OOP: Re: What's in a name . . . Luna/Lupin

[elspeth_orange]

No: HPFGUIDX 64166

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "werebearloony" <
Erthena at a...> wrote:

> now me:
> Yet another the nickname loony and lunatic are derivatives 
> from the latin word Luna for moon so its all interconnected 
> after all.
> 
> my two cents
> 
> --loony

also, and not to get all pedantic and super-feminist here, but the 
derivation of "lunacy" ("lunatic", "loony", etc.) from the Latin word 
"luna" stems from the moon being representative of women in a 
variety of mythologies and religions, and more specifically, the 
governing body of the tides as well as women's monthly cycles.  
menstruating women were considered to be powerful during 
this time, but this perception became distorted into being 
"possessed by the spirit of Luna" and all sorts of other negative 
connotations, and eventually degenerated into being termed 
"lunacy".  another word with a similar derivation is "hysterical", 
from the Greek "hystera" meaning womb, relating to the belief 
that wackiness was related to the uterus and thereby exclusive 
to women.  :>

sorry to babble into OT-dom... i just get a little overzealous when 
it comes to JKR-associated etymology.  :>

     -elspeth