The Deities - The Gods and Goddessess

Celtic Deities

Brighid, Hearth Goddess of Ireland:
A daughter of the Dagda, Brighid is one of the classic triple goddesses of the Celtic pantheon. Many Pagans and Wiccans honor her today as a goddess of the hearth and home, and divination and prophecy.

Cailleach, Ruler of Winter:
Cailleach is known in parts of the Celtic world as the hag, the bringer of storms, the Dark Mother of the winter months. However, she features prominently in mythology and is also a creator goddess.

Cernunnos, Wild God of the Forest:
Cernunnos is the horned god found in many traditions of modern Paganism and Wicca. He is an archetype found predominantly in Celtic regions, and symbolizes fertility and masculine energy.

Cerridwen, Keeper of the Cauldron:
Cerridwen is known in Welsh mythology as the keeper of the Cauldron of the Underworld in which knowledge and inspiration are brewed. She is considered a goddess of prophetic powers, and because her symbol is the Cauldron, she is an honored goddess in many Wiccan and Pagan traditions.

The Dagda, Father God of Ireland:
The Dagda was a father god of the Celtic pantheon, and plays an important role in the stories of the Irish invasions. Learn about the Dagda, and how he ended up making himself lose his own power.

Herne, God of the Wild Hunt:
In British lore, Herne the Hunter is a god of vegetation, vine, and the wild hunt. Similar in many aspects to Cernunnos, Herne is celebrated in the autumn months, when the deer go into rut. He is seen as a god of the common folk, and is typically recognized only around the Windsor Forest area of Berkshire, England.

Lugh, Master of Skills:
Lugh is the Celtic god honored for his skills and gifts as a craftsman. He is the god of blacksmiths, metal-workers and artisans. In his aspect as a harvest god, he is honored on August 1, on the festival known as Lughnasadh or Lammas.

The Morrighan, Goddess of War and Sovereignty:
The Morrighan is known as a Celtic war goddess, but there's a lot more to her than that. Learn about this ancient patron of Celtic warriors, and why some Pagans still pay her tribute today.

Rhiannon, Horse Goddess of Wales:
In the Welsh mythological cycle, the Mabinogion, Rhiannon is known as a goddess of the horse. However, she also plays a crucial role in the kingship of Wales.

Taliesin, Chief of the Bards:
Although Taliesin is a documented historical figure in Welsh history, he has managed to become elevated to the status of a minor god. Learn why this patron of bards and poets is so important in Welsh myth cycles.

Egyptian Deities

Anubis, God of Funerals and Embalming:
Anubis is known as being a jackal-headed god of the dead, but he plays a significant role in the tale of Isis and Osiris. Find out why Anubis was important to the ancient Egyptians.

Bast, the Cat Goddess:
In ancient Egypt, cats were often worshipped as deities, Bast was one of the most highly honored feline gods. Also called Bastet, she was a goddess of sex and fertility. Originally, she was portrayed as a lioness, but was sometimes portrayed with kittens beside her, as an homage to her role as a goddess of fertility.

Geb, God of Earth:
In the ancient Egyptian religion, Geb is known as the god of the earth and is the first king of Egypt. He is often portrayed lying beneath the sky goddess, Nut. In his role as a god of earth, he is a fertility deity. Plants grow within his body, the dead are imprisoned inside him, and earthquakes are his laughter. He is more than a god of the surface of the earth - in fact, he is a god of everything contained within the earth.

Hathor, Patron of Women:
In Egyptian religion, Hathor was a predynastic goddess who embodied femininity, love and the joy of motherhood. In addition to being a symbol of fertility, she was known as a goddess of the underworld, in that she welcomed the newly departed to the West.

Isis, Mother Goddess:
Originally a funerary goddess, Isis was the lover of Osiris. After his death, she used her magic to resurrect him. Isis is honored for her role as the mother of Horus, one of Egypt's most powerful gods. She was also the divine mother of every pharoah of Egypt, and ultimately of Egypt itself.

Ma'at, Goddess of Truth and Balance:
Maat is the Egyptian goddess of truth and justice. She is married to Thoth, and is the daughter of Ra, the sun god. In addition to truth, she embodies harmony, balance and divine order. In Egyptian legends, it is Maat who steps in after the universe is created, and brings harmony amidst the chaos and disorder.

Osiris, King of Egyptian Gods:
Osiris was the son of earth and sky, and beloved of Isis. He is known as the god who taught mankind the secrets of civilization. Today, he is honored by some Pagans as a god of the underworld and of the harvest.

