Would you be confused if I told you the Sun is a Goddess and the Moon is a God? Well that is what I’ll be talking about in this Deity Feature! I’ll be discussing the Northern European Solar & Lunar pair, Sól and Máni.
Because it is now also pride month, and I came out as non-binary last month, I decided to write about Gender in witchcraft a little bit, from observation and my own experiences. It may not seem related to these 2 deities, but that’s where the personal bit comes in.
I will start off with the deity feature, and maybe you’ll find my personal addition an interesting or inspiring read.
Please bear in mind that I’ll try to give you as much factual information about this pair, but I cannot fully discuss them without adding my own experiences to it, so a large part of this should be considered UPG (Unverified Personal Gnosis)
Artwork made by myself based on my interpretation of these deities.
Sól and Máni
Sól and Máni are the Goddess of the Sun and the God of the Moon in Heathenry. For some this may sound odd. A lot of traditions, like Hellenic and Celtic tradition, have a female Moon and a male Sun deity, but Heathenry isn’t the only one that flips it around. These two deities, while not mentioned in a lot of Norse myths, have enough evidence to have pre-Christian Germanic roots dating back to the Bronze Age like the sun chariot. Giving that in the past people kept track of the year using both the sun and the moon, these were very important deities to our ancestors.
Sól and Máni are siblings, each driving a chariot across the sky as to symbolise the movement of these celestial bodies. There are 2 myths as to how they came to be. One states they emerged as the cosmos was created and another states these children were named after the Sun and Moon because they were so beautiful, which the Gods found offensive and punished them by driving the celestial bodies across the sky. In either story, they are hunted by 2 wolves that wish to devour the sun and moon, which causes the occurrence of eclipses. Depending on the source they either represent the chariot rider of the Sun and the Moon or the celestial bodies themselves.
Sól
Sól (pronounced like ‘Soul’), also called Sunna, is the Goddess of the Sun, and her name literally means ‘Sun’. Her kennings are: Sunshine, Dvalinn’s Deluder, Everglow, Lovely Wheel and All-Shining.
Her brother is Máni, and her father is Mundilfari (The One Who Moves According to Particular Times). Some sources state she has a daughter that may carry the same name.
She rides a chariot across the sky pulled by 2 horses who we know are called Árvakr (Early Riser) and Alsviðr (Swift). She is chased by the wolf Sköll (Mockery), and it’s said when Sköll catches up enough he tries to eat the Sun, causing a Solar Eclipse.
Sól is the one that helps us keep track of time and seasons, and thus has relations to the well being of the earth, as her light helps bring nature to live, sustaining it. While she is a feminine presence, she also embodies the masculine aspects we find in women. The ability to lead, inspire and energise oneself and others.
Máni
Máni (pronounced ‘Mah-nee’) is the God of the Moon, his name meaning literally ‘Moon’. His kennings are: the Fiery One, the Whirling Wheel, the Hastener, the Shiner and the Counter of Years.
His sister is Sól and his father is Mundilfari.
Máni rides a chariot across the sky as well, although his horses aren’t named like his sisters. He does however, have 2 children riding in his chariot with him, a girl Bil and a boy Hjuki, carrying pails of water, who represent the waning and waxing moon phases and the connection of the moon to water. He is chased by the wolf Hati (Hate) and it’s said when Hati catches up enough he tries to eat the Moon, causing a Lunar Eclipse.
There’s theories that Máni is the origin for the ‘man in the moon’ folklore. Apart from this Máni helps us keep track of the year through the moon phases, and while a masculine deity, he does also embody the feminine aspects we can find in men. The ability to take care and understand the necessity of softness and vulnerability.
Luminary deities and my experience
If you didn’t start off in a Germanic or Northern European tradition then the idea that the Moon is masculine may confuse you quite a bit. I see a lot of people in spirituality working with people like Artemis, goddess of the Moon, Apollo, God of the Sun, Hekate, also associated with the (Dark) moon, The triple goddess in Wicca, also associated with the Moon. Although the concept of the moon being masculine and the sun feminine is not exclusive to northern traditions, it is not as commonly talked about in my opinion and this is the perfect way for me to do that.
I started off my spiritual practice with Wicca and the Hellenic pantheon, and a little bit the northern deities. However, I found it difficult to connect to the Northern Gods with the sources I had available at the time. In Wicca and the Hellenic pantheon, lunar deities and beings are seen as feminine and solar deities and being masculine.
It only took a short time for me to realise Wicca wasn’t my way (nothing wrong with it if it is yours) and I went on the journey to develop a path that did work for me, which quickly started to become something along the lines of:
“I want to understand the ways of my ancestors by blood and land, and how they influence me even now.”
If you’re unaware, the past and our ancestors are very important things in Northern traditions, as they often say that the past conditions our future.
So when I one day went to look up “The Norse goddess of the Moon” I was surprised to see the internet tell me that wasn’t the case. That was conflicting to me, as I had already been “taught” that was the opposite. My few encounters with Máni were just as surprising as those with Sól, but in a good way. They really opened me up to a deeper understanding of balance between Feminine and Masculine energies.
The Feminine and Masculine
I already mentioned that the Moon is often associated with femininity and the Sun with masculinity. Most deities have a defined gender, although in Norse myth it is not unheard of deities shape-shifting in the other gender or practising activities associated with the other gender.
Typically when we refer to the gender of deities, we are talking about energy signatures. Feminine signatures are typically related to creation, emotions, nurturing, while masculine signatures are about leadership, action, energy and protection, etc. This doesn’t mean however that a deity cannot have qualities related to the opposite gender they are assigned.
I work closely with the moon in relation to my own menstrual cycle, but also with the sun in how it influences my mental state of being. So in this sense the Moon being female worked because menstrual cycles are associated with femininity. But also, I found it extremely difficult to accept my strong masculine sense of self (energetically). I am nonbinary in the sense that I feel like I embody both masculine and feminine energies, perhaps the masculine a tad more than the feminine, despite living in a female body. So in short, I’m always looking for ways to make that feel more balanced.
Anima & Animus
When I stumbled upon the Jungian concept of the Anima and Animus it was like a lot of things were starting to make sense.
The Anima is the concept of the Masculine living inside the Feminine, while the Animus is the concept of the Feminine living inside the Masculine. This is very inline with my personal beliefs, and how I view myself. I see everyone including myself as holding both types of energies to a certain degree, and it is the combination that makes us who we are. That I was born a woman doesn’t mean I don’t carry or embrace masculine traits. The descriptions of these cards/concepts really fit how I had experienced Sól and Máni as well.
Sól helped me understand the masculine strength we can find in women, and Máni helped me understand the nurturing compassion we can find in men. They showed me how these components are essential in every being, and that each has their own balance of either. Now when I try to work with the moon for my cycle, I feel included on a different level, knowing that the masculine energy I recognise in myself is acceptable to live in this space too, and Máni with all his kindness helped me embrace that.
I may focus a little more on Máni in my personal experience here than Sól but that is because I am able to identify more with him than her. Sól her strength I recognise in me in my will to inspire others with my art and writing, and I hope I have accomplished that with this blog. To motivate you to explore and accept your own balance of masculine and feminine energy.
Path of Ashes 