Goddesses Lore

The names of many Goddesses have been inherited by the contemporary Western world as relics, dusty curiosities to be occasionally dusted off, displayed for the amusement, and then put away again. The power of these names, the power of the entities which once claimed these names, has been forgotten. The temples are in ruins, the prayers forgotten, the devotion of the faithful considered odd, heathenish, superstitious. The sacred stories have been relegated to history texts and children's books; the stories are no longer sacred, but interesting anthropological specimens to be studied and dissected for what they can reveal about the ancients; or, they are fables, legends, exciting tales to entertain ingenuous children.
And so the stories remained, black ink on white paper, stripped of much of their energy and vitality, truly alive to only an imaginative few. But remain they did, and now they are being reclaimed.
Whether one considers the ancient Goddesses living entities, or manifestations of a Unitary One, or psychological archetypes, or models of feminine potential, is irrelevant: They are re-entering our modern lives, and bringing with Them all of Their vitality, anger, power, sensuality, charisma and wisdom.
The reasons for Their return are many. The Goddesses call to the dissatisified, those who have found wanting mainstream Western religions, political institutions and even whole cultures--all male-centered. Many find the religions of their mothers and grandmothers dissatisfying; perhaps it is the missing female element which makes the religion so; perhaps it is the position of man over woman (literally and figuratively); perhaps it is the emphasis on the spiritual over the physical and mental, the human over the animal and natural, the logical over the illogical, the rational over the intuitive, the implicit Otherness of woman and her experiences.
Women's fight for political and economic justice has also sparked the return of the Goddesses; as women struggled with institutions and individuals, they were often confronted with established, patriarchal, religiously-justified images of Woman as weak, apathetic, mild, and so on. Some women sought to counter these established images and attitudes, and so they searched through tomes of religion and history and mythology for Matrons of their own. They found buried and misinterpreted and reinterpreted stories of Woman as warrior, scholar, Matriarch and Goddess. Some of these images were found within the mainstream religions: Eve, Sarah, Hagar, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah, Tamar, Abigail, Deborah, Judith, Jael, Esther, Miriam, Hannah; Anne, Elizabeth, the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, Thekla, tens of hundreds of Christian Saints; Khadijah, A'iasha, Fatimah, the many Saints of the Sufi. As the women's rights struggle spread to other parts of the world, the women of Africa, Asia and South America also turned to books of religion and mythology and folklore for images of strong, determined women.
Simultaneous with the growth of the women's rights movement has been the surge of interest in women's studies and herstory; that is, women's relationships with men in the past and present, with children, with one another, and their perceptions of the world and of themselves. Each aspect of the women's studies movement contributes to the ever-growing picture of women's places in and contributions to human civilization. Some studies look broadly at women's economic contribution and place, her social standing, and attitudes about her. Other studies focus on much narrower topics, such as women in the internment camps of World War II America, or lesbians in Medieval England, or Jewish healers in Byzantium. Still other studies have looked at the relationship between women and religion, both ancient and modern; they have studied the change from Goddess to God, read the myths of rape and murder, studied the laws which limited women's rights, translated the theological tracts which listed her vices and virtues; and in so doing have uncovered many lost tales of heras*, scholars, healers and Goddesses.
I tell here the tales of a few of these Goddesses. Some are well-known only to academics, others are familiar to laywomen and -men everywhere. The temples and sacred sites of some of these Goddesses long ago were destroyed and fell to ruin, while others are centers of tourism. Other temples and sacred sites--particularly in the East and South, where the Goddesses were never forgotten--are still the site of devout pilgrimage. Much of the information presented here can be found on other sites along the Highway or in the college classroom or on the shelves at the library. Rather than present simple facts, then, I have endeavoured to return to life these ancient names through the art of storytelling. Her name and a brief biography can be found at the site of each Goddess, followed by a short story detailing Her attributes, relationships, myths and areas of expertise. I hope the reader finds this a welcome change from the usually sterile recitation of facts and attributes.
As always, please mail me, as any criticism or suggestion is welcome, and any submission which I include will be duly credited.
*Hera is actually the correct feminine form of "hero," not heroine or shero. Herais is another correct form.

