Old World Deities
ACHELOUS (Acheloos, Akelos) - Greek
The most important of the Greek river gods, associated with the modern Aspropotamos, flowing through Boeotia into the Ionian sea. Traditionally the son of Oceanus and Tethys (as are the other river gods), although other traditions make him the son of Helios and Gaia, or a son of Poseidon. Fathered the Sirens by the Muse Melpomene. Achelous was defeated by Heracles in a fight for the hand of Deianeira.
ACHERON - Greek
"River of Woe". Greek river god of one of the five rivers of Hades. Identified with the Acheron river in Epirus, Greece, which flows underground in several places, and was thought to flow through Hades.
ACHTLAND - (AKHT-lawnd) - Celtic
She was a Goddess queen whom no mortal man could sexually satisfy, so she took a giant from the faerie realm as her mate. Legend has it she took great pleasure in combing his long, fair hair. Invoke her energies for sex magic or for taking the female role in the Great Rite.
ACHILLES - (Achilleus) - Greek
Greek hero famous for his deeds and death in the Trojan War. He was later deified, and his worship was particularly prominent in the Black Sea area. Son of Peleus, King of the Myrmidons, and the Nereid Thetis. As a child, Thetis dipped him in the River Styx in an attempt to protect him against harm, leaving only the heel by which she held him vulnerable. Achilles was eventually killed by Paris, whose arrow was guided by Apollo to the vulnerable heel.
ADONIS - Greek
God of Vegetation. Greek hero and deity of Syro-Phoenician origin (Semitic adon = "lord" or "master"). The Phoenicians knew Adonis as Eshmun (qv).
The Adonis cult was especially prominent in the Phoenician town of Byblos, and later spread to the Greek world through commercial contact. According to one Greek tradition, Adonis was the result of an incestuous liaison in which Smyrna (Myrrha) deceived her father Theias as to her identity (perhaps at the instigation of Aphrodite). Upon discovering the ruse, Theias pursued Smyrna, who was changed by the gods into a myrrh tree, which eventually split open and gave birth to Adonis. (In some versions it was Theias who split the tree open with his sword, in another it was a wild boar which split the tree open with its tusks.)
Aphrodite discovered the youth and placed him in a coffer which she entrusted to the underworld goddess Persephone. Acting against Aphrodite's instructions, Persephone opened the coffer and was so smitten by the youth that she refused to return him to Aphrodite. Zeus was called in to arbitrate the dispute and determined that Adonis should spend one third of each year with each goddess, the remaining third left to his own discretion. In the end, Adonis elected to spend the remaining third of the year with Aphrodite.
In another tradition, Adonis was said to have been killed by a boar while hunting and forced to spend a portion of each year in the underworld. In either case, Adonis fits the pattern of dying and resurrected vegetation gods in the eastern Mediterranean region such as the Egyptian Osiris, the Phrygian Attis and the Mesopotamian Dumuzi (Tammuz). Both the Phoenician and Greek myths retain this vegetation aspect. In the Greek world, festivals commemmorating the death and resurrection of Adonis, known as Adonia, were celebrated after the harvest. A common practice during the Adonia was the planting of 'Adonis gardens' in small boxes or bowls, which grew and died quickly.
ADRASTEIA - (Adrastea) - Greek
Greek mountain deity worshipped in Phrygia, Troy and Thrace -- and later in Greece proper. An avenging goddess of righteousness.
AEACOS - Greek
See Aiakos.
AEOLOS - (Aiolos, Latin Aeolus) - Greek
Greek god of storms and winds. He is best known from Homer's Odyssey, where he lives on the floating island of Aeolia (Lipari), and gives Odysseus a bag containing all the unfavourable winds. He was regarded as human in Homer's time, but was later elevated to the status of a god.
AETHER - Greek
Greek god of light. One of the primordial cosmic deities, a personification of the upper sky. Hesiod makes him the son of Erebus (darkness) and Nyx (night). The union of Aether and Hemera (day) resulted in the birth of Earth, Sea and Sky along with many deities including Saturn, Oceanus, Atlas and the Furies.
AEVAL - (A-vahl) - Celtic
This Goddess came into popular legend as a faerie, a Munster queen who heald a midnight court to hear the debate on wheather or not the men of her kingdom were keeping their women sexually satisfies or not. The problem, she deemed, was that the men were both prudish and lazy. She commanded that they bow to the women's wishes. Call on her to aid you in spells of love, lust, and wisdom in making judgements.
AGATHOS DAIMON - Greek
"Good Spirit". Greek guardian spirit of individuals and families. In Hellenistic times he came to be associated with Tyche, the goddess of luck. Portrayed as a serpent or as a young man bearing a cornucopia. Libations of wine were typically made to Aether after meals.
AGDISTIS - Greek
Mother god of Phrygian origin, often associated with the mother goddess Kybele. In Greek mythology, she was the product of the combination of a rock with the semen of Zeus. Originally a hermaphrodite, Agdistis was made female through castration. The vegetation god Attis was the ultimate product of her severed sexual organs which became either a pomegranate tree or an almond tree. Attis grew to become a beautiful youth, but ultimately died of self-castration in an effort to avoid the amorous pursuit of Agdistis and/or Kybele.
AGLAIA - (Aglaea, Aegle) - Greek
One of the three Graces, or Charites. Daughter of Zeus and Eurynome.
AGNOSTOS THEOS - Greek
"Unknown god". Greek cities made offerings to the 'unknown gods' so that no gods should be overlooked in religious observances.
AIAKOS - (Aeacos, Latin Aeacus) - Greek
Greek god of the underworld and judge of the dead. According to Plato, who was the first to mention this god, he is the son of Zeus and Aegina. With Minos and Rhadamanthys, Aeacos was one of the three judges of the souls of the dead in the underworld. A temple was constructed in his honour on the Aegean island of Aegina, and the festival of the Aiakeia was celebrated there in commemmoration of his supposed intercession to end a drought.
AIMEND - (AW-mend) (EE-mend) - Celtic
A minor Celtic sun Goddess who was said to be the daughter of the King of the region known as Corco Liodhe.
AINE - (AA-nee) - Celtic
A Goddess of love who may also be a Goddess of cattle. She is said to be a daughter of Ouel, a sage and seer of the Tuatha De Danaan.
AIOLOS - Greek
See Aeolos.
AION - Greek
Greek personification of time or of a given age in human history. Later adopted by Mithraism and by the Manichaeans.
AIRMAD - (AWR-meet) (EER-meet) - Celtic
Daughter of the God of Medicine, Diancecht, who was an adapt at the healing arts. She was looked upon as a magician and an herbalist. After the death of her brother, Miach, she tened thegrave on which all of the herbs of the earth grew, and as sheharvested them, they spoke to her and assisted her in their uses.She laid them out on a cloak by their properties, but her jealousfather came along and shook the cloak, scattering away nearly all of the knowledge.She was a craftsman who, with the help of her brotherhelped forge the famed silver hand of Nuada.
AKELOS - Greek
See Achelous.
ALMAH - Celtic
Goddess who not much is known about. There is a hill in Southern Ireland named after her.
ALASTOR - Greek
Greek spirit of revenge. Especially associated with blood feuds between families which lasted long after the death of those originally involved. Also used to denote a man's evil genius that leads him to commit crimes and to sin.
ALECTO - Greek
See Allekto.
ALETHIA - (Roman Veritas) - Greek
The Greek goddess of truth. She was the daughter of Zeus and the nurse of the infant Apollo.
ALLEKTO - Greek
One of the Greek Erinyes, goddesses of vengeance. Daughter of Gaea. Her name is said to mean "she who does not rest".
ALPHEUS - Greek
Greek river god who fell in love with the nymph Arethusa. She fled to the island of Ortygia, but Alpheus flowed under the sea to join her on the island. Son of Okeanos and Tethys.
AMALTHAEA - (Amaltheia, Amalthea) - Greek
Greek nymph who was the nurse of the infant Zeus while Rhea was hiding him from Cronus.. Sometimes represented as a goat, one of whose horns was broken off and transformed by Zeus into the cornucopia, or horn of plenty.
AMERGIN/TALIESIN - Celtic
The two greatest Celtic Bards that ever lived. Amergin was the Chief Bard of the Mileseans and aided them in overcoming the Magicks of the Tuatha de Dannans to become the heirs to the land of Ireland. Taliesin was the great Bard of the Welsh, whose poetry and songs, Including the Cad Goddieu, tell us most of what we know about Druidry in Wales. He gained his knowledge from the Cauldron of Cerridwen. They are both patrons of Bards, music, Magick and poetry. Direction: South or South-East.
AMPHITRITE - Greek
Greek goddess of the sea, wife of Poseidon. Daughter of Nereus and Doris or Okeanos and Tethys. Poseidon chose her from among her sister Nereids. Amphitrite fled, but she was retrieved by a dolphin and returned to Poseidon. Mother of Albion, Benthesicyme, Charybdis, Rhode and Triton.
ANANKE - Greek
Greek goddess of fate and necessity. Even the gods were subject to her dictates. Given her unalterable nature she was little worshipped until the advent of the Orphic mystery cult.
ANDARSTE - Celtic
This war goddess' name means "the invincible one." Her presense was invoked on the eve of battles to curry favor, and possibly ritual sacrifices were made to her. In magic and ritual she helps to overcome enemies.
ANGURBODA - Teutonic.
The Hag of the Iron Wood, wife of Loki, mother of the Wolf Fenrir, the Midgard Serpent,and Hel.
ANTEROS - Greek
Greek god of passion. Son of Ares and Aphrodite.
ANU, ANANN - Irish
A form of the major Irish mother goddess; overlaps with DANA. Worshipped in Munster as a goddess of plenty. Gave her name to the Paps of Anu, twin hills in Co. Kerry. In her dark aspect, she formed a Fate trinity with BADHBH and MACHA. Call on Anu for fertility magic.
ANUBIS - (AKA - Anpu, Anup) - Egyptian
His mother was the Goddess Nephthys. When he was born she abandoned him because he had been conceived with Osiris, her sisters(Isis) husband. Isis found Anubis and raised him, and so when he grew up, he guarded Isis faithfully. Guardian of Isis. God of Protection and Embalming.
AOEDE - (Aeode) - Greek
Boeotian (Greek) Muse of song.
APHRODITE - ('Foam-Born') - Greek
Greek goddess of beauty and sexual love. According to one legend she was born from the ocean foam after Kronos castrated Ouranos and tossed his genitals into the sea. In this version Aphrodite is held to mean "foam born", derived from the Greek word aphros, or "foam". This theory is bolstered by the fact that Aphrodite was worshipped as a goddess of the sea and by seafarers in much of the Greek world.
Homer, however, portrays her as the daughter of Zeus and Dione, and the fickle spouse of the lame smith god Hephaistos. Her most famous lover was Ares, the god of war, by whom she was mother to Anteros, Deimos, Eros, Harmonia and Phobos. She is also the mother of Aeneas and Lyrus by Anchises, Hermaphroditus by Hermes, Eryx by Poseidon, and Priapus by Dionysus.
Aphrodite is commonly held to be an import from Anatolia, and her most important sanctuaries were on the islands of Cyprus (including Paphos and Amathus) and Cythera, while her chief sanctuary on the Greek mainland was at Corinth. In Athens, she was honoured in the festival of the Arrephoria. She has many characteristics in common with Middle Eastern fertility goddesses such as Astarte and Ishtar. Aphrodite was regarded as the patron goddess of prostitutes, and as a promoter of fertility. Her epithets included Anadyomene (sea born), Genetrix (creator), Eupoloios (fair voyage), and Pandemos (of all the people).
APOLLO - Roman
God of Light and the Arts.
APOLLO - (Apollon) - Greek
Greek god who personified youthful masculinity. A god of many roles, including prophecy, music, medicine and hunting. Son of Zeus and Leto. His mother wandered from place to place until she found refuge on the island of Delos where she gave birth to the twins Apollo and Artemis. Apollo was often honoured as part of a triad with Leto and Artemis. Despite being the most widely worshipped of the Greek gods, he was considered remote from human affairs.
Apollo was the father of Asklepios, the god of healing, by Coronis. Coronis was later shot by Artemis as punishent for her infidelity to Apollo. However, Apollo himself had many lovers. Of his many love interests, Daphne is famous for having been transformed into a laurel in her efforts to flee the god. Thereafter, the laurel was sacred to Apollo. Cassandra also rejected the god's advances, and was punished by being made to utter true prophecies which no one would believe.
One of Apollo's more famous deeds was the slaying of a legendary monster known as the Python, only a few days after his birth. Subsequently the oracle of Pytho was renamed Delphi after the Greek word for dolphin (delphis), the form in which Apollo had appeared. The god's medium at the oracle, a woman at least fifty years old, continued to be known as the Pythia. The slaying of the Python was re-enacted every eight years at the Delphic festival of the Stepterion. Apollo also had oracles at Delos and Tenedos.
Apollo's epithets included Lykeios (wolf god) as protector against wolves, Smintheus (mouse god) as the protector of crops against mice, Delius in honour of his birthplace, and Phoebus (bright, or shining) in his capacity as a solar god. In Greek art, Apollo was depicted as a beardless youth, bearing a lyre, or equipped as a hunter with bow and arrow.
ARACHNE - Greek
Spider Goddess. A Lydian girl skilled in weaving, she dared to challenge Athene to compete with her. The contest was held, and Arachne's work was faultless. Impudently, it portrayed some of the Gods' less reputable deeds, including Athene's father Zeus abducting Europa. Furious, Athene turned her into a spider, doomed eternally to spin thread drawn from her own body. But theSpider Goddess is more archetypal than this story suggests: spinning and weaving the pattern of destiny like the Moerae or the Norns, and enthroned in the middle of her spiral-pathed stronghold like Arianrhod.
ARADIA - Italian (Tuscany)
Witch Goddess, surviving there into this centry. Daughter of Diana and Diana's brother Lucifer (i.e. of the Moon and Sun), she came to Earth to teach the witches of her mother's magic. A protectress of Witches in general, a very powerful Entity.
ARAIDNE - Cretan and Greek.
Greek nymph who originated as a vegetation goddess in Minoan Crete. She survived as the daughter of Pasiphae and King Minos in Greek mythology. Her worship as a goddess survived in Greek civilization on the island of Naxos, where she was considered the wife of Dionysus.
ARES - Greek
Greek god of war. Son of Zeus and Hera. Brother of Aphrodite, Arge, Eileithyia, Eris and Hebe. By Aphrodite, he was the father of Anteros, Enyo, Deimos, Harmonia, Pallor and Phobos. Ares was generally less popular and less successful in his endavours than the other Olympian gods. It was Athena who personified the nobler aspects of warfare, glory, honour and victory, while Ares personified the more brutal aspects of warfare. Ares was said to be accompanied in battle by Deimos (terror), Phobos (fear), Eris (strife) and Enyo (horror). Ares was considered to have been native to Thrace, from which he may have emerged historically, and his worship was prominent only in northern Greece. His worship was also important at Sparta, where prisoners of war were sacrificed to him. At Athens, there was a temple dedicated to Ares at the foot of the Areopagus (Ares' Hill). Ares was depicted wearing typical military cloths and armour.
ARIANRHOD - ('Silver Wheel') - Major Welsh Goddess.
A star goddess. Her palace was called Caer Arianrhod (Aurora Borealis), Goddess of time and karma. Mother aspect of the Triple Goddess in Wales. Goddess of beauty, the Moon, fertility and reincarnation. Mother of Llew Llau Gyffes by her brother Gwydion. Her consort Nwyvre ('Sky, Space, Firmament') has survived in name only. Also associated with the sea. Direction: West or North.
ARISTAIOS - (Latin Aristaeus) - Greek
Greek pastoral deity, protector of herdsmen and hunters, originator of the cultivation of bees. Son of Apollo and Cyrene, and born in Libya. Husband of Autonoe. Aristaios fell in love with Eurydice, the wife of Orpheus, who spurned his advances. While fleeing the bees he sent in pursuit, she was bitten by a poisonous snake and died, leading to the famous effort by Orpheus to retrieve his wife from Hades. In punishment, the gods killed all of the bees of Aristaios. However, on the advice of Proteus, he sacrificed cattle in Eurydice's memory, and new swarms of bees emerged from the the carcasses. Aristaios eventually disappeared near Mt. Haemus in Thrace.
ARTEMIS - Greek Nature and Moon Goddess.
Greek goddess of wild animals and of the hunt. Although she was noted for her chastity, she was also regarded as a goddess of vegetation (particularly wild vegetation) and childbirth. Daughter of Zeus and Leto. Sister of Apollo, Artemis was associated with the moon, as a complement to Apollo's association with the sun. Her cult was the most popular among ordinary Greeks. She was believed to dwell in wild places, accompanied by a retinue of nymphs. Arcadia was said to be her favourite haunt.
