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Goddesses and Gods

 

This is a smattering of information that I have drawn from too many books and resourses to give everyone credit...so to all those from whom I've plagerized...Thank you!  If you find that you have a better definition, please email me with your information and I will be happy to use that as well or replace the info outright with your submission.

To find a specific god or goddess...use your "ctrl+F" key and type in the name/personification you are looking for.
 
 

Goddesses....

Aine of Knockaine (Ireland):  Moon Goddess; patroness of crops and cattle.  Connected with the Summer Solstice.

Akua'ba (Ashanti of Africa): A lunar fertility deity.

Al-lat (Arabia): Full Moon goddess. Once the ruling goddess over shrines that are now forbidden towomen.  In ancient times represented by a huge uncut block of white granite in the village of At Ta'if near Mecca.

Al-Uzza (Arabia): The Mighty; Cresent Moon goddess.  Virgin warrioress of the morning star. In very ancient times, she was considered enshrined in the black stone of Mecca, the Ka'aba, where she was served by priestesses. Today the stone is served by men called Beni Shaybah (the Sons of the Old Woman).  Her sacred grove of acacia tress once stood just south of Mecca.

Anahita/Anat/Qadesh/Anait/Anatu(Phoenicia, Canaan, Ur, Persia): The High, Powerful, Immaculate. This goddess carried an ankh and wore horns and a Moon disk.  Her sanctuary at Erex in Akilisene contained her golden statue.

Andraste(British Celts): A Moon goddess worshipped by Queen Boadicea.  Connected with the hare and divination.

Anna Perenna (Rome): Two-headed goddess of time, with one head (Prosra) looking forward, and the other head (Postverta) looking backward; much like the god Janus. According to Ovid, a Moon
goddess. Beginnings, endings, alphabet.

Aphrodite (Greece): "Foam-born"; Moon Goddess; "She Who Binds Hearts Together"; She who from the sea"; Goddess of the WEstern Corner.  She was pictured as beautiful as beautiful,
voluptuous, with blue eyes and fair hair.  At one time her name was Marianna or "La Mer," meaning "the Ocean." She was called virginal, meaning that she remained independent. Her priestesses were not physical virgins, but celebrated sexual rites; men were excluded from many of her rituals. Frankincense and myrrh were burned in her temples. The love of women, in whatever form, was sacred to her. Her birds were the heron, lovebird, swan, and dove (yonic symbol). Patroness of prostitutes. Goddess of love, beauty, the joy of physical love, sensuality, passion, generosity, all forms of partnerships and relationships, affection, fertility, continued creation, renewal.

Aponibolinayen (Philippines): Sky woman who supported the heavens by a vine wrapped around her waist. Probably a Moon goddess as she bore children to the Sun.

Ariadne (Crete): Her name means "High Fruitful Mother"; another form of the Cretan Moon goddess Britomartis. Robert Graves wrote that she was the consort of Dionysus. Images of her with snakes in her hands represents her oracle priestesses.

Arianrhod (Wales): "Silver Wheel"; "High Fruitful Mother"; virgin; goddess of reincarnation; Full Moon goddess. Her palace was called Caer Arainrhod (Aurora Borealis). Keeper of the circling Silver Wheel of Stars, a symbol of time or karma. This wheel was also known as the Oar Wheel, a ship which carried dead warriors to the Moon-land (Emania). Honored at the Full Moon. Beauty, fertility, reincarnation.

Artemis (Greece): Virgin Huntress; goddess of wild places and wild things; the Huntress; Maiden;Bear Goddess; Moon Goddess; Hunter of Souls; shapeshifter. In Ephesus she was called Dea Anna,"many breasted", and was the patroness of nurturing, fertility, and birth. In Greece she was sculpted as tall, slim, lovely, and dressed in a short tunic. Her chariot was pulled by silver stags. She roamed the forests, mountains, and glades withher band of nymphs and hunting dogs. She acted swiftly and decisively to protect and rescue those who appealed to her for help and was quick to punish     offenders, although violence itself was abhorrent to her. She knew the deep secret places in Nature where one could rest and regain strength. The Amazons (Moon-women), who were loyal to her, worshipped one aspect of Artemis (the New Moon phase). As Goddess of the Hunt, she carried a silverbow and was accompanied by a stag and her pack of hounds, the Alani. She could bring destruction but was usually benign. The sixth day of the New Moon was hers. Defender of women, harassed or threatened by men, patroness of singers; protectress of young girls; mistress of magick; women's fertility, purification, sports, good weather
for travellers; healing; wild animals; mountains.

Astarte (Babylonia, Assyria, Phoenicia): Lady of the Mountain; Queen of Heaven; Lady of Byblos; Mistress of horses and chariots; Maiden; Virgin; Mother Goddess. Her temples had sacred prostitutes; sacred marriages were made by her priestesses with the kings. In her war aspect, she wore the horns of a bull. Her priestesses were famous astrologers. Revenge, victory, war, crescent Moon, astrology, sexual activities.

Athene/Athena (Greece): Bright-Eyed; Holy Virgin; Maiden Goddess; Mother Goddess of Athens. Sometimes called Pallas Athene in memory of her feminine lover. Sacred to her were the owl, olive,oak, intertwined snakes. She wore a helmet and breastplate and carried a shield and spear. Goddess of freedom and women's rights; patroness of craftsmen, especially smiths, goldsmiths, potters, dressmakers, shipbuilders, weavers and spinners. Protection, writing, music, the sciences, wisdom,crafts and arts, renewal, true justice, prudence, wise counsel, peace, strategy.