African Goddesses
According to generally accepted evolutionary theory, Africa is the ancient home of all human kind--all homo sapiens can trace their descent from the peoples who first walked upright across Africa's mountains and plains. Their footprints have been found in the ash of volcanic explosions.
Civilizations great and small arose and fell on this continent. Egypt, for instance, profiled in a separate section. Great Zimbawe, Meroe, Christian Ethiopia, Benin, Mali, Ghana, the Muslim cities of the north, Timbuktu, Bono and Ife were all thriving political states. Many grew rich on trade with the north: great caravans of camels crossed the barrier of the Sahara, carrying gold, ivory, rare animal skins, ostrich feathers and cola nuts. Interestingly, the stability of the entire European and Northern African economic system depended on a steady supply of gold from the Sub-Saharan south. There are also the Ban (or Bushmen), the Zulu, the Yoruba, the Bantu, the Songhai, the Berber and so many, many others whose names and ways have been forgotten, erased or simply considered unimportant.
As the oldest inhabited continent, Africa should present us with a rich tradition of mythology, folklore, hero tales and ritual. And, to an extent, it does so: the Goddess tales presented here reflect the surviving diversity. These are tales of creation and forewarning; they extol virtues and vices of peoples long dead and still extant; they reveal ways of living, nomadic, pastoral, aggressive and peaceful.
But much of African culture has been lost or altered. Some was lost through natural processes: cultures changed, and so rituals and tales which no longer communicated a society's mores were abandoned. Climates changed--the Sahara was once a great grassland dotted with lakes and forests--and so the tales and lifestyles of the people altered as they adapted. Cultures died because of disease or invasion, and so their ways passed into the mists. Many African cultures had no written language, and so when the people died, the heritage died with them; other cultures, such as Meroe, produced a written language which has yet to be deciphered. But so much more of African culture was lost or altered in response to other stimuli: Arab Muslims swept across the northern portion of the continent in the seventh and eighth centuries of the common era, converting and conquering; along the eastern coast, also, Arab Muslims converted, conquered or enslaved. (It is now speculated by African historians that, as many Africans converted to Islam out of religious conviction, perhaps an equal number converted to avoid enslavement or augment trading relations.) A significant portion of the contemporary Muslim population is African or of African-descent. By the fifteenth century of the common era, perhaps sooner, European Christians had arrived. And with them, centuries of exploitation, enslavement and death.
This is not to say that native Africans were apathetic or weak, and were simply swept along by the "superior" Arab Muslims and Europeans. Far from it. And while there is no doubt of the negative impact of these contacts, there was also the great blooming in commerce and culture which arose out of the intermingling of diverse peoples. Western historians have recently begun to take an interest in the African perspective of that era. They have discovered that enemy African tribes often sold prisoners of war to Arab Muslims and Europeans, and so directly influenced the development of the slave trade; they have found tales of queens leading warriors against Europeans and Arabs; of great trade routes and sophisticated trading networks stretching the length of the continent; of merchants grown rich on trade in gold and ostrich feathers; of kings welcoming scholars and bureaucrats from the north and east to help govern kingdoms. As the centuries passed, native governments were overthrown or became puppets. Europe entered an era of empire building; competition was fierce, and Africa one of the primary battlegrounds. Foreign economic, political and societal structures were imposed over native structures. Peoples were divided into artificial political units which did not coincide with existing linguistic and ethnic lines. Some nations, with their independence from Europe, gained great natural wealth because of those artificial lines, while others were left poor.
And so we come to today. Africa is a continent riven by ethnic hatred; class, wealth, linguistic, religious, and geographical divisions; illiteracy; ecocidal deforestation and poaching; famine and drought; and a population explosion. Yet it is also home to soaring mountains, deserts that bloom in spring, elephants and cheetahs, and, above all, a people courageous, determined and imaginative. Those of us of European and Arabic descent do, to an extent, have a responsibility to make amends for what our ancestors did: Africa needs our economic, political and spiritual support. But Africans themselves--shopkeeper, engineer, teacher, nurse, shaman, shepherd, general, farmer, professor-- must ultimately guide their continent into a more stable, equitable, prosperous and peaceful future.

Aha Njoku, Lady of Yams

This popular Goddess is worshipped by the Ibo people of Nigeria. She is responsible for yams, a central ingredient in the Ibo diet, and the women who care for them.

Aja, Lady of Forest Herbs

This forest Goddess is honored by the Yoruba people of Nigeria. She teaches Her faithful the use of medicinal herbs found in the African forests.

Ala, Earth Mother

This much-loved Earth Mother is the highest Goddess of the Ibo pantheon of Nigeria. She is responsible for many aspects of civilization, as well as guardianship of women and children in general.

Dziva, Lady Creatrix

Dziva is the generally benevolent Creatrix Goddess of the Shona people of Zimbabwe--but there is also an awful aspect to Her nature....

Gbadu, Holy Daughter

Gbadu is the daughter of Mawu (profiled below). She is the Goddess of Fate of the Fon (or Dahomey) people of modern Benin, Who is saddened by the fighting among Her Mother's mortal children.

Inkosazana, Lady Heaven

She is a popular and much-loved Goddess of the well-known Zulu people of Southern Africa. She is responsible primarily for cereal grains, an important element of the Zulu diet.

Mawu, Lady Supreme

Mawu is the Supreme Deity of the Fon (or Dahomey) people of modern Benin. With Her husband, Lisa, She created the universe. They are sometimes presented as Mawu-Lisa the great androgymous Creator. One of Her daughters is Gbadu (profiled above).

Mbaba Mwana Waresa, Lady Rainbow

Mbaba Mwana Waresa is a beloved Goddess of the Zulu people of Southern Africa, primarily because She gave them the gift of beer. The story of Her search for a husband is well-known, and recently appeared in a beautifully illustrated children's book.

Mella, Courageous Daughter

Mella's story is as much folklore as it is myth. She is a deified Queen honored by the Buhera Ba Rowzi people of Zimbabwe.

Minona, Protectress

This Protectress of Women is honored by the Fon (or Dahomey) people of Benin. In some tales, She is the Mother of Mawu and the Grandmother of Gbadu (both profiled above).

