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Saturday, 3 September 2022

Dark things of the moon


Of all the stories about the moon, the less known tend to be the scariest. Besides werewolves shape shifting at the full moon, there are many more dark superstitions about this phase. In Ireland, it was considered very unlucky to have the full moon shining on your face as you're sleeping. Among other moon omens from Ireland, includes one about seeing the full moon reflected into a mirror that will reveal a frightening vision. There's a horror story set in Ireland, about a sleeping girl who died as the moonlight was reflecting in the mirror and shining upon her face.   

Some traditions believe that there is a face on the moon that once belonged to a man who was exiled there. The Romans believed that this man was banished to the moon for stealing sheep. Christians believe that he's probably Cain. The Chinese believe that he's a man named Wu Gang who keeps chopping down a magical tree on the moon but it always grows back. 

The ancients regarded the moon as a powerful deity. According to Siberian myth, the reason that the moon is pockmarked is because of a huge dragon named Alklha, who's constantly feeding upon the moon. In Chinese myth, a giant dog in the sky will eat the moon one day. In Norse mythology the moon god Mani is forever hunted across the sky by a monstrous wolf that wants to eat him.  

There are dark truths behind the legends too. The full moon has a negative effect on people, and crimes go up during a full moon. One of the creepiest facts of all is that the moon is disappearing! It slowly moves away from the earth about 3.78 centimetres each year. So in the future, the earth itself would be plunged into very dark moonless nights! The moon has very severe temperatures and moonquakes that last longer than earthquakes. Astronauts have noticed their shadows on the surface of the moon looks much darker than back home on earth. One of the most biggest creepy facts about the moon is that it has a graveyard up there! 

Sources:

"Moon Face" story on Scary For Kids 

Man in the Moon Wikipedia

She Wolf Night     

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