Selene
Roman: Luna
The story
Selene is Helios's sister, goddess of the night sky. She crosses the heavens at night in a silver chariot. One of mythology's most emotional love stories belongs to her: she fell in love with the shepherd Endymion. While Endymion slept in a cave, Selene would leave the sky each night to see him. Because Endymion was mortal he would age and die; Selene begged Zeus to lay him in eternal sleep. Endymion still sleeps in the cave, Selene still visits him each night — they had fifty daughters in the cave below Mount Latmos. In Rome she's Luna. Being Helios's sister grounds the twin-dance of Sun and Moon in mythology.
Why this planet
The Moon's changing face mirrors Selene's nightly descent to the mountain — constant but cyclical movement. The Endymion myth links to sleep, dream, the unconscious. The Moon's connection to love + emotion + night memory comes from this myth.
Themes
- goddess of the night
- silver chariot
- love and sleep
- constant flow