Diana, the goddess of the moon, is the twin sister of Apollo. She completes her journey around the earth once in a month. Her chariot is of polished silver, and her horses are dark as night. She is a strong and beautiful goddess, with a robe of deepest azure, and a golden crescent in her black hair.

When Apollo sinks in the west, the chariot of Diana appears, and she drives like a queen over the floor of heaven, which is studded with twinkling stars. How lovely is the night! Sometimes we see only a silver crescent, and the rim of the moon. This the children call the baby moon. But night after night the moon shows more and more of her silver face, until she seems like a great ball floating high in air. This we call the full moon. The stars are her maidens, who welcome her coming and attend her on her journey.

In September, the grains are gathered into the barns, and we call the full moon in that month the Harvest Moon.

The October full moon is the Hunter’s Moon, for in that month Diana leads the jolly hunters. Then, according to the old Greeks, she leaves her chariot, sees that her bow and arrows are ready, calls her maidens, and steps forward, strong and free, to the chase.