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Long before there was a man on the moon, there was a Man in the Moon. Speculation as to how he got there has been going on
ever since.
Wikipedia presents several age-old theories. As far as European cultures were concerned, this Moon Man was just plain no good. He was labeled a sheep-thief by the Romans, and a hedgerow-thief by the Germans. Worse yet, Christians had him pegged as
“the man caught gathering sticks on the Sabbath and sentenced by God to death by stoning in the Book of Numbers…”
Mr. (or Mrs.) Moon hasn’t fared that much better in the Far East. According to Chinese lore, “the goddess Chang’e is stranded upon the moon after foolishly consuming a double dose of an immortality potion.” Oh, and she is not alone. A small
group of moon rabbits have been assigned to keep her company.
Since our Man in the Moon has been thought to be a bit of an alcoholic (you’d drink too if you were up there that long), a few English taverns were named “The Man in the Moone.”
Fame and misfortune aside, there still had to be some way for Him to have gotten as far as the moon’s doorstep. Space.com
reports on some recent research which indicates that the Moon Man’s facial features are the outcome of “heat radiating from the young Earth.” That is why He only hangs his heavy hat on the side of the moon that faces Earth.
Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_in_the_Moon
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/06/16/why-moon-dark-side-has-no-face/
Copyright June 17, 2014 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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