In this guide

On the Ides of a Roman spring, a priestess would climb the Aventine Hill before dawn. She carried a white sow and a bronze knife. The moon was setting in the west, thin as a fingernail. She was not watching the moon. She was watching Luna.

Luna is the Roman goddess of the moon, a distinct deity who personified the moon’s light and cycles. Unlike the Greek Selene, Luna had her own state cult, her own temple on the Aventine, and her own priestly college. Her relationship with the moon is one of identity and representation: the celestial body was her body, but she was not merely the body. She was the power that made it rise, wax, wane, and vanish.

Definition: Who Was Luna and How Did She Relate to the Moon?

Definition Who Was Luna and How Did She Relate to the Moon

Luna was the Roman goddess of the moon, one of the three primary lunar deities in Roman religion alongside Diana (the crescent moon) and Hecate (the dark moon). She governed the full moon and the monthly cycle of light. The Romans did not worship the moon as a lifeless rock. They worshipped Luna as a sentient being whose light influenced crops, tides, women’s cycles, and the timing of sacred rites.

Her name is simply the Latin word for “moon,” but the goddess and the celestial body were not identical. In Roman theology, the moon was her visible manifestation, her signum (sign). The goddess herself dwelt in the heavens, driving a two-horse chariot (a biga) across the night sky. When the moon was new, she was hidden; when full, she was present in full power.

History and Origins: The Temple on the Aventine and the State Cult

History and Origins The Temple on the Aventine and the State Cult

The oldest known temple to Luna in Rome was dedicated on the Aventine Hill, traditionally in the 6th century BCE under the reign of Servius Tullius (according to the historian Livy, writing around 27 BCE). That temple housed a cult statue of the goddess and was the site of annual sacrifices on the Ides of March and the Ides of August — the full moons of those months.

Why the Aventine? The hill was associated with plebeians and foreign cults, but also with Diana’s temple (also on the Aventine). The two lunar goddesses shared a hill, but their domains were distinct. Diana ruled the hunt, the wilderness, and the crescent moon. Luna ruled the full moon and the calendar.

The Roman calendar was lunar in origin. The word kalendae (the first day of the month) comes from calare, “to call out,” because the priestess of Luna would announce the new moon. Every month, the cycle of Luna dictated when festivals fell. The human consequence: farmers planted and harvested by her phases, and households timed their rituals to her light.

A second temple to Luna was built in the Circus Flaminius in 220 BCE, after a plague. The Romans believed that neglecting Luna’s rites could bring disaster. When the moon was eclipsed, they lit torches and beat bronze pots — a practice the poet Ovid describes in his Fasti (Book 3, around 8 CE) — to drive away the evil spirits that threatened to swallow her.

Symbolism and Meaning: The Chariot, the Crescent, and the Silver Light

Luna’s primary symbol was the crescent moon, often depicted as a pair of horns or a sickle. On Roman coins from the Republic onward, Luna appears with a crescent behind her shoulders, driving a biga of two horses (or sometimes oxen). The chariot represents the moon’s journey across the sky, but also the passage of time itself.

In Roman thought, Luna was associated with:

  • Fertility and growth: Her light was believed to make plants grow at night and to govern the menstrual cycle.
  • Water and tides: The connection between the moon and the sea was well known; Luna was sometimes called Luna marina.
  • The feminine principle: She was a goddess of women, childbirth, and the monthly cycle, though not exclusively, men also prayed to her for safe travel at night.
  • Silver: In later alchemical and astrological traditions, Luna became the metal silver, the second of the seven planetary metals. The moon’s pale light was seen as a reflection of the sun’s gold, just as silver mirrors gold.

In esoteric texts like the Picatrix (a 11th-century Arabic grimoire translated into Latin in 1256), Luna governs the second sphere of the heavens and rules over dreams, emotions, and the subconscious. Medieval astrologers assigned her the zodiac sign Cancer and the watery triplicity. The moon’s nodes (the lunar nodes) were considered points of fate.

Practices and Traditions: How the Romans Worshipped Luna

Roman worship of Luna was both public and private. On the Ides (the full moon), the flamen (priest) of Luna would sacrifice a white sow at her Aventine temple. The color white was essential: it mirrored the moon’s pure light. No blood could be spilled on the altar of Luna without a prior offering of incense and wine.

