Goddesses


The below listing of Goddesses is by no means complete, but is a work in progress. All the information listed below is from (and used with permission from), "The Daily Goddess" a Onelist email community. For more information on this e-community, visit The Daily Goddess

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Aetna
Aetna is the Roman Mountain Goddess after whom the Italian volcano Mount Etna is named. Many Cultures, fire is female; in most, mountains are considered to be so; thus people living near volcanoes often perceive the fiery mountains as particularly powerful Goddesses. Some legends say Aetna was the wife of the smith God Vulcan. Under her mountain, his hidden thunderbolts could be heard, making a constant dull roar.
>From The New Book of Goddesses and Heroines by Patricia Monaghan (Llewellyn)

Ananta
A Vedic view of the Goddess A Hindu Goddess - Punjabi
The Divinity known as Sesa Naga, Ananta and as Sankarsana is very rich and lustrous in her lore. The Goddess is seen as a maintainer of cosmic affairs in this view. Most specifically, she holds up all the planets in the universe. The creative aspect of the universe is identified with the incarnation of God known as Balarama who seems to mysteriously be the same as Ananta. Ananta has some very particular powers. She is continuously speaking in Angel language which tends to describe the whole universe in one book, and she continuously fails to fully describe the Supreme person who she happens to be. She is also the abode and shelter of the Supreme person. The abode known as Svetadvipa appears in our universe but originates in the spiritual sky where every life form is permanent and every object is a life form. >From the milk comes nectar and that suggests milking the Cow of the Goddess through reverent ritual. It is interesting that the Supreme Person is said to rest on an ocean of milk because milk is a primal manifestation of the Goddess and this seems to be a Vedic statement that Cows and the Goddess are connected. It is true that as the Goddess 2000 project was getting under way, the city of Chicago was erecting statues of Cows all over downtown Chicago which shows that even the beauracracy noticed the Goddess coming. Peter Binder 7-31-99 Written For Daily Goddess News

Artemis (Greek)
Artemis is the Goddess of Hunting and the moon. She is the Strong woman with independence and self-reliance. Artemis symbol, The Moon, rules over the nights, wild realms, mysteries, and the women's bodies. Artemis, and her priestesses, wore a crown shaped like a the crescent moon upon her brow. Often animal horns are also depicted in her headress. Independent and wild, she choose never to share her life with a man and many a man discovered her terrible wrath for violating her wishes. She lived in the woods with wild animals, nymphs, and young women (who lived in the woods for a time before marriage) were her companions.

Asphalta (Neo-Modern Goddess)
Asphalta is the Patron Goddess of the Roadways and of travellars, and of cars. Asphalta is the Goddess to pray to before a long trip or to avoid an accident, or to find a parking place. Asphalta is a new name for this Goddess but as a diety she is very ancient. There has been a Goddess of the Roadways as long as there have been roads and there will always be a need for her.
Holy Asphalta Full of Grace help us find a Parking Space - Don Lewis

Brighid
Celtic Goddess of fire and inspiration, Brighid rules over the arts and crafts, especially the three great skills of poetry, smithcraft, and medicine. Music is sacred to Her, and She was a Patron of the sacred Bards. Brighid is a Goddess of wisdom and learning, as well as cunning, and can overcome all obstacles. Brighid is often likened to the spirit of the grain in the fields, and corn dollies are be made to represent Her. Her festival is La Fheila Bride ("Law EYE-luh VREE-ja") or Candlemas, celebrated on 1 February. Brighid is also known as Bride, Brigantia, and Brigantina.

Demeter
Greek Goddess of the Earth and of growing things, Demeter created agriculture as a gift to humankind. When Her daughter Kore was kidnapped by the King of the Dead and became Persephone, Queen of the Otherworld, Demeter fell into mourning, and winter came to the Earth. The plants that people and animals lived upon whithered and died and there was great suffering upon Earth. At length Demeter found Her daughter, and it was agreed that Persephone should spend part of the year with Her Mother, and part of the year as Queen of the Otherworld. Each year when Persephone was in the Otherworld winter would return to the earth-but so that people would not suffer from starvation, demeter created grain, and gave the secret of it's cultivation to Triptolemus, Prince of Eleusis, who then taught it to the world. The name Demeter is said to mean "The Mother." In early times Demeter was sometimes depicted as being a horse, or as being horse-headed, linking Her to Celtic Mother Goddesses like Danu, Epona, and Rhiannon. The principle center of Demeter's worship was at Eleusis, near Athens, where the great Eleusinian Mysteries were held in Her honor each year.