Artemis was noted as a terrible adversary when angered, symbolic of the sudden and capricious fury of nature. The most famous example of this is the story of Actaeon, the youth who chanced upon the goddess while bathing on Mt. Cithaeron. Enraged, Artemis changed him into a stag, in which form he was pursued and killed by his own hounds.
It was as a goddess of women's life in general that Artemis acquired her seemingly contradictory role as a goddess of fertility and childbirth. She presided over the initiation rites of young women, and, later in life, brought sudden death to women with her "gentle darts". As goddess of the tree cult, her festivals were characterized by dances of maidens representing tree nymphs, or dryads. In the Peloponnesus she was associated with wells, springs and other waters bearing epithets such as Limnaea or Limnatis (Lady of the Lake). Elsewhere, she was best known as Potnia Theron (Mistress of the Animals). Artemis was depicted as a young woman bearing bow and arrow, often accompanied by a stag or a hunting dog. Her lunar aspect was sometimes signified by a torch carried in the hand.
ARTEMIS OF EPHESUS - Greek
Greek fertility and mother goddess represented in the great temple at Ephesus in Anatolia by a many-breasted statue. Her cult at Ephesus was quite different from that of the chaste Artemis of the Greek mainland. Votive offerings from many ancient cultures have been found at the site of the temple, counted among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
ASCLEPIUS - Greek
See Asklepios.
ASKLEPIOS - (Asclepius, Roman Aesculapius) - Greek
Greek god of healing and patron deity of physicians. Son of Apollo and the nymph Coronis. Husband of Epione. Father of Hygieia (health) and Panacea (all-healing). A deified mortal, Asklepios was not worshipped as a god until post-Homeric times. Homer refers to him only as a skillful physician, and it was Apollo who was regarded as the god of healing until that role was taken over by his son beginning in the fifth century BC. His cult originated in Thessaly (the location of the oldest known temple honouring him), where he was said to have been raised by the centaur Cheiron, who taught him the art of healing. Zeus, fearing that Asklepios might make men immortal, killed him with a thunderbolt. Asklepios was generally depicted as a bearded man wearing a robe that leaves his breast uncovered. His attribute is a staff with a snake coiled about it. (The staff used today as a symbol of the medical profession is actually the winged caduceus of Hermes.)
ASOPOS - (Asopus) - Greek
River god of Boeotia in central Greece. Son of Okeanos and Tethys, or, alternatively, the son of Poseidon. Father of Aegina, who was abducted by Zeus. When Asopos pursued, Zeus drove him back with his thunderbolts.
ASTARTE - Canaanite version of Ishtar; fertility goddess.
Astarte was also the Greek from of the name Ashtart. Tends to merge with Asherat and Anat, and with the Egyptian Hathor. She came to Egypt; Rameses II built a temple honoring her, and she and Isis were said to be firm friends. (Also see Inanna and Venus).
ASTERION
Greek river god of the Peloponnesus. Son of Okeanos and Tethys.
ATARGATIS
Syrian fertility goddess. Consort of Hadad. Her cult center was at Bambyke (Hierapolis), near Aleppo in Syria. Her cult spread to the Greek world, where she was regarded as a form of Aphrodite. She was depicted seated on a throne flanked or supported by lions and holding a sheaf of wheat.
ATE
Greek goddess of evil and misfortune. In Hesiod's account, she is the daughter of Zeus and Eris. She was banished from Olympus for causing mischief among the gods.
ATHENA - (Athene) -Greek
Greek goddess of wisdom and tutelary goddess of Athens. Also a goddess of war, peace and agriculture. In contrast to some of the other Greek gods, many of whom were famed for their rash and often ignoble acts, Athena was noted for her self-control and for many instances in which she aided human beings in their endeavours. Also, in contrast to the reckless passions of the other gods, Athena remained a virgin throughout her life, forming no romantic attachments.
According to Hesiod, Athena sprang fully armed from the head of Zeus, who had swallowed her mother Metis (wisdom). In Pindar's version, it was Hephaistos who struck Zeus in the head with an axe to relieve the god's headache, wherupon Athena emerged. It was Hephaistos who later attempted to rape Athena, but she evaded him and his semen fell to the ground, giving birth to the serpent Erichthonius.
Much of Athena's reputation as a war goddess is based on Homer's Iliad, where she took an active part in the fighting on the side of Greeks against the Trojans. In battle, she bore the aegis, the goat-skin shield upon which the head of Medusa was mounted. She generally proved more successful in battle than her brother Ares, the Greek war god who sided with the Trojans. Athena won the allegiance of Athens in a contest with Poseidon to determine who could bestow the greater gift upon humanity. Poseidon gave either the horse or a spring of water. Athena gave the olive, and won the contest, in consequence of which she gave her name to the city.
The Acropolis, upon which the Parthenon was constructed in her honour, was said to be her dwelling place. Athens also honoured her in the Panathenaia festival, in which she seems to have figured as a vegetation goddess. She was referred to as Pallas Athene in her capacity as a protective goddess. Her icon, the palladium, was believed to protect the city from harm. In addition to the olive, Athena's gifts to humanity included the plough, the loom, and the flute. Among the many heroes to whom she gave assistance were Odysseus on his long voyage home from Troy, Perseus in killing the Medusa, Epeius in the construction of the wooden horse, and Herakles in his many labours. Her epithets included Parthenos (virgin), Promachos (protectress), Glaukopis (owl-eyed), Ergane (worker or craftsman) and Mechanitis (one who undertakes things). She was also known as Athena Polias in her capacity as goddess of the people or polity of Athens. The owl was the symbol both of Athena and Athens. She was also associated with the snake, and there is some speculation that she originated as a snake goddess, perhaps in Crete. Athena's worship was widespread, despite her close association with Athens.
ATLAS
One of the Greek Titans, condemned by Zeus to uphold the vault of the heavens for his part in the revolt of the Titans.
ATROPOS
"Unbending". Oldest of the Greek Moires (Fates), a trio which included Klotho and Lachesis. She was the one who severed the thread of life. According to Hesiod, she was the daughter of Zeus and Themis. As her name suggests, she represented the inevitability of death.
BADB - (Bayv) - Celtic
She is the crone aspect of the tripple goddess, often called "The Fury." Her archetype as a war goddess was particulary strong. She is also part of the dreaded Morrigan, a triplicity of crone Goddesses associated with death, distruction, and battle. She is linked with the death faerie, the banshee, who is seen as washing the armor of soilders who would perish in the upcoming battle. A daughter of Ernmoas, she is also called the "one who boils," as in boiling the otherworld cauldron of death and rebirth which she presides over, deciding the fate of those who have passed over into its great cosmic mix. It will be Badb who will cause the end of earthly time when she lets the cauldron boil over, engulfing the planet in a great wasteland. Call on Badb at Samhain to aid you with spirit contact and to learn of past lives. She corresponds with the carrion crow, the staff, seythe, bloodstones, apples, and The Tower tarot card.
BALDER - (AKA - Baldur, Baldr) - Norse
Second son of Odin and Frigga, husband of Nanna and father of Forseti (God of Justice and Conciliation). Balder had no faults, or grudges and is often seen as a shining young hero, embodying the hope of an Age. No evil or unclean thing was permitted in his mansion in the sky, called Breidablikto.
Balder dreamed one night that he was in danger, and told the council of Asgaard of this dream. Frigga, his mother, then travelled the Nine Worlds asking that all things not harm her son, but she neglected the mistletoe, thinking it was too small and weak to do him any harm. All the Gods, feeling safe that no harm could come to him, began to throw things at Balder in fun. Loki was not amused at Balder's immunity to harm and went to Frigga disguised as an old woman. After gaining Frigga's trust, Frigga told Loki the only thing she hadn't gotten an oath of non-harm from was a shoot of Mistletoe. Loki then went out in search of this shoot of Mistletoe, and took it to the Gods (who were still amusing themselves by throwing things at Balder). Loki gave the mistletoe to Balder's blind brother, Hod, and guided it towards Balder. Balder fell to the ground, dead. Inconsolate after Balder's death, Frigga sent a messenger to Hel to ask for his return. Hel answered she'd return Balder if everything would weep for him. Only one old hag, who some think was Loki, some think was a Giantess named Thokk (Thanks), and others identify as Hel herself, refused to shed a tear. So Balder yet stays in Hel's realm, waiting for Ragnarok, when he and Hod will return to inherit Odin's seat.
Banbha - (BAHN-na) - Celtic
A warrior goddess who protected Ireland from invaders, and one in a triplicity with Eire and Fodhla, who is the earth aspect whose name means, "land unplowed for a year." She was a gifted magician and, as such went out to meet the Milesian invaders when they first came to Ireland. Her mission was to keep them from taking over.She tried to impress them with her magic, but they ignored her. Banbha can enhance qualities of leadership, teach us to keep memories alive, and bless earth magic.
BANSHEE - (Bean Sidhe , 'Woman Fairy') - Irish.
Attached to old Irish families ('the O's and the Mac's'), she can be heard keening sorrowfully near the house when a member of the family is about to die. Still very much believed in, and heard.
Bast - (Bastet) - Egyptian
Goddess and Protector of Cats. Symbolizes the Moon as a Swelling Womb. Goddess of Pleasure, Music, Dancing and Joy.
BEAN-NIGHE - ('Washing Woman') - Scottish and Irish.
Haunts lonely streams washing the bloodstained garments of those about to die.
BEBO - Celtic
A faerie woman whose affair with King Ulster made the regionprosper. Ask her aid in prosperity or fertility rites, to bless animal, crop, or human reproduction, or honor her at Harvest Sabbats.
BEFANA - ('Epiphany')
Italian Witch Fairy who flies her broomstick on Twelfth Night to come down chimneys and bring presents to children.
BES - Egyptian
God of Music, Luck, Love and Marriage.
BEYLA - servant of Frey, wife of Byggvir.
Her name is thought to be related to a word for "cow", and she the protectress of dairy work; the alternate suggestion is that "Beyla" is related to "bee", so that Beyla and Byggvir might be the givers of mead and ale.
BIA - Greek
"Force". Greek goddess of force, daughter of the Titan Pallas and the underworld goddess Styx. She was the sister of Kratos, the god of strength, as well as of Nike and Zelos. Bia was the constant companion of Zeus. It was she who was made to bind Prometheus as punishment for stealing fire from the gods.
BIDDY EARLY, THE WHITE WITCH OF CLAIRE - Celtic
She was said to have a blue bottle which contained verypowerful magic. Before she died, she tossed it into a lake near the hills where she lived where it still rests today, waiting to be reclaimed. She can be a great aid in all forms of magic. Invoke her when you study Pagan subjects, or when attempting to reclaim lost Pagan arts or Legends. Her correspondances include Blue Grass, the chalice, and the cauldron.
BLAI - (Blee) (Blaw) - Celtic
Ossan's Tuatha mother. She probably reprisents a personal or mascot diety to him, as his earthly mother was Saba. (Compare the relationship between Lugh and Cuchulain.) Today she is known as a Faerie Queen with a burgh of her own in Drumberg. She is a good aid in making faerie contact.
BO DHU - Celtic
The Black Cow Goddess who helped bring fertility to barren Ireland. See Bo Find.
BO FIND - Celtic
Her name means "white cow" and this is how she appeared long ago on the barren and fruitless mass which would become green and verdent. She came from the western sea with her sisters, Bo Dhu and Bo Ruadh. They represent the Tripple Goddess. The Black Cow went to south of Ireland, Red to the North, while she went to find the center. When Bo Find arrives at Tara, she gave birth to twin calves, a male and a female who would feed her people forever. Then she and her sisters retreated back into the sea. Call on her to ward off hunger, bring prosperity and fertility, and honor her at Mabon.
BO RUADH - Celtic
The Red Cow Goddess who helped bring fertility back to Ireland. See Bo Find.
BONA DEA - ('Good Goddess') Roman
Earth Goddess of Fertility, worshipped only by women; even statues of men were covered where her rites took place.
BOREAS - Greek
Greek god of the north wind. According to Hesiod's Theogony, he was of Thracian origin, the son of Eos and Astraeos. He was the father of many famous horses, including those of Ares and Achilles. Boreas incurred the enmity of the Athenians when he abducted Oreithyia, the daughter of King Erechtheus of Athens, whom he made his wife. He was said to have atoned for this deed by sending a storm which destroyed a Persian fleet on its way to attack Athens. In gratitude, the Athenians built a temple dedicated to him, and held a festival in his honour, the Boreasmos.
BRANACH - (BRAN-awh) - Celtic
Crone Goddess linked to forgotten Samhain rituals. Reclaim her at Samhain.
BRI - (Bree) - Celtic
A Queen of the Tuatha De Danaan, considered a burgh-dwelling faerie queen. She is a good aid in making faerie contact.
BRIGHID, BRIGID, BRIGIT, BRIT - Irish
Breo saighead (Fiery Arrow or Power) Often called the Triple Brigid or the Triple Mother. Also Associated with Danu at times. The daughter of the Dagdha. Goddess of the Sacred Flame of Kildare. Goddess of poets, feminine crafts, the hearth, martial arts, healing and inspiration. The White Maiden aspect of the Triple Goddess. Her Feast is the Major Celtic Festival of Imbolc. She who gives hope and new beginnings. The Celtic Church could not replace her, so they absorbed her as the "foster-mother" of Christ and as St. Brigit, the daughter of the Druid Dougal the Brown. Brigid is very like the Greek Goddess Athena. Direction: North-east, East or South.
BRITOMARTIS - Greek
"Sweet Maid". Virgin huntress goddess of Crete whose cult later merged with that of Artemis. Daughter of Zeus and Carme. King Minos fell in love with her and pursued her until she jumped from a cliff overlooking the sea. In some accounts she survived the fall and was rescued by fishermen, in others she died and it was her corpse that the fishermen retrieved in their nets. In either case she was made immortal by Artemis in reward for her chastity. She was also known as Dictynna (from diktyon = "net"), in token of her retrieval in the fishermen's nets. In Aegina she was associated with Aphaea, a goddess of local importance.
CABEIRI - Greek
See Kabeiroi.
CALLIOPE - (Kalliope) - Greek
Greek muse of epic or heroic poetry, and chief of the nine Muses. Daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. In various accounts she was the mother of Orpheus and Linus by Apollo or Oeagrus, and of Hymen and Ialemus by Apollo. It was she who, on behalf of Zeus, judged the dispute between Aphrodite and Persephone over Adonis.
CALLISTO - ('Most Beautiful') Greek
Moon Goddess, to whom the she-bear was sacred in Arcadia. Envisaged as the axle on which everything turns, and thus connected with the Ursa Major constellation. Linked with Artemis, often called Artemis Callisto.
CALYPSO - (Kalypso) - Greek
Greek immortal nymph. Queen of the island of Ogygia, she kept Odysseus there for seven years and bore him two sons.
CARMAN - Irish.
Wexford Goddess, whence Gaelic name of Wexford, Loch Garman (Loch gCarman).
CARPO - (Karpo) - Greek
In some versions, one of the Greek Horae (qv), or Seasons. The Athenians recognized only two Horae: Carpo and Thallo. Carpo was associated with autumn and the harvest of fruit.
CER
See Ker.
CERNUNNOS - (Also Known as Cerneus, Cernowain, Herne, Hu'Gadarn, Kerunnos, The Horned One) - Celtic
Celtic God of Nature. Known to all Celts as the "Horned God ". God of nature, virility, fertility, animals, sex, reincarnation and shamanism. Known to the Druids as Hu Gadarn. God of the Underworld and Astral Planes. The Consort of the Great Goddess. Direction: North or North-West
CERRIDWEN - Welsh
Welsh Goddess of Nature, associated with the Sacred Cauldron of Wisdom that allowed Taliesin to become enlightened. When she discovered that Gwion had tasted of her cauldron, she chased him through a variety of mutaual shape changes until at last she caught and consummed him as a grain of wheat. This caused her to give birth to Taliesin. Direction: West or South.
CETHLION - Celtic
A Goddess of the formations who're called "Crooked Teeth." Ask her to help you in divination.
CHAOS - Greek
Greek personification of the primordial void. In Hesiod, Chaos was first in the order of existence, followed by Earth and Eros (Desire). Chaos then generated Erebus (Darkness) and Nyx (Night). Chaos either generated, or was identical with, Tartarus, the Greek Underworld. It was much later that the Roman writer Ovid gave the concept of Chaos its modern meaning of an unordered and formless primordial mass from which the Cosmos was formed.
CHARIS - (Aglaia, Aegle) - Greek
Minor Greek Goddess. Consort of Hephaistos. As Aglaia, she was also one of the Gratiae (Graces), although the identification is uncertain.
CHARITES - (Roman Gratiae) -Greek
Greek name for the Graces. Their numbers varied, although a basic trinity is commonly recognized: Aglaia (splendour), Euphrosine (cheerfulness or festivity), and Thaleia (rejoicing or blossom). The Romans knew them under the collective name of the Gratiae (qv). They were the attendants of Aphrodite or Venus, and personified grace and beauty.