Oshun, Lady of Sweet Waters

Oshun is one of the few native African Goddesses whose name is recognized in the West. She is honored by the Yoruba people of Nigeria primarily as a Goddess of fresh water, an element important to any people. She is also responsible for fertility, love and divination

Asian Goddesses
Asia, the largest of the world's continents, stretches from the Ural Mountains of Russia to the islands of the Pacific, from the North Pole to the islands of the Indian Ocean. Here, out of simple expediency, Asia includes only China, Japan and Korea. Nations and regions which should be more correctly included here, are instead given their own sections: India, Tibet, the Near East and South-East Asia. Siberia and Mongolia are included in the separate Eastern Europe section.
As the largest of the world's continents, Asia is home to an immense diversity of geographic regions, linguistic and ethnic groups, and cultures. From the Takla Makan Desert of China to lofty Mount Fujiyama, from the oppressed Ainu of Japan to the one billion-plus who are called Chinese, from the near-extinct Ainu dialect to the eight official languages in China, from the hand-planted rice paddies of rural Jianxi province to metropolitan Seoul, from fishing villages on the coast of Hokkaido to automotive shipyards crowding the docks--all is Asia. Religions of the region are equally diverse: social contract-minded Confucianism and mystical Taoism, reverential ancestor worship and nature-honoring Shinto, enlightenment-seeking Buddhism and imported and adapted Christianity.
Only a miniscule sampling of that rich heritage is presented here. The Goddesses profiled are shamanic, Taoist, Buddhist, Shinto and Ainu. Their stories tell of creation, love, enlightenment, war, and nature. Some are purely mythical tales, some are of political origin, some phenomenological, while others appear to be based on historic persons and incidents; many are an ambiguous mixture of all of these.
In the tales of Europeans, Asia was always a land of the exotic: perfumes, silks, dragons, spices, fantastically wealthy empires, grand palaces, barbarians and scholars and sorcerers. It was a land unknown to Europeans and many Muslims, and so adventures great and fantastic were set there. Folktales and adventure tales are filled with accounts of heroes and heras traveling to "the East" in search of wealth, fame, land and love.
On many Medieval and Renaissance maps, Asia was synonymous with Cathay, the name for China. The Romans knew of China, and traded with that nation for centuries. Overland trade routes were lost after the collapse of Rome. Only as Europe began to claw its way out of the Dark Ages were the trade routes rediscovered, and the existence of China/Asia re-confirmed. Even then, Muslim traders acted as middlemen in dealings between China/Asia and the West, and in so doing reaped a huge profit. It was the frustration over these middlemen and their exorbitant fees, and greed for direct access to the wealth of the East, which drove the Europeans to seek their own routes to Asia.
China was long the dominant power of the region; at its height, the Sons of Heaven ruled much of present-day China, as well as South-East Asia. They called their land "The Middle Kingdom" and considered it the center of the universe; all else was peripheral. Traditional Chinese religion reflected the earthly bureaucracy of the Empire: Gods were variously referred to as "Ministers" of this or that heavenly ministry, and the heavens were divided into regions, much as the earth was divided. Early Japan borrowed much of its political structure and even written script from the Chinese; Buddhism was imported via China and melded with native Shinto. Korea, tiny island peninsula, was rarely an independent nation; it was variously the colony of China or Japan, or a puppet state of one or the other. Even today, some do not consider Korea entirely free; rather, a puppet of the United States. If the paranoid suspicions of North Korea for South and South Korea for North can be resolved, than reunification and true independence may one day be achieved. 

Amaterasu, Mistress Sun

Her full name is Ama-terasu-o-mi-kami and She is the much-loved, benevolent Goddess of the Sun. She is the highest Deity of the ancient Shinto faith of Japan. Her worship flourished prior to 1945, at which time it was attacked by the occupying American force as too nativistic and nationalistic. Amaterasu, highest expression of the Spirit of Nature, would serve well as Matron of a Japanese environmental movement.

Benten, Lady Fortune

Benten, also known as Benzaiten, is the beloved Goddess of Luck of the Shinto faith. Of the Seven Deities of Luck (or Happiness), She is the only female.

Bixia Yuanjin, Princess of Clouds

This Chinese Taoist Goddess is Matron of dawn and childbirth, as well as destiny. Dawn and childbirth are two concepts often, and quite understandably, linked in world mythology: the rising of the sun, the bringing of light to the earth, is equated with the child emerging from the darkness of the womb to the light of the world.

Fuji, Mother Mountain

Fuji the mountain is well-known in the West, often pictured in travel guides and on post cards. But Fuji (or Fujiyama) is also an ancient fire Goddess of the Ainu, the indigenous people of Japan. Following the arrival of modern Japanese people, the Ainu were decimated and driven north; they now reside on the northern island of Hokkaido.

Inari, Lady Vixen

This Shinto Goddess is often personified as a vixen, or female fox. She is responsible for smithcraft and rice, as well as love and prosperity. Curiously, some myths present Inari as a God, rather than a Goddess.

Jiutinan Xuannu, Dark Maiden

This charming love story comes from China. It is also revealing of the traditional role of Chinese women.

Kamui-fuchi, Lady Hearth

This Hearth Goddess of the Ainu people of Japan is known as the Supreme Ancestress. She may be a deified tribal mother, or the spirit of female reproductivity and the home.

Kuan-Yin, Merciful One

After Amaterasu, Kuan-Yin is the most well-known Asian Goddess in the West. She is worshipped primarily in China, but also in India, Japan (under the name Kwannon), Korea (as Kwanseieun) and South-East Asia. Kuan-Yin is more correctly a Buddhist boddhisattva, rather than a Goddess; however, in scholar analyses of Goddesses (such as David Kinsley's THE GODDESSES' MIRROR), Kuan-Yin is included alongside more recognizable Divine Women, and so She is included here.