Exili
Called Ezili or Erzulie in Haiti, Oshun in Cuba and the US, and Ochum in Brasil, this is the Afro-diasporic Goddess of love and beauty. Ezili is the Goddess of art and self-expression. Poetry, song, and dance are sacred to Her. She is a Patron of both romantic and sensual love, and promotes happiness and joy in life. She is a Goddess of independence, fulfillment, and personal strength. The following passage was written about the Afro-diasporic Goddess Ezili-Oshun, a form of the Maiden, but may be taken as representative of the qualities of the Maiden Goddess in general:
"Goddess of the fulfilled and independent woman, mistress of Her own fate and pursuing Her own dreams. ...Goddess of romantic love, and also of sexuality. She is the mistress of everything which delights the senses. All pleasure and enjoyment in life are Hers-anything which is beautiful and fine. She governs the arts and crafts, music and dance, poetry and writing. All luxuries and conveniences are Hers. She is the creative individual, striving to fill Her own needs and expressing Herself in every way. She is competent and dexterous, making Her will manifest all about Her on the material plane with skill and style. All joy and laughter are Hers..." reprinted from The Wheel of Hekate, 1988 AD - 1588 Pisces

Freya
Freya/Freyja is the Goddess of magic and death, daughter of Njord, a shape-shifter who often took the form of a falcon. When her husband Od vanished, Freya cried golden tears. Patroness of seithr, a practice in which a seeress would enter trance to predict the future. The women who practiced siethr, who were known as the Volva, wandering freely about the country offer advise, casting spells, and forecasting futures;

Hathor
Egyptian Goddess of love, beauty, and personal fulfillment, Hathor is often depicted as a cow or with the head of a cow, symbolizing fecundity. She is the Patron of art, music, and dance, and of all things beautiful and pleasing. Hathor is often symbolized by a mirror, representing self-knowledge and fulfillment. Identified with the sky, Hathor is the consort of Horus, the Sun God-in fact the name "Hat-Hor" means "Home of Horus." Hathor also has aspects as a Mother Goddess.

Hsi Wang Mu
Hsi Wang Mu is the Taoist Crone Goddess, ' Mother of the Western Paradise'. Hsi Wang Mu lives in Palace in the Western part of the Afterworld, where only the most virtuous souls go. In Hsi Wong Mu's garden grows the peaches of immortality, which she dispenses only to the most worthy.

Isis
Goddess Isis of Ten Thousand Names: Recognized as an old Goddess, she has become to represent the ultimate expression of being. Originally, The Wife and Sister of Osiris, she was the mother and proper wife. Later in Rome her religion spread through out the Empire as increasing feminine and represented the heart of many people. She is a most adored figure. Today her religion flourishes with the Fellowship of Isis, based out of Ireland, and by Pagan Women and Men everywhere.
Today we ask Isis to show us the Goddess hidden in every Women and yes inside every Man as well.