CHARON - Greek
In Greek mythology, the ferryman who transports the dead across the rivers Styx and Acheron to the underworld. A coin (obolus) was traditionally placed in the mouth of the deceased to pay Charon's fare. Son of Erebus and Nyx. He was depicted as an old and dishevelled man. Not strictly speaking a god, he can best be described as a demon of death. He later became the demon of death Charun in Etruscan religion and the angel of death Charos or Charontas in modern Greek folklore who rides a black death searching for the newly dead.
CHEIRON - (Chiron) - Greek
Originally a Thessalian god of healing, he survived in Greek mythology as a wise centaur. Son of Kronos and Philyra. He was the teacher of many heroes including Achilles, and also taught Asklepios the art of healing. Herakles accidentally wounded him with a poison arrow and, although immortal, he renounced his immortality in favour of Prometheus. He became the constellation Sagittarius.
CHIRON - Greek
See Cheiron.
CLIONA OF THE FAIR HAIR - Irish.
South Munster Goddess of great beauty, daughter of Gebann the Druid, of the Tuatha De Danaan. Connected with the O'Keefe family.
CHLORIS - (Meliboea) - Greek
Greek goddess of flowers. Her Roman equivalent was the goddess Flora.
CHRONOS - Greek
See Kronos.
CLIO - (Cleio, Klio) - Greek
Greek Muse of historical and heroic poetry. Daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Mother of Hyacinth by Pierus, king of Macedonia. Often depicted with a trumpet and the clepsydra (water clock). She could also be depicted with a writing implement, as she was credited with introducing the Phoenician alphabet into Greece. Other attributes included a wreath of laurel and a parchment scroll.
CLOTA - Scottish.
Goddess of the River Clyde.
CLOTHO - (Klotho) - Greek
"The spinner". One of the three Greek Fates (Moirae) along with Atropos and Lachesis. Daughter of Zeus and Themis. She presided over birth and drew the thread of life from her distaff.
CORONIS - Greek
Greek nymph, mother of Asklepios by Apollo.
COTYS - (Cotytto) - Greek
Thracian goddess whose worship was marked by orgiastic rites. She was later accepted into Greece, notably at Corinth and Athens. She was represented either as a huntress goddess similar to Artemis or a mother goddess along the lines of Cybele.
COURETES - Greek
See Kouretes.
CRATOS - Greek
See Kratos.
CRED OR CREIDE - Celtic
A Faerie Queen Goddess associated with Dana's mountains, the Paps of Anu. She promiced not to sleep until she found a man who could create for her the most magnificent poem ever written. Coll, a Fianna Warrior, finally wrote the poem. She was impressed and married him making a home together in the Otherworld. She can aid in love magic, teching us about searching for the perfect mate, keeping secrets, amd can aid in making spirit contact from her otherworld home. Yew, Rose Oil, and the color pink correspond with her.
CRONOS - Greek
See Kronos.
CUPID - Roman (AKA Eros-Greek)
Son of Venus. God of Love and Attraction.
CYBELE - Greek.
Originally Phrygian, finally merged with Rhea. Goddess of Caverns, of the Earth in its primitive state; worshipped on mountains. Ruled over wild beasts. Also a Bee Goddess.
CYRENE - (Kyrene) - Greek
A Thessalian nymph carried off by Apollo to the north African region which was named Cyrenaica after her.
DAGDHA - Celtic
The All Father, Eochaid Ollathair ( Father of All), Ruadh Rofessa (The Red One, Lord of Occult Knowledge), Dagdha (the Good God) Many talented and powerful, Master of the harp and possessor of a dread double ended club. The Chief of the Tuatha de Dannan. Direction: All but usually North or West.
DAEMON - Greek
See Daimon.
DAIMON - (Daemon) - Greek
Greek collective name for beings intermediate between gods and humans. Beginning with Hesiod the term designated the spirits of dead heroes. These spirits were later interpreted by the Christians as devils. The term also signified the spirit determining a person's fate (akin to the Roman term genius).
DAKTYLOI - Greek
Greek demonic beings who were associated with the working of metal.
DAMARA - British
Fertility goddess, associated with the month of May.DANA or DANU - (DAWN-na)(DAY-na) - Celtic
She was the Great first mother Goddess of Ireland, who was later renamed or reclaimed as Brigid. She is The Mother aspect of the Triple Goddess. She is the soverign, singular great mother who birthed all things into being. Dana's powerful presence can aid you in achieving anything you desire. She is especially strong in her aspect of motherhood, fire, fertility, manifestation magic, healing children, inspiration of the self, soverignty, and other creative endevors. She corresponds with the Tarot card The Empress; with amber, blood, and holey stones. Mother of the Gods and Patroness of wizards, rivers, water, wells, prosperity and plenty, Magick and wisdom. Direction: All, but especially East and South.
DAPHNE - Greek
Greek goddess personifying the laurel tree. She is said to be the daughter of a river god, either Ladon or Peneius. Legend has it that she was changed into a laurel to avoid the sexual advances of the god Apollo, to whom the laurel thus became sacred.
DEIMOS - Greek
"Panic" or "Fear". Minor Greek god of war. Son of Ares and Aphrodite. His siblings were Anteros, Enyo, Eros, Harmonia, Phobos and Terror (Pallor). Deimos and Phobos accompanied Ares in battle.
DEINO - Greek
One of the Greek Graiae, guardians of the Gorgons. Daughter of Phorkys and Ceto, she was the sister of Enyo and Pephredo. The three Graiae collectively had one eye and one tooth which they shared among themselves.
DEMETER - Greek
Greek mother and corn (grain) goddess associated with the earth, vegetation and agriculture. She is also a goddess of death, as exemplified by the story of Persephone.
Daughter of Kronos and Rhea. Sister of Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades and Hestia. Mother of Persephone by Zeus, and of Plutos by Iasion. Demeter is particularly prominent in the Greek legend of the abduction of her daughter Persephone (Kore) by the underworld god Hades. Distraught at her loss, Demeter neglected her duties as a vegetation deity while she searched for her daughter. Fearing catastrophe, the gods intervened, and Hades agreed that Persephone would be returned provided that she had tasted nothing while in the underworld. However, Persephone had tasted a pomegranate. As a result, she was released only on condition that she should spend three months of each year in the underworld with Hades, the rest in the world of the living. The three months spent in Hades are believed to coincide with the three dry summer months in Greece.
The legend of Persephone and Demeter formed the basis of an important Greek fertility cult, known as the Eleusinian Mysteries after the famous cult centre at Eleusis. Demeter was also honoured in the feast of the Thesmophoria, a fertility rite from which men were excluded and whose rites were a carefully guarded secret. She was depicted as a matronly figure, often riding a chariot or seated upon a throne. Her attributes included ears of corn (grain) and a basket filled with flowers, grain and fruit. The pig and the snake were sacred to her.
DESPOINA - (Despoena) - Greek
"Mistress". An honorific title among the Greeks, notably applied to the goddess of the underworld in Arcadia. We know of no other name for this Arcadian goddess, perhaps attesting to the secrecy of her rites. She was later identified with Persephone.
DEVANA - Slavonic.
(Devana to Czechs, Diiwica to Serbians of Lusatia, Dziewona to Poles) goddess of the hunt. Young, beautiful, she rode a swift horse through the forests of the Elbe and the Carpathians, with a pack of hounds. Name for DIANA.
DIANA - Roman
Roman equivalent of the Greek Moon and Nature Goddess Artemis, and rapidly acquired all her characteristics. Like Artemis, classically regarded as virgin but originally a Sacrificial-Mating Goddess. Originally from Latium, a goddess of light, mountains and woods, and probably first a pre-Indo-European Sun goddess. One of her sanctuaries was at Lake Nemi, where her priest was an escaped slave who had to kill his predecessor in single combat to take the office - and then hold it against would-be successors.
DICTYNNA - Greek
See Britomartis.
DIKE - Greek
One of the Greek Horae (Seasons). Also a goddess of justice. Daughter of Zeus and Themis. Her sisters were the other Horae: Eirene and Eunomia.
DIONE - Phoenician/Greek.
Also known as Baltis. A Nature or Earth Goddess, overlapping with Diana and Danae. Daughter of Uranus and Gaia. Married her brother Cronus, who gave her the city of Byblos.
DIONYSUS - (Dionysos, Dionysius, Roman Bacchus) - Greek
Greek god of wine and intoxication. Son of Zeus and Semele (although Demeter is sometimes given as his mother). His consort was Ariadne. His cult is believed to have originated in either Thrace, Phrygia or perhaps Lydia.
Hera, out of jealousy, is said to have tricked Semele into asking Zeus to reveal his divinity to her. When Zeus complied, his divine majesty was too great for Semele, who was destroyed by his thunderbolts. Zeus retrieved Dionysus from his lover's dead body and sewed him up in his thigh until he reached full term. As a result, Dionysus was known as Dithyrambos (twice born). Zeus then sent the infant to be raised by Semele's sister Ino and her husband Athamas at Orchomenus. Hera discovered the child's hiding place, and drove Ino and Athamas mad. However, Hermes spirited the infant away to be raised by the nymphs on the legendary mountain of Nysa.
Dionysus was educated in the art of agriculture by Aristaeus. He was credited with the introduction of the vine and the art of making wine. In some legends he was said to have descended to the underworld to bring back his mother Semele, and this presumably led to his role in Orphism, which equated him with Zagreus. His worship was characterized by orgiastic and often violent rites. His female worshippers, known as Bacchants or Maenads, ran and danced through the woods in a drunken frenzy bearing torches and thyrsus staves (made of vine leaves and ivy). The frenzy was believed to give them occult powers as well as superhuman strength, with which they were said to tear sacrificial animals to pieces.
Dionysos' epithets included Bromios (thunderer), Lyaios (deliverer [from cares]), as well as Taurokeros (bull-horned) and Tauroprosopos (bull-faced) in reference to his incarnation as a bull at his feasts. Among his festivals were the Greater and Lesser Dionysia, the Anthesteria, the Agrionia and the Katagogia at Athens. Phallic symbolism was particularly prominent at the Dionysia, indicating that Dionysos was there being worshipped as a fertility god.
DISCORDIA - Roman
Goddess of Discord and Strife, who preceeded the chariot of Mars. Greek equivalent is Eris.
DORIS - Greek
Greek sea-goddess. Daughter of Okeanos and Tethys (see also Okeanides). Mother of the Nereids by her consort Nereus.
DREAMS - Greek
See Oneiroi.
DRYADS - (Dryades, Hamadryads) - Greek
Greek woodland nymphs. Each dryad was associated with a particular tree and died when that tree died.
DUBH LACHA - (Doov LAH-kah) - Celtic
An early Irish Goddess of the sea of whom little is known.
EADON - (AE-don) - Celtic
Goddess of poetry who was also a bard. Female bards wereknown, but most of their legends have not survived.
EDAIN or ETAIN (EE-dawn)(AY-deen) - Celtic
She was a beautiful blond queen of the Tuatha De Danaan, and a superb horsewoman for which she earned the name "Edain the Horse Rider." Her story was immortalized in Fiona MacLeod's "The Immortal Hour." Ask Edain to help you with past or future life explorations, invoke her to enhance personal appearence. Correspondances include lilac oil, the butterfly, the serpent (espically one with its tail in its mouth to symbol reincarnation.)
EDAIN OIG - Celtic
Edian's daughter who was hidden away beacuse of her barrenness. However, she gave birth to a daughter who would later be the mother of King Conaire Mor.
EILE - (EL-lee) - Celtic
The sister of Queen Maeve of Connacht.
EILEITHYIA - (Latin: Ilithyia) - Greek
Greek goddess of childbirth. Daughter of Zeus and Hera. Sister of Ares, Eris, Hebe and Hephaistos. Her cult appears to have originated in Crete, where it remained most popular after its spread to the rest of the Greek world. In Homer she is described as the personification of the pain of childbirth. In later times, she was largely superseded by Artemis as a goddess of childbirth.
EIR - Norse
Goddess of healing, patroness of health-care workers, called on against sickness or injury. She is one of the goddesses on the mountain called Lyfia ("to heal through magic"), and gives both physical and psychic means of healing; shamanic healing, especially, falls into her realm.
EIRE - (AIR-uh) - Celtic
The native form of her name, Erin, has been used as a poetic name for Ireland for Centuries. She has been worshipped as the Goddess/Protectoress of Ireland. She was a daughter of the Dagda and Delbaeth, the maiden/spiritual part of a triplicity with Banbha and Foldha, and was the third of the three to be approached by the Milesian invaders. Eire's magic was so potent that she was able to throw mud balls down on her enemies whereupon they turned into hundreds of warriers when they smached. Eire won the battle, but lost the land.Yet, out of respect for her power, the Milesians agreed to name the land after her. She was also the wife of MacGreine, the Sun of the Son, so she may be part of the creation myths. Call on her for qualities of leadership, to aid in keeping memories as in keeping one's name alive, and for finding creative ways to overcome enemies. She corresponds with the harp and the shamrock, the age old symbols of Ireland, and with the color green.
EIRENE - (Latin: Irene) - Greek
"Peace". Greek goddess of peace. One of the three Horae (Seasons) along with her sisters Dike and Eunomia. Daughter of Zeus and Themis. Equated by the Romans with their goddess Pax.
ELVE - Norse
Usually called "alfs" in the Troth to avoid confusion with the elves of Shakespeare or Tolkien. The Elves sometimes appear to be the ghosts of dead ancestors still dwelling in mounds or hills; sometimes they are more similar to land-wights (earth spirits). The Elves are worshipped together with the Disir (see above) and often with Frey. Sometimes they are kindly, as names like Alfred (Elf-Counsel) show; when offended, they shoot humans or animals with elf-shot, causing stroke and other forms of sickness. They are divided into Light Elves (often seen as wights of sun and air), Dark Elves (the dead in the mound), and Swart Elves (see "dwarves"). Old Norse Álfar (singular álfr), Anglo-Saxon Ælf, Modern English Alf.
EMER - (EE-mer) - Celtic
A heroic woman of great pride in all she accomplished, which was considerable. She was also beautiful, intelligent, witty, and multi-talented, which she was all well aware. Call on her when you need a boost of self esteem or self pride. She can also help you to release your own creative spirit and mental prowess.
ERNMAS - (AIRN-maas) - Celtic
A granddaughter of Nuada of the Silver Hand who was the mother of several tripple goddesses. Use her energy for fertility rites or earth spells.
EMPOUSAE - Greek
Greek demonesses and emissaries of Hecate.
ENCELADUS - Greek
One of the Greek Titans. Son of Gaea. After the Titans were defeated by the gods led by Zeus, he fled to Sicily, where he was killed by Herakles or Athena. Mount Aetna was placed over his body and was believed to come to activity whenever he turned over or hissed.
ENYALIUS - Greek
Minor Greek god of war. A companion of Ares, or perhaps merely one of his epithets.
ENYO - Greek
A minor Greek goddess of war who accompanied Ares into battle. Daughter of Ares and Aphrodite. Equated by the Romans with their goddess Bellona.
EOS - (Latin Aurora) - Greek
Greek goddess of the dawn. Daughter of Hyperion and Theia. Sister of Helios (sun) and Selene (moon). Homer referes to her as "rosy- fingered dawn". The morning dew was said to be the tears she shed for her son Memnon who fell at Troy. Hesiod gives her consort as Astraeus, by whom she was said to be the mother of winds Zephyrus, Notus, as well as of the evening star Hesperus. Other versions make her the consort of Aeolos. The Romans referred to her as Aurora.
EPONA - Celtic
Goddess of Horses.
ERATO - (Erebus)- Greek
Greek muse of lyric poetry, particularly love poetry. Daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Usually depicted with a lyre.
EREBOS - Greek
The darkness of the underworld below Hades, personified as a deity in Hesiod. Son of Chaos and Nyx (night). He later became the consort of Nyx, by whom he fathered Aether (light) and Hemera (day).
ERECHTHEUS - (Erichthonos) - Greek
Legendary god-king of Athens, and an earth or ancestor spirit of the Athenian people. He was said to be the son of Hephaistos, whose semen fell upon the earth (Gaea) when he attempted to rape the goddess Athena. Athena raised him at the Athenian Acropolis. Erechtheus was depicted either as a snake or with the tail of a snake.
ERI OF THE GOLDEN HAIR - Celtic
She was a virgin Goddess of the Tuatha. One day she was out at the bank of a river when a man ina silver boat floated down to see her on a beam of light. She was so overcome with emotion at the sight that the two fell in the boat and made love. The man left Eli pregnant with Bres. He left a golden ring to remember him by. Utilize Eri's energy as the female principle of creation. As the mate to the sun, she can be lionked to moon mother images.
ERIDANUS - Greek
Greek river god. It was into the river Eridanus that Phaethon plunged after his ill-fated attempt to drive the sun-chariot. Some have tentatively identified this as the river Po.
ERIN - Irish.
One of the Three Queens of the Tuatha De Danann, daughters of the Dagda, who asked that Ireland be named after them.