Auchimalgen (Chile): Moon goddess of the Araucanian Indians. Protection against disasters and evil spirits, primarily through fear she can create. They considered a red Moon to be the sign of the
death of an important person.

B

Ba'alat (Phoenicia): Lady of Byblos; she wore either a cobra headdress or a disk between two horns. Similar to the Egyptian Hathor. Also known as Belit, Belitili, Beltis.

Ba'alith (Canaan): Great Goddess. Love, the Moon, the Underworld, trees, springs, wells.

Bast/Bastet/Pasht(in her dark aspect) (Egypt): Cat-headed goddess; mother of all cats. She was identified with Artemis or Diana, who was also called mother of cats. The cat was Egypt's most sacred animal but the black cat was especially sacred to Bast; Egyptian physicians used the black cat symbol in healing. Cats were kept in her temple and embalmed when they died. Bast carried a sistrum in her right hand and a basket in her left. She was usually draped in green. Goddess of fire, the Moon, childbirth, fertility, pleasure, benevolence, joy, sexual rites, music, dance, protection against disease and evil spirits, warmth, all animals but especially cats, intuition, healing.

Bendis (Greece, Thrace): Goddess of the Moon and fertility. Her rites included orgies.

Blodeuwedd (Wales): The Ninefold Goddess of the Western Isles of Paradise, she was connected with death and reincarnation. Like Athene, owls were sacred to her. Robert Graves writes that
Blodeuwedd had nine powers, a blending and multiplication of the Triple Goddess. She dealt with lunar mysteries and initiations.

Bomu Rambi (West Africa, Zimbabwe): A Moon goddess associated with wisdom, comfort, and the calming of emotional stress. Her followers wear necklaces with a Crescent Moon.

Brigit/Brid/Brigid/Brighid/Bride (Ireland, Wales, Spain, France): "Power"; "Renown"; "Fiery Arrow or Power" (Breo-saighead). Called the poetess. Often called the Triple Brigits, Three Blessed
Ladies of Britian, the Three Mothers; associated withImbolc. Her exclusive female priesthood at Kildare numbered nineteen, the number of the Celtic "Great Year", and the number of the Moon's
cycle. Goddess of the hearth, all feminine arts and crafts, fertility, martial arts. Healing, physicians, agriculture, inspiration, learning, poetry, divination, prophecy, smithcraft, animal husbandry, love,
witchcraft, occult knowledge.

Britomartis(Crete): Virgin forest Moon goddess; sometimes called Dictynna. Similar to Artemis and Diana.

C

Caillech Beine Bric/Calleach (Celts, Scotland): Great Goddess in her destroyer aspect; called the"Veiled One". Another name was Scota, from which Scotland comes. Originally Scotland was called
Caledonia, or land given by Caillech.

Ceres (Rome): Moon and Grain goddess; identified withthe Greek Demeter. Her daughter was Proserpina.

Cerridwen/Caridwen/Ceridwen (Wales): Dark Moon goddess; Great Mother; goddess of Nature; grain goddess. Her cauldron and the white corpse-eating sow represented the Moon. Welsh Bards called themselves Cerddonion (sons of Cerridwen). Death, fertility, regeneration, inspiration, magick,enchantment, divination, astrology; herbs, science, poetry, spells, and knowledge.

Ch'ang-O/Heng-O (China): Goddess of the Moon. Her palace there is called the Great Cold on the Moon. At the Full Moon of the Autumn Equinox there was a female-only celebration where women offered the goddess crescent Moon cakes (called "Yue-ping")and statues of little hares.

Changing Woman (Native American, Apache): Moon goddess. Mother of All. Dream work, shape-shifting, insight, wisdom, birth, joy. Associated with flowers and rainbows. See Estsanatlehi.

Charitities/Graces (Greece): Triad of Moon goddess who were Aphrodite's companions. Usually portrayed nude and dancing. They were Aglaia (the shining ones, glorious), Thalia (the flowering one, abundance), and Euphrosyne (the one who makes glad, joy).

Circe (Greece): "She Falcon"; Dark Moon Goddess; Fate-Spinner. Called the death-bird (kirkos or falcon). As the circle, or cirque, she was the fate-spinner, weaver of destinies. Ancient Greek writers spoke of her as Circe of the Braided Tresses because she could manipulate the forces of creation and destruction by knots and braids in her hair. The isle of Aeaea was a funerary shrine to her; its name is said to come from the grief wail.  She was the goddess of physical love, sorcery, enchantments, precognitive dreams, evil spells, vengeance, dark magick, witchcraft, cauldrons.

Coyolxauhqui (Aztec): "Golden Bells"; Moon goddess.  Shown with golden bells on her cheeks.  The actual physical Moon was called Mextli.  In Teotihuacan, north of the present Mexico City, is an ancient Aztec city with a Pyramid of the Moon.  The beneficent giver of harvests and children, but also goddess of the night, dampness, cold, and illness.

Cybele/Kybele(Greece, Phrygia): A goddess of the Earth and caverns; Great Mother.  One of her symbols was the crescent Moon.  She was the goddess of the natural world and its formation; wild beasts, especially lions; dominion over wild animals; dark magick, revenge.

