Hëna, the Moon

Hëna, the Moon, is personified in Albanian folk belief as a female deity representing the rhythms of life, fertility and the mysteries of the night. With the Sun, Dielli, she forms a celestial couple: in some legends the two are husband and wife and the parents of E Bija e Hënës dhe e Diellit ('the Daughter of the Moon and the Sun'), while in others they are brother and sister and not consorts. The lunar crescent appears beside the solar disk in the rich repertoire of Albanian traditional tattooing.

Domains

• moon and night

Powers

• to govern the night and the cycles of life and fertility

Relations

• spouse: Dielli, the SunIn a strand of Albanian folk tradition the Moon and the Sun are wife and husband, together the parents of E Bija e Hënës dhe e Diellit; in another strand they are sister and brother and not regarded as consorts.Elsie, Robert, A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology and Folk Culture, Hurst & Co., London, 2001, s.v. 'Sun and Moon'. (secondary)

Sources

• Hëna is the personified female Moon of Albanian folk religion, deity of night and fertility and, in some traditions, wife or sister of the Sun Dielli.: Tirta, Mark, Mitologjia ndër shqiptarë, Akademia e Shkencave e Shqipërisë, Tirana, 2004, pp. 41-67. (secondary); Elsie, Robert, A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology and Folk Culture, Hurst & Co., London, 2001, s.v. 'Moon'. (secondary)