Mo Ye, Sword Smith

This heroic saga comes to us from China. Mo Ye may have been a real woman, since some elements of Her story are historical; others, though, are quite fantastical and transport the tale into the realm of fantasy and myth.

Mulhalmoni, Healing Waters

This Korean Goddess is the special Matron of women shamans. She is called on especially to heal ailments of the eye

Nugua, Lady Dragon

Ancient China was a Goddess-worshipping culture, perhaps even a matriarchal (mother-ruled) culture. This story of creation comes from that ancient age.

Onne-chip-kamui, Grandmother Tree

Her name means "Old Boat Goddess" and Her tale comes from the native Ainu of Japan. This is a beautiful story of maturation and exploration.

Tatsu-ta-hime, Lady Wind

This Shinto Goddess oversees the wind and the season of autumn. Along with the God Tatsua-hiko, faithful pray to Her for an abundant harvest.

Xi Hou, Lady of Ten Suns

This Chinese Goddess is the Mother of Ten Suns. The idea of many suns, rather than one, each shining on a different day, is rare but not unheard of. The ancient Irish, for instance, conceived of two s

Central American Goddesses
As defined here, Central America includes the cultures/regions of Mexico, Central America proper (or MesoAmerica), and the islands of the Caribbean. For an overview of the Goddesses of Latin America as a whole, see also South American Goddesses.
The most well-known pre-Columbian inhabitants of Central America are the Maya and the Aztecs. The Maya flourished from 250-900 CE. Ruins of cities such as Tikal and Bonampak have been found throughout southern Mexico, Gautemala, northern Belize and western Honduras. The Maya inherited many of the inventions and innovations of earlier cultures, such as the Olmec and Teotihuacan, but were equally inventive themselves. They developed astronomy, beautiful ceremonial architecture, a complex hieroglyphic writing system and a sophisticated, two-pronged calendrical system. An elite priesthood and nobility ruled over the majority of Maya, who farmed maize, squash, beans and chili peppers. For reasons still unclear, the Maya civilization began to decline about 900 CE; many cities were simply abandoned, while others were destroyed in violent internecine warfare. Contrary to popular belief, the Maya are not extinct; many still live in the southern provinces of Mexico. In recent years, the Mexican government has faced increasingly militant and violent native uprisings, many centered around a demand for equitable distribution of viable farmland and justice for women raped and abused by Mexican soldiers.
The Aztecs are another well-known Central American people. The Aztecs flourished in what is now central Mexico in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries of the common era; their capital, Tenochtitlan, now lies beneath Ciudad de Mexico. The central symbols of their foundation myth--eagle, snake, cactus--now appear on the Mexican flag. A despotic and militaristic people, they eventually came to rule some four hundred to five hundred of the surrounding tribes. (They have been Eurocentrically referred to as the "Romans of the Americas.") The Aztecs were gifted agriculturalists, who introduced irrigation, drained swamps, created artificial islands and cultivated all arable land. The Aztecs are most often remembered (and vilified) for their bloody religious rituals, which often centered around live human sacrifice. While I agree that human sacrifice is indeed a horrific custom, it must not be condemned out of ignorance, but must be understood within the context of its culture. The Aztecs, much like the Maya, believed that blood was the life-force of the universe; their Deities needed blood, preferably human, to survive. If the Gods and Goddesses died, there would be no rain, no maize crop, and humans too would die. It was a symbiotic relationship. The Aztec were finally overthrown by the Spanish in 1521 CE, who were aided by many of the tribes subjugated by the Aztecs.  
Originally home to a diversity of Native American peoples, Central America has since been colonized by Europeans and Africans, each bringing their own culture and religion. Europeans came primarily from Spain, but also the British Isles. Africans came from a host of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, most originating along the western coast of that continent; the majority were imported as slaves. Languages mixed: "bastardized" forms of English, Spanish and French combined with the various Native American and African dialects to produce a variety of tongues, from rhythmic Jamaican English to distinct mountain tongues. Many people are today bilingual or trilingual, speaking English and/or Spanish, and one or two native dialects. Ethnicities intermingled; it is rare to find anyone of purely European or African descent; pure Native American ancestry is more common. Catholicism is officially the dominant faith of the region; in many cases, however, Catholic Saints were simply substituted for native Gods and Goddesses, and traditional practices continued. In more isolated, less developed regions, native religions thrive. The intermixing of the ways and faiths of Native Americans, Europeans and Africans has produced beautiful and, to outsiders, often bizarre faiths and Deities. The most well-known, and least understood, are Santeria and Vodoun (or Voodoo).
Central America is today a region of contrasts. Ethnic rivalries are common in some areas. Political unrest and poverty have produced numerous armed uprisings. Metropolitan Cuidad de Mexico stands in sharp contrast to poverty-stricken Haiti. During the 1970s and 1980s, Central America was one of the battlegrounds of the Cold War. The United States and the Soviet Union each exploited the region's class and economic conflicts to their own ends. Only now are the terrible Civil Wars ending, the tyrannical regimes falling. Central America is entering what many predict to be an era of peace and prosperity. I hope that is so. 

Aida Wedo, Rainbow Snake

This Goddess of Haiti is known as the Rainbow Snake, a common manifestation of Deity in Africa, Oceania and Central and South America. Her husband is Damballa, God of Rivers and Springs. Anthropologists consider Her the equivalent of the African Mawu (see African Goddesses section).