Ra, the Sun God:
Ra was the ruler of the heavens. He was the god of the sun, the bringer of light, and patron to the pharaohs. According to legend, the sun travels the skies as Ra drives his chariot through the heavens. Although he originally was associated only with the midday sun, as time went by, Ra became connected to the sun's presence all day long.

Taweret, Guardian of Fertility:
Taweret was an Egyptian goddess of childbirth and fertility - but for a while, she was considered a demon. Associated with the hippopotomus, Taweret is a goddess who watches over and protects women in labor and their new babies.

Thoth, God of Magic and Wisdom:
Thoth was an Egyptian god who spoke as the tongue of Ra. Find out what's special about this ibis-headed deity of ancient Egypt, and how he factors in to the story of Isis and Osiris.

Greek Deities

Aphrodite, Goddess of Love:
Aphrodite was a goddess of love and romance. She was honored by the ancient Greeks, and is still celebrated by many modern Pagans. According to legend, she was born fully formed from the white sea form that arose when the god Uranus was castrated. She came ashore on the island of Cyprus, and later was married off by Zeus to Hephaistos, the deformed craftsman of Olympus. A festival was held regularly to honor Aphrodite, appropriately called the Aphrodisiac. At her temple in Corinth, revelers often paid tribute to Aphrodite by having rambunctious sex with her priestesses.

Ares, God of War:
Ares was a Greek god of war, and son of Zeus by his wife Hera. He was known not only for his own exploits in battle, but also for getting involved in disputes between others. Furthermore, he often served as an agent of justice.

Artemis, the Huntress:
Artemis was a Greek goddess of the hunt, and like her twin brother Apollo possessed a wide variety of attributes. Some Pagans still honor her today because of her connection to times of female transition. Artemis was the Greek goddess of both hunting and childbirth. She protected women in labor, but also brought them death and sickness. Numerous cults dedicated to Artemis sprouted up around the Greek world, most of which were connected to women's mysteries, such as childbirth, puberty, and motherhood.

Athena, the Warrior Goddess:
As a goddess of war, Athena often shows up in Greek legend to assist various heroes -- Heracles, Odysseus and Jason all got a helping hand from Athena. In classical myth, Athena never took any lovers, and was often revered as Athena the Virgin, or Athena Parthenos. Although technically, Athena is a warrior goddess, she is not the same sort of war god that Ares is. While Ares goes to war with frenzy and chaos, Athena is the goddess who helps warriors make wise choices that will eventually lead to victory.

Demeter, Dark Mother of the Harvest:
Perhaps the best known of all the harvest mythologies is the story of Demeter and Persephone. Demeter was a goddess of grain and of the harvest in ancient Greece. Her daughter, Persephone, caught the eye of Hades, god of the underworld.By the time she finally recovered her daughter, Persephone had eaten six pomegranate seeds, and so was doomed to spend six months of the year in the underworld.

Eros, God of Passion and Lust:
Ever wonder where the word "erotic" comes from? Well, it has a lot to do with Eros, the Greek god of and lust. Often described as a son of Aphrodite by her lover Ares, the god of war, Eros was a Greek god of lust and primal sexual desire. In fact, the word erotic comes from his name. He is personified in all kinds of love and lust -- heterosexual and homosexual -- and was worshipped at the center of a fertility cult that honored both Eros and Aphrodite together.

Gaia, the Earth Mother:
Gaia was known as the life force from which all other beings sprang, including the earth, the sea and the mountains. A prominent figure in Greek mythology, Gaia is also honored by many Wiccans and Pagans today. Gaia herself caused life to spring forth from the earth, and is also the name given to the magical energy that makes certain locations sacred.

Hecate, Goddess of Magic and Sorcery:
Hecate has a long history as a goddess, from her days in pre-Olympian times to the present. As a goddess of childbirth, she was often invoked for rites of puberty, and in some cases watched over maidens who were beginning to menstruate. Eventually, Hecate evolved to become a goddess of magic and sorcery. She was venerated as a mother goddess, and during the Ptolemaic period in Alexandria was elevated to her position as goddess of ghosts and the spirit world.

Hera, Goddess of Marriage:
Hera is known as the first of Greek goddesses. As wife of Zeus, she's the leading lady of all the Olympians. Despite her husband's philandering ways -- or perhaps because of them -- she is the guardian of marriage and the sanctity of the home. She was known to fly into jealous tirades, and wasn’t above using her husband's illegitimate offspring as weapons against their own mothers. Hera also played a crucial role in the story of the Trojan War.