ERINYES - (sing. Erinys, Eumenides, Roman Furies) - Greek
Greek avenging goddesses. According to Hesiod, they were born from the blood of the castrated god Ouranos which fell upon Gaea, the earth. Euripedes was the first to give there number as three: Alekto ("unceasing"), Megaira ("jealous"), and Tisiphone ("avenger of murder"). They punished criminals, especially those who sinned against their parents. Depicted with snake-covered heads and bearing torches from the underworld, where they lived. Often referred to euphemistically as the Eumenides ("the kind ones") or as the Semnai ("the venerable ones").
ERIS - Greek
Greek goddess of discord and strife. Daughter of Zeus and Hera. Sister and companion of Ares. Mother of Ate by Zeus. It was her Golden Apple ("apple of discord") which created the strife among the gods that ultimately led to the Trojan War. Eris threw the apple among the guests at a wedding feast, with the inscription "to the fairest". Hera, Aphrodite and Athena each claimed the apple. Zeus attempted to resolve the conflict by having Paris decide the issue. Paris awarded the apple to Aphrodite, who rewarded him by helping him to take Helen with him to Troy. Hera and Athena vowed to bring destruction to Troy in revenge for the slight. Her Roman equivalent was Discordia.
EROS - (Roman: Amor) - Greek
Greek god of love and fertility. In Hesiod, he was said to have been born of Chaos. He was later said to be the son of Aphrodite and one of Ares, Hephaistos, Zeus or Hermes. Eros was accompanied by Pothos (longing) and Himeros (desire). Depicted as a winged youth with bow and arrows. His arrows had the power to make both gods and mortals fall in love.
ETAN - Celtic
A daughter of Dianececht who married Qghma.
ETAR - Celtic
A woman who drank Edain when, as a butterfly, fell into Etar'sale. She later gave birth to Edian in human form.
ETHNE - Celtic
A daughter of Aengus MacOg, who when he tried to rape her, she escaped by becomming a being of pure light. When she vanished from humanity, she took with her the Tuatha's Veil of Invisibility, which had protected them from the invading Milesians.
ETHER - Greek
See Aether.
EUMENIDES - Greek
See Erinyes.
EUNOMIA - Greek
"Good Order". Greek goddess of law and order. One of the Horae (Seasons) along with Dike and Eirene. Daughter of Zeus and Themis. The Horae were entrusted with guarding the gates of Olympus. They were collectively honoured in the annual festival of the Horaea.
EUPHROSYNE - (Euphrosine) - Greek
"Joy". One of the Greek Charites (Graces). Euphrosyne was the personification of joy and festivity. The Charites were said to be the daughters of Zeus and either Hera or Eurynome.
EUROS - (Eurus) - Greek
Greek god of east wind. Son of Eos, possibly by Astraeus. Sometimes equated by the Romans with Volturnus, the god of the river Tiber.
EURYALE - Greek
One of the Greek Gorgons, daughters of Ceto and Phorkys. Her sister Gorgons were Medusa and Stheno.
EURYDICE - Greek
A Greek Dryad (woodland nymph); wife of Orpheus. She was bitten by a snake while fleeing Aristaeus, whence she died and descended to the Underworld. In a famous tale, her husband Orpheus descended to the Underworld to retrieve her. Hades allowed Eurydice to follow Orpheus to the surface, on condition that Orpheus refrained from looking upon Eurydice until they had left the Underworld. The two reached the threshold between the Underworld and the world of the living, but Orpheus turned to look at Eurydice before they had actually crossed the threshold, and Eurydice was immediately whisked back to the realm of Hades, condemned to eternal death.
EURYNOME - Greek
One of the Greek Oceanids (Okeanides), daughters of Okeanos and Tethys. According to Apollonius of Rhodes, Eurynome was a primordial goddess who ruled Olympus with Ophion before the advent of Kronos. She had a cult centre at Phigaleia in Arcadia.
EUTERPE - Greek
Greek muse of flute playing, variously given as the patron of tragedy or of lyric poetry. Daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Her symbol was the double flute, which she was said to have invented.
FACHEA - Celtic
A goddess of Poetry and patron Deity of Bards. Invoke her to inspire creativity in yourself.
FANUS - (Greek:Pan) - Roman
God of the Woodlands.
FATES - (Latin Fata or Parcae; Greek Moirae) - Greek
Hesiod gives the Greek Moirae as Atropos, Clotho and Lachesis. Their Roman counterparts were Decima, Nona (goddesses of birth) and Morta (goddess of death).
FEA - (fee) - Celtic
See also the Morrigan. This war goddess whose name means "The Subordinate One" is a subordinate diety.
FEDELMA - Celtic
She was a faerie Queen who can be invoked to increase psychic abilities. She corresponds with glass.
FINNCAEV - Celtic
Her name means "fair love" and she was a minor Princess among the Tuatha De Danaan, perhaps a deity of Love or Fertility.
FENRIR - Norse
The great Wolf, son of Loki and his giant-wife Angrboda, who will swallow Odin at Ragnarok. The commonly seen form "Fenris" is a grammatical error based on a misunderstood Old Norse poetic convention of identifying things by their type and a possessive: "the ash of Yggdrasill", askr Yggdrasils; "the wolf of Fenrir", úlfr Fenris.
FLORA - Roman
Goddess of Spring and Birth.
FORSETI - Norse
Patron god of the Frisians and giver of their laws. Silence had to be kept while drinking from the spring on his holy island, which he had brought forth from the rock with his axe, and beasts on the island could not be harmed. In the Old Norse sources, he appears as the son of Balder, whose hall Glitnir, "Glistening", is pillared with gold and thatched with silver; he is also a settler of lawsuits and quarrels. Frisian: Fosite, Foseti.
FORTUNA - Roman
Goddess of Fate.
FRANCONIAN-DIE-DRUD - Celtic
A Druidess associated with the horse goddess Mare, the bringer of dreams.
FREYA - Norse
Freya is one of the best-known and best-loved of the goddesses today. Her title simply means "Lady"; her original name is not known. Freya is the "wild woman" among the deities of the North: free with her sexual favours (though furious when an attempt is made to marry her off against her will); mistress of Odin and several other gods and men; skilled at the form of ecstatic, consciousness-altering, and sometimes malicious magic called seidhr; and chooser of half the slain on the battlefield (Odin gets the other half).
Freya's chief attribute is the necklace called Brisingamen, which she bought from four dwarves at the price of four nights of her love. This necklace is sometimes seen today as embodying her power over the material world; the necklace has been the emblem of the earth-goddess since the earliest times. This goddess drives a wagon drawn by two cats, perhaps large forest-cats such as lynxes, and is seen today as the patron goddesses of cats and those who keep them.
As a battle-goddess, she also rides on a boar called Hildisvini (Battle-Swine). Like Odin, Freya is often a stirrer of strife. As Gullveig ("Gold-Drunkenness"), she came among the Aesir to cause trouble. She was stabbed and burnt three times, but arose from the flame each time; through this torment, she transformed herself into Heith ("the Glorious"), mistress of magic, in a typical shamanic initiation. This also seems to have started the war between the Aesir and the Vanir.
Freya is sometimes seen as a fertility goddess, but there are no sources suggesting that she was called on to bring fruitfulness to fields or wombs. Rather, she is a goddess of riches, whose tears are gold and whose "daughters", in the riddle-poetry of the skalds, are precious objects. However, the giants are always trying to take her away from the gods, and it is clear that this would be a great disaster: she was obviously known to be the embodiment of the holy life-force on some level. Perhaps because of this, Wagner gave her some of Idunna's attributes, making her the keeper of the golden apples without which the folk of Asgard would wither and die. Old Norse Freyja, Old English Freo, Modern German Frau, Wagnerian Freia, Modern English Frowe.
FREY - Norse
Son of Njord, twin brother of Freya. "Frey" is a title simply meaning "Lord"; his original name was apparently some form of Yngvi/Ing. Together with Thor, Frey was one of the best-loved gods of the Viking Age.
Frey was the main god of kingship among the Swedes, whose royal family, the Ynglings, was descended from him. His holy animal was the boar, which appears several times on richly decorated helmets from the sixth century through the eighth. Frey was called on for protection in battle, for frith (fruitful peace) at home, and for good weather and gentle rains. He was, and is, often thought of as a giver of riches, whose blessing is called on for fruitfulness and growth in all fields of endeavor. His priests at Uppsala were said to ring bells and clap their hands with effeminate gestures, and it has been suggested that this cryptic reference hints at a tradition involving shamanic cross-dressing.
Frey is the lord of the elves (see below), and is especially connected with the blessings and worship given to the ancestral spirits and possibly land-spirits. His image was often shown with an enlarged phallus; like his twin sister, he is sometimes seen today as a deity of love and pleasure. Frey owns a gold boar called Gullinbursti (Gold-Bristled) on which he can ride over air and water. He once had a horse named Bloody-Hooved (perhaps having to do with his role as battle-god) and a sword, but these he gave to his manservant Skírnir (the Shining One) for winning the giant-maiden Gerd for him. At Ragnarok, he will fight Surt with a stag's antler. Old Norse Freyr or Yngvi-Freyr, Ingunar-Freyr; Anglo-Saxon Ing or Frea, Old High German Fro, Modern German (Wagnerian) Froh, Proto-Germanic *Ingwaz, also called Fro Ing (Lord Ing).
FRIGG - (Frigga) - Scandinavian
Her name means "wife" or "beloved." Goddess of marriage and justice, associated with fertility and love. Her home in Asgard was the beautiful palace Fensal. She had eleven maidservants, sometimes considered to be various aspects of Frigg herself: Fulla, Hlin, Gna, Lofn, Vjofn, Syn, Snotra, Eir, Var, Gefjon, and Vor. Wife of Odin. Mother of Balder and Aesir. Frigg, although she did love Odin, was known to have affairs, as did Odin. Frigg also knew the future, but never spoke of it to anyone.
FUAMNACH - Celtic
The jealous wife of Midhir, who turned his captured bride, Edain, into a pool of water, a brown worm, and a mayfly. In some legends, Edain was not rescued, but rather blew away in a furious storm raised by Fumnach.
GAIA - (Gaea, Ge) - Greek
Greek earth goddess and personification of the earth. She was said to be second in the order of existence after Chaos, or was said to be his daughter. She gave birth to Ouranos (heaven) and Pontos (sea). Ouranos then became her consort. Their children included Kronos, Okeanos, the Cyclops and the Titans. Later, when Ouranos was castrated by Kronos, his semen combined with Gaia to engender the Erinyes, the Giants, and perhaps Aphrodite as well. Similarly, when Hephaistos failed in his attempt to rape Athena, his semen fell to the earth and resulted in the birth of the Athenian serpent-king Erechtheus. By Tartarus she was the mother of the monster Typhon. Gaia's cult was particularly prominent in Attica. She was also said to have had an oracle at Delphi that predated the oracle of Apollo. Her attributes included the fruits of the earth and the Cornucopia. According to Homer, Gaia was invoked in oaths along with Helios (sun).
GALATEA - Greek
Greek Nereid of Sicily.
GEBELEIZIS - Greek
Thracian thunder god.
GLAISRIG, GLAISTIG - Scottish
Undine; beautiful and seductive, but a goat from the waist down (which she hides under a long green dress). She lures men to dance with her and then sucks theirblood. Yet she can be benign, looking after children or old people or herding cattle for farmers.
GLAUKOS - (Glaucus) - Greek
Greek sea god. He was said to have been a fisherman who became a god when he ate a magic herb. He then leaped into the sea where he developed a tail and remained as a guardian deity of fishermen. His cult was very popular among fishermen and sailors. Glaukos was also reputed to have a gift for prophecy.
GODDESS OF SOVEREIGNTY (Banbha, Fodla, Eriu) - Celtic
The Land and the King were wed through many ceremonies. Essentually the fate of the King and the fate of the land were One and vice versa. The Favor of the Goddess could be granted by some heroic act or by being Magickally chosen (The Lia Fail could do this, more later). Women who held the Sovereignty of the land were often referred to as the Goddess (Such as Medb, Boudicca and Macha-Red Mane). Direction: Center
GORGONS - Greek
Greek female monster figures. Homer spoke of only one Gorgon. In Hesiod, however, there were three Gorgons: Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa -- the daughters of Phorkys and Ceto. They were winged, had hair consisting of snakes, and were depicted with large teeth and protruding tongues. Any mortal who looked upon would be turned to stone. Representations of their heads were used to ward off evil in Greek temples. Stheno and Euryale were immortal. Medusa, however, was mortal, and she was eventually killed by Perseus. Medusa's head was subsequently affixed to the Aegis, Athena's famous goatskin shield.
GRACES - Greek
Greek Charites (qv). The Romans referred to them as the Gratiae, which differ little from the Charites.
GRAII (Graeae) - Greek
Greek grey goddesses who guarded the cavern of the Gorgons. Daughters of Phorkys and Ceto. Their names were Deino, Enyo and Pephredo. They were depicted as old hags who had one eye and one tooth among them, which they shared. Perseus stole both the eye and the tooth on his mission to kill the Gorgon Medusa.
GRIAN (GREE-awn) - Celtic
A faerie Goddess who is still believed to live in a burgh beneth Pallas Green Hill. Her name means "sunny" and she was undoubtedly at one time a potent regional sun diety. Call on her for seasonal rites. She and Aine can easily represent the Holly andOak kings roles.
GRUAGACH, THE - ('The Long-Haired One') Scottish.
Female fairy to whom the dairymaids used to pour libations of milk into a hollow stone.
GULLVEIG - ("Gold Branch") Teutonic.
A giantess and sorceress, one of the Vanir, whom the Æsir tried to kill. This caused war between the Vanir and the Æsir, which the Vanir won. Vanir and Æsir seem to have been two early Nordic people who eventually merged.
GWENHWYFAR, GUINEVERE, GUENEVA - British
Arthur's queen. Traces of Triple Goddess.
GWYNN AP NUDD - Welsh
The Master of the Wild Hunt, The Welsh Guardian of the Dark Portals of the Underworld. He rode the Night in a flowing grey cloak upon a pale horse following his Hounds called Cwn Annwn. (very large, white with red tipped ears). They would seek out and collect souls. Direction: West or North.
HABONDIA, DAME HABONDE, ABUNDIA - British
Medieval witch goddess name, doubtless implying "abundance". Referring to the goddess NICNEVEN.
HADES (Aides, Dis, Plutos) - Greek
"The Unseen One". Greek god of the underworld. Since riches were commonly buried in the ground, he also figured as a god of wealth, Plutos, although the latter is often considered a separate deity. Son of Kronos and Rhea. Brother of Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter and Hestia. After Zeus killed Kronos, dominion over the underworld fell to Hades, while Zeus claimed the heavens and Poseidon the seas. He became the husband of Persephone after abducting her (for this story see the entries for Demeter and Persephone). His home in the underworld was often referred to as the "House of Hades". The tasks of judging the souls of the deceased and of punishing sins were assigned to other underworld deities. His cult was restricted to Pylos. He was depicted as dark bearded, bearing a sceptre and a key.
HAMADRYADS - Greek
Greek tree nymphs. See Dryads.
HARPIES (Harpy) - Greek
"Snatchers". Greek winged female monsters or demons. They may have originated as wind spirits: in Homer they were merely described as winds that swept people away. They were usually three in number, the most common names being Aello, Kelaino (Podarge) and Okypete. Daughters of Thaumas and Elektra, or of Poseidon and Gaia. In early myths they were described as beautiful, but later writers depicted them as ugly bird-like monsters with large claws. In one version, the Harpies were eventually killed by Calais and Zetes.
HATHOR- Egyptian.
An ancient Sky Goddess; Ra's daughter by Nut, or his wife; sometimes the wife or mother of Horus the Elder, Goddess of pleasure, joy, love, music and dancing. Protectress of women and embodiment of the finest female qualities.
HECATE, HEKATE - Greek (also, Roman)
Greek goddess associated with the underworld and with magic. Not mentioned in Homer, she is believed to have originated in Caria in southwest Anatolia. According to Hesiod she was the daughter of the Titan Perses and the nymph Asteria. Elsewhere she is said to be the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She was also a goddess of crossroads and waysides, and pillars known as Hekataea were commonly erected at crossroads and doorways, perhaps to ward off evil. She was especially associated with travel by night, although it is nor clear whether she was regarded as the protectress of night travellers or their chief peril. Hekate was also considered a patron of Medea and of witches, and she had an occult following among women in Thessaly, where she was regarded as a moon goddess. She assisted in the search for Persephone after her abduction by Hades. In this connection, as well as in connection with her role in night travel, she was depicted bearing a torch. In later representations, she was shown as having three bodies, particularly in the Hekataea which allowed her to keep watch over all roads at once. Her epithets included Enodia, a reference to her role as a goddess of waysides, and Trioditis, a reference to her role as a triform goddess of crossroads.