Juno/Genius
The ancient Romans called the Higher Self the GENIUS (masc.) or JUNO (Fem.). They considered the Genius-Juno to be the Divine part of each individual. Every person was encouraged to be in touch with the Genius-Juno and to move in synch with it. In this way they believed that they would act from their best self, moving at one with the universe and learning the lessons life offered them with greater ease. They were encouraged to talk to their Genius-Juno and listen for it's answers, to honor it with offerings and ceremonies which served to strengthen their bond to it. Every day the whole family would make offerings to the Genius-Juno of the head of the family, and sometimes also those of other important clan members, along with the gods who protected the household. In later times many families also made offerings to the Genius of the Emperor and sometimes the Juno of the Empress (This is the practice that horrified Christians described as "Worshipping the Emperor as a God"). By making these offerings they believed that they were helping the person to achieve a closer bond with their Higher Self, and thus to be a better person -- because the Higher Self always acts to the good, and cannot by it's nature do otherwise. The Higher Self is rather like what some people call a Guardian Angel, except that instead of being outside of you it's a part of you -a higher, better part with a clearer viewpoint. Every year on their birthday each member of the family would receive these same offerings to their Genius-Juno from the whole house. This, more than the mere marking of age, is what made the celebration of birthdays so important. It was the time to acknowledge the persons highest, best self and encourage their relationship with it. Most people also made daily offerings to their Genius-Juno in private. People would tell the Genius-Juno what they wanted to do, or learn, or acquire, in the hope that the Genius-Juno would help with this. These offerings commonly included something to represent each of the four ELEMENTS; incense (for air), the flame of an oil lamp (for fire), wine (for water) and cakes (for earth).
By Elizabeth Greenwood Originally published May 10th, 99

Kalwadi (Australian)
The Goddess Kalwadi is a baby-sitting Goddess but her charges kept disappearing under mysterious circumstances. Angry at the loss of their Children, the parents went in search of Kalwadi whom they found hiding in her underwater lair. Although they loved her, and respected her as their Mother, the aggrieved parent slew Kalwadi and cut her open. The children, however, were not as they had supposed in the Goddess Belly but in her womb awaiting rebirth.

Ko
Among the Bushmen of South Africa, Ko is the patron Goddess of hunting, a shining white figure who dances with hunters and shares with them secrets of where game is hiding. Anyone who is touched by her during the prehunt dance has a sharp eye and perfect coordination during the hunt. Her appearance at a dance is not guaranteed, and sometimes she descends for only an instant, disappearing behind a mob of attendant spirits.
>From The New Book of Goddesses and Heroines by Patricia Monaghan, published by Llewellyn.

Kupala
(Russian) Kupala, or Kupava, is the Russian Goddess of life, sex, and vitality. She is the bursting forth and flowering of life. It is at Her pleasure that the Earth turns green and thrives, by Her will that the fields bring forth grain. It is She Who makes herds multiply and grow fat. It is She who allows the conception of children. Kupala is the source of life, the giver of the harvests, the Goddess of lakes and rivers and all forms of water -and also of the Moon. In times past Kupala was worshipped in a joyous celebration on Midsdummers day. In Kupala's honor men and women would gather on Midsummer's Day and bathe together in the lakes and rivers. They would make wreathes of flowers, and cast them into the waters for the Goddess. Bonfires would be build, and the men and women would dance, and jump over the fires hand in hand. A special tree would be chosen, and all of its lower branches stripped off. Beneath the tree the people would sing and dance, and carry out the rites of the beneficent Goddess.

Kwan Yin
Kwan Yin is said to be the Chinese form of the Boddisatva Avolokitesvara. A Bodisatva is a highly advanced soul who puts off enlightenment to help the world. In origin, Kwan Yin is an ancient Chinese Goddess. Kwan Yin is the Earth Mother, Goddess of the Harvest. Chinese Myths says when Kwan Yin saw the people suffering from hunger and starvation. She was deeply grieved. To prevent people from ever having to starve again, she created rice. She squeezed the mother's milk from her breasts and each drop of milk became a grain of white rice. She was so determined the people never starve again, and squeezed out so much mother's milk from her breasts, that at last there was none left. The she squeezed out drops of blood, which became the red rice, Kwan Yin is the Goddess of Compassion, Mercy, and Kindness. She is the special protector of women and children. Her love is the never ending, and she is always willing to help people in need.

