Tonight, looking up at the sky, the crescent moon smiling, flirting with Venus, a magnificent night. What a great way to start an adventure. Sadly, this will be the last in the evening get-togethers between the moon and Venus, until the spring of 2010. I wonder what the African night skies hold in store. Stay tuned, I'll let you know. Welcome to my Tanzi travelin blog.
-ali
Maasai Mythology of the Sun and the Moon
Olapa, Goddess of the moon, is married to Enkai, God of the sun.
They travelled together for a long time, the sun leading and the moon following. As they travelled, the moon would get tired and the sun would carry her for three days every month.
On the fourth day the donkeys are said to be able to see the moon. People can only see the moon on the fifth day.
One day the moon made a mistake and she was beaten by the sun in just the same way women are beaten by their husbands. But it happened that the moon was one of those short-tempered women who fight their husbands. When she was beaten, she fought back, and wounded the sun's forehead. The sun also beat the moon and scratched her face and plucked out one of her eyes.
When the sun realised that he was wounded, he was very embarrassed and said to himself, "I am going to shine so hard that people will not be able to look at me." And so he shone so hard that people could not look at him without squinting. That is why the sun shines so brightly.
As for the moon, she did not feel any embarrassment and so she did not have to shine any brighter. This can be seen today, when the moon is full.