HEIMDAL - Norse
Watcher at the gates of Asgard, he can hear the grass growing on the ground and the wool on a sheep's back, and needs no sleep. He is the son of nine etin-maids, perhaps the nine waves. His hall is called Himinbjörg (Heaven-Mountain). He owns the Gjallarhorn (the Horn Resounding) which he shall blow at the beginning of Ragnarok to gather the hosts of the gods. Some see this horn as a cowhorn, others as one of the sousaphone-like lurhorns used in Bronze Age rituals. Under the name of Rig ("King"), he came to Midgard in order to father the three tribes of humans - thralls, freemen, and rulers - and to teach runes and lore to the last. Heimdall is described as very fair, with golden teeth. His horse is called Gullpr ("Golden-Mane"). He is a greatfoe of Loki: according to one tale, when Loki had stolen Freya's necklace, Heimdall changed into a seal and fought with him in that shape, winning it back. Heimdall and Loki will slay each other at Ragnarok. Heimdall is sometimes seen as a rather aloof god and lacking inhumour; however, he is a great teacher, and an especially good god to call on for those who work in subjects calling for cool intellect rather than the furious inspiration given by Odin.
HEL, HELA - Norse
Goddess of Death, Ruler of the underworld. Teutonic Goddess of the kingdom of the dead, not considered as a place of punishment. Daughter of Loki and Angurboda, and sister of the Midgard serpent of the ocean encircling the Earth, and of the devouring Fenris-wolf. Half her face was totally black. Hel-Ruler of the kingdom of death, the Prose Edda describes her as half-black, half-white (she is sometimes seen as half-rotting, half alive) and of grim and unmistakable appearance.
Her name may originally have derived from the buried slab-rock grave-chambers of the Stone Age. The Hel-word is known to all branches of the Germanic speech,and clearly very old, but there is some question as to whether the goddess was recognised as an independent person before the Viking Age. The Prose Edda, probably suffering from semantic contamination (the use of the English word Hell for the frightful Christian afterworld), describes her hall as full of horrors, but older sources make it rather pleasant, and indeed a close reflection of the idealized god-house seen in descriptions of Valhall (Hel and Odin have much in common, in fact). The specialization of the Germanic afterlife into the glorious Valhall where the chosen battle-dead go and the hideous Hel where everyone else ends up is probably a product of Christian influence on the retelling of Norse god-lore; our earlier sources offer far more options (going to the hall of the deity to whom one is closest, dying into a hill or rock where the other ghosts of one's family dwell, remaining as the guardian of a stead, being reborn in a child who bears one's name and/or lineage), and the name Valhall does not become specialized for Odin's hall until the middle of the tenth century, when it is probably a description rather than a proper name. There is no evidence for the worship of the goddess Hel in elder times, but there are several folk who work with her today. Also called Hella.
HELIOS (Helius, Sol) - Greek
"Sun". Greek sun god. According to Hesiod, he is the son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. His siblings were Eos (dawn) and Selene (moon). He drove his four-horsed chariot across the sky each day from east to west, descending beneath the ocean at night and returning by its northern stream to the east. According to one story, Helios was absent when Zeus divided the world among the gods, and he was given the island of Rhodes, which had just risen from the sea, in compensation. Rhodes was the center of his cult, where he was the dominant deity at least as early as the 5th century BC. The famous Colossus of Rhodes was an image of Helios. A festival of Helios was also celebrated on Rhodes, during which a four-horsed chariot was driven off a cliff, symbolizing the setting of the sun beneath the sea. He was depicted driving a four-horsed chariot, and with a halo of rays about his head. The Romans worshipped Helios as Sol.
HEMERA - Greek
"Day". Greek goddess of the day. Hesiod gives her as the daughter of Erebus and Nyx. She may also have been the consort of her brother Aether.
HEPHAISTOS (Hephaestus, Hephaestos) - Greek
Greek god of fire and patron of blacksmiths. Son of Zeus and Hera. In the Iliad, Homer made him the husband of Charis. However, in the Odyssey he was said to be the consort of Aphrodite, and this rather unlikely pairing became the more widely accepted version. Although considered one of the twelve Olympians, he was thrown from the heavens by Hera, who could not accept a child born with deformed legs. According to one legend, he spent the first nine years of his life in the sea, cared for by Eurynome and Thetis. According to another legend, he was taken in and cared for by the people of Lemnos, on whose island he had an important sanctuary.
The cult of Hephaistos appears to have originated in Greek Anatolia, or perhaps on Lemnos. His cult seems never to have been very popular in mainland Greece, although he did have a sanctuary in Athens. He also had an important shrine at Ephesus in Anatolia. Despite his lameness, Hephaistos was famed as a blacksmith of extraordinary skill. His smithy was said to be under Mt Aetna, where he was believed to work with his assistants, the Cyclops. He was credited with fashioning the sceptre of Zeus, the Aegis of Athena, the chariot of Helios, arms for Achilles and Aeneas, and the shield of Herakles. Hephaistos was never very lucky in love. His nominal consort, Aphrodite, was never faithful to him, and few if any of her children were fathered by the lame smith god. On one occasion, Hephaistos attempted to force himself on Athena, but she evaded him and his semen fell to the earth where it gave birth to the Athenian serpent-king Erechtheus.
HERA - Greek
Greek queen of heaven. Daughter of Kronos and Rhea. Sister and wife of Zeus. Mother of Ares, Hephaistos, Hebe and Eileithyia. Though widely worshipped throughout the Greek world, Hera was chiefly known as the jealous and often vindictive wife of the philandering Zeus. In her own right, she was worshipped as a goddess of marriage, of childbirth, and of the life of women in general. Her marriage was said to have resulted after Zeus seduced her in the form of a peacock, although in some versions it was Hera who seduced Zeus with the aid of a magic girdle. At Athens and Samos their marriage was celebrated as the hieros gamos ("sacred marriage"), even though the conduct of Zeus would seem to have made a mockery of this notion. The morality of Hera's conduct was also questionable by modern standards, as she mercilessly persecuted mortal women for the crime of having been raped by her husband. Her chief cult centre was at Argos, where the Heraeum boasted a statue of Hera in ivory and gold by Polycletus. Other important sanctuaries were at Athens and on Crete and Samos, although she had sanctuaries throughout the Greek world. A festival of women's games was also held in her honour every four years at Olympus. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her, and the apple and the pomegranate were her sacred fruits. She was often depicted as a matronly figure seated on a throne, bearing a diadem and a sceptre.
HERAKLES (Heracles, Roman Hercules) - Greek
Greek hero, worshipped as a deity. It has been variously speculated that the mythical Herakles may have derived from an actual Greek chieftain or shaman who protected his people from external dangers - which later became the labours of Herakles. Some parallels can be seen with the Mesopotamian figures of Ninurta and Gilgamesh. He was the son of Zeus and Alkmene, and the husband of Deianeira.
The jealous Hera sent two snakes to kill Herakles in his cradle, but the infant strangled them. When he grew up, he was forced to serve King Eurystheus, who assigned him his twelve labours. These labours were: (1) the slaying of the Nemean lion; (2) the slaying of the Lernaean Hydra; (3) the capture of the Arcadian stag; (4) the destruction of the Erymanthian boar; (5) the cleansing of the Augean stables; (6) the shooting of the man- eating birds of the Stymphalian marshes; (7) the capture of the Cretan bull; (8) the capture of the man-eating horses of Diomedes; (9) the theft of the girdle of the Amazon queen Hippolyta; (10) the capture of the cattle of Geryon; (11) the acquisition of the golden apples of the Hesperides; and (12) the capture of Cerberus.
Having completed the twelve labours, Herakles went on to have many more battles and escapades. It was also during this latter period that he wed Deianeira. On the way home, the centaur Nessus tried to rape her, and Herakles shot him with a poisoned arrow. The dying centaur told Deianeira to preserve some of the blood from his wound, as it had the power of making whomever she wished fall in love with her. Some years later, Herakles fell in love with Iole. Deianeira devised a robe with some of the centaur's blood smeared on it and sent it to Herakles, thinking to win back his love. Instead, the blood poisoned Herakles, causing a painful death. His body was burned on a pyre on Mt. Oita. After his death, Herakles was deified and given the task of guarding the gates to Olympus. There he became the consort of the goddess Hebe. The cult of Herakles was widespread, and he had sanctuaries on Thasos and Mt. Oita, where sacrificial fire festivals were held every four years to commemorate his death. The Dorian kings regarded Herakles as their ancestral god. He was commonly depicted wearing the skin of the Nemean lion, bearing either a bow or a club, or performing one of his labours.
HERMAPHRODITOS (Hermaphroditus) - Greek
Greek androgynous deity. The cult of Hermaphroditos appeared first in Cyprus, but never became prominent in the rest of the Greek world until the Hellenistic period. Originallythe son of Hermes and Aphrodite. The Naiad Salmakis (associated with a fountain of the same name in Caria, a region of Anatolia) fell so passionately in love with him that their bodies merged into one. In some versions, it was her entreaties to the gods that finally resulted in their becoming one being.
HERMES - Greek
Greek messenger of the gods. Son of Zeus and the nymph Maia. He was believed to have been born on Mt. Cyllene in Arcadia. His cult seems to have originated in Arcadia, where he was a god of fertility depicted in ithyphallic images. His name probably derives from hermaion (pl. herma), the Greek word for a pile of stones used to mark boundaries or as landmarks erected to guide travellers. Stone pillars called hermen were also erected in front of Greek houses, and Hermes was supposed to dwell in these pillars, guarding over the houses. Thus Hermes was considered a god of travellers and merchants, of roads and of doorways. Paradoxically, he was also a patron of thieves and gamblers, and of good fortune. In his capacity as messenger of the gods he was depicted with a broad-brimmed hat (petasus) appropriate for travel, winged sandals (talaria), and a herald's staff entwined with snakes (kerykeion, Latin caduceus). Hermes is credited with the invention of the lyre (kithara) and with the invention of fire. These feats he performed on the day of his birth, in addition to the theft of Apollo's cattle. His personality had much mischief and trickery about it. He also had the typical sexual appetites of a Greek god. Among the many errands the gods entrusted him with, it was Hermes who was sent to retrieve both Persephone and Eurydice from the underworld. He had many epithets, including Epimelios (guardian of flocks), Nomios (also a reference to his role as guardian of flocks), Hodios (patron of travellers). He was also known as Oneiropompos (conductor of dreams) and Psychopompos (leader of souls in the underworld) in his roles as god of dreams and of passage to the afterlife. In his role as god of doorways he was known as Pylaios or Propylaios. In his capacity as "the good shepherd", he was depicted carrying a sheep on his shoulders, with the epithet of Kriophoros (ram-bearer). In earlier Greek art, he was depicted as bearded, wearing a long tunic, and equipped with his cap, winged sandals and staff (the kerykeion). Later, he came to be portrayed as a beardless youth.
HEROS - Greek
A Thracian god of the underworld. He was depicted as a horseman, and his image was frequently incorporated in funerary stelae.
HESPERIDES - Greek
Greek nymphs who guarded the tree of the golden apples. According to Hesiod, they were the daughters of Erebos and Nyx (night). Other accounts make them the daughters of Atlas and Pleione, Atlas and Hesperis, Phorkys and Ceto, or of Hesperos. Their names were most commonly given as Aegle, Erytheia, and Hesperia (or Arethusa).
HESPEROS (Hesperus, Roman Vesper) - Greek
Greek god of the evening star. In some versions, the father of the Hesperides.
HESTIA (Roman Vesta) - Greek
Greek goddess of fire and the hearth. Daughter of Kronos and Rhea. She remained a virgin all her life, on the assumption that she was wedded to the sacred hearth fire. Her worship was largely focused on household hearths, but public cults later emerged at the civic hearth. Small offerings of food and drink were typically made at household hearths before meals.
HIMEROS (Himerus) - Greek
Greek god of desire. An attendant either of Aphrodite or of Eros.
HOLDA - Norse
Goddess similiar to Hel. A goddess known through German folklore, her name means "the Gracious One". She has much in common with Frigga, being the patroness of spinners and the keeper of social order, especially enforcing taboos about working on holy days. She is also said to be the keeper of the souls of unbaptized (or sometimes simply young) children, andwomen who want to bear children ask for them at her well. Holda also appears at times as the leader of the WildHunt. According to one tale, it was she who taught humanshow to plant and process flax. When it snows, Holda is supposed to be shaking out her feather-bed.
HORAI (Horae) - Greek
The Seasons. Greek goddesses associated with the three Greek seasons: spring, summer and winter. Daughters of Zeus and Themis. Their names were Eunomia (good order), Dike (justice), and Eirene (peace). The Athenians recognized only two Horai: Thallo, associated with the blossoms of spring, and Karpo, associated with the ripened fruit of summer or autumn. The Horai were honoured in the annual festival known as the Horaia. The Horai eventually developed into the four modern seasons.
HORUS - Egyptian
Diety attributed to the New Aeon. Son of Isis and Osiris. His Sacred Animal is the Falcon. God of Healing and the All-Seeing Eye.
HYAKINTHOS (Hyacinthus) - Greek
Commonly known as a hero from Greek myth, but generally believed to have originated as an ancient pre-Hellenic god, probably of vegetation. In the Greek legend, Hyakinthos was loved by Apollo, who accidentally killed him with a discus. This would suggest that Hyakinthos was originally a dying god like Adonis or the Mesopotamian Dumuzi whose death and resurrection symbolized the natural cycle of cereal vegetation. At Amyklai in Sparta Hyakinthos was regarded as a deified hero well into the Hellenic period. There he was worshipped in an annual festival, the Hyakinthia, where the worshippers passed from mourning for Hyakinthos to celebration for Apollo -- certainly suggestive of a rite associated with cereal vegetation where the dead plant gives new life through its seed.
HYGIEIA (Hygeia) - Greek
Greek goddess of health. Daughter of Asklepios, the god of healing. Some later writers made her the consort of Asklepios. Her sacred animal was the snake, depicted drinking from a saucer or other drinking vessel held in her hand. Her worship spread to Rome in 293 BC, where she came to be identified with Salus.
HYMEN (Hymenaios, Hymenaeus) - Greek
Greek god of marriage. He was traditionally said to be the son of Apollo and a Muse, while later writers made him the son of Dionysus and Aphrodite. He was invoked at weddings in the marriage song. He was depicted as a winged youth bearing a wedding torch and a garland.
HYPERION - Greek
Greek god of light. One of the Titans. Son of Ouranos (heaven) and Gaia (earth). Consort of Theia. Father of Helios (sun) and Selene (moon). Hyperion may have been little more than a personification of the sun or an epithet of Helios.
HYPNOS (Roman Somnus) - Greek
Greek god of sleep. Son of Erebos and Nyx (night). Brother of Thanatos (death).
IAKCHOS (Iacchus) - Greek
Minor Greek deity associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries. He was considered the son of Demeter or Persephone. Possibly the husband of Demeter. In the mysteries, his name was invoked in connection with those of Demeter and Persephone. Some believe Iakchos to be identical with Dionysos (as Bacchus) or Zagreus. He was depicted bearing a torch and leading the participants in the mysteries.
IDUNNA - Norse
The goddess who keeps the apples of youth, by which the gods stay ever-young.
INANNA (Venus, Ishtar) - Sumerian
Sumerian Goddess of War, Knowledge, Lust and Love. The Sacred Whore with a heart of Gold, Goddess of Warriors and Protectors, patron of sacred love.
INGHEAN BHUIDHE (EEN-awn BOO-ee) - Celtic
Her name means "yelow haired girl." Though most knowledge ofher is lost, we know she was a middle sister of a tripple goddess and she represented the coming of summer, beltaine, and was honored on May 6 involving a sacred well. Use her energy in Beltaine rituals, for flower festivals, or to bless the spring planting. (See also Lassair and Latiaran)
INO - Greek
Greek heroine who raised the infant Dionysos while herself a child. Later, Hera drove Ino and her husband Athamas mad, and Ino leaped to her death in the sea, carrying her son Melicertes. She was elevated to the rank of sea goddess under the name of Leukothea, and Melicertes became Palaemon.
IRENE - Greek
See Eirene.
IRIS - Greek
"Rainbow". Greek goddess of the rainbow, and messenger of the gods. She was particularly the agent of Hera. According to Hesiod, she was the daughter of the Titan Thaumas and the nymph Electra. Also in Hesiod, it was her task to draw water from the River Styx which the gods used whenever declaring a solemn oath. She was depicted with wings and her attributes included a herald's staff and a water pitcher.
ISIS - Egyptian
The most complete flowering of the Goddess concept in human history. Daughter of Earth God Geb and Sky Goddess Nut. Protectress of the Home. Goddess of Magick, Earth, the Moon, Love, Wisdom, fertility, and Mothers.
JANUS - Roman
The Two-Faced God. God of Thresholds, Gates and Doorways.
JUNO - Roman
Married to Jupiter. Goddess of Women and Motherhood.
JUPITER - Roman (AKA Zeus - Greek)
Father of Gods and Men. God of the Sky.