D

Danu/Danann/Dana (Ireland): Probably the same as Anu.  Ancestress of the Tuatha De Danann; Mother of the gods; Great Mother; Moon goddess.  Patroness of wizards; rivers, water, wells, prosperity and plenty, magick, wisdom.

Demeter (Greece): Moon and Grain goddess; identified with the Roman Ceres.  Mother of the Kore, who became Persephone after her return from the Underworld.  The Eleusian Mysteries centered around her spiritual teachings.

Diana (Rome): Goddess of the wildwood, lady of beasts; Moon goddess; sometimes called Many-Breasted.  Goddess of mountains, woods, women, childbirth.  Her title "Queen of Heaven" was the Roman name for the Triple Goddess; her aspects were the Lunar Virgin, Mother of Creatures, and the Huntress or Destroyer.  Her animals were the dog and the stag.  Patroness of outlaws and thieves.  Often associated with the forest god Sylvanus or Pan.  In ancient Italy, her oldest and most famous place of worship was at a volcanic lake, known as the Mirror of Diana.  In a grove (Nemus) on the only accessible shore of the lake was her sanctuary.  This goddess was known for her liking for exclusively female society.  There are records from the tenth century referring to women who attended night meetings with the Pagan goddess Diana.

Dictynna (Crete): A virgin forest and Moon goddess; sometimes called Britomartis.

Diiwica (Slavic-Russian): Goddess of the Hunt who ruled over forests, horses, wild animals, and victory.  Possibly identified with the Roman Diana.

Dione/Nemorensis/Nemetona(Goddess of the Moon-grove) (Greece, Rome): Dione was originally the oracle goddess of Dodona before the shrine ws taken over by Zeus.  In Italy, the woodland lake of Nemi, which lies in a volcanic crater in the Alban Hills, had a woodland sanctuary dedicated to Diana or Dione.  The reigning priest was called the King of the Wood and held his post by right of combat.  Any man, free or slave, could challenge him.  The champion would then hold that title until challenged and killed.

E

Ereshkigal (Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Assyria) Queen of the Underworld; the Crone aspect of the Goddess.  Dark magick, revenge, retribution, the waning Moon, death, destruction, regeneration.

Estanatlehi (Navaho, Native American): "the woman who changes"; Changing Woman; a shape-shifter.  The Moon, transformation, immortality.

Eurynome (Greece): Sometimes known as Aphrodite Eurynome; a Moon goddess.  Her statue was a mermaid carved in wood in her temple in Phigalia in Arcadia.

F

Fates/The Moerae(Greece): Their name means "portions, shares." During the Middle Ages these goddesses where known as the Parcae.  They were the daughters of Nyx or Night.  Clotho spun the life thread; Lachesis measured it, assigned the destiny, and added a portion of luck; Atropos cut the thread with her shears at any time without warning.

Fleachta of Meath(Ireland): Moon queen of Ireland.

Freyja/Freya (Norse):Syr(seer); "Lady"; Great Goddess; Mardoll ("She who shines over the sea"); Vanir goddess.  Mistress of cats, leader of the Valkyries, a shape-shifter, the Sage or "sayer" who inspires all sacred poetry.  Thirteen is her number and Friday her day.  Love, beauty, animals, sexual activity, childbirth, horses, enchantments, withccraft, wealth, gold, trance, wisdom, foresight, magick, luck, long life, fertility, the Moon, the sea, death, music, poetry, writing, protection.

Frigg/Frigga/Frija(Norse): "Well-Beloves Spouse or Lady"; Aesir Mother Goddess; queen of the goddesses; a shape-shifter; knower of all things.  Daugher of Nott (Night).  Independence, childbirth, cunning, cleverness, physical love, wisdom, fate, foresight, marriage, children, fertility, destiny, the Moon, magick, enchantments.

Furies/Erinyes(The Angry Ones)/Eumenides (The Kindly Ones) (Greece): The daughters of Nyx; Children of Eternal Night.  Particularly associated with Demeter in her chthonic aspect.  They were Alecto (Neverending, the Unnameable), Tisiphone (Retaliation-Destruction), and Megaera (Envious Anger, Grudge).

H

Han Lu (China): A Moon and Harvest goddess

Hathor/Athyr/Het-Hert(House or Womb Above)/Hat-Hor (House or Womb of Horus) (Egypt): "The golden"; "Queen of the West" (or the Dead); "The Lady of the Sycamore"; "House of the Face";  Mother goddess; mother of all gods and goddesses; Queen of Heaven; Moon goddess; similar to Aphrodite. Considered self-produced.  She carried the Sacred Eye of Ra.  The mirror and sistrum were sacred to her.
Hathor's appearance could be as a cow-headed goddess or a human-headed woman with horns, cow's ears, and heavy tresses.  She liked to embody herself in the sistrum to drive away evil spirits; another of her instruments was the tambourine.  She cared for the dead, carrying them to the afterworld.
Protectress of women; goddess of joy, love, pleasure, flowers, the Moon, tombs, motherhood, beauty, marriage, singers, and dancers, prostitutes, artists, vine and wine, happiness, protection, astrology, prosperity, strength, good times in general.

