The Egyptians, according to Plutarch, called the moon the mother of the world and believed her to have both the male and female nature "because she is first filled and impregnated by the sun and then herself sends forth generative principles into the air, and from thence scatters them down upon the earth."
There is a close connection between moon worship, earth worship and water worship-all three representing the feminine or passive principle in nature. The light of the moon on growing crops was believed to be more beneficial than the scorching rays of the sun. The Moon was thought to be the source of all moisture. Everything from the sap of plants to the blood of all beings was vitalised by the water of life which the moon controlled.
The worshippers of Ea, the Sumerian god of water, earth and heaven, believed that the essence of life was to be found in the liquid element. Blood was the vehicle of life and the worship of rivers and wells was connected with a widespread belief that the blood of a god flowed in the sacred waters. Sap was spoken of in India as the "blood of trees."
