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For thousands of years, cultures all over the world have believed in gods and goddesses as part of their religions. The common thread between many cultures seems to be that they associated their gods and goddesses to objects in the sky, the Earth, the ocean and in their own lives.

For example, in many cultures there existed a moon god, which is what we’ll look at today. The unique stories that each group has created for this god are really interesting, so read on to uncover what the moon means to other people around the world.

The Inuit tribe called their moon god Anningan. They believed that Anningan constantly chased his sister, Malina, who was the Sun goddess. As he chased her, he forget to eat which made him get much thinner. This, the Inuits believed, is why the moon got thinner every night. Then, when Anningan got hungry enough, he disappeared for three days each month to eat and returned when he was full. This was how they explained the new moon and the full moon. And because Malina wanted to stay away from her brother who chased her, she stayed on the other side of the Earth. This is why the sun and moon rise and set at different times.

In the Hindu culture, Soma is their moon god. The Hindus believed that Soma rode through the sky in a chariot drawn by white horses. Soma also represented a drink that only the gods could consume to make them live forever. Because the moon was thought to hold this drink, the Hindus believed that when the moon got smaller it was because the gods were drinking.

In the oldest Japanese religion called Shinto, the moon god was named Tsuki-Yomi. The story of this moon god is that he was born from the right eye of a larger being, and his sister, Amaterasu was born from the left eye. Tsuki-Yomi lived in the Heavens with his sister, but one day he went to the goddess of food to ask for food. This goddess of food offered him a meal that she created from her mouth and nose. Tsuki-Yomi thought that was disgusting and he hurt the goddess of food. When his sister found out about his nasty behavior, she decided she never wanted to see him again. Since then, they have lived apart and that is why the night always follows the day.