Gods and Goddesses


ACANTHA:

A Greek spirit of the acanthus flower. She was once a nymph loved by the sun-god and upon her death was transformed into the sun loving plant.

AEGA:

She was the sun's daughter and, like her sisters Circe and Pasiphae, a hypnotically beautiful woman, so beautiful that when the earthborn Titans attacked the gods of Olympus, the earth mother Gaea placed Aega in a cave to hide her shimmering beauty.

ALECTO:

One of the three Furies. The Greek goddess of war and death.

ALECTRONA:

An early Greek goddess, daughter of the sun.

AMPHITRITEA:

Greek sea-goddess. Owner of the caves under the sea where she stored her precious jewels.

AMYMONE:

One of the Danaids, she was an early earth goddess after whom a fountain was named.

ANADYOMENE:

She who rises from the waves," the sea-born Greek goddess of sexuality.

ANANKE:

A Greek personification of the abstraction 'necessity', or that force of destiny perceived in most cultures as female.

ANDROMEDA:

Greek. Her name translates as "ruler of men" and "human sacrifice". Some consider her to be a personification of the moon, constantly under siege by the demon of darkness. She may have been a pre-Hellenic moon-goddess.

ANESIDORA:

"She sho sends up gifts" of food plants.

ANIEROS:

A Phrygian earth goddess much like Demeter who had a daughter, Axiocersa.

ANTHIEA:

Another name for Hera meaning "flowering one."

ANUBIS:

Egypt. Guardian of Isis. Anubis is the son of the goddess of the dead, Nephthys, by Osiris. Depicted as jackal-headed, or simply as the jackal god. God of protection. Judge and protector (and comforter) of the dead and therefore, god of the dead and of embalming. Protector of tombs.

APHRODITE:

Greek goddess of love and sexuality. The personification of physical beauty.

APIS:

Passion, lust, emotions, desire. He is the Sacred Bull whose line continued even when that of the Pharoahs failed.

ARETE:

The Greek goddess of justice, teacher of the hero Hercules. She has no real legendary background.

ARIADNE:

Cretan goddess who was once worshipped exclusively by women. She was the goddess of the underworld and of germination. A vegetation goddess.

ARTEMIS:

Greek virgin moon goddess. She was also the many breasted Artemis of Ephesus, a semi human symbol of fecundity and she was the warlike Artemis, goddess of the Amazons.

ATALANTA:

"The impassable one", a pre-Hellenic divinity of mountainous Arcadia. She was probably originally the death-goddess whom no one can outrun.

ATE:

She was the Greek embodiment of folly, moral blindness, infatuation and mischief.

ATHANA LINDIA:

Goddess of the City Lindos. She embodied the reproductive energies of the harvest.

ATHENE:

Known as a Greek goddess but was originally a Minoan or Mycenaean household goddess. She is the guardian ruler of the home. Goddess of domestic crafts.

BAST:

Egyptian. Intuition, magick, animalistic mind. Bast has the head of a cat and like a cat sees in the dark, She sees both the future and the past. She is the keeper of secrets and hidden things and the Cat is Her sacred animal.

BAUBO:

Greek goddess of belly laughter.

CALLISTO:

Pre-Hellenic goddess who was the personification of the force of instinct.

CARYA:

Pre-Hellenic Walnut tree goddess

CASTALIA:

Goddess of artistic inspiration.

CER:

Greek goddess of violent death.

CERNUNNOS (Kernunnos, or Cerunnos):

Celtic. God of prosperity. His head is topped by a most attractive set of antlers. God of nature, the hunt, and of the harvest. Horned God and Consort of the Lady.

CHARYBDIS:

Goddess of the terrifying whirlpools of the sea.

CHERA:

The pre-Greek Great Goddess Hera in her third aspect, the old wise woman.

CHLOE:

"Green," a name for Demeter.

CLEONE:

A pre-Hellenic water goddess.

COTYS:

Thracian goddess of sexuality.

DA:

May have been the original name of the earth mother Gaea.

DAMIA:

Another form of the corn goddess Demeter.

DEMETER:

Greek Earth mother and mother of grains. She is worshiped in fireless sacrifices, demanding all offerings in their natural state. Honeycombs, unspun wool, unpressed grapes, and uncooked grain were laid on her altar.

DIONE:

Orignally an important goddess of inspiration and sexuatlity of pre-Hellenic Greece.

DORIS:

Pre-Hellenic goddess of the waters.

EILEITHYIA:

An Aegean birth-goddess and a spinner who created life's thread.

EOS:

The Greek goddess of Dawn.

EUMENIDES:

Known as the "kindly ones", they were the early Greek goddesses of the underworld who pushed edible plants through the ground as gifts to humanity.

EUROPA:

The "wide-eyed one", the moon-goddess after whom the subcontinent of Europe is named. She was originally the mother goddess of Crete.

EURYNOME:

She is the most ancient of greek goddesses. She rose naked from the primordial chaos and instantly began to dance; a dance that seperated light from darkness and sea from sky.

GAEA:

In the beginning, the Greeks said, there was only one formless chaos: light and dark, sea and land, blended in a shapeless pudding. Then chaos settled into form, and that form was the huge Gaea, the deep-breasted one, the earth.