Ayizan, Mat of the Earth

She, too, is a Serpent Goddess. This creation story comes to us from Haiti.

Chalchiuhtlicue, Lady of Waters

This Aztec Goddess, whose name means "Jade Skirt," was Matron of lakes and streams. Her husband is Tlaloc, God of Rain.

Chantico, Lady of the Hearth

This Aztec Goddess of the Hearth was a Matron of lapidaries and warriors. She is often associated with the Goddess Xochiquetzal (profiled below).

Coatlicue, Serpent Skirt

This Aztec Supreme Goddess is the Mother of all Aztec Deities. Her statue now stands in the National Museum of Anthropology in Ciudad de Mexico.

Erzulie, Lady of Love

This Vodoun Goddess is worshipped by Haitians as Matron of love, beauty, health and the moon. She is personified as a water snake.Vodoun was originally unique to Haiti, a combination of Catholicism and Yoruban cosmology developed by slaves as a tool of survival and rebellion. It has since been carried by Haitian immigrants to the United States. Karen McCarthy Brown published a critically-acclaimed text about a Voodoo priestess in New York: MAMA LOLA. It is highly recommended.

Hoatziqui, Lady of the Dead

This Goddess of the Dead was worshipped by the Opata people of pre-Columbian Mexico. The tale reveals something of Opata relations with their ancient neighbors, the Pima.

Ix Chel, Lady Weaver

Ix Chel is a complex Goddess of ancient Mexico. She and still is worshipped by the Putun and Yucatec Maya. The hare is one of Her primary symbols. Her husand is Itzamna, God of the Sun and Creation.

Ixtab, Mistress of Death

Two Yucatec Mayan Goddesses share variations on this name: Ixtab and Ix Tab. They may or may not be the same Goddess; from the similarity of Their stories, I have chosen to interpret Them as One, much as the Greek Artemis and Roman Diana are merged as One Deity. Ixtab is the Mayan Goddess of Death, Sacrifice and Suicides.

Loa, Beautiful Lady

This Vodoun Goddess of Haiti is much-loved and generally benevolent. "Loa" is also a general term meaning "spirit" or "deity" or "spirit."

Mayahuel, Many-Breasted

This Aztec Goddess of Agriculture is often associated with Chalchiuhtlicue and Tlazolteotl (both profiled in this section). Like Artemis of the Ephesians (see Diana, Graeco-Roman section), She is portrayed with many breasts.

Olosa, Lady Crocodile

This Santeria Goddess of Puerto Rico and Haiti uses crocodiles as Her messengers. She is closely associated with Olokun, God of the Sea.

Teteoinnan, Lady Midwife

This ancient Goddess of the Aztecs is known as "Mother of Sacred Ones." She is a Mother Goddess.

Tlazolteotl, Filth Lady

An ancient and much-loved Aztec Goddess, Tlazolteotl was Matron of both Pleasure and Sin, though not in the sense many Christians would think. Her name means "Filth Deity."

Xochiquetzal, Flower Mistress

Her name means "Flower Feather." She is the Goddess of Pleasure and Beauty. The Gardens of Xochimilco, south of Ciudad de Mexico, are named for Her.

Eastern European Goddesses
Eastern Europe is generally defined as the region between Germany in the west and Russia in the east. I have chosen, however, to include in my definition everything east and south of modern-day Germany, including Russia, the Baltic States, and Siberia; that is, the entirety of the former Soviet Union.
Eastern Europe has long been the "poor neighbor" of the continent, the wrong side of the tracks. In Western history books it is often portrayed as a land of poor farmers and despotic nobles, generations behind the rest of Europe in technological and political development. To an extent this is true: it is difficult to develop new technologies or maintain liberal political institutions amid harsh climate and/or constant invasion from the west and the east. Poland is the most well-known of the Eastern European nations to be torn apart by these constant invasions; for a time, it ceased to exist entirely, having been partitioned by Russia, Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Farther to the east, Siberia stood as a land apart. It was rarely entered by Europeans, primarily because of the region's inhospitable climate: winter's are freezing and long and dark; spring brings only a mild warmth and melting of surface ice. Permafrost is a fact of life. The peoples of this region are closely related to the Chinese and other Asians, and the Natives of the Americas. Among the peoples of the interior, life has little changed over the centuries. Only along the coast, where strategic naval bases were built, has life changed to any degree. The interior may yet experience change, though: technologies are now being developed to exploit the vast mineral wealth of Siberia.
Eastern Europe is a mixture of peoples and languages and cultures. Serbs, Croats, Montenegrans, Albanians, Bulgarians, Romanians, Poles, Hungarians, Czechs, Italians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Finns and a variety of other Slavic and non-Slavic peoples make their home there. Ethnicities frequently cross over political boundaries and intermingle; hence, the numerous genocidal wars over the centuries, as ethnic groups battled for power. Languages vary from Latin-influenced Romanian, to German, Slavic and distinct Finno-Ugric. Religions, too, vary from Catholicism, to Eastern Orthodox and Russian Orthodox, and Islam. Small pockets of Judaism are also present.
This is a land which is home to stubborn Gods and Goddesses. It took generations of missionaries and Crusaders to convert the people to Christianity and Islam; only Northern Europe took longer to bring into the fold. Christian priests reported with horror and despondency that Slavic women in the late nineteenth century were still making offerings and devotions to Mati Syra Zemlya, Moist Mother Earth. Partly because of the lateness of the conversion, many stories of Pagan Gods and Goddesses have survived. The Siberian interior has yet to feel the full power of the Crucifix or the Crescent.
The Iron Curtain has rusted away. Eastern Europe is now entering an era of uncertainty. It is unclear which nations will prosper, which decline, which elect democratic governments, which return to totalitarianism. War has devastated the lands which formerly made Yugoslavia; economic and labor strife tears at the heart of Russia; Hungary is prospering. Let us hope all turns out well.

