[Marianne]

In most mythologies the moon “is female,” but in a couple mythologies the moon “is male,” such as in Babylonian myth, the moon-god Sin is male. It is not hard then to imagine why Christianity went on to name wrongdoings as “sins,” since before electricity it was easier for humans to commit wrongdoings during the nighttime, in the dark. In Japanese/Shinto myths, the moon is also male, named  Tsukuyomi.

Christianity rejected the “power” of the moon as sinful, yet statues of the Virgin Mary are often depicted with a crescent moon at her feet, or at the foot of her throne, showing her as Queen of the Heavens in Catholic belief, often akin to Venus, the Morning Star and Evening Star, and thus shows the Catholic Mary’s connection to Aphrodite, too. Thus she is also, in less-known Catholic prayers, addressed as the Queen/Lady of the Sea.