Hecate (Greece, Thrace, Rome): "Most lovely one"; "the Distant One"; Silver-Footed Queen of the Night; goddess fo the Moon, the dark hours, and the Underworld; the Crone; Queen of the world of spirits; goddess of witchcraft; snake goddess; Great Mother; Great Goddess of Nature; Lady of the Wild Hunt. Another goddess of the Amazons, her chariot was pulled by dragons.  It was said she wore a shimmering headdress and was second to none in powers of sorcery.  A very old statue, from the eigth century BCE, shows Hecate with wings and holding a snake.
She could change ages or forms and rejuvenate or kill.  She was the third Moon aspect as the Hag (Dark Moon) or the Crone (revered as the Carrier of Wisdom). One of her symbols was the cauldron.  A three-faced image represented her triple aspects; she was then called Triformis.  As Hecate Trevia, Hecate of the Three Ways, her images stood at three-way crossroads where offerings of dogs, honey, and black ewe lambs were left on Full Moon nights.  Divinization and communications with the dead were performed at these places.
The oldest Greek form of the Triple Goddess, her festivals were held at night by torchlight.  A huntress goddess who knew her way in the realm of spirits; all secret powers of Naure at her command; control over birth, life, and death.  Patroness of preiestesses; goddess of witches.  The waning Moon, dark magick, prophecy, charms, and spells, vengeance, averting evil, revealing karmic events, enchantments, incantations, riches, victory, wisdom, transformation, reincarnation, dogs, purification, endings, choices, crossroads, curses, hauntings, renewal, and regeneration.

Hel (Norse): Ruler of Niflheim; Nether, or Dark, Moon. Goddess who ruled over the land of the dead; her realm was not necessarily a place of punishment as there were seperate areas for the good who died peacefully and those who were evil.

Hera (Greece): The Greek equivalent of the Roman goddess Juno.

Hina (Hawaii): Moon goddess with the dual aspect of life-giver and life-destroyer.

Holda/Holde/Holle/Hulda(Benign)/Bertha/Berchta(White Lady) (Germany, Norse): North Germanic name for Hel.  "White Lady"; "Black Earth Mother"; goddess of winter and witchcraft; the Crone aspect of the Moon.  Among the North Germanic tribes, it was said she rode wiht Odhinn on the Wild Hunt.  Even as late as the tenth century, tracts said that Pagan women rode under her leadership in wild night rides.  Holly was sacred to her. Fate, karma, the arts, dark magick, revenge.

Huitaca (Columbia, South America): A Moon goddess who weaves dreams, especially instructive ones.

I

Ianna (Many cultures in the ancient Middle East) Identified wiht Ishtar.

Ishtar/Inanna/Ashtart/Ashtaroth/Ashtoreth/Astarte/Anaitis/Anat/
Atar/Athtar/Mylitta/Esther (Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Assyria, Sumeria, Arabia, Phoenicia, Canaan): Lady of sorrows and battles; Queen or Lady of Heaven; Goddess of the Moon and evening; Great Mother; Shining One, Mother of Deities; Producer of Life; Creator of People; Guardian of Law and Order; Ruler of the Heavens; Source of the Oracles of Prophecy; Lady of Battles and Victory; Lady of Vision; Possessor of the Tablets of Life's Records.  As Sharrat Shame (Queen of Heaven), this goddess was offered kamanu, sacrifical cakes.  She was the sister of Ereshkigal.
As a warrior goddess, she carried a bow and rode in a chariot drawn by seven lions.  Other images show her seated on her lion throne with horns, bows, and arrows, a tiara crown, a double serpent scepter, holding a sword, or with dragons by her side.  She wore a rainbow necklace much like that of the Norse Freyja.
During the night of the Full Moon (known as Shapatu), joyous celebrations were held in many temples.  At these rites, which were called the sacred Qadishtu, women who lived as priestesses in her shrines, took lovers to express the sacredness of sexuality as a gift from Ishtar.  These sexual rites enabled the men to commune with the goddess.
Goddess of the positive and negative sides of all she ruled; patroness of priestesses; guardian of the law; teacher.  Love, fertility, revenge, war, resurrection, marriage, lions, double-serpent scepter, lapis lazuli, amorous desire, the dying and begetting power of the world, purification, initiation, overcoming obstacles.

Isis/As/Ast/Aset/Eset/Tait(Egypt): Supreme Egyptian goddess; Moon goddess; Great Mother and Goddess; Giver of Life.  Isis literally translates as "moisture". As Tait, Isis was the weaver and knotter of the threads of life.  She was identified with Demeter, Hera, and Selene.  With Osiris, Isis (the mother) and Horus (the divine child) made up a Holy Trinity. The cow was sacred to her, as were the magick Buckle of Isis and the sistrum.  Her sistrum was carved with a cat image that represented the Moon.  Sometimes she was portrayed with protecting winged arms.
As High Priestess, she was a powerful magician.  Goddess of marriage, and domestic life, the Moon, motherhood, fertility, childbirth, magick, purification, initiation, reincarnation, success, womanhood, healing, domestic crafts, advice, divination, agriculture, the arts, protection.  The patroness of priestesses.

Ixchel (Maya): "The Rainbow". The Mayan Moon was represented by a U-shaped (uterine) symbol. Goddess of childbirth, fertility, lunar cycles, weaving of the fabric of life, healing, medicine, the Moon, pregnancy, floods, weaving, domestic arts.  Identical to Spider Woman.  During the rites of passage, young women traveled to her temple on the sacred Isle of Women.

Ixchup (Maya): "Young Moon Goddess"

Jahi the Whore (Persia): Great Mother who, as Lilith, mated with the serpent Ahriman.  The Moon, women, menstration, sex.