Anapel, Little Grandmother

Known as "Little Grandmother," this Goddess of the Koryak people of Siberia is Matron of reincarnation.

Aspelenie, Hearth Snake

Among pre-Christian Lithuanians, Aspelenie was honored as Goddess of Home and Hearth. She took the form of a friendly serpent. The serpent was also considered a servant of the Sun Goddess Saule, and to harm a serpent was a blasphemous offense. While predominantly Christian, there is an active and vocal Pagan resergence in Lithuania.

Ausrine and Saule, Ladies Bright

Saule is the Sun Goddess of ancient Lithuania. Ausrine is Her Daughter, the "Lady of the Morning Star." Saule's husband, Ausrine's father, is Meness the God of the Moon.

Baba Yaga, Lady Circle

Generally known in fairy tales as the prototypical Witch in the Woods (see Hansel and Gretel), Baba Yaga is in fact an ancient Triple Goddess. She manifests the traditional three phases of a woman's life: Maiden, Mother and Crone. Many Russian fairy tales recount Her confrontations with the Czar or Czar's son, perhaps obscured recollections of the long-ago overthrow of the native Goddess. Many fairy tales also center on Her maiden aspect, Vasilisa--who usually ends the story in marriage to the Czar or Czar's son.

The Bereginy, Wood Maids

The Bereginy, like the Nymphae of Greece and Rome, were spirits of nature. They were honored by women throughout the Slavic regions of Europe even through the Middle Ages. See the Nymphae (Greaco-Roman Goddesses), the Yakshi (Hindu Goddesses) and the Duc Ba (South-East Asian Goddesses).

Bozaloshtsh, Lady Who Cries

Crying spirits whose scream announces immenent death are common in European mythology: the Banshee of the Irish is the most well-known. Among the ancient Wend of Germany, Bozaloshtsh was just such a spirit.

Dziewanna, Lady of Spring

This Polish Goddess was Matron of Spring and Agriculture. She was especially honored by farmers.

Haltia, Lady of the Home

This Goddess of the Home was honored by Baltic Finns. The Estonians called her Holdja. Her tale contains a cautionary note for those considering a move to a new home....See also Vesta (Graeco-Roman Goddesses).

Koliada, Lady of Time

Also known as Koljada, this Russian Goddess is the personification of Time and the Winter Solstice. A special festival was held in Her honor at the Solstice.

Lada, Spring Maiden

Lada, Goddess of Spring and Love, was worshipped throughout Lithuania, Poland and Russia. Spring and love are often placed under the auspices of the same Deity, whether male or female, for obvious reasons: spring is the season of reproduction and new life, often outcomes of love.

Mokosh, Lady of Waters

This Goddess of Moisture was honored throughout Slavic Europe under a variety of related names. Christian writers as late as the 16th century CE complained that women still honored Mokosh.

The Rusalka, Watery Ones

The Rusalka were water spirits honored in Russia. Fertility is their special domain. The Rusalka would make excellent champions of Russia's struggling Green Movement.

Slatababa, Golden Goddess

This tale is told by the Ugric of Russia. It may or may not be based on historical fact.

Suksendal, Night Spirit

This evil spirit of the night is feared by the Tartar people of Siberia. Perhaps She is abstract fears of darkness and death given concrete, human form.

The Zorya, Guardians of the Sun

The Zorya are ancient Slavic sky and light Goddesses, honored particularly in Russia.Sometimes only two in number, They are usually portrayed as three, a not uncommon number in world mythology.