KABEIROI (Kabiroi, Cabeiri) - Greek
Greek fertility gods whose cult involved the celebration of mysteries typically associated with vegetation deities. They originated in Greek Anatolia, possibly in Phrygia, and subsequently spread to the islands of the Aegean, to Macedonia, and to northern and central Greece. In classical times they numbered two, though their numbers seem to have varied over time. They included the gods Axiocersus and his son Cadmilus. A female pair were also mentioned, Axierus and Axiocersa, although their role was of secondary importance. Their cult was particularly prominent on the islands of Lemnos and Samothrace, where their mysteries displayed an Orphic influence.
KALI - Hindu
Goddess of Love, Birth and Death, Destruction. Personification of Creation, with Life given and Life taken upon the same coin.
KER (pl. Keres, Cer) - GreeklIn Greek belief, a destructive or malevolent female spirit of the dead. Although some sources seem refer to a single Ker, the more common belief was in a host of Keres. They were said to be the daughters of Nyx and Erebos. In the Attic festival of the Anthesteria, the spirits of the dead, or Keres, were driven from the house.
KERNUNNOS - Celtic
(See Cernunnos)
KORE - Greek
"Girl". An epithet of Persephone.
KOURETES (Kuretes, Curetes) - Greek
Semidivine beings who were believed to have been early inhabitants of Crete. It was the Kouretes who prevented Kronos from discovering the hidden infant Zeus by dancing and clashing their weapons to prevent his cries from being heard. They were often equated with the Korybantes. The Kouretes may have had their origin as worshippers of Zeus Kouros (Zeus as a young man), perhaps dating back to Minoan times.
KRATOS - Greek
"Power". Greek god of strength. Brother of Bia (force).
KRONOS (Cronos, Chronos, Cronus) - Greek
Primeval Greek god of time and a former supreme god. One of the Titans. Son of Ouranos (heaven) and Gaia (earth). Consort of Rhea. Father of Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hades and Hestia. Little worshipped by the Greeks, Kronos may represent the vestiges of a pre-Hellenic god. The worship that was accorded him was generally associated with agriculture, such as the Attican harvest festival of the Kronia. Kronos overthrew his father Ouranos, castrating him with a sickle for good measure, perhaps as a symbolic separation of heaven and earth. Fearing that his own children might do the same to him, he proceeded to swallow them. Zeus, however, was saved Rhea, who hid him in Crete and tricked Kronos into swallowing a stone wrapped in infant's clothing. When Zeus reached maturity, he forced Kronos to disgorge his brothers and sisters, then hurled him into Tartaros. Subsequently, Kronos remained a prisoner in Tartaros, although some accounts make him the king of the Golden Age. He was generally depicted with a sickle and an hourglass. Known to the Romans as Saturn.
LACHESIS - Greek
One of the Greek Moirai (qv), or Fates. According to Hesiod, the Moirai were daughters of Zeus and Themis. Lachesis was the "caster of lots" and it was she who spun out the thread of life.
LADA (Leda) - Greek
Lycian mother or fertility goddess who was the probable original of the Greek Leto.
LAMIA - Greek
A female demon in Greek belief who devoured children. According to some sources she was a queen of Libya who fell in love with Zeus. The jealous Hera deformed her and killed her children. Lamia then turned to hunting and devouring children whom she lured away from their parents. Alternatively, she took on the form of a beautiful woman, enticing young men whom she would subsequently devour.
LADY OF THE LAKE - British (Arthurian)
In some legends Vivienne (or Viviane); in others, Vivienne was the daughter of the Lady of the Lake by Dylan, son of Arianrhod and Gwydion. In Thomas Mallory, the Lady of the Lake is called Nimue.
LASSAIR - Celtic
The eldest of a tripple goddess. Her name means "flame." Invoke her during seasonal rites. (See also Inghean Bhuide and Latiaran)
LATIARAN - Celtic
The youngest of a tripple Goddess with Inghean Bhuidhe andLassair. She represented the first harvest of Lughnasadh. Her sister Inghean Buidhe represented Beltaine, as Lassair represented Midsummer. Use her aid in fire magic at Lughnasadh.
LEANNAN SIDHE- Irish
Fairy lover, succubus. In the Isle of Man she is malevolent and vampiric.
LEDA - Greek
Greek goddess; former Anatolian mother goddess.
LETHE - Greek
Greek nymph associated with the underworld river of the same name. Daughter of Eris (strife). The Lethe was the river of forgetfulness or oblivion.
LETO (Latin Latona) - Greek
Greek Titaness and possible mother goddess. Daughter of Coeus (Kois) and Phoebe. Mother of Apollo and Artemis by Zeus. Leto appears to have been derived from a Lycian goddess named Lada, and she had cults of local importance in Lycia and at Phaistos on Crete.
LEUKOTHEA (Leucothea) - Greek
"White Goddess". Greek sea goddess. The name given to the deified Ino. Daughter of Cadmus. As Ino, she had been the wife of Athamas. Having been driven mad by Hera in punishment for raising the infant Dionysos, Ino leapt to her death in the sea along with her son Melicertes. She was popular among sailors and fishermen. Believed to help sailors in distress, she was first mentioned in the Odyssey where she saved Odysseus from drowning.
LIBER - Roman (AKA Dionysos - Bakchos - Greek)
God of Nature, Wine and Ecstasy.
LILLITH - Hebrew
In ancient Hebrew legend, she was Adam's first wife, who would not subordinate herself to him and was turned into a demoness.
LOCHA - Celtic
Maidservent to Queen Meave who died defending her in a war with Ulster.
LOGOS - Greek
"Word" or "Reason". For some Stoics of the Hellenistic age, Logos was the divine personification of the reason or plan underlying the cosmos. It was Philo of Alexandria (1st century AD) who first conceived of Logos in anthropomorphic terms. The Christians subsequently picked up the term and used it to refer to the "Word" which was made flesh in Jesus Christ.
LOKI - Norse (Also known as Logi, Loge)
God of Mischief, Trickery. Divine Catalyst, Breaker of Stagnation, Force for change. Giant Foster brother of Odin. An etin brought among the Aesir by Odin, who swore blood-brotherhood with him, Loki wavers between a weal-bringing culture-hero/Trickster and a woe-bringing destroyer. He is responsible for getting the gods most of their good, but only after he has led them to the edge of destruction. He often travels with Thor, sometimes leading him into trouble and sometimes getting him out of it. Loki also brings a surprising amount of humour into the Norse tales (and into the practice of the Northern religion today). The need for this function of his appears explicitly in the tale of how the giantess Skadi was reconciled to accepting weregild from the gods instead of insisting on revenge: one of her conditions is that they must make her laugh, and it is only Loki who can accomplish this.
Loki may have appeared in cultic dramas as a ritual Lord of Misrule: inversion and reversal of all sorts are typical for him. As well as being the father of the Wolf Fenrir, the Midgard serpent, and, allegedly, Hel, he is also the mother of Odin's eight-legged horse Sleipnir, and cross-dresses in the typically feminine falcon-hides of Frigga and Freyja when he needs to fly between the worlds. Bad nineteenth-century etymology associated Loki with Logi (fire) and, helped along by Wagner, the image of Loki as a fire-being seems to be with us to stay. Modern thought also associates Loki especially with computers, for a number of reasons. After the death of Balder, the gods bound Loki in an underground cave, and Skadi hung a venom-dripping snake over his face. The venom is caught in a cup by his Aesir-wife Sigyn; supposedly, when she turns away to empty it, his writhings cause earthquakes. There is much debate among true folk as to whether Loki is really bound, or just how bound he is, however. Not surprisingly, views on Loki range from those who think of him as a merry friend to those who see him almost as a Nordic Satan. Although he plays a key role in many of our holy tales, it is fairly safe to guess that he was not worshipped in the sense that the other gods and goddesses were - but whenever a drink is given to Odin, according to the terms of their oath, Loki also gets one.
LORELEI - German
A beautiful siren who sat on a cliff above the Rhine, luring boatment to their death with her songs.
LUGH - Celtic
Sam ildanach (many skilled). This is the Celtic Mercury. The grandson of Balor (leader of the Fomorians and the son of Cian and Ethniu, a Sidhe princess. His feast is Lughnasadh, a celebration of the death of his "foster mother", Tailtiu. He is the combination of the Tuatha de Dannans and the Fomors. He replaces Nuada as the King and battle leader of the Tuatha de Dannan and leads them to ultimate victory in the second Battle of Moytura. He is sometimes called the "Shining One" and/or Lugh Lamhfada (of the "long arm"). He also has attributes of a carpenter, mason, poet,Druid, physician and a goldsmith. He can be considered the Irish God of just about everything. He was also the father of the great Irish hero, Cuchulain. Direction: East, South or Southwest.
LUNA - Roman
Moon Goddess, identified with Diana and the Greek Selene.
MAAT - Egyptian (Ma’at)
Goddess of Divine Order and Justice. Her Symbol is the Feather.
MACHA (MAAX-ah) - Celtic
One of the morrigan, this crone Goddess of death, strife, and destruction was a cheif of the Red Branch. When she was heavily pregnant, she was forced to race against the fastest horse in Ireland. She completed the course, but dies at the end while giving birth to twins. As her life ended, she cursed all the men to have labor pains so they could not fight. Cuchulain was immune to the curse, but the rest of the men fell under the curse and were defeated by Connacht. Cultivate her to aid you in childbirth, to gain wisdom, to overcome enemies, or to uncover past lives. She corresponds with the Tower tarot card, Belladonna, the waning moon, serpents and apples.
(Queen) MEAVE (Medb, Madb, or Mayv) - Celtic
She was a powerfull Goddess who merged later with a historical figure. Her name means "Intoxicated Woman," and she is known for her long golden hair, iron will, and fiery temper. Invoke her in sex magic, spells for leadership skills, to gain perseverance and stregnth, or to ward off enemies. Pathwork with her to understand your own or your partners feminine power. She corresponds with red, yellow, and purple, and the Star tarot card.
MAIA - Greek
Greek mother of Hermes.
MAIRE NI CIARAGAIN - Celtic
A warrior queen whose legends have been lost.
MANNAN MAC LYR - Celtic
Chief Irish God of the sea. Not a member of the Tuatha de Dannan. A happy-go-lucky gypsy type. Always carried "the Crane Bag", a kind of Magick "horn of plenty". He gave the last 5 Oghams to the Druids (also called the "Crane Bag"). He preferred to roam among the people in disguise and aid their exploits. He could change his shape at will. Despite his antics, he was an extremely powerful God and was usually associated with fertility, rebirth, weather, sailing and Magick. He also had a Magickal ship that moved without sails and was directed by the mind. Linked to the Isle of Man. Direction: East or West (towards the sea).
MARE (MAH-re) - Celtic
She is a horse Goddess. She is also the bringer of Dreams, both good and bad. The english word of Nightmare is derived from her name. Call upon her for dream work, fertility or war. Use her help in banishing nightmares. She corresponds with horses, vervain, oats, white and black.
MARS - Roman (AKA Ares - Greek)
God of War.
MEDUSA - Greek.
The only mortal member of the three Gorgons. Her hair was turned to serpents by Athene because she dared to claim equal beauty with hers. Her gaze turned men to stone.
MELETE - Greek
Boeotian Muse of practice. The other Boeotian Muses were Aoide (Aeode) and Mneme.
MELICERTES - Greek
Greek Palaemon (qv); adopted from the Phoenician Melkart.
MELPOMENE - Greek
Greek Muse of tragedy. Daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Her attributes include the tragic mask and the cothurnus (pl. cothurni), the boots traditionally worn by tragic actors.
MERCURY - Roman (Greek Hermes)
Messenger to the Gods. God of Communication and Trade.
MESE - Greek
In Greek mythology, the Delphic Muse associated with the middle string of the lyre. The other Delphic Muses were Hypate and Nete.
MESHKENT - Egyptian
Goddess of Birth.
MESSBUACHALLO (MESS-boo-HAHL-la) - Celtic
The granddaughter of Eochaid and Edain, a daughter of their only child with Edain Oig. She was fostered by a cow-herder who taught her embroidery. She remained hidden with the herder for fear of her true iddentity being discovered. Later, a king recievesprophecy stating that shewould bear him a male son, tho he didn'tknow of her heritage. A bird from the otherworld was sent to tell her this news, and she went to the king and bore him Conaire Mor. Use her help with fertility and as a general aid to magic.
METIS - Greek
Greek goddess of wisdom. Daughter of Okeanos and Tethys. The first wife of Zeus whom he swallowed when he discovered that she was pregnant, fearing that she might give birth to a son mightier than he. Subsequently, Athena sprang fully armed from the head of Zeus. Metis is thus given as the mother of Athena, although some sources consider that, given the circumstances, she was the daughter of Zeus alone.
MINERVA - Roman. (Athena:Greek)
Wife of Jupiter, forming a triad with his other wife, Juno. Goddess of Crafts and Wisdom
MINIS - Egyptian (Min)
Often Identified with Horus. Protector of Travelers. God of Fertility.
MINOS - Greek
One of the three Greek judges of the underworld, along with Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon. He was originally a king of Crete. His cult involved the worship of bulls or of Minos in the form of a bull.
MITHRA - Persian
Sun God. Bringer of Light. God of Soldiers.
MNEME - Greek
Boeotian Muse of memory. The other Boeotian Muses were Aoide (Aeode) and Melete.
MNEMOSYNE - Greek
Greek goddess of memory. According to Hesiod, mother of the nine Muses by Zeus. One of the Titans. Daughter of Ouranos (heaven) and Gaia (earth).
MOIRA - Greek
Greek divine personification of fate, to whom even the gods were subject.
MOIRAI (Moires, Moirae) - Greek
The Greek Fates. According to Hesiod, the daughters of Zeus and Themis. They were Atropos (the unbending, or the inevitable), Clotho (the spinner), and Lachesis (the caster of lots). As determiners of fate, they had supremacy even over the gods. Clotho spun out the thread of life, Lachesis determined its length, and Atropos cut it, resulting in death. The Romans called them the Parcae.
MOMOS (Momus) - Greek
Greek personification of blame, censure. According to Hesiod, the son of Erebos and Nyx. A god of fault-finding and criticism, he was eventually banished from Olympus for mocking the other gods.
MORGAN - British (Arthurian, 'Of the Sea')
Arthur's half-sister Morgan le Fay; but would seemto be a much older Goddess, possibly the Glastonbury Tor one, for her island is Avalon.
MOROS - Greek
Greek god of destiny.
MORPHEUS - Greek
Greek god of dreams. Son of Hypnos, the god of sleep. His name derives from the Greek morphe (form, shape), and he is responsible for shaping dreams, or giving shape to the beings which inhabit dreams.
MORRIGHAN, THE, MORRIGAN, MORRIGU - Celtic
The Dark aspect of the Celtic Triple Goddess. The "Washer at the Ford" (seem washing bloody laundry prior to battle by those destined to die). The Battle Goddess, also Queen of the Witches and Goddess of Magick. Could appear as a Raven, a beautiful Maiden or an ugly Hag. Marries the Dagdha at Samhain. The Goddess of Death. Direction: North or North-west. Sometimes seen as the triple goddess made up of three Crone goddesses of death, war, and distruction; Badb, Macha, and Nemain. Their collective name means "The Phantom Queen." They were said to fly over battles in the form of a raven or carrion crow. They are a powerful force which people prefer to work with one on one. Call on them for passing over rituals or to overcome enemies. They are also a potent force for the waning moon and banishing magic, however, their collective energy can easily turn violent.
MUSES (Mousai, Moisai, Musae) - Greek
Greek goddess of the arts and sciences. Nine in number. Hesiod was the first to give them individual identities, and gave their parenst as Zeus and Mnemosyne. They included Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Erato (love poetry), Euterpe (lyric poetry), Melpomene (tragedy), Polyhymnia (song), Terpsichore (dance), Thalia (comedy), and Urania (astronomy).
NAIADS (Naiades) - Greek
Greek nymphs of freshwater: lakes, rivers, springs and fountains. They were depicted as beautiful women, and believed to be long- lived, but not immortal.
NAPAEAE - Greek
Greek nymphs associated with valleys (Greek nape = dell).
NEHELENNIA - Dutch
She is portayed with a dog and a basket of apples, and she was sometimes described as holding a horn of plenty. A statue of her dating from the first century has been found in Walcheren, on of the islands now forming the Dutch province of Zeeland. On this island was the Temple of Nehellenia. Possible fertillity goddess.
NEMESIS - Greek
Greek goddess of justice and vengeance. She was essentially an abstraction, although she is given as the daughter of Erebos and Nyx. She was responsible for punishing human misconduct and arrogance (hubris). One of the legends associated with her, that of her rape by Zeus in the form of a swan, by whom she subsequently gave birth to Helen, probably refers to a separate goddess who is the deified form of Leda. The cult of Nemesis was particularly prominent at Rhamnus in Attica and at Smyrna.
NEMIAN (NIM-awn) - Celtic
Her name means, "The Venomous One," and she is one of the Morrigan.