Jezanna (West Africa, Zimbabwe): Full Moon Goddess. Wisdom, understanding, comfort, enlightenment

Juno (Rome): Moon goddess; Queen of Heaven; "Lady"; Earth goddess; "She who warns"; Great Mother; protectress of women in general. As Juno Lucetia and Juno Lucina, she was the celestial light.  Sometimes she held a scepter, thunderbolt, veil, or spear and shield.  Protectress of marriage, the home, and childbirth.  Light, women's fertility, the Moon, renewal, purification, death, pain, punishment.

Kali/Kali Ma (India): "The black mother"; Dark Goddess; the Terrible; goddess of death; Great Goddess; the Crone; Mother of Karma.  Patroness of Witches. Dual personality exhibiting traits of both gentleness and love, revenge and terrible death.  Governs every form of death but also rules evry form of life.  She is always a trinity manifested in three forms: three divisions of the year, three phases of the Moon, three sections of the cosmos, three stages of life, three types of priestesses at her shrines. Said to command the weather by braiding or releasing her hair. Her karmic wheel devours time itself.
She is pictured with black skin and a hideous face smeared with blood, four arms, and bare breasts.  She wears a necklace of skulls and is draped wiht snakes. Her brow has a third ey; her four hands hold weapons and heads. Violence against any woman is forbidden by her. Regeneration, revenge, fear, dark magick, sexual activities, time reincarnation, intuition, dreams, defender of the helpless such as women and children.

Kore (Greece, Rome): Persephone before she descended into the Underworld; daughter of Dememter.  A crescent New Moon goddess.

L

Lakshmi (India): Goddess of love and beauty; legend says she gave Indra the drink of soma (or wise blood) from her own body. She wsa born from the churning of the milk ocean. Good fortune, prosperity, success, love, feminine beauty.

Leucippe (Greece): The night mare. White horses were sacred to her.

Lilith/Lilithu(Hebrew, Babylonia, Sumeria): Moon Goddess; patroness of witches; female principle of the universe; demon goddess to the Jews and Christians.  Her sacred bird was the owl. Her name may have come from the Sumerio-Babylonian goddess Belit-ili or Belili.  A tablet from Ur, about 2,000 BCE, mentions the name Lillake. Protectress of all pregnant women, mothers, and children.  Wisdom, regeneration, enticing sorcery, feminine allure, erotic dreams, forbidden delights, the dangerous seductive qualities of the Moon.

Luna (Rome): The second aspect of the Moon; the Full Moon as lover and bride; giver of visions. Daughter of Hyperion and sister of the Sun.  Enchantments, love spells.

M

Maat (Egyptian): Crescent Moon  Goddess, Goddess of Justice and Judgement.  When a person dies, their heart (or soul) is comparatively weighed against the weight of Maat's heart.  If the soul is heavier, it is devoured by a monster, if it is equal or lighter, then the person may have life everlasting. She is the protector of women and children against abuse of any kind. The goddess of revenge and retribution.

Maia (Greece): Full Moon goddess connected with May, the Hare Moon.

Mama Quilla (Inca): "Mother Moon"; Moon goddess; Mother of the Incas; her image was a silver disk with a with a human face.  Adjoining the Temple of the Sun in Cuzco, Peru, was a small chapel of the Moon.  Although she had no widespread worship, this deity was connected with the calendar and festivals.  Protectress of married women, the calendar, religious festivals.

Manat (Arabian): "Time"; "Fate"; Karma.  The Arabic word "mana" which comes from this name is used in the sense of luck.  Dark Moon goddess.  On the road between Mecca and Medina was a large uncut black stone which was worshipped as her image.

Mari/Mariham/Meri/Marratu(Syria, Chaldea, Persia): Basic name of the Great Goddess; she wore a blue robe and a pearl necklace, both symblols of the sea.  Fertility, childbirth, the Moon, the sea.

Mawu/Mawa (Dahomey in West Africa): Supreme Goddess; creatress of all things; Great Goddess.  The Fon of  Benin in West Africa worship Mawu as a Moon goddess and creatress.  She was known as a gentle and forgiving goddess.  Remembering dream, seeing divine influence in our lives, evelation of Mysteries.

Minerva (Rome): Virgin; Maiden Goddess; goddess of women's rights and freedom.  She wore a breastplate and helmet and carried a spear.  Her sacred bird is the owl.  Patroness of craftsmen.  Protection, writing, music, the sciences, arts and crafts, renewal, prudence, wise counsel, peace, medicine.

Morrigan, The/The Morrigu/Morrighan/Morgan(Ireland, Britain, Wales): "Great Queen"; "Supreme War Goddess"; "Queen of Phantoms or Demons"; "Specter Queen"; shape-shifter; Great Mother; Moon goddess; Great White Goddess; Queen of the Faeries.  Reigned over the battlefield, helping withher magick, but did not join in battles.  Associated with ravens and crows.  Patroness of priestesses and witches.  Rivers, lakes, fresh water, revenge, night, magick, prophecy.

Muses, The (Greece): Nine Moon goddesses; three (the number of the Triple Goddess) times three makes the Moon number nine.  Each goddess presides over a specific area of inspiration and art: history, music, comedy, tragedy, poetry, art, astronomy and astrology, eloquence of speech.