Egyptian Goddesses
Egypt is an ancient land. It is one the most continuously inhabited regions of the world, with an archaeological record stretching back tens of thosuands of years. The Nile Valley was one of the first sites at which agriculture was discovered, some nine thousand years ago, along with Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, the He Huang Valley and South-East Asia. (The peoples of Central America discovered the magic of seeds some centuries later.) The steady inundation and recession of the Nile played a dominant role in shaping Egyptian theology. The Nile was a clock; it set the pace of the seasons, of the agricultural cycle, and of the lives of the Egyptians themselves. It was their life-source, and it was benevolent. The River rarely failed the people; it flooded every year, depositing a layer of rich alluvial soil in which the Egyptians grew crops to feed themselves and their children and their cattle. As the River was steady and benevolent, so the Universe was largely perceived to be.
But there was another strain in Egyptian religion, another natural phenomenon which influenced theological development: the sharp contrast between the green of the River Valley and the red of the desert, the black and the brown, life and death. OUT THERE, in the desert, was death, heat, dryness, chaos, destruction. HERE, in the Valley, was life, coolness, green, moisture, order, construction. OUT THERE lived the demons of chaos and other elements of disorder. HERE lived the Gods and Goddesses of order. This contrast, this balance, was recognized as being precarious. The River might fail to flood, and occasionally did; then the green died and the desert crept closer. This balance was represented by a feather standing on end, and the Balance itself--natural, political, cosmological--was called Ma'at. Every Egyptian, but most especially the Pharaoh, was responsible for maintaiing the Balance, the Order which was Ma'at.
Ma'at has caused some problems for Egyptologists, for there is also a Goddess Who bears that name. Many are uncertain whether to consider Ma'at a concept, and the Goddess a personification of that concept, or whether Ma'at IS an actual, autonomous Deity. In the minds of the ancient Egyptians, there likely would have been no such distinction.
Long considered polytheists, Egyptologists have recently speculated that in fact the Egyptian religion was one which centered around a single, great universal life force, expressed in the form of multiple Deities. To the ancient Egyptians, the life force was not contained within human form alone. Rather, it was manifest in all forms, in all creatures, Deities, humans, animals and plants. It appears that they believed in a Web of Life, much as many Native Americans and Africans did and still do. Because of this interconnectedness, Deities were presented in andromorphic, gynomorphic and zoomorphic form: Osiris was a human male, while Isis could be a human woman, a woman with wings, a woman with a cow's head, or a cow herself. Deities occasionally appeared in plant form: a few images have been found of Osiris as the green, growing grain, while other paintings depict a woman in the branches of a tree dispensing the Waters of Life. Because of the perceived interconnectedness of life, the multifaceted nature of existence, Egyptian Deities rarely fit into neat categories (eg Goddess of the Sun, God of the Moon); rather, They often shared attributes, responsibilities, and even spouses and children.
Over the course of Egypt's three thousand year existence, Gods and Goddesses were born and died, changed Patronage and Matronage, and were absorbed into other Deities. New Gods and Goddesses were added from the pantheons of Libya, Nubia, and Palestine as trade and invasion brought foreign ideas and foreign peoples to the Land of the Nile. Egyptian Deities were exported to the Near East, Greece, Rome, then throughout the ancient world. They changed in response to the needs of Their new faithful, and often returned to Egypt, changed.
Over the course of some three thousand years, Egypt flourished under the rule of native Pharaohs, Assyrians, Nubians, Greeks and Romans. Only in the fourth century of the common era, under the aegis of Christian Byzantium, were the temples of the Goddesses and Gods closed. The invasion of Muslim Arabs in the seventh century destroyed or drove the few remaining faithful underground. The death of the Old Religion was a long and painful struggle. Comprehension of Egyptian hieroglyphic script was lost until the nineteenth century. Only then were native myths of Gods and Goddesses, unfiltered by the cultural bias and perceptions of Greeks and Romans, revealed. Only then were centuries of sand brushed away and the temples uncovered.

Amenti, Lady at the Gates

This Goddess of the Underworld was responsible for greeting the dead on their arrival in the West. As is often the case in Egyptian religion, Amenti's place was by no means permanent: other tales say Nut, Hathor, Neith or Ma'at greeted the dead.

Ammit, Devourer of Souls

Ancient Egyptians had no conception of Hell or place of punishment; if one died with a soul weighed heavy with sin, the soul was destroyed, devoured by the monster Ammit.

Bast, Sacred Cat

Bast ( Bastet, Bastis, Bubastis, Pacht, Ubast) is a name well-known in the West. Family pets so named are not uncommon. Cats, as manifestations of Deity, were sacred; cemeteries of mummified felines have been unearthed by archaeologists. Bast was the daughter and/or wife of Ra, the God of the Sun.

Hathor, Lady Mother

Hathor is generally presented as a Cow Goddess and Mother Goddess. She is a complex Deity, who is Matron of Love, yet also has a destructive element to Her nature. Some versions of the Egyptian creation myth identify Her as the Primal Creatrix.

Isis, Lady of Life

Isis is the most well-known Egyptian Deity. Her worship flourished in Egypt for all of its three thousand years. Her faith eventually spread throughout the Near East and Mediterranean; the roads and ships of the Roman Empire carried Isis to ancient France, Germany and Britain.The image is an oil painting by Jonathon Earl Bowser, entitled ISIS: CHILDREN OF EARTH AND SKY.

Ma'at, Cosmic Balance

There is much debate among Egyptologists as to whether Ma'at is an "actual" Goddess or only the personification of a concept. Evidence weighs heavily on both sides. Many Egyptian temples show Her in human form. Yet cosmic balance, right order, natural law, was very much the idea at the heart of Egyptian civilization.

Neith, Lady Supreme

Neith is a perfect example of the evolving, syncretistic nature of Egyptian religion. She appears in both bovine and human form and Her titles are almost endless. The rational Greeks, attempting to quantify and contain Her unlimited Divine Essence, equated Her with their Goddess of War and Handicrafts and Civilization, Athena (see Minerva, Graeco-Roman Goddesses).

Nekhbet, Lady Vulture

Nekhbet is a very ancient Goddess of Upper (southern) Egypt. In some cosmogonies, She is the Creatrix. She is rarely represented in human form.

Nephthys, Lady of the House

Nephthys (or Nebthet) is generally interpreted by Egyptologists as the Dark Twin of Isis. They are sisters married to Their own brothers. Isis, Osiris, Nephthys and Set are the children of Nut (profiled below) and Geb, the Earth.

Nut, Celestial Mistress

Nut is the Mother of four of the primary Deities of the Egyptian pantheon: Isis, Osiris, Nephthys and Set. Her body is the Sky, Her husband the Earth.

Qetesh, Sacred Love

Her name, meaning "Holy One," is usually mistranslated as "Sacred Prostitute." She came to Egypt from the Near East.

