Anningan

The mask above is a shaman mask. Shamans would wear masks such as this one during healing ceremonies. Click on image for full size (68K JPEG) Image courtesy of Planet Art.

Anningan continually chases his sister, Malina, the Sun goddess, across the sky. During this chase, he forgets to eat, and he gets much thinner.

This symbolizes the phases of the moon. He disappears for three days each month (new moon) to eat, and then returns full (gibbous) to chase his sister all over again.

The mask above is a shaman mask. Shamans would wear masks such as this one during healing ceremonies. Click on image for full size (68K JPEG) Image courtesy of Planet Art.

Anningan continually chases his sister, Malina, the Sun goddess, across the sky. During this chase, he forgets to eat, and he gets much thinner. This is symbolic of the phases of the moon, particularly the crescent.

To satisfy his hunger, he disappears for three days each month (new moon) and then returns full (gibbous) to chase his sister all over again. Malina wants to stay far away from her bad brother. That is why they rise and set at different times.

The mask above is a shaman mask. Shamans would wear masks such as this one during healing ceremonies. Click on image for full size (68K JPEG) Image courtesy of Planet Art.

The Inuit people believe that once Anningan raped his sister, the Sun goddess Malina, and that he stubbornly continues to chase her in the sky. That is why the Sun and the Moon appear at different times in the sky. Anningan is so tenacious in his eternal pursuit of his sister that he neglects to eat. He becomes more and more thin until he is forced to come down to Earth and hunt for food. To satisfy his hunger, the Moon disappears from the sky for three days each month.

The Inuit believe that the Moon and the Sun hate each other and all members of the opposite sex. Occasionally, the moon-god reaches the sun-goddess and rapes her again, causing a solar eclipse. During a solar eclipse, men are supposed to remain at home if they do not want to become ill. Diseases are sent by Malina and Anningan upon those who offend them. Thus, during a lunar eclipse, women do not leave their homes.

Moreover, when a man dies or a girl is born, the Inuit believe there is a ring around the Moon which expresses the grief of the moon god, Anningan. The sun goddess expresses happiness for the same events, appearing twice in parhelion. Parhelion is an illusion of two or more suns, caused by certain atmospheric conditions.