GALATEA:

A minor Greek sea-goddess.

GANYMEDA:

Originally the goddess who served ambrosia and nectar at Olympian Feasts.

HARMONIA:

Goddess of Unity. Daughter of Aphrodite (love) and Ares (war).

HARPOCRATES:

Innocence, faith, purity, youth. He is Horus the Child also known as the "God of Silence".

HATHOR:

Protection, sustenance, motherhood. Hathor is the wife of Horus and her name means "House of Horus". She is shown with the head of a cow because she is the eternal mother and guardian of mothers.

HEBE:

A young spring goddess whose name translates "the downy one."

HECATE:

Queen of the night. The moon goddess in her dark form. She is the queen of death and rules the magickal powers of regeneration.

HEGEMONE:

An ancient goddess of the soil.

HERA:

The goddess of women and their sexuality.

HESTIA:

A Greek hearth goddess symbolizing family unity.

HIPPODAMIA:

She was originally a goddess of pre-Hellenic Olympia honored annually in secret rites of women.

HOREPHOROS:

Title of Demeter as bringer of favorable weather.

HORUS:

Attainment, fruition, man, humanity, the present as the fruits of the past. Because he defeated Set who slew his father Osiris, Horus holds the title "Avenger". Horus is a warrior, aggressive and dynamic. He is the the God of Spring who vanquishes winter and avenges the Summer that slain by winter.

IASO:

Greek goddess of healing.

IDA:

Goddess of nurturing energy.

IRENE:

Greek goddess of peace. She was worshipped with bloodless sacrifices.

IRIS:

The Greek rainbow goddess.

ISIS:

Egyptian. Manifestation, nature, law, ethics, love, solidification, magick. Isis governs the forces of creation. She gives form to the formless and therefore rules over all processes of birth. Her name means "throne" and She is the source of all creative power.

KAKIA:

The Greek goddess of vice.

KARPOPHOROS:

Lady of the wild things.

KORE :

Greek maiden goddess. She represents the youthful earth, the fresh season of buds and flowers, and the fragrant breezes of springtime.

MAIA:

In Greece, she was the "grandmother," "midwife," or "wise-one". Originally she was the goddess of the night sky.

MALOPHOROS:

Greek goddess of the underworld.

MENTHA:

Goddess of mint plants.

METER:

The oldest of Greek goddesses, her name means simply "mother" and survives in the of Demeter.

MNASA:

Mycenaean goddess of memory.

MNEMOSYNE:

Greek goddess of memory.

MOIRA:

A Homeric goddess of fate.

MORGAN:

Celtic. Goddess of Water and Magick. She was also doubled with The Lady of the Lake. (Though, this deity has different attributes, she might be the same being as The Morrigan, below.)

THE MORRIGAN (Morrighan, or Morrigu) :

(Irish) High Queen and goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann. As Macha she was goddess of war and fertility who could take the shape of a crow. As Badb (Nechtan) she was the water-god whose sacred well was a source of knowledge. As Neman (Nemhain) she was the goddess of war and battle.

NEMAIN:

Celtic. Goddess of panic.

NEMESIS:

Once a goddess who tormented those who broke the social rules that Themis represented.

NEPHTHYS:

Egyptian. Fragmentation, dispersion, fermentation and disassociation. She is the co-equal of Her sister Isis. Her name means "Lady of the House". Nephthys rules over all breaking-up processes; she returns forms to formlessness.

ORTHIA:

Artemis in Sparta was the "upright one" or "she who causes erections," a thirsty goddess particularly pleased with blood and semen released by the young male initiates whipped at her shrines.

OSIRIS:

Egypt. Brother-husband and mate of Isis. Brother of Seth and Nephthys. Father of Horus. God of the flood. King of the gods. God of the lower world. God of agriculture, law and learning. Over-all God form including vegetation and afterlife.

PANDORA:

A Greek goddess who was originally "rich in gifts", the "all-giver," the earth in female form, endlessly producing food for people and animals.

PERSE:

"Light-bearer" or "destroyer". An early Greek moon goddess.

PERSEPHONE (Proserpina):

Greek. Daughter of Zeus and Demeter. Goddess of the Underworld, as well as of the harvest. Wife of Hades, who abducted her.

PITHO:

Goddess of seduction and persuasion.

POINE:

Goddess of righteous punishment.

PRAXIDIKE:

Greek goddess of vengeance and enterprise who punishes evil actions and rewards the good.

RHEA:

A Cretan goddess, the great mountain mother, the earth who gave birth to the creatures of her wild and fruitful surface.

SELENE:

Greek full moon goddess.

SOTHIS:

Initiation (feminine), generation, growth. She is the Goddess of the Dog Star, which heralded the flooding of the Nile by its appearance. She is always nude for She keeps no secrets from her followers.

SPES:

An early Cretan goddess, she was the ruler of the underworld and of death's cousin, sleep. Her plant was the poppy.

TELPHASA:

An early Greek goddess of light.

TETHYS:

The most ancient pre-Hellenic sea goddess.

THEA:

Pre-Hellenic goddess of light, mother of dawn and the luminaries.

UR-HERU:

Age, wisdom, responsibility, maturity. He is the Elder Horus.


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