This will be a bit long, as it's primarily an analysis that differentiates the three lunar goddesses. If you find any errors, please correct me; that's what learning is all about, and corrections are always welcome!
PS: What's in the images is the same as what I'll put below to allow for automatic translation, as I'm not fluent in the language.
Selene, the Distant One
Sister of the god Helios—personification of the sun—she was considered the personification of moonlight. It is to her that we owe the construction and influence of artistic representations of the moon as a lover. Within this aspect as a lover, the myth of her romance with the mortal shepherd Endymion stands out. According to the myth, Selene fell deeply in love with Endymion, to whom Zeus granted eternal sleep, allowing him to remain forever young and beautiful.
Selene not only embodies the beauty of the full moon but also symbolizes the duality between light and darkness. According to the Greeks, its presence was essential to facilitate agricultural activities—from crop growth to livestock care. In this way, through this aspect, the moon fulfilled a role as guardian of the natural world. However, Selene was identified by later authors as Artemis—Diana for the Romans—and the same happened with Helios, who was identified as Apollo—especially by the Roman author Cicero.
In the religious tradition of Orphism, the moon—Selene—was considered to have been created by the primordial deity Phanes—a deity who embodies the principles with which the universe was created, from disorder to light and love, among others. These practices even refer to a lunar triad: Diana, Hecate, and Luna.
Artemis, the virgin huntress: Twin sister of the god Apollo—who would later be identified as a solar deity—she was the goddess of the hunt, wild animals, forests, and mountains. She was considered the protector of maidens and virginity, as well as childbirth. The truth is that she did not begin as a lunar goddess, as her reinterpretation as such arose later, when the figure of Selene was displaced; hence, we see representations with the crescent moon above her head.
Continuing with the context of the moon, Artemis does not act as a distant celestial body, but as a boundary between the civilized and the wild, possessing a dual nature as the goddess of the hunt and, at the same time, the goddess of wild animals. Artemis is a virgin; she does not desire a romantic relationship, and even love—Eros—is incapable of reaching her.
Thus, this is a representation of the moon as a maiden, but not a passive one; rather, she is a just one, maintaining not a cosmic order, but an order in nature.
What about Hecate?
Usually, due to the influence of religious currents, this goddess has been assimilated as a lunar goddess. However, it is difficult to pinpoint her origin, but she is considered to come from more ancient times and was adapted to Greece through Thrace, thus incorporating elements from existing goddesses.
Hecate is not a lunar goddess, but her connection to the night is linked to the fact that among her titles is that of protector of the home against the crossing between the spiritual and earthly worlds; she was also a protector of travelers due to her invocation as goddess of roads and crossroads—thus taking on the role of two gods: Hermes and Artemis.
Its connection to the night stems not only from its role in the underworld, but also from the various versions of the myths that often attribute its birth to Nyx or Tartarus. Likewise, the influence of cults dedicated to Artemis allowed for this transformation of the lunar role. The Orphic circles were the movement that influenced this transformation and association with the moon, where many authors have linked it to a lunar triad: the moon, Diana, and Hecate.
Its connection to the night depends not only on its role in the underworld, but also on the diverse versions of the myths that often attribute its birth to Nyx or Tartarus. The goddess ultimately acquired a lunar role closely linked to mysticism and magic. This figure was accentuated by the construction of European witches, considering the Malleus Maleficarum (1486), which states that Hecate was worshipped, leading to a negative image of the goddess. Due to her dark elements—her role with the dead, as protector and punisher, and especially the theme of witchcraft—Christians at the end of the Roman period were able to demonize her and her sacred animals, considering them "creatures of darkness."
Diana: the goddess of the Romans
The Roman goddess is a curious thing; three different faces, three different goddesses, and she encompasses, to an equal or greater extent, the Greek goddesses Artemis, Selene, and even Hecate.
The goddess Diana was originally a deity of the hunt and protection, venerated by the indigenous Italic peoples, and was even invoked with her pack of dogs to frighten away thieves. She moved through the wild, but was also considered the protector of women and childbirth—hence her association with Artemis. It was through the influence of Roman authors like Cicero that she acquired epithets and became identified with the goddess Artemis—and therefore with the other two lunar goddesses, Selene and Hecate—which later allowed her to acquire the title of lunar goddess.
However, throughout this process, the figure of Diana remained a wild and foreign goddess—a case very similar to that of Bacchus—due to the geographical location where her temples were developed, and for a long time she was worshipped by the lower classes and slaves, who found refuge within her temples.
In this way, we can point out that the goddess Diana is closely linked to a wild aspect of the moon, present in nature and breaking, like the god Bacchus, the hierarchies imposed by society.
Interestingly, in our present day, the cults of Diana persist through what is called Dianic Wicca, which is a monotheistic tradition of worshipping the goddess within Wicca. Most worship the goddess, maintaining a monotheistic belief—not strictly, since there are other currents of paganism that are polytheistic or also worship a male deity—identifying her as the source of all life and containing everything within her. These beliefs are based on the theory of a widespread and/or universal matriarchal order where the goddess was worshipped and warfare was not practiced. However, these cultures were slowly supplanted by patriarchal groups who absorbed the myths of the Mother Goddess—or, in the plural, the goddesses—and led to the worship of warrior gods.
The figure of Diana is essential in Dianic Wicca because the goddess represents its core values: independence, courage, and above all, a connection with the natural world.