NEPHTHYS (Nephythys, Nebthet) - Egyptian
Egyptian goddess of the dead. Sister of Isis, Osiris and Seth. Mother of Anubis by Osiris. Depicted with horns and a solar disc on her head. Her principal sanctuary was at Heliopolis. She guards the corpse of Osiris along with Isis.
NEPTUNE - Roman (AKA Poseidon - Greek)
God of Wisdom.
NEREIDS - Greek
Greek sea nymphs and attendants of Poseidon. Daughters of the sea god Nereus and the Oceanid Doris. The most famous Nereids were Amphitrite and Thetis.
NEREUS - Greek
Greek god of the sea. Son of Pontos and Gaia. Father of the Nereids by the Oceanid Doris. He was believed to live with the Nereids in the depths of the Aegean Sea. Homer referred to him as the "Old Man of the Sea". He was noted for his wisdom, his skill in prophecy, and for the ability to change his own shape. Herakles forced Nereus to divulge the location of the golden apples of the Hesperides by wrestling with Nereus in his many forms.
NETE - Greek
Delphic Muse of the low not of the lyre. The other Delphic Muses were Hypate and Mese.
NICNEVEN - Scotland
"Divine", "Brilliant". Witch Goddess. Said to ride through the night with her followers at Samhain. Tradition places her night according to the old (Julian) calendar, on 10 November. During the Middle Ages she was called Dame Habonde, Abundia, Satia, Bensozie, Zobiana, and Herodiana.
NIGHT - Greek
See Nyx.
NIKE - Greek
Greek goddess of victory. First mentioned in Hesiod's Theogony. Daughter of the giant Pallas and the underworld river Styx. She seems originally to have been an attribute of Zeus or Athena (e.g.: Athena Nike), in which capacity she was wingless and often depicted as a small figure held in the hand of either deity. As an independent deity, she was depicted as winged and bearing the laurel wreath which was delivered to the victor in a competition, whether in war, sport, artistic contests or any other endeavour. However, she was never entirely independent, as she remained the personification of victory delivered by Zeus or Athena. She was known to the Romans as Victoria.
NIMUE - British (Arthurian)
Thomas Mallory's name for the Lady of the Lake.
NOTOS (Notus) - Greek
Greek god of the south wind. In Greece, the south wind blows mainly in the autumn. Son of Astraeus and Eos. Brother of the other Winds (qv). Known to the Romans as Auster.
NUADA - Celtic
The King and battle leader of the Tuatha de Dannan, Possessor of the Magick Sword of Findias, he lost his sword hand in the First Battle of Moytura, against the Fir Bolgs. After losing the battle, he stepped down from the Kingship (because the King could have no blemish) even though he was outfitted with a Magickal hand of silver. He eventually had his hand Magickally restored in order to lead the Tuatha de Dannans against the Fomors in the second Battle of Moy Tura. In this battle he was physically killed so he returned the Lands of the Sidhe. Direction: East.
NYMPHS - Greek
In Greek mythology, a minor class of female nature deities. They were usually associated with the fertile aspects of nature and with water. They were believed to be long-lived but not immortal. They were generally considered to be beneficent rather than destructive, and well disposed toward humans. The nymphs were commonly grouped into an array of subtypes: Oceanids (nymphs of the ocean), Nereids (sea nymphs), Naiads (freshwater nymphs), Dryads or Hamadryads (associated with forests and trees, particularly oak trees), Oreads (mountain nymphs), Napaeae (nymphs of valleys), among others. See also the entries under the individual subtypes.
NYX (Nux, Nox) - Greek
"Night". Greek goddess of night. Often regarded as little more than a personification of the night, particularly in Greek cosmogony. Also regarded as a primordial goddess derived from Chaos. Her power was said to be great, overwhelming even Zeus. She was the mother of a number of primordial gods or entities, such as Hemera (day), Aither (light, or heaven), Hypnos (sleep), and Thanatos (death).
OCEANIDS - Greek
See Okeanides.
OCEANUS - Greek
See Okeanos.
ODIN - Norse (Also known as Great Father, Othin, Voden, Votan, Woden, Wotan, Wuotan)
Carries two ravens upon his shoulder to tell him of man's destiny; All Father, Giver of written language (runes). Originally a god of death, whose range later came to encompass magic (especially runic magic), battle (giving victory by choosing who should die), poetry, the fury of the berserk-warrior, and, at least in part, the authority of the ruler descended from the gods (he is the most frequent father of royal lines - including, according to Anglo-Saxon genealogies, the current royal house of England).
In the Prose Edda (written two hundred years after the conversion of Iceland), he is shown as the chief of the gods, but historical accounts of Germanic religion do not necessarily support this. It is likelier that Snorri was modeling the Norse pantheon somewhat on the Classical. Odin won the runes by hanging on a tree for nine days and nights, wounded with his own spear. He gave up one of his eyes for a drink from the Well of Mímir, "Memory").
He won the mead of poetry by seducing the giant-maid Gunnlod who had been set to keep it, then asking for a drink and draining all three cauldrons. To his chosen ones, he gives victory, inspiration, magic, madness, and death when he sees fit. He is seen as especially a god of wisdom, a patron of poets, thinkers, and singers. Of all the gods, Odin is the one who seems to take the most active part in the affairs of humans, and the one who appears most often in the writings of the Germanic peoples. Odin usually appears as a graybearded man, tall and thin, with a blue-black cloak and an eyepatch or wide-brimmed hat tilted to hide his missing eye. His weapon is the casting spear Gungnir, with which he dooms his chosen ones to die in battle. He has two wolves, Geri and Freki (both names mean "the Greedy"); two ravens, Huginn ("the Thoughtful" or "the Bold") and Muninn ("the Mindful" or "the Desirous"); and a gray, eight-legged horse called Sleipnir ("Slipper"). He is the husband of Frigga and the father of many gods and human heroes. As the leader of the Wild Hunt, he also brings fruitfulness to the fields.
Odin is assisted by the valkyries ("Choosers of the Slain") who work his will on the battlefield, bringing the bravest warriors to Valhall ("Hall of the Slain"), where they ready their strength against the coming of Ragnarok. It is said that "Odin will help you if he feels like it", and it is true that he is a stern tester of his children, and often seems rather capricious. However, even when he seems cruel, his purpose is always clear: to strengthen the hosts of the gods for the last battle so that life and knowledge can be preserved, and the new world born after the old is destroyed. In the late Viking Age poem Eiríksmál, Bragi asks Odin, "Why did you take victory from him (Erik Bloodaxe), if he seemed the bravest to you?" and Odin answers, "Because of that which no one knows (that is, the time of Ragnarok): the Gray Wolf gapes ever at the dwellings of the gods." Odin is a god of foresight, careful weaving of plots, and long-term agendas.
Odras - Celtic
This girl refused to let her cow be mated with Slemauir, the Smooth, the famous bull belonging to the Morrigan. So they took the cow away and she followed them to the underworld where they turned her into a pool of water to purify newcommers to the land. Odras' tale teaches us that we cannot cheat death. When her livelihood (cow) was taken, she died (return to elements) tho she tried to fight the Death Goddesses. Use her to learn about inevitable cycles of time rather than fighting them. (This does not mean that we shouldn't fight for life, but rather that we should be wise as to realize where the fight must end.)
OGMA - Celtic
The "Sun Faced" One, so called because he was a God of Wisdom and of speech. He invented the Oghams and was also a great Warrior. Sometimes associated with the Greek Herakles. Also Irish God of music, spells, the arts and eloquence. Direction: East.
OKEANIDES (Oceanids) - Greek
Minor Greek sea goddesses, or sea nymphs. Daughters of Okeanos and Tethys. Also the name given to the river gods said to be the offspring of Okeanos.
OKEANOS (Oceanus) - Greek
Greek god who personified the waters surrounding the earth. In Hesiod's Theogony, he is the son of Ouranos (heaven) and Gaia (earth). Consort of Tethys. Father of the Okeanides. His name later came to be associated with the Atlantic Ocean.
ONAUGH or OONA (OU-nah) - Celtic
She was the faery wife of the Tuatha leader Finvarra. She tolerated his cheating with a mortal woman and seemed asexual herself.
ONEIROI - Greek
"Dreams". Minor Greek deities considered to be the source or active agents of dreams. Children of Hypnos or Nyx. Their names were Ikelos (Phobetor), Morpheus and Phantasos.
OREADS (Oreades) - Greek
Greek nymphs of mountains and caves.
OSIRIS - Egyptian
God of Re-birth; the Sacrificed God. Icon of Reincarnation, resurrected annually by Isis.
OURANOS (Uranus) - Greek
"Heaven" or "Sky". Greek god of the heavens or of the sky. According to Hesiod's Theogony, Ouranos was one of the first 'children' of Gaia, along with the Mountains and the Sea. He then became Gaia's consort, which union produced the Titans, the Cyclopes, and the Hekatoncheiroi. Ouranos hurled his offspring into the underworld (Tartaros) and kept them imprisoned there, either out of hatred or of fear. At the urging of Gaia, Kronos castrated Ouranos with a sickle (thus separating heaven and earth) and overthrew him. The blood of Ouranos fell to earth (Gaia), giving rise to the Giants, the Erinyes and the Meliai (ash-tree nymphs). Kronos threw his severed testicles fell the sea, where, according to some versions, they gave rise to the goddess Aphrodite.
PAEAN - Greek
Greek god of healing and physician to the other gods. This may originally have been merely an epithet of Apollo, however he did emerge as an independent deity in later Greek literature.
PALAEMON - Greek
Minor Greek sea god. The deified form of Melicertes after his death. Melicertes was the son of Athamas and Ino. Both were driven mad, and Ino leapt to her death in the sea carrying Melicertes with her.
PAN - Greek
Greek shepherd god. Depicted in human form with the legs, horns and ears of a goat. Son of Hermes and the nymph Penelope. He was said to have been born on Mt. Cyllene in Arcadia. He originated as an Arcadian deity and that region remained the most important centre of his cult. Although Hermes took him to Olympus, his haunts were generally the forests and fields of the country, and he was believed to live in caves. Pan was the patron deity of fishermen and hunters as well as of shepherds. On the other hand, he was believed to take delight in frightening unsuspecting travellers. A god of fertility and unbridled male sexuality, he was known for pursuing nymphs in the form of a goat. One of the nymphs he pursued, Syrinx, changed herself into a reed to escape him. Pan then cut several reeds and devised what are known as the pan-pipes (syrinx). He later used these pipes to defeat Apollo in a music contest. In addition to having goat's horns, legs and ears, he was depicted as being coarse in appearance, bearded, and bearing the syrinx pipes or a shepherd's crook. The Romans equated him with their Faunus.
PANACEA - Greek
"All-Healing". Minor Greek goddess of health.
PANDORA ('Gift of All') - Greek
The Greek Eve, fashioned in clay by Hephaestus on Zeus' orders to punish Prometheus for having stolen fire from heaven. Her name means that each God or Goddess gave her an appropriate gift. Zeus gave her a box which she must not open. She did open it, and all the evils that plague humankind came out of it. All that was left at the bottom was Hope.
PASITHEA - Greek
One of the Greek Muses in some versions. Daughter of Zeus and Eurynome. May simply be another name for Aegle (Aeglaia).
PEITHO - Greek
"Persuasion". Greek goddess of persuasion. Daughter of Hermes and Aphrodite, although Hesiod makes her the daughter of Okeanos. An attendant of Aphrodite.
PENEIOS (Peneius, Peneus) - Greek
Thessalian river god. Possibly the father of Daphne and the nymphs of Thessaly.
PEPHREDO - Greek
One of the Graiae in Greek mythology. Daughter of Phorkys and Ceto. Sister of the other Graiae, Deino and Enyo.
PERSE (Perseis) - Greek
Greek underworld goddess. Conosrt of the sun god Helios. Mother of Circe and Pasiphae. Perse embodied the underworld aspects of the moon. She was also known as Neaira, "the new one", or the new moon.
PERSEPHONE (Roman Proserpina) - Greek
Greek goddess of the underworld. Daughter of Zeus and Demeter. Once, while picking flowers in the Vale of Nysa (reputedly in Sicily), she was abducted by Hades, who forced her to become his wife in the underworld. The gods, concerned that her mother's grief was causing the earth's vegetation to shrivel and die, sent Hermes to negotiate for her return. He succeeded in gaining Hades permission but, because Persephone had eaten a single pomegranate seed while in the underworld, she was only allowed to return to her mother for two thirds of the year. The earth's vegetation was believed to prosper during the two thirds of the year that Persephone was with her mother and waste away during the third spent in the underworld. This paralleled the cycle of the seasons in the Mediterranean, where late summer is a period of drought. This celebration of this story became the central part of the Eleusinian mysteries. She was referred to as Kore ("girl" or "maiden") in her association with Demeter, and some scholars believe she was only an aspect of Demeter and not a deity in her own right. Certainly the story of Persephone was inseparable from that of Demeter, as was her worship. In Orphism, a mystery religion centering around the similar legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, Persephone was the mother of Zagreus by Zeus.
PHANES - Greek
"Light". Primordial Greek sun god. In Orphism, he was the first god to emerge from the primeval egg engendered by Kronos. In another tradition, he was the father of Nyx (night).
PHEME (Roman Fama) - Greek
Greek goddess of popular rumour. She had an altar at Athens.
PHOBOS - Greek
"Panic". Greek god of fear and terror. Son of Ares and Aphrodite. He accompanied Ares into battle.
PHORKYS (Phorcys, Phorkos) - Greek
Greek sea god. According to Hesiod, the son of Pontos (Okeanos) and Gaia. Consort of the sea-monster Ceto (Keto). Father of the Gorgons and the Graii.
PHOSPHOROS (Phosphorus, Heosphoros) - Greek
Greek god of the morning star. Son of Eos (dawn) and either Astraios or Cephalus. He was depicted as a naked youth running ahead of his mother, bearing a torch.
PLUTON (Pluto) - Greek
An epithet of the Greek god of the underworld, Hades.
PLUTOS (Plutus) - Greek
"Riches." Greek god of wealth and abundance. Primarily a god of agricultural wealth. According to Hesiod, he was the son of Demeter and the Titan Iasion, and was born in Crete. Plutos was said to have been blinded by Zeus so that he might dispense his riches indiscriminately, although this seems to have been derived from a comedy by Aristophanes. He had a temple at Eleusis, and was worshipped in the Eleusinian Mysteries along with Demeter and Persephone. Depicted as a boy with a cornucopia.
PODALEIRIOS - Greek
Minor Greek god of healing. Son of Asklepios. He was a doctor in the Greek army which besieged Troy. He was known as the "Great Healer" in Greek Anatolia and Thessaly.
POLHYMNIA - Greek
See Polyhymnia.
POLYHYMNIA (Polhymnia, Polymnia) - Greek
Greek Muse of song. Daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. According to some traditions, she was the mother of Orpheus by Oeagrus.
PONTOS (Pontus) - Greek
"Sea". Greek sea god. Son of Ouranos (heaven) and Gaia (earth). He may be identical with Okeanos (qv). His mother Gaia became his consort for a time, producing the sea gods Nereus and Phorkys.
POSEIDON - Greek
Greek god of the sea. Son of Kronos and Rhea. He and his siblings were swallowed by Kronos, but they were later rescued by their brother Zeus. The brothers Zeus, Poseidon and Hades later divided the world among themselves, with Poseidon receiving dominion over the sea. His chief consort was Amphitrite. Father of Antaios, Orion and Polyphemos.
Poseidon was secondarily a god of mariners (to whom he may send storms or a fair voyage), of waters in general, and of earthquakes. In the latter capacity he was known as Enosigaios or Enosichthon, meaning "earth-shaker". Athena defeated Poseidon in their famous contest for the allegiance of Athens. While Poseidon offered humanity the boon of the horse, Athena offered the olive. Elsewhere, he helped Apollo build the walls of Troy. However, he became an implacable enemy of Troy after Laomedon refused to pay him, and he sided with the Greeks in the Trojan War.
Poseidon was closely associated with horses as Hippios ("of horses"), and the horse was sacred to him. He fathered many famous horses, including the winged Pegasus by the Gorgon Medusa, and another winged horse, Areon, by Erinys. In Corinth, horse-races were held in his honour. On Argos horses were sacrificed to him by drowning in a whirlpool. Poseidon was generally depicted as an older, bearded man carrying a trident (the three-pronged fisherman's spear). There were temples at Cape Sunium, the southern-most tip of Greece, at Pylos in Crete, and Mount Mykale in Greek Anatolia. Freshwater springs were often consecrated to Poseidon as well. As an oracular deity, he had an oracle at Cape Tainairon and, according to one tradition, he was the first keeper of the oracle at Delphi. Regattas were held in his honour off Cape Sunium. Poseidon's chief festival was the Isthmia, scene of the Isthmian Games, celebrated near the Isthmus of Corinth.
