Lunar Gods

Where the sun is sovereign and visible, the moon is cyclical and read for omens. Lunar deities are often paired in opposition or sibling-tension with a solar one (Apollo and Artemis, Khonsu and Ra, Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu). They carry the time-keeping function in many traditions: the lunar month is the oldest unit on which the calendar runs, and lunar deities own ritual time. They are often female where the solar counterpart is male, but Egyptian Khonsu and Mesopotamian Sin show the inverse is just as old.