My next blog entry is about the moon spirit, enjoy!The male Moon spirit – the Moon-Man – is an important character for the Inuit and he appears in numerous legends. The following is one example from the Inuit of Canada’s Eastern Arctic:
A powerful angakoq (shaman) decided to visit the Moon. At his request, his hands were tied with a leather cord and the lamps in his home were extinguished. The shaman then prayed to his tormaq (spirit guide) to transport him to the Moon, and the spirit complied.
Once he arrived, he realized that the Moon was a house. He entered and saw a beautiful woman, the Sun, to his left who asked him to put out the lamp in front of her. The Moon-Man then came to greet the shaman and welcomed him by saying: “My wife and I will perform a dance for you. It is important that you do not laugh, or misfortune will come your way.”
The couple began to dance before the shaman. To his great surprise, he saw that the Sun-Woman had no back, no spine and no entrails; only a heart and lungs occupied her chest. The dance was very strange and the faces made by the couple so peculiar that the shaman ran away lest he should laugh.
Soon after, the shaman decided to return to the house, determined not to laugh. Once the dance had ended, the Moon-Man graciously welcomed him and invited him to visit his home. In one room, the shaman saw large herds of deer that roamed over vast plains. In another room, he saw many pods of seals swimming in the ocean. The Moon-Man let the shaman choose one of each as a gift.
When he arrived back on Earth, the body of the shaman – which had remained completely still and spiritless – began to revive. Much to the surprise of everyone, his hands had been untied despite the fact that nobody had touched him. The shaman told them his story of what he had seen on the Moon.
Once he arrived, he realized that the Moon was a house. He entered and saw a beautiful woman, the Sun, to his left who asked him to put out the lamp in front of her. The Moon-Man then came to greet the shaman and welcomed him by saying: “My wife and I will perform a dance for you. It is important that you do not laugh, or misfortune will come your way.”
The couple began to dance before the shaman. To his great surprise, he saw that the Sun-Woman had no back, no spine and no entrails; only a heart and lungs occupied her chest. The dance was very strange and the faces made by the couple so peculiar that the shaman ran away lest he should laugh.
Soon after, the shaman decided to return to the house, determined not to laugh. Once the dance had ended, the Moon-Man graciously welcomed him and invited him to visit his home. In one room, the shaman saw large herds of deer that roamed over vast plains. In another room, he saw many pods of seals swimming in the ocean. The Moon-Man let the shaman choose one of each as a gift.
When he arrived back on Earth, the body of the shaman – which had remained completely still and spiritless – began to revive. Much to the surprise of everyone, his hands had been untied despite the fact that nobody had touched him. The shaman told them his story of what he had seen on the Moon.
If you want to read more where this story came from, here is the link.
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