Note 22 — Chapter X · The Mother-goddess of China and Japan

The moon-water which nourishes plants and trees (eight lunar trees of immortality are referred to in some legends), and the dew of immortality in the jade cup, appear to be identical with the Indian soma and the nectar of the classical gods. In Norse mythology the lunar water-pot (a symbol of the mother-goddess) was filled at a well by two children, the boy Hyuki and the girl Bil,22 who were carried away by the moon-god Mani. Odin was also credited with having recovered the moon-mead from the hall of Suttung, “the mead wolf”, after it had been stolen from the moon. The god flew heavenward, carrying the mead, in the form of an eagle.23 Zeus’s eagle is similarly a nectar-bringer.