Households also honored Luna at the new moon. Women would offer small cakes shaped like crescents, called lunulae. They would pray for fertility, for safe childbirth, or for the health of their children. The moon’s phases were read as omens: a halo around the moon meant rain; a red moon meant war.

In the later Roman Empire, Luna was syncretized with the Greek Selene and the Phrygian goddess Men. Some mystery cults, like those of Mithras, depicted Luna as a female figure alongside Sol (the sun) in the tauroctony scene. The Mithraic grade of Perses (the Persian) was associated with the moon.

In medieval and Renaissance magic, Luna was invoked in talismanic magic. Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy (1533) gives instructions for making a lunar talisman: engrave a silver disc with the image of a crescent moon and the name “Luna” in Hebrew letters. The talisman was worn to gain favor with spirits of the night and to enhance psychic dreams.

Comparisons: Luna, Selene, Diana, and Hecate

The relationship between Luna and the moon is often confused with the Greek Selene. They are parallel deities: both drive a chariot, both are daughters of Hyperion and Theia (in Greek myth), both are full-moon goddesses. But the cults were different. Selene had no major temple in Greece; Luna had two in Rome. The Romans emphasized her role in the state calendar and public ritual, whereas Selene was more a poetic figure.

Diana is the most common source of confusion. Diana was also a moon goddess, but her domain was the crescent moon, the hunt, and the wilderness. She was a virgin goddess, while Luna was associated with fertility and childbirth. In later syncretism, especially in the Renaissance, the two were often merged, but historically they were separate.

Hecate ruled the dark moon and the crossroads. She was invoked for magic and necromancy. The three goddesses together (Diana, Luna, Hecate) form a tripartite moon goddess, but this is a modern Wiccan construct, not a Roman one. The Romans did not worship a triple moon goddess. They worshipped each deity independently.

In astrology, Luna is the planetary ruler of emotions and the subconscious, while Diana has no astrological role. This distinction matters for practitioners: when you call on Luna, you are calling on the full moon’s power of illumination and growth, not the hunt or the underworld.

Common Misconceptions

“Luna is just the Roman name for Selene.” Not exactly. While they share the same origin, Luna had a distinct cult with its own temple, priesthood, and rituals. The Romans did not simply rename Greek gods; they adapted them to their own religious framework.

“The Romans worshipped the moon itself.” They worshipped Luna as a goddess who manifested through the moon. The distinction is subtle but important: the moon was her body, but she was a conscious being. Roman theology held that celestial bodies were gods, but each had a personality and a will.

“Luna is the same as Diana.” Diana was a moon goddess of the crescent phase, but her primary domain was the hunt and the wilderness. Luna was the full moon and the calendar. They shared the Aventine Hill but not the same altar.

“Luna is a minor deity.” She had a state temple, a priest (flamen Lunaris), and a fixed place in the Roman calendar. She was not as major as Jupiter or Mars, but she was far from minor. Her neglect was thought to cause plagues.

FAQ

Is Luna the same as Selene?
No. Selene is the Greek goddess of the moon; Luna is her Roman counterpart. Their myths are similar, but Luna had a state cult with temples and priests, while Selene was primarily a literary figure.

Did the Romans believe the moon was a goddess?
Yes, but not in the sense that the rock itself was divine. The moon was the visible body of the goddess Luna, who drove a chariot across the sky and controlled the lunar cycle.

What is Luna’s role in astrology?
In Western astrology, Luna (the Moon) rules emotions, habits, and the subconscious. She is the planetary ruler of Cancer and is associated with the element water and the metal silver.

How is Luna invoked in modern witchcraft?
Many practitioners invoke Luna during full moon rituals for divination, dream work, and charging tools. She is often called upon for fertility and emotional healing, but some traditions distinguish her from Diana and Hecate.

Closing

Luna is not a relic of Roman religion. She is a living presence in the night sky, a goddess whose light still marks the months and stirs the tides. Understanding her relationship with the moon means understanding how the Romans saw the heavens: not as dead matter, but as a conversation between gods and mortals. For a deeper look at lunar deities and their symbols, explore our vertical hub on lunar magic. You can also read the glossary entry for Luna and our guide to working with lunar phases in ritual.