PRIAPOS (Priapus) - Greek
Greek god of fertility. Son of Dionysos and Aphrodite. His cult originated in Phrygia and did not enter Greece proper until the rise of Macedonia under Phillip and Alexander. The cult remained most popular in Greek Anatolia, particularly at Lampsacus on the Hellespont, which was said to have been his birthplace. He was more popular in the country than in the cities. Priapos was depicted as an ugly, satyr-like man with an enormous phallus. His fertility aspect evidenced itself in an indiscriminate sexual appetite, as well as in his role as a god of fruitfulness, notably of gardens, flocks of sheep and goats, and of vines. Ithyphallic statues of Priapos were often placed in gardens. The donkey was his sacred animal, from its presumed sexual appetite. He was also a patron of seafarers and fishermen.
PROMETHEUS - Greek
"Forethought". Greek god and culture hero. Son of the Titan Iapetos and Klymene. Prometheus is best known for the story of his conflict with Zeus. This began when Prometheus tricked Zeus into accepting the bones and fat of a sacrifice instead of the meat. Zeus retaliated by hiding fire from humanity, but Prometheus stole the fire and gave it to mankind. As punishment for this rebellion, Zeus had Prometheus chained to a rock in the Caucasus Mountains, where an eagle fed on his liver, which continually restored itself. Zeus also sent Pandora and her jar of evils to even the score with humanity. As for Prometheus, Herakles eventually killed the eagle and released him. As a culture hero, Prometheus was also given credit for teaching humanity various handicrafts and arts, and he was considered a patron of craftsmen and artisans. According to another tradition, Prometheus actually created humanity, shaping the first man and woman out of clay and water.
PROTEUS - Greek
Greek sea god. Commonly known as the "Old Man of the Sea". Son of Okeanos and Tethys. He was a shepherd of sea creatures , which were his particular concern as a god of the sea. Proteus had the ability to change shape at will, a common trait of Greek sea deities. He was also known for his oracular powers and vast knowledge, but had to be forced to divulge any of his knowledge. In such circumstances, he would use all his skills as a shape- shifter to escape. Proteus was said to live either on the island of Pharos near the mouth of the Nile, or on the island of Carpathus between Crete and Rhodes.
PTAH - Egyptian
God of Craftsmen.
PYTHIA - ('Pythoness') Greek.
Serpent Goddess, daughter of Gaia.
RA - Egyptian
Sun God.
RHADAMANTHYS (Rhadamanthos, Rhadamanthus) - Greek
Greek underworld god. Son of Zeus and Europa. Ruler of Crete who was succeeded as king by his brother Minos. After death he became one of the three judges of the dead in the underworld, along with Aiakos and Minos.
RHEA (Rheia) - Greek
Greek mother of the gods. Daughter of Ouranos (heaven) and Gaia (earth). Consort of Kronos. Mother of Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia, Poseidon and Zeus. When Kronos swallowed his children, Rhea spirited Zeus away to a cave on the island of Crete, substituting a stone wrapped in swaddling cloths for the infant. Rhea was later equated with the Anatolian mother goddess Kybele.
RHIANNON ('Great, or Divine, Queen') - Welsh
Fertility and Otherworld Goddess. Also, Goddess of Horses, Birds, and the Underworld. Great Mother Goddess.
Section S
SABAZIOS (Sabazius, Sabos) - Greek
A Phrygian or Thracian god identified with Dionysos. Perhaps only an epithet of Dionysos. His worship was associated with that of Kybele and Attis, and his cult entered Greece proper in the 5th century BC.
SABA or SADB - Celtic
Wife of Fionn MacCumhal who was lured away from her house by forrest faeries when she was pregnant. After she got lost in the wind, the faeries turned her into a deer. Seek her to aid in magic for animals, or to help you find a familiar.
SATYRS - Greek
Greek woodland gods or spirits. They had a human upper body and the lower body of a goat. They were generally depicted as having dishevelled hair with goat horns and ears, and with an erect penis (ithyphallic). In early Greek art they were portrayed as grotesque in appearance, but Praxiteles began a later tradition in which they were shown as being handsome. The Satyrs were closely associated with Dionysos, and were related to the Silenes.
SCATHACH - Sgathach or Skadi. Irish/Scottish.
"She Who Strikes Fear". The Irish/Scottish Goddess of martial arts. The Destroyer aspect of the Dark Goddess. A great sword warrior and instructor. Native to the Isle of Skye. Teacher of Cuchulain. Patroness of martial arts, prophecy, blacksmiths and magic. Direction: East.
SCENA - Celtic
Wife of Amergin who once had a shrine at the mouth of a River Kenmare. Experiment with her energies as a Goddess of mergers and subtle changes.
SCOTA - Celtic
A Mother Goddess. She died in the war of the Milesians and is said to be buried in a doleman in County Kerry. The Scottish people are said to be named after her.
SEHKMET - Egyptian
Lion Headed Goddess of War and Hunting Cats.
SELENE - Greek
Greek goddess of the moon. Daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. Sister of Helios (sun) and Eos (dawn). Mother of Pandia by Zeus, and of fifty daughters by Endymion. She rode across the sky in a chariot drawn by two white horses. Also a tutelary deity of magicians. Selene was sometimes identified with Artemis as a moon goddess. She became syncretized with Hekate in later Greek mythology. The Romans equated her with Luna. Selene is a Moon Goddess, known for aid in Magick and Solutions.
SEMELE - Greek
Minor Greek goddess. She may have originated as a Phrygian or Thracian earth goddess. Daughter of Cadmus (Kadmos) and Harmonia. According to some traditions, she was the mother of Dionysos by Zeus. The story goes that the jealous Hera tricked her into asking Zeus to prove his divinity to her. When Zeus revealed himself to her in his divine form, Semele, then a mortal, was burned to death by the intensity of his appearance. Zeus later deified her and she took her place among the gods under the name of Thyone.
SEMNAI THEAI - Greek
Greek earth-goddesses.
SEQUANA - Celtic
River Goddess.
SETH - (Also known as Set) Egyptian
God of pestilence; Keeper of the pathways of the negative tree of life.
SHIVA - Hindu
Kali's Consort. God of Birth, Death and Re-birth.
SILENI - Greek
Greek woodland gods or spirits. Similar to the Satyrs (qv), except that they were sometimes said to be half horse, whereas the Satyrs were half goat. The Sileni tended to be depicted as lechers and drunkards, often bald-headed and pot-bellied.
SILENOS (Silenus) - Greek
Minor Greek woodland god. Son of Hermes and Gaia, or of Pan. King of Nysa, and the teacher of Dionysos. One of the Sileni, half-man and either half-horse or half-goat. He was a talented musician.
SIRENS - Greek
Hybrid creatures in Greek mythology who were half bird and half woman. In Homer, there were two Sirens on an island in the western Mediterranean. Their number later increased to three or more. The names most commonly given are Parthenope, Ligeia and Leucosia. They were said to be the daughters either of the sea god Phorkys or of the river god Acheloos. They were depicted in Greek art either as birds with the heads of women, or as winged women with bird legs. They were known for luring sailors to their island with their bewitching song, where their victims starved to death. Odysseus managed to escape them by having his men stop up their ears and tie him to the mast of his boat. When the Argonauts had to pass them, Orpheus sang a song that was even more enchanting than theirs, so that the sailors paid no attention to them.
SOPHIA - ('Wisdom') Ancient Hebrew
Wisdom personified as female; also characteristic of Hebrew and Greek-Hebrew ideology.
STHENO - Greek
One of the Greek Gorgons. Daughter of Phorkys and Ceto. Her sisters were the Graii and her fellow Gorgons, Medusa and Euryale.
STYX - Greek
"Hateful". Greek goddess of the underworld river of the same name. According to Hesiod, she is the daughter of Okeanos and Tethys. Mother of Nike, Bia, Kratos and Zelos by the Titan Hyperion. When the gods swore their most solemn oaths, they drank water drawn from the Styx.
SYRINX - Greek
An Arcadian nymph or Hamadryad who turned herself into a reed to escape the advances of Pan.
TAILLTE (TAWL-tay) - Celtic
A Goddess of Lughnasadh associated with the harvest of the first grains, a feminine fertility symbol. She was the daughter of the Fir Bolg, Magh Mor and wife of Duach the Dark, one of the Tuatha De Danaan.
TEISIPHONE (Tisiphone) - Greek
One of the Erinyes, the Greek avenging goddesses. Daughter of Gaia, impregnated with the blood of the castrated Ouranos. Her sisters and fellow Erinyes were Megaira and Alekto.
TERPSICHORE - Greek
Greek Muse of dancing. Daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. She was depicted with a lyre. According to some traditions, she was also the mother of the Sirens by the river god Acheloos.
TETHYS - Greek
Greek demi-goddess of the sea. One of the Titans. Daughter of Ouranos (heaven) and Gaia (earth). Consort of Okeanos. Mother of the Okeanides.
THALIA (Thaleia) - Greek
Greek Muse of comedy. Daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Hesiod also made her one of the three Charites (Graces), although this may have been a separate individual. As the Muse of comedy, her attributes were the comic mask and a shepherd's staff.
THALLO - Greek
One of the Athenian Horai (Seasons). Thallo was associated with the spring. Daughter of Zeus and Themis. Her sister was Karpo (autumn).
THANATOS - Greek
Greek god of death. More usually Thanatos was merely the abstract principle of death. According to Hesiod, he was the son of Nyx (night) and had no father. Twin brother of Hypnos (sleep).
THEIA (Thea, Euryphaessa) - Greek
Minor Greek goddess. One of the Titans. Daughter of Ouranos (heaven) and Gaia (earth). Consort of her brother Hyperion. Mother of Helios (sun), Eos (dawn) and Selene (moon).
THEMIS - Greek
Greek goddess of justice and order. One of the Titans. Daughter of Ouranos (heaven) and Gaia (earth). She was the second consort of Zeus, after Metis. Mother of the Horai (Seasons) and the Moirai (Fates). She had oracular powers, and was said to have started the oracle at Delphi, which she later gave to Apollo. Her cult was popular throughout Greece, and she shared a temple at Rhamnus in Attica with the goddess Nemesis. She was often represented holding a pair of scales.
THETIS - Greek
Minor Greek goddess or nymph. Daughter of the sea god Nereus. Wife of the mortal Peleus. Mother of Achilles. Thetis attempted to make Achilles invulnerable by dipping him in the waters of the river Styx. It was at her wedding that the goddess Eris rolled the Golden Apple that began the dispute among the gods which eventually led to the Trojan War, in which Achilles died. She lived in the ocean depths attended by a retinue of Nereids.
THOTH - Egyptian
Moon God. God of Reincarnation.
TISIPHONE - Greek
See Teisiphone.
TITANS - Greek
Secondary race of Greek gods. The children of Ouranos (heaven) and Gaia (earth). They formed six married pairs: Kronos and Rhea, Okeanos and Tethys, Hyperion and Theia, Coeus and Phoebe, Iapetos and Clymene, Crius and Eurybia. The Titans were also siblings of the Cyclops and Hekatoncheiroi. Led by Kronos, the Titans overthrew their father Ouranos. In turn, however, they were themselves were overthrown by Zeus and the Cyclops. Zeus then hurled them into the underworld, where he kept them imprisoned.
TRITON - Greek
Minor Greek sea god. He was depicted as a merman, with the upper body of a man and the tail of a dolphin or a fish. Son of Poseidon and Amphitrite. According to Hesiod, he lived with his parents in a golden palace at the bottom of the sea. The Greeks often thought of there being many Tritons rather than just one. His attribute was the conch shell, which he blew as a horn.
TYCHE - Greek
Greek goddess of fate and fortune. According to Hesiod, she was the daughter of Okeanos and Tethys. In Pindar, Zeus is given as her father. She was often associated with Agathos Daimon, the "Good Spirit", and with Nemesis, the goddess of justice and vengeance. Tyche was depicted with a rudder or a cornucopia, and often with wheel as a symbol of the transitory nature of fortune and of the fickle character of the goddess herself. She had a temple at Argos, where the first set of dice were said to have been invented. Her temple at Antioch remained intact at least until the reign of the Roman Emperor Theodosius (AD 379-95).
TYPHON (Typhaon, Typhoeus) - Greek
"Whirlwind". A monster in Greek mythology. Son of Gaia (earth) and Tartaros (underworld). He had a hundred dragon-heads and either snake's feet or a body covered in snakes. His sister and wife was the monster Echidna, by whom he was the father of Cerberus, the Chimaera, the Lernean Hydra, the Nemean Lion, and the Sphinx. At one point, he attacked and imprisoned Zeus, who had to be rescued by Hermes and Pan. Zeus then imprisoned Typhon either in the underworld or under Mt. Aetna. He was believed to cause dangerous winds and earthquakes. Typhon later came to be identified with the Egyptian god Seth.
URANIA - Greek
Greek Muse of astronomy and astrology. Daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Her attributes were the globe (representing the heavenly sphere) and compass.
URANUS - Greek
See Ouranos.
VALKYRIES (Valkyrjr is Old Norse for "Choosers of the slain") - Scandinavian
Odin's Daughters. Female Warriors Who Carried the Souls of heroic Men Killed in Battle to Valhalla. The names of some of the Valkyries are: Hild (warrior), Goll (screaming), Hrist (Shaker), Mist (Mist), Skogul (Raging), Skeggjold (Ax Time), Hlokk (Shrieking), Herfjotur (Host Fetter), Geirahod (Spear Bearer), Randgrid (Shield Bearer), Gunn (Battle), and Rota. The Goddess Freya was Commander of the Valkyries. Freya was entitled to half of the dead heros, and she brought then to her own hall, Sessrumnir. Odin's Favorite of the Valkyries was Brynhild (AKA:Brunnehild, Brunhild, Brunhilda). She disobeyed Odin and he punished her, putting her to sleep in a ring of fire where only a brave hero could go and awaken her.
VENUS (Aphrodite:Greek) - Roman
Goddess of Love, Beauty and Romance.
VESTA - Roman
Goddess of Fire.
ZAGREUS - Greek
Chief god in Greek Orphism. Said in Orphism to be the son of Zeus and Persephone. Zagreus seems to have originated as a pre-Hellenic god of animals and hunting.
ZALMOXIS (Salmoxis) - Greek
Supreme god of the Thracian Getae and Dacians. Known only from the writings of Herodotus. Zalmoxis was said to have taken human form and lived among humans for a time. He then disappeared into the underworld for three years before returning in the fourth year.
ZELOS - Greek
"Zeal". Son of Hyperion and Styx. He was a companion of Zeus.
ZEPHYROS (Zephyrus, Zephyr) - Greek
Greek god of the west wind. Son of Astraios and Eos. Believed to live in a cave in Thrace. Known to the Romans as Favonius.
ZEUS - Greek
Supreme Greek god and head of the Greek pantheon. In addition, Zeus functioned as a sky god or weather god, and as a god of justice and freedom.
Son of the Titans Kronos and Rhea. Consort of Hera. His cult probably dates back to the Mycenean and Minoan civilizations. According to Homer, he lived on Mt. Olympus in Thessaly, where he gathered the other gods under his dominion. After his birth, Rhea saved the infant Zeus from being swallowed by Kronos along with his siblings by substituting a stone dressed in swaddling cloths. She then hid the child in a cave on the island of Crete, where the Kouretes performed a dance in which they clashed their weapons about him in order to drown out his cries. His nurse while in Crete was Amalthea, either a nymph or a goat.
Upon reaching maturity, Zeus overthrew the Titans and forced Kronos to disgorge his siblings. Zeus then cast Kronos into Tartaros and established himself as head of a new pantheon in which he and his siblings had the most prominent roles. He divided dominion over the world with his brothers Poseidon and Hades. Zeus's sexual prowess was legendary, and he either seduced or forced himself upon numerous goddesses, nymphs, and mortal women, fathering countless children in the process. He assumed many different forms in pursuit of his numerous affairs. He appeared to Leda in the form of a swan, to Danae as a shower of gold, and to Europa as a white bull. Ares, Eleithyia and Hephaistos were the most prominent of his children by his official consort Hera, whom he originally seduced in the form of a cuckoo (although some sources say that it was Hera who seduced Zeus). He fathered Apollo and Artemis by Leto, Persephone by Demeter, Hermes by Maia, Dionysos by Semele, the Horai and Moirai by Themis, the Muses by Mnemosyne, and Herakles by Alkmene. Athena was also said to have been born from his forehead after he had swallowed Metis. Zeus may also have had a homosexual relationship with Ganymede, whom he made the cupbearer of the gods.
The cult of Zeus was of universal significance in the Greek world, although his cult was often secondary in individual locations to the local tutelary deity, such as Athena in Athens. Greek households typically had statues of Zeus in their forecourts, and he was often associated with mountaintop shrines. He had temples in every Greek city, two of the more notable being in Athens and at Olympia. His most important festival was at Olympia. The oracle at Dodona in Epirus was dedicated to Zeus. He was depicted as a bearded and physically imposing man of middle age. His most common attributes were the thunderbolt and the eagle.
ZIBELTHIURDOS - Greek
Thracian storm god.