N

Nanna/Nana/Anna/Inanna(Norse): Aesir goddess; "The Moon"; Great Mother; Earth goddess. Love, gentleness

Nanna/Nana/Nina (Sumeria, Assyria): Ancient Mother, Holy One of Many Names; Great Mother; the tripartite Moon.  The Judge of Humankind on the last day of each year.  An image of a winged lioness guarded her temple.  A very ancient name, this goddess was represented with a fish-tail or serpent-tail.  Herbs, the Moon, healing, magick, intercession, interpretation of dreams, crops, civilization.

Nehellania (Norse): Nether, or Dark, Moon.  Sometimes connected with Hel.

Neith/Neit/Net/Nit(Egypt): "The Huntress"; "Opener of the Ways"; Great Goddess; Mother of the gods; goddess of the lower heavens; warrior-goddess and protectress; Lady of the West.  Universal mother; the Spirit behind the Veil of Mysteries; Primal Abyss.  Her name means "I have come from myself" or self-begotten.  The Greeks identified her with Pallas Athene, who also had a duel role of warrior and woman skilled in domestic arts.  She wore the red crown of Lower Egypt and held a bow and two arrows.  Part of her sanctuary as Sais was a school of medicine, the House of Life.  Her ceremonies were of a mystic nature.
Herbs, magick, healing, mystical knowledge, rituals, meditation.  Patroness of domestic arts, weaving, hunting, medicine, war, weapons.  Protectress of women and marriage.

Nemesis (Greece): Dark Moon goddess of karmic retribution.

Nephthys (Egypt): Dark Moon goddess; sister of Isis and Mother of Anubis by her brother Osiris.  Her symbols were the cup and the lotus.  Rebirth, reincarnation, building good upon the ashes of hopelessness.  The great revealer and giver of dreams; understanding the Mysteries.

Ngami (Africa): Moon Goddess

Nkosuano (Ghana): The Moon-egg.

Norms/Weird Sisters/Wyrd/Wurd(Norse, Germanic, Anglo-Saxon): Very similar to the Greek Fates.  They tended the Well of Urd near one of the roots of the World Tree Yggdrasil. They were named Urd (the Past), Verthandi or Verdandi (the Present), and Skuld (the Future). The water from their well turned everything white, thus connecting them with the three phases of the Moon.

O

Eostre/Ostara/Eostra/Ostarra(Germany, North European): A Moon goddess whose name survives in the word Easter. As a fertility goddess of the Spring Equinox, she was also associated with hares, rabbits, and eggs.

P

Pandia (Greece): One of a female trinity of Moon goddesses representing the phases of the Moon.  The others were Erse and Nemea.

Pasht (Egypt): The destroying aspect, or Dark Moon, of Bast.  Known as the Tearer or devouring Sphinx. Associated with cats, particularly the black cat. Healer-destroyer of diseases; remover of obstacles and barriers, particularly if these are people.

Pe (Pygmies of Africa): Moon goddess.  A special Moon feast for her occurs just before the rainy season begins.

Persephone/Proserpina(Greece, Rome): Daughter of Demeter (Ceres) who was first called Kore. She took the name Persephone after she descended into the Underworld.

S

Samhain/Samen(Ireland, Celts): Although the name of the festival we now celebrate as Halloween, also at one time a Moon goddess. An old Irish saying to wish a friend happiness was: "The blessings of Samen (Moon) and Bel (Sun) be with you."

Sarasvati (India): "Stimulator"; inventor of Sanskrit and discoverer of soma in the Himalayas. Represented as a graceful woman with white skin, wearing a crescent Moon on her brow, and seated on a lotus flower.  The highest spiritual body center is the thousand petalled lotus called the place fo the hidden moon.  The creative arts, science, music, poetry, learning, teaching.

Scathach/Scota/Scatha/Scath(Ireland, Scotland): "Shadow, shade"; "The Shadowy One"'; "She who strikes fear". Dark Moon goddess. Patroness of the blacksmiths, healing, magick, prophecy, martial arts.

Selene/Mene (Greece): The second aspect of the Moon; the Full Moon as lover and bride.  She was pictured as a beautiful woman with a gold crown. The woodland god Pan fell in love with her. Great importance in magick, spells, enchantments.

Seshat/Sesheta(Egypt): "Mistress of the house of books"; "the secretary"; "mistress of the house of artifacts". The female equivalent and wife of Thoth, this goddess was in fact older than Thoth.  Very early Seshat was pictured as a woman wearing on her head a star, a reversed crescent, and two long straight plumes; sometimes this image was only a star on top of a pole surmounted by a downturned screscent. Later the crescent was replaced with two long down-turned horns. She was the record-keeper of the gods. Goddess of writing, letters, archives, measurement, calculations, record-keeping, heiroglyphics, time, stars, history, books, learning, inventions.

Shing-Moo (China): Our Lady Moon.

Skadi (Norse): "Harm"; daughter of the Giant Thjasi and wife of Njord.  Rightful retribution, mountains, Winter, revenge, dark magick.

Spider Woman (Native American, Southwestern) Sometimes called Spider Grandmother. Connected with the Moon.

Tanit/Tanith (Phoenicia, Carthage): Moon Goddess; Great Goddess, similar to Ishtar.