Hestia, Guardian of Hearth and Home:
Many cultures have a goddess of hearth and domesticity, and the Greeks were no exception. Hestia was the deity who watched over the home fires, and offered sanctuary and protection to strangers. She was honored with the first offering at any sacrifice made in the home. On a public level, Hestia's flame was never allowed to burn out. The local town hall served as a shrine for her -- and any time a new settlement was formed, settlers would take a flame from their old village to the new one.

Nemesis, Goddess of Retribution:
Nemesis was a Greek goddess of revenge and retribution. In particular, she was invoked against those whose hubris and arrogance got the better of them, and served as a force of divine reckoning. Originally, she was a deity who simply doled out what people had coming to them, whether good or bad.

Priapus, God of Lust and Fertility:
Priapus is best known for his huge and constantly erect phallus, but he was also considered a god of protection. According to legend, before his birth, Hera cursed Priapus with impotence as payback for Aphrodite's involvement in the whole Helen of Troy fiasco. Doomed to spend his life ugly and unloved, Priapus was tossed down to earth when the other gods refused to let him live on Mount Olympus. He was seen as a protector deity in rural areas. In fact, statues of Priapus were often adorned with warnings, threatening trespassers, male and female alike, with acts of sexual violence as punishment.

Zeus, Ruler of Olympus:
Zeus is the ruler of all the gods in the Greek pantheon, as well as the distributor of justice and law. He was honored every four years with a great celebration at Mt. Olympus. Although he is married to Here, Zeus is well known for his philandering ways. Today, many Hellenic Pagans still honor him as ruler of Olympus.

Norse Deities

Baldur, God of Light:
Because of his association with resurrection, Baldur is often connected to the cycle of death and rebirth. Baldur was beautiful and radiant, and was beloved by all the gods. Read on to learn about Baldur, and why he's so important in Norse mythology.

Freyja, Goddess of Abundance and Fertility:
Freyja is a Scandinavian goddess of fertility and abundance. Freyja could be called upon for assistance in childbirth and conception, to aid with marital problems, or to bestow fruitfulness upon the land and sea. She was known to wear a magnificent necklace called Brisingamen, which represents the fire of the sun, and was said to weep tears of gold. In the Norse Eddas, Freyja is not only a goddess of fertility and wealth, but also of war and battle. She also has connections to magic and divination.

Frigga, Goddess of Marriage and Prophecy:
Frigga was the wife of Odin, and had a powerful gift of prophecy.In some stories she is portrayed as weaving the future of men and gods, although she did not have the power to change their destiny. She is credited in some of the Eddas with the development of runes, and she is known in some Norse tales as the Queen of Heaven.

Heimdall, Protector of Asgard:
Heimdall is a god of light, and is the keeper of the Bifrost Bridge, which serves as the path between Asgard and Midgard in Norse mythology. He is the guardian of the gods, and when the world ends at Ragnarok, Heimdall will sound a magical horn to alert everyone. Heimdall is ever-vigilant, and is destined to be the last to fall at Ragnarok.

Hel, Goddess of the Underworld:
Hel features in Norse legend as the goddess of the underworld. She was sent by Odin to Helheim/Niflheim to preside over the spirits of the dead, except for those who were killed in battle and went to Valhalla. It was her job to determine the fate of the souls who entered her realm.

Loki, the Trickster:
Loki is known as a trickster. He is described in the Prose Edda as a "contriver of fraud". Although he doesn’t appear often in the Eddas, he is generally described as a member of the family of Odin. Despite his divine or demi-god status, there's little evidence to show that Loki had a following of worshippers of his own; in other words, his job was mostly to make trouble for other gods, men, and the rest of the world. A shapeshifter who could appear as any animal, or as a person of either sex, Loki was constantly meddling in the affairs of others, mostly for his own amusement.

Njord, God of the Sea:
Njord was a mighty sea god, and was married to Skadi, the goddess of the mountains. He was sent to the Aesir as a hostage by the Vanir, and became a high priest of their mysteries.

Odin, Ruler of the Gods:
Odin was a shapeshifter, and frequently roamed the world in disguise. One of his favorite manifestations was that of a one-eyed old man; in the Norse Eddas, the one-eyed man appears regularly as a bringer of wisdom and knowledge to heroes. He pops up in everything from the saga of the Volsungs to Neil Gaiman's American Gods. He was typically accompanied by a pack of wolves and ravens, and rode on a magic horse named Sleipnir.