Sekhmet, Fierce Lioness

Sekhmet (Sakhmis, Sekhet, Ubastet), is often confused or combined with Bast. Sometimes She is another form of Bast, sometimes another form of Hathor, sometimes an autonomous Goddess.

Seshat, Mistress of Books

In very ancient Egypt, priestess and scribe were often one and the same. Seshat's Divine position, and the earthly position of Her priestesses, were eventually taken over by Thoth and His priests.

Taueret, Lady of Birth

While Her name is not often recognized, Her manifestation in the form of a hippopotamus often is. She is primarily a Goddess of Midwives and Birth.

Uadjet, Lady Cobra

Uadjet is an extremely ancient Goddess of Lower (northern) Egypt. She is often paired with Nekhbet, and is personified by the uraeus, the cobra on the Pharaoh's crown. She is sometimes called Buto.

Graeco-Roman Goddesses
Along with Judeo-Christianity, ancient Greece is considered by many to be the ideological parent of modern Western culture: it was from the Greeks that we inherited logic, reasoning, dialectics, philosophy, and much of mathematics and science. Yet Greece was more than the Golden Age of Pericles, more than the rational, aesthetic Parthenon. Greece was a land of ancient conflicts, tribal prejudices and feuds, masculine might and exploration and war and trade, feminine oppression and domesticity and frenzied spirituality.
Thousands of years before the Age of Pericles, Greece was a land of mother-right. Goddesses and a few Gods were worshipped by an agrarian, sedentary people knowledgeable in smithcraft. The culture seems to have been largely peaceful, matrifocal and perhaps egalitarian. Then, the invasions began. They came in series, one after another, four in all. They began about four thousand years before the common era, with invaders descending from the north; they may have migrated from the Russian Steppes. The first few invasions were incomplete; the conquered peoples absorbed their conquerers and life went on. It was the final invasion, though, in about 1800 BCE, which brought an end to matrifocal Greece. The Dorians were true barbarians, skilled in the advanced use of bronze and chariots, but illiterate and patriarchal; they worshipped sky and war Gods, and may have brought with them an antecedent of Athena. With their conquest, writing was lost. All evidence of the life and ways of this time comes from archaeological excavations and supposition; the Trojan War was fought and the ILIAD and perhaps the ODYSSEY were orally composed during this time. It was hundreds of years before the Greeks clawed their way out of their Dark Ages. Writing was rediscovered; true marine exploration began; trade expanded; colonies were established in Asia Minor, the Italian and Iberian Peninsulas, and northern Africa. By then, the war between the Gods and the Goddesses had waged for centuries, and would go on for centuries more.
The myths tell us of this war: of the first patriarchal invasions, the rapes of native Goddesses by invading Gods; the division of the Goddess from whole Earth Mother into autonomous entities with distinct responsibilities; the ascension of male over female; the loss of women's status; new codes of conduct for women, in which virtuous women support husbands and fathers over mothers and brothers and sisters. The Titans overthrow the Primal Mother and Her Consort, and are in turn overthrown by the Olympians; Zeus rapes Hera and forces Her into marriage; Artemis becomes the chaste Goddess of the Hunt, lossing Her identity as fertile Earth Mother; heroes slay great female monsters, such as Medusa; the women of Athens are forced to give up the vote, their maternal family names, and their children; Antigone is condemned to death for supporting her brother--the man who shared her mother's womb--over her uncle.The conflict is a dynamic, fiery battle which yet goes on.
Psychoanalysts have discovered in all mythologies--but most clearly in the Greek--the archetypes of the human psyche. Archetypes are primal images, recognized by all peoples, which produce universal reactions and carry universal meaning. The recognition and reaction are more often subconscious, though, than conscious. The cup and bowl are symbolic of the womb, belly, fertility, et cetera. The snake which sheds its skin is eternity, immortality, rebirth, sexuality. Demeter is the Mother, nurturance, kindness, security, fertility. Artemis is the Maiden, complete in Herself, autonomous, fierce, determined, courageous. Apollo is Order, logic, light, rationality, suppression of emotion. Dionysus is Disorder, illogic, irrationality, exuberance of emotion.
These Gods and Goddesses developed over centuries as the ways and psyches and tales of the invaders and the invaded fought, merged and compromised. The Greeks considered their Deities to be universal, and so, as trade and conquest and colonization expanded their knowledge of the world, they equated their Deities with those of other peoples. Horus became the Egyptian form of Apollo, Anahita the Persian name for Artemis, Cybele the Anatolian form of Rhea, and so on. The Romans-- conquerors and inheritors of Grecian civilization--continued this trend: native Latin Deities were equated with Grecian Deities of similar attributes; in many cases, though not all, the Grecian form and mythology superceded the Latin, and the native mythology was lost. Not all equations were exact, whoever, and some Deities appear positively schizophrenic. For others, no Greek Deity could be found, and so the native Latin God or Goddess survived: Iuturna, for instance, a native Goddess of Youth and Water. 
Since the Roman names are generally more familiar than the Greek, I have chosen to list the Goddesses in their Latin form. However, Greek names, where possible, are included in the tales.
As usual, any criticism or suggestion is welcome, so please mail me.

Bellona, Lady of War

Bellona is an ancient, native Roman Goddess often associated with Mars. In later years, She was assimilated to Mah of Asia Minor. Her faith was described as bloody and orgiastic.

Cardea, Lady Protectress