Tlazolteotl (Aztec): "Goddess of filth"; "Dirt Goddess"; Earth goddess; Lady of Witches. Goddess of the crescent Moon.  Associated with the snake and bat, her worship was performed at corssroads, much like the Greek Hecate. She rode naked on a broom through the night skies, wearing a peaked hat and holding a red snake and a blood-stained rope.  Four aspects of herself were recognized as deperate goddesses: Tacapan, Teicu, Tlaco, and Xocutxin. Physical love, fertility, death, withccraft, sexuality, gambling, temptation, and black magick.

Triple Goddess:  A trinity of goddesses, or a goddess having three aspects. Known around the world in various forms. Almost always connected with the three phases of the moon.

Tsuki-Yomi (Japan): Some rferences call this deity a god, others a goddess. Ann Rush writes that until very recently this deity was female. Deity of the Moon and sibling of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu. Moon meditations were a frequent practice in Japanese culture and were said to clear the mind and calm the soul.

Tzaphiel/Tsaphiel (Angel): Angel of the Moon

Ursala/Orsel (Slavic/Russian): Moon goddess.  Also associated with bears.

Venus (Rome): Moon goddess; patroness of vegetation and flowers. She was strong, proud, and loving. She was called virginal, meaning that she remained independent; her priestesses were not physical virgins. Goddess of love, beauty, the joy of physical love, fertility, continued creation, renewal, herbal magick.

Wahini-Hai (Polynesia): Creatress of the World and Mother goddess; also called the Moon and the first woman. Joseph Campbell says that her name was used in the word wahine, meaning "woman".

White Shell Woman (Native American, Navajo): Moon Goddess

Xochiquetzal (Aztec): Goddess of all women; a Mexican type of Aphrodite. She was also a Moon virgin, the complete Triple Goddess, and had a son/lover much like Adonis. She presided over love, marriage, sacred harlots, music, spinning and weaving, magick, art, and changes.
 
 


 
 

Gods...

Ataensic (Native American, Huron): Moon God; The Huron word for water comes from this name.

Atius Tirawa (Pawnee, Native American): Creator God, god of the Sun, Moon, and starts.

Centzon Totochtin (Aztec): "Four Hundred Rabbits." Gods connected with the Moon. Depicted with black and white faces, crescent-shaped nose ornaments. Associated with pulque beer.

Cernunnos/Cernowain/Cerneus/Herne the Hunter (All Celtic cultures in one form or another): The Horned God; God of Nature; god of the Underworld and the Astral Plane; Great Father; "the Horned One". From very ancient times a companion of the Moon goddess .  Horns in whatever form always connected a deity iwth the Moon.  The Druids knew him as Hu Gadern, the Horned Godof fertility. He was portrayed sitting in a lotus position with horns or antlers on his head, long curling hair, a beard, naked except for a neck torque, and sometimes holding a spear and shield. His symbols wer the stag, ram, bull, and horned serpent, all Moon creatures. Virtility, fertility, animals, physical love, Nature, woodlands, reincarnation, crossroads, wealth, commerce, warriors.

Chandra/Soma (India): Moon god whose name came for the intoxicating, hallucinogenic drink made for the gods.  God of pleasant forgetfulness. The Moon is called Sasin or Sasanka (hare mark or spot) because Chandra carries a hare. One folktale says that the Moon is a crystal ball filled with silver water. Chandra rides in a chariot pulled by antelope and protects the world from ignorance and chaos. Psychic visions and dreams, rising on the inner planes.

Gabriel (Archangel): Prince of Change and Alteration; Archangel of the Annunciation. One of the two highest ranking angels. Ruling prince of Paradise and sits on the left hand of God. The angel of resurrection, mercy, vengence, death, revelation, truth, hope. His planet is the Moon, his color blue. He rules the Element of Water and the West. Angel of visions, magick, clairvoyance, scrying, astral travel, herbal medicine. His arabic name is Jibril or Jabrail.

Ganesha/Ganesa/Ganapati/Gajani (India): "Elephant-face"; Lord of obstacles; elephant-headed god of scribes and merchants. Pictured as a short, pot-bellied man with yellow skin, four arms, and an elephant's head with one tusk. Rides on a rat. Removes obstacles from life. Thoughtful and wise, he is invokedbefore every undertaking to insure success. It is said that if Ganesha is worshiped at the August Hindu festival, wishes will come true.  However, it is unlucky to see the Moon during this festival.

Ge (Dahomey in Africa): Moon god; son of Mawu.

Gidja (Australian): Moon god and totemic ancestor of the Dreamtime. God of dreams and sex.

Green Man (Ireland, Britain, Wales): In Old Welsh his name was Arddu (The Dark One), Atho, or the Horned God. Identified with Cernunnos. A horned deity of trees and green growing things of Earth; god of the woodlands. Connected with several Moon goddesses. The very first deities were the White Goddess (Moon Goddess) and the Horned One.

Heimdall (Norse): Vanir god of Light and the rainbow; "The White God." He is called "the Son of the Wave", because he was born from nine waves by Odhinn's enchantment; nine is a magick Moon number. Guardian, beginnings and endings, morning light, seriousness, defense against evil.

Horned God (Many Cultures): Also called Cernnunos, the Green Man, Herne the Hunter, Lord of the Wild Hunt. Connected with the Moon goddess from very early times. Very similar to the Greek Pan and the Roman Sylvanus. The masculine, active side of Nature. Growing things, the forest, Nature, wild animals, alertness, annihilation, fertility, panic, desire, terror, flocks, agriculture, beer and ale.