Mati-Suira-Zemlya (Russian)
The great Russian Mother Goddess is Russia Herself --the land. The Mother Land. Her earliest and most obvious form is as Mati-Suira-Zemlya; literally "Mother Moist Earth." Her name virtually says enough. She is the whole ball of wax -or perhaps more appropriately the whole ball of moist earth. Before creation She slumbered beneath the primordial snow, and it was from Her that the Sky Father, Svarog, and all other things arose. She is the source of all that exists. She is the Earth. She is "Mother Russia." You cannot understand the Russian attitude toward Russia if you do not grasp that fact. Her color is green, and She arrayed Herself in green and many-colored flowers to receive Her lover Svarog, the Sky Father, Who had arisen from Her. She welcomed Svarog back into Her womb, to conceive with Him all other things. Mati-Suira-Zemlya is the "Black Earth" and after Her Russian peasants called themselves "Black Earth people." By Rev. Don Lewis Hp

Mother
The preeminent expression of the Triple Goddess is as the Great Mother. Though the three aspects of the Goddess -Maiden, Mother, and Crone- are all equally important and form an eternal cycle of creation and recreation, nonetheless it is Her aspect as Mother that is most commonly invoked. In Her simplest form, the Great Mother represents Deity as Mother of Creation, eternally loving, eternally nurturing. The Mother created the Universe from Herself and sustains it with Her Divine love and providence. In this sense the Mother is a Goddess of unconditional love, compassion, and nurturing. She is the Goddess of the deep fertility and creativity necessary to create and sustain life, and has endless reserves of strength and will. As well as the Creator of the Universe, the Mother is also the ruler of the Universe -but She governs the Universe as a mother governs Her children: with love and a desire for their growth and security. In a more abstract sense the Mother Goddess is "Spirit." In the vangello Delle Streghe we are told that the Primordial Goddess divided Herself between the God (material world) and Goddess (spiritual world) energies. The Mother is that Spiritual essence which infuses all things, and without which our world would be nothing but lifeless matter. When we speak of the Mother Goddess in this sense the concept of Her nurturing and sustaining the Universe takes on a fuller meaning. The Mother Goddess produces all life from Herself -all things are Her children. She loves all of creation deeply and equally, and Her only motivation is love. All things which exist are produced by Her love and sustained by it -and though it may not seem so in the moment, all things ultimately move in accordance with Her love. The Mother Goddess is symbolized by the Full Moon, representing Spirit at the Height of its powers. She rules over the season of summer and the direction of the south. She rules the night as opposed to the day (the God), but from another viewpoint She is the day that follows the Maiden's dawn and precedes the Crone's dusk. As the source of all life, the Mother is likened to the Earth in some places, the sea in others. This is because each is viewed as a source of bounty and sustenance by different peoples. Sometimes too She is likened to the stars of the heavens. The Earth is often spoken of as Her body, but in a wider sense the whole of the Universe is Her body. Every creature of the Earth, from amoebas to elephants to people, is a part of the complex and interdependant eco-structure of the Earth. Though they appear independant, they are no more separate than the cells that make up your body -though each is a system unto itself. Similarly, the Earth itself is an interdependant part of the Universe, which can no more be separated from the Universe than your cells can be separated from you. The Universe and everything in it -All That Is- is the body of the Mother Goddess. Thus when we invoke the Mother Goddess we can invoke Her in a personal sense as the loving Divine Parent, or in a cosmological sense as the spirit of All Things.

Pomba Gira
In Brazil Pomba Gira is said to be the consort of Eshu, the Trickster God. She is sensuous and seductive, and like Her consort She is a trickster -however She is said to be even more clever than Her consort. Her characteristic pose is with one hand palm up in aoffering, and the other hand palm down in denial. She both smiles and grimaces at once. She is an inscrutable and ambiguous Goddess Who is both benificent and malificent at once, reconciling positicve and negative within Herself. Pomba Gira is a Goddess of fate and fortune. She is found only in Brazil, and may have originally been a native Brazillian Goddess. reprinted from The Wheel of Hekate, 1988 AD - 1588 Pisces

Rhiannon
Rhiannon is betrothed to Gwawl in her Underworld home, but she chooses instead to become a mortal woman and actively selects Pwyll as her mate. She bears a son which is stolen the same evening be agents of Gwawl and, to justify their lack of attention, the midwives pretend that Rhiannon killed and ate her own son. Although Rhiannon begs them to tell the truth, they persist in these slanders and it is judged that the Queen of Dyfed shall stand at the mounting block near the gate, and there tell all who come that way of her crime, offering to bear them into a hall on her back like a horse. She has to endure this punishment for seven years until her son, who has been rescued and raised by Teyrnon, comes to court to liberate his mother by his simple presence.
(from the Elements of the Goddess by Caitlin Matthews)

