the man in the moon is called Kotar, he makes her grow by pouring
water." [256] The Scandinavian legend, distilled into Jack and Jill,
is, as we have seen, an embodiment of early European belief that the
ebb and flow of the tides were dependent upon the motions and
mutations of the moon.

We find the same notion prevailing in the western hemisphere. "As
the MOON is associated with the dampness and dews of night, an
ancient and widespread myth identified her with the goddess of
water. Moreover, in spite of the expostulations of the learned, the
common people the world over persist in attributing to her a marked
influence on the rains. Whether false or true, this familiar opinion is
of great antiquity, and was decidedly approved by the Indians, who
were all, in the words of an old author, 'great observers of the
weather by the moon.' They looked upon her, not only as
forewarning them by her appearance of the approach of rains and
fogs, but as being their actual cause. Isis, her Egyptian title, literally
means moisture; Ataensic, whom the Hurons said was the moon, is
derived from the word for water; and Citatli and Atl, moon and
water, are constantly confounded in Aztec theology." [257] One of
the gods of the Dakotahs was "Unk-ta-he (god of the water). The
Dakotahs say that this god and its associates are seen in their
dreams. It is the master-spirit of all their juggling and superstitious
belief, From it the medicine men obtain their supernatural powers,
and a great part of their religion springs from this god." [258]
Brinton also says of this large Indian nation, "that Muktahe, spirit of
water, is the master of dreams and witchcraft, is the belief of the
Dakotahs." [259] We know that the Dakotahs worshipped the moon,
and therefore see no difficulty in identifying that divinity with their
god of dreams and water. "In the legend of the Muyscas it is Chia,
the moon, who was also goddess of water and flooded the earth out
of spite." [260] In this myth the moon is a malevolent deity, and
water, usually a symbol of life, becomes an agency of death.
Reactions are constantly occurring in the myth-making process. The
god is male or female, good or evil, angry or amiable, according to
the season or climate, the aspect of nature or the mood of the
people. "In hot countries," says Sir John Lubbock, "the sun is
generally regarded as an evil, and in cold as a beneficent being."
[261] We are willing to accept this, with allowance. The