Horus (Egypt): Although this god was basically a falcon-headed Sun and sky god and identified with Apollo, his two eyes were said to be the Sun and the Moon. He was also associated wiht cats. The Moon boat, called Yaahu Auhu, was sometimes called the Left Eye of Horus. Egyptians said that this Moon boat carried the souls of the dead over a vast sea to the Sun.

Hur (Chaldea): Moon god, whose capital city Ur was named after him.

Igaluk (Eskimo, Native Americans): Moon god, Supreme God. Natural phenomena, animals, sea animals.

Khensu/Khons/Khonsu(Egypt): "Traveller"; "The Navigator"; "He who crossed the sky in a boat"; God of the New Moon. He wore a skullcap topped with a disk in a crescent Moon. His head was shaved except for a scalp-lock tress. His human body was swathed tightly and he held a crook and flail. Under the New Kingdom Khensu gained popularity as an exorcist and healer.

Kuu/Kun (Finnish/Ugrain):Moon deity, sometimes seen as male, sometimes as female.

M

Mah (Persia): Moon god.

Mani (Norse): Moon god who kidnapped the boy Hjuki and the girl Bil, whom he placed on the Moon.  Mani directs the course of the Moon and regulates Nyi (the New Moon) and Nithi (the waning Moon).

Men/Mene (Phrygia): Moon god. Not to be confused with the goddess Selene.

Meztli/Teccezeiecatl (Aztec): The material Moon at its height; "He from the sea snail." Represented as an old man with a white shell on his back and sometimes with butterfly wings. Was replaced by the goddess Coyolxauhqui.

Myesyats (Slavic): Moon god; sometimes male, sometimes female.  In Serbia, this god was called Bald Uncle.  Spring, healing.

Osiris (Egypt): Lord of life after death; Universal Lord: Lord of Lords; God of Gods. Although he was sometimes called a Sun deity, he also was connected with the Moon.  A great number of inscriptions call Osiris Lord of the Moon, sometimes the Great Hare.  He was sometimes shown standing, sometimes seated on his throne, tightly wrapped in mummy cloth, his freed hands on this breast holding the crook and the frail.  Sometimes his face was green; on his head he wore a high white miter flanked by two ostrich feathers.  Texts written in the main hall of the Temple of Hathor at Dendera call Osiris the Moon.

Patron of priests; god of fertility, harvest, commerce, success, initiation, death and reincarnation, water, judgment, justice, agriculture, crafts, vegetation , grains, religion, architecture, codes of law, power, order, discipline, growth, stability.

Pan (Greece): Much the same as the Celtic Horned God. "Little God"; Horned God; goat-footed god; very ancient. A woodland deity often associated with Moon goddesses. Positive Life Force of the world. Creative powers. Moon influences, fertility in all its forms, music, Nature spirits, wild animals, dance, medicine, soothsaying.

Shiva/Siva/Mahakala (India): Lord of the Cosmic Dance; Lord of the World; Lord of Stillness and of Motion; Lord of Yoga; Great Lord; Beneficent One; He who gives and takes away; demon-slayer. His power depends upon his union with Kali, without whom he cannot act. He wears his hair in an ascetic's knot, adorned with a crescent Moon and trident. He is pictured as a fair man with a blue throat, five faces, four arms, and three eyes. Three serpents coil around him, darting out at enemies. He is the god of all humans who have no place in society. His dance movements symbolize the eternal life-death rhythm of the universe.

Sinn/Sin (Mesopotamia, Ur, Assyria, Babylonia, Sumeria): Moon God; "the Illuminator"; Lord of the calendar; Lord of the diadem. He was shown as an old man with a long beard the color of lapis and wearing a turban. He road in a boat (a brilliant crescent Moon) across the skies, with the Full Moon as his diadem. Mt. Sinai (Mountain of the Moon) was sacred to him. The Babylonians believed that this god revealed the evil traps laid for men by evil spirits. Enemy of all evil-does; god of measurement of time. Destiny, predictions, air, wisdom, secrets, destruction of all evil, decisions.

Soma (India): Also called Chandra. He symbolized the Moon and immortality. Soma was also the name for a sacred plant that made a religious-ecstasy drink. Soma, both god and plant, was created fromteh churning of the primordial sea by the gods. His wives, the daughters of Daksha, are considered to be the twenty-seven lunar stations.

Sylvanus (Rome): The Roman equivalent of the god Pan.

Thoth/Tehuti/Thout/Djehuti/Zehuti(Egypt): "Lord of Books and Learning"; Judge of the gods; director of the planets and seasons; scribe of the gods; identified wiht the Greek Hermes. Considered self-begotten. Thoth was called "Lord of Holy Words" for inventing hieroglyphs and numbers; "The Elder" as the first and greatest of magicians. He had greater powers than Osiris or Ra. He was ibis-headed and the inventor of the Four Laws of Magick,  "Knowledge, Courage, Will, and Silence" or "To Know, To Dare, To Will, and to Keep Silence."  He wore a lunar disk and crescent on his head and held the writing reed and palette of a scribe.

Patron of priests; Supreme Magus; god of all magick, writing, inventions, the arts, divination, commerce, healing, initiation, music, prophecy, tarot, success, wisdom, medicine, astronomy, geometry, surveying, drawing, sciences, measurement of time, archives, judgment, oracles, rituals, astrology, alphabets, mathematics, speech, arbitration
 
 


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