Sarasvati
Sarasvati, whose consort is Brahma, is the Goddess of speech, wisdom, and music. Sarasvati is often depicted with four arms, holding a book and musical instrument, to show her deep love of knowledge and music. Sarasvati is considered to be the Mother of the Vedas and inventor of the Sanskrit alphabet. Seen as the prototype of the female artist and a Goddess of Eloquence.
Barbara Ardinger, Ph.d wrote this wonderful invocation: Sarasvati of the pen and of the ink, you have caused words to come to being. Eloquent One, Open up my soul to your inspiration. Flow though me as your channel, make my words flow better and more clearly, and illuminate you mind.
By Ed Hubbard

Tyche/Fortuna
One of the most popular Goddesses of the ancient world was the Greek Goddess Tyche (tie-kee), or Fortune as the Romans knew her. Often propitiated as the Goddess of Good Luck, Tyche/Fortuna was in a larger sense the Goddess of Destiny, or Karma. Whenever people were about to undertake a risky or uncertain venture, they would pray to Tyche/Fortuna to send them success. A Patron Goddess of the tarot Deck, Tyche/Fortuna's Symbol the 'Wheel of Fortune" or Rota Fortuna, is Card #10. Sometimes considered an aspect of other Goddesses, such as the Roman Juno Fortuna, Tyche Fortuna was also known as Agape Tyche or Bona Fortuna (Good Luck). In later centuries, She was called Dame Fortune.

Venus
One of the most enduring Pagan Goddesses is Venus, ancient Goddess of love and beauty. Venus has remained popular throughout the ages, showing up in Hermetic and Alchemical beliefs, peasant Witch customs, and allegorical thought. As patroness of romantic love, She has graced many a Rococco painting and Victorian Valentine. The worship of Venus was widespread in the ancient world, with its principle center at Cyprus. It is believed that Venus was introduced to Greece from Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and that Her worship originated there as a local variation on the ancient Goddess Ishtar. Called Aphrodite (Foam Born) by the Greeks, Venus was sometimes said to have been born from the foam generated by the waves crashing against the shore. A more famous version of Her birth says that when Chronos (Time) separated Uranos (Father Sky) from Gaia (Mother Earth), He castrated Uranos and flung Uranos' penis into the sea (representing the womb of the Mother), and that Venus arose from the foam generated by the splash. Either way She was said to have been generated from the sea (the Feminine Polarity) and to have first come to land at Cypris. there is a very beautiful painting of this by the renaissance painter sandro Boticelli, "the Birth of Venus" which depicts venus coming to shore at Cypris, attended by Zephyros (the gentle west Wind) and Flora, Goddess of flowers. The principle consort of Venus was Vulcan ( Greek Hephaistos), God of the Forge and of blacksmiths. Vulcan was a God of death and Magic, smithcraft having been viewed as very magical in ancient times, and He ruled the underground realms, and located His forge beneath volcanoes. Vulcan was lame, representing the "dead" Sun of Winter, which limps across the sky. But though paired with Vulcan, venus also took mars (Ares) as Her consort. Remembered primarily as a God of war, Mars was originally a God of the Summer season, of life, passion, and physical activity. Venus constantly shifted between Vulcan (Winter) and mars (Summer) in a seasonal myth of the type which will be discussed in greater detail below.

Vesta
Roman Goddess of the hearth fire, Vesta is the protector of the home, and of the people in it. The safety of the family is in Her hands. Vesta is conceived of as a sober and dignified Maiden, Patron of the homely arts-cooking, weaving, householding. Vesta is also a Goddess of honor and of justice, protector of the virtuous and guardian of the weak. In former times Vesta was the protective Deity of the Roman State, served by the famous Vestal Virgins, celibate Priestesses who cared for the spiritual heart of Rome.

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