Thor, the God of Thunder:
Thor and his powerful lightning bolt have been around for a long time. Some Pagans still continue to honor him today. He is typically portrayed as red-headed and bearded, and carrying Mjolnir, a magical hammer. As keeper of thunder and lightning, he was also considered integral to the agricultural cycle. If there was a drought, it wouldn’t hurt to offer a libation to Thor in hopes that the rains would come.

Tyr, the Warrior God:
Tyr (also Tiw) is the god of one-on-one combat. He is a warrior, and a god of heroic victory and triumph. Interestingly, he is portrayed as having only one hand, because he was the only one of the Aesir brave enough to place his hand in the mouth of Fenrir, the wolf.

Roman Deities

Bacchus, God of Wine and Fertility:
Bacchus earned the title of "party god" among the ancient Romans. In fact, a drunken orgy is still called a bacchanalia, and for good reason. Devotees of Bacchus whipped themselves into a frenzy of intoxication, and in the spring Roman women attended secret ceremonies in his name. Bacchus was associated with fertility, wine and grapes, as well as sexual free-for-alls.

Bona Dea, Fertility Goddess:
Bona Dea was a goddess of fertility. In an interesting paradox, she was also a goddess of chastity and virginity. Honored originally as an earth goddess, she was an agricultural deity, and was often invoked to protect the area from earthquakes. Unlike many Roman goddesses, Bona Dea seems to have been particularly honored by the lower social classes. Slaves and plebian women who were trying to conceive a child might make offerings to her in hopes of being granted a fertile womb.

Cupid, God of Love:
Cupid was the Roman version of Eros, the god of love. As Eros, he was dark and full of lust and desire. Eventually, though, he evolved into the image we have today of a chubby cherub, flitting about zapping people with his arrows. In particular, he enjoyed matching people up with odd partners, and this eventually ended up being his own undoing.

Cybele, the Mother Goddess:
Cybele, a mother goddess of Rome, was at the center of a rather bloody Phrygian cult, and was sometimes known as Magna Mater, or "great goddess." As part of their worship, priests performed mysterious rites in her honor. Of particular note was the sacrifice of a bull performed as part of an initiation into Cybele's cult.

Diana, the Huntress:
Much like the Greek Artemis, Diana began as a goddess of the hunt who later evolved into a lunar goddess. Honored by the ancient Romans, Diana was a huntress, and stood as a guardian of the forest and of the animals who resided within. Despite her virginal status, Diana later became known as a protector of women in childbirth.

Janus, the Two Faced God:
Janus was the god of new beginnings. He was associated with doors and gates, and the first steps of a journey. The month of January -- of course, falling at the beginning of the new year -- is named in his honor. He is often invoked together with Jupiter, and is considered a high-ranking god. Janus is associated with powers of prophecy, in addition to gates and doors.

Juno, Guardian of Marriage:
Juno was the goddess who watched over women and marriage in ancient Rome. Her annual festival was known as the Matronalia.

Mars, the God of War:
Mars was the Roman god of war, and is one of the most commonly worshipped deities in ancient Rome. Because of the nature of Roman society, nearly every healthy patrician male had some connection to the military, so it is logical that Mars was highly revered throughout the Empire.

Pomona, Goddess of Apples:
Pomona was a Roman goddess who was the keeper of orchards and fruit trees. Unlike many other agricultural deities, Pomona is not associated with the harvest itself, but with the flourishing of fruit trees. She is usually portrayed bearing a cornucopia or a tray of blossoming fruit. She doesn’t appear to have had any Greek counterpart at all, and is uniquely Roman.

Venus, Goddess of Love and Beauty:
Venus was a goddess of love and beauty. Originally, she was believed to be associated with gardens and fruitfulness, but later took on all the aspects of Aphrodite from the Greek traditions. She is considered by many to be the ancestor of the Roman people, and was the lover of the god Vulcan. The cult of Venus was based in the city of Lavinium, and her temple there became the home of a festival known as the Vinalia Rustica.

Vesta, Protector of Virginity:
Vesta was a Roman goddess who guarded virginity. Sacred to women, she was a protector of marital fidelity. Her festival, the Vestalia, was celebrated every year in June, and was a time in which the inner sanctum of the Vestal Temple was opened for all women to visit and make offerings to the goddess. The Vestales, or Vestal Virgins, guarded a sacred flame at the temple, and swore thirty-year vows of chastity.