are the same. For example Castor and Pollux in Greek mythology do not match to the Vedic Ashwins, however researchers often compare them as the same for their twin identity (I believe they are not). Whereas Asvieniai in Lithuanian mythology do match to the Vedic Ashwins (even the name corresponds), but then again some ‘tales-of-legend’ within the paradigm do not match. The same goes for the Vedic Ushas vis-à-vis the Greek goddess Eos, who do correlate as the goddess of morning Dawn.

Reading your post (again, need more research to qualify my statements) Tai Ying and Tai Yin sound like the primary ‘source’ energies representing vis-à-vis solar and lunar energy. They are the opposites required to balance each other in existence. Chang’e, sounds like a representation (association? avatar?) of the moon or lunar energy. Similarly, if we consider Chang’e & Houyi as one union, then the banishment from the ‘celestial heavens’ matches to the banishment of a planetary status mentioned in my OP above.

Also Taisui, draws the same analogy of Jupiter (Roman), Zeus (Greek) or Brhaspati (Vedic) who all appear as fearsome, thundering and punishing gods.

In Vedic Hinduism too, the moon holds of the ‘elixir of life’ (Soma) which other celestial bodies consume from for their energy. Soma is thus another representation of the moon god. The Vedic story is as follows:

Soma gives life to plants and so nourishes human beings and animals alike. In creatures of the male sex the sap of the plant is changed into fertile seed, in the female to milk. As the blood of animals and the sap of plants, Soma courses through all living things. At death the life so given returns again to the moon and during the waxing of the moon Soma recovers this life force, refilling himself as if he were a bowl and so becoming the god's monthly portion of immortality.

But before the moon came to own Soma, he was a god of his own. In the Veda Mithra, the gods wishing to partake of the portion because of his gift of immortality, devise a plan to murder the Soma plant which is in fact Soma himself. The Wind-god Vayu agrees and Mitra (same person as in Mithraism) too is invited to become an accomplice in the murder. The gods speak to Mitra ('he, whose name means "friend"'): '"We wish to kill King Soma." He said: "Not I, for I am friend to all." They said to him "Still we will slay him."' In the end Mithra, having been promised a share in the sacrifice, assists in the murder after all. Even Varuna takes a hand in the killing of Soma, who is murdered by being crushed under a weight of stones as in one of the cult ceremonies when the juice is extracted from the stem of the Soma-plant. Soma supplies the life blood and the drink which is enjoyed by gods, priests and participants in the rite. Thus man is granted immortality, though through the agency of death from which only the gods are exempt.

It is interesting to compare the evidence of the Vedic texts with that of the Avesta (Bundahishn), in which the archetypal bull is killed and then the plants are created (see Mithraic Taurectonomy).

reply to post by aryaputhra


Hmm, you're right. It seems that I just suck at noticing similarities.

I just realised I wasn't so clear in my post. Houyi and Chang'e were man and wife, so when Houyi got banished , so did Chang'e. By the way, Chang'e and Taiyin Xingjun, the lunar deity, are considered the same person in Daoism, so it's quite right to say that Chang'e was a representation of the moon. However, I don't think the sun and the moon should be considered sources of energy. The energy in Chinese mythology and philosophy is qi (life force, but anything with 'momentum' can be considered to possess qi), which governs everything from Chinese medicine to feng shui. However, the concept of qi is extremely vague. It's not clear where qi comes from, where it resides, and what on earth it is. Shuowen says 'qi' means 'cloud qi' (very useful indeed:@@.

In case it's useful, here are some more moon myths you might compare to other mythologies to see if they match.

Yutu/The Jade Rabbit (a.k.a. Yuetu/the Moon Rabbit) is another common moon legend, second only to Chang'e. It is also an important legend in other cultures, including Japan, Korea and (!) the Aztecs. The myth varies from culture to culture and even in China, there are various versions.

The version with which I am most familiar is the one in which three gods descended to the earth, transformed into starving old men, and asked the fox, the monkey and the rabbit for food. The fox and the monkey gathered food for them, but the rabbit had nothing to offer, and instead threw herself into the fire for the gods to eat. The gods were touched and sent her to the moon. In the Aztec legend, only one god descended, and he was genuinely starving, but the end result was the same - the rabbit sacrificed herself and the god sent her to the moon.

In most versions of the Chinese Jade Rabbit legend, the rabbit ends up as Chang'e's companion and repetitively pounds on the elixir of life. Funnily enough, some scholars believe that the Jade Rabbit was actually Chang'e; others believe that she was actually Houyi.

There's another guy called Wu Gang who is forced to chop down a laurel tree on the moon as punishment. The tree heals itself each time he chops it, so he's forced to chop forever. The reason varies. One version says Yandi's grandson Boling had an affair with Wu's wife. Wu was angry and killed Boling, so Yandi banished him to the moon to chop down the tree. Another says that Wu Gang was original a guard at Nantianmen, the gate to the heavens, but he fell in love with Chang'e and stayed away from work to be with her. The Jade Emperor was sent him to the moon to chop down the tree.

By the way, Chandraprabha is also worshipped as a lunar deity in China, for some reason.

Originally posted by aryaputhra
reply to post by Klassified

 

Thanks. Isn't it interesting about the hexagram on Saturn.

Yes it is. It is said that each planet, and even the Sun in our solar system has a unique sound. And since sound is known to create patterns naturally, I have wondered if that hexagram on Saturn is due to sound.

Originally posted by aryaputhra
Hi ATS,

I have seen quite a few ‘conspiracy theorists’ who profess that the moon is an artificial object dragged into Earth’s orbit by an alien species with an express desire to inhabit and colonize earth (some say Mars was previously colonized too). Could this really be true?

In a word, "no."

The moon is composed of crustal material from the Earth. The best evidence so far (given what we've been able to analyze) is that early in the solar system formation process, the Earth was smacked by something about the size of Mars. Both planets fractured, and the current Earth and Moon formed from the fragments.(this is a very simplified version of the evidence.)

Originally posted by Byrd

In a word, "no."

The moon is composed of crustal material from the Earth. The best evidence so far (given what we've been able to analyze) is that early in the solar system formation process, the Earth was smacked by something about the size of Mars. Both planets fractured, and the current Earth and Moon formed from the fragments.(this is a very simplified version of the evidence.)

You present this as fact, when it is a mere hypothesis. So I would say, in a word "unlikely", but not "no".

reply to post by RationalDespair

Actually, we do know what the moon is made of and what the proportions are of these elements. The chemical composition of different planets is very different -- Mars, for instance, doesn't have the same proportions of iron and silicon and oxygen and carbon (etc) as the Earth does. In a sense, each planet has its own "chemical signature" (as do asteroids and comets) which tell something about where it formed.

And you are indeed right -- the "smacked by a planet" is the prevailing hypothesis that looks like the best match for the currently available (so it really doesn't resemble Mercury after all and the tie-in with Saturn is even weaker.)