Comrade Trotsky (from the Red Army?)
> Personally, I prefer the identification of Tolat with menses; it's
>blood red, it has a period of 28 days, it's the most visible object in the
>sky after the sun and moon, it's said to be propitious for making babies, and
>it actually shows a disc, not just a point of light (so you could reasonably
>claim it's a moon). Admittedly, it's difficult to explain why the Dara
>Happans call it Shargash, but I think Tolat's visibility, colour and period
>are just such an obvious link that a number of cultures are bound to have
>made the connection.
The funny thing is that the one culture which worships Tolat as fertility-bringer to an extreme has exactly one time per year when they are receptive: the amazons of Trowjang. But then menstruation often was regarded as a curse upon the women, and I guess Shargash makes a good source for any bloody curse.
A side remark: Our RW moon offers itself as a measure of the female cycle because it is visible all the time (well, half of the day/night 24 hours). Planets which disappear for half the time aren't that useful, and planets traveling the southpath won't help a lot with their current position before the sky, either. The Red Moon will remain (or have become, in 1247) one of the markers for a four-week cycle.
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