common-phobias.com
SELENOPHOBIA
Fear of the Moon
Mademoiselle De Lafontaine--in right of her
father who was a German, assumed to be psyFrom
the Greek
chological,
metaphysical, and something of a
seleno,
meaning
mystic--now
declared that when the moon
moon
shone and
with a light so intense it was well known
phobos
mean- a special spiritual activity. The
that it indicated
ing
fear.
effect
of Often
the full moon in such a state of brilliantraced
to a It acted on dreams, it acted on
cy was back
manifold.
specific
lunacy, ittriggeracted on nervous people, it had maring
event,
usual-influences connected with life.
velous
physical
ly
a traumatic related that her cousin, who was
Mademoiselle
experience
at an
mate of a merchant
ship, having taken a nap on
early
deck age.
on such a night, lying on his back, with his
face full in the light on the moon, had wakened,
after a dream of an old woman clawing him by
the cheek, with his features horribly drawn to
one side; and his countenance had never quite
recovered its equilibrium.
J.S. Le Fanu, “Carmilla” (1872)