on, so that, through sympathy, there may be a large increase. But
harvesting, cutting timber, etc., should be done with a waning moon,
because moisture being caused by a waxing moon, it was necessary to
avoid cutting such things as would spoil by moisture at that time.
Similar beliefs are found among the Celts. Mistletoe and other magical
plants were culled with a waxing moon, probably because their power
would thus be greater. Dr. Johnson noted the fact that the Highlanders
sowed their seed with a waxing moon, in the expectation of a better
harvest. For similar occult reasons, it is thought in Brittany that
conception during a waxing moon produces a male child, during a waning
moon a female, while _accouchements_ at the latter time are dangerous.
Sheep and cows should be killed at the new moon, else their flesh will
shrink, but peats should be cut in the last quarter, otherwise they will
remain moist and give out "a power of smoke."[578]

These ideas take us back to a time when it was held that the moon was
not merely the measurer of time, but had powerful effects on the
processes of growth and decay. Artemis and Diana, moon-goddesses, had
power over all growing things, and as some Celtic goddesses were equated
with Diana, they may have been connected with the moon, more especially
as Gallo-Roman images of Diana have the head adorned with a crescent
moon. In some cases festivals of the moon remained intact, as among the
Celtiberians and other peoples to the north of them, who at the time of
full moon celebrated the festival of a nameless god, dancing all night
before the doors of their houses.[579] The nameless god may have been
the moon, worshipped at the time of her intensest light. Moonlight
dances round a great stone, with singing, on the first day of the year,
occurred in the Highlands in the eighteenth century.[580] Other
survivals of cult are seen in the practices of bowing or baring the head
at new moon, or addressing it with words of adoration or supplication.
In Ireland, Camden found the custom at new moon of saying the Lord's
Prayer with the addition of the words, "Leave us whole and sound as Thou
hast found us." Similar customs exist in Brittany, where girls pray to
the moon to grant them dreams of their future husbands.[581] Like other
races, the Celts thought that eclipses were caused by a monster
attacking the moon, while it could be driven off with cries and shouts.
In 218 B.C. the Celtic allies of Attal