For today’s post, I would like to take a brief look at the connection between mermaids and the moon. This was utilized to great effect in the Australian television series H2O: Just Add Water, and its follow-up series Mako Mermaids: An H2O Adventure. However, the concept of mermaids having a deep and powerful connection to the moon was not just something pulled out of thin air for this fictional universe. To begin I will go over the reasons that this connection makes perfect sense from a magical and natural perspective, and then I will go over some of the ways it is utilized in those above-mentioned television shows.
Mermaids are aquatic beings, water faeries who most often live in the ocean, although there are tales of some similar water faeries that live in freshwater. The connection between water and the moon is deep, which is particularly true when we look at the ocean tides. Tidal currents are directly pulled by the moon, meaning that the ebb and flow of water in the sea is directly controlled by the moon above!
Another obvious connection between mermaids and the moon is that mermaids are most often shown as female. Not to say there aren’t tales of mermen, but from a folkloric perspective, the females far outweigh the males. Water is the most feminine of elements, so having the water fae shown as female is quite on point. Now, how does this female connection relate to the moon? The answer is that we as women are directly connected to the moon through our monthly cycles. Like the cycle of the moon, as it turns in the sky above, our fertility cycle also lasts for about 28 days!
In the television shows, I mentioned at the beginning of the post the full moon caused all sorts of chaos for the teenage mermaids. This fact is especially true for the ones who were land girls who turned into mermaids, instead of being born ones. Being in the moon pool on Mako Island during a full moon is what turned the three girls into mermaids at the beginning of H2O. The moon had the power to cast a Moonspell on the girls, making them act in unexpected, and often uncontrollable ways! In Mako Mermaids, many of the mermaids featured were born mermaids, and had been taught from a young age how to absorb the moon’s power instead of letting it control them! This made for an interesting deepening of the source material from the original series, and it was certainly a fun way to watch a continuation of a series that aired when I was actually a teenager myself. They also included the concept of “moon rings” which were powerful talismans earned by mermaids when they finished training, to increase their magical abilities by harnessing the moon’s power! So there is another moon-related connection.
In all, there are a lot of ways we can see mermaid lore and moon lore as being connected. I hope you have enjoyed my brief analysis of this intriguing link between water faeries and the lunar cycle. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is mermaid and moon artwork, and it was also used in Lucy Cavendish’s Oracle of the Mermaids. I found the image on https://www.gamescape-north.com/fantasy-collection-750-piece-puzzle-31772242.html.
Further Watching/Reading
- H2O: Just Add Water (2006)
- Mako Mermaids: An H2O Adventure (2013)
- The Mermaid Handbook by Carolyn Turgeon
- Mermaid Magic by Lucy Cavendish and Serene Conneeley
- Mermaids: The Myths, Legends, & Lore by Skye Alexander
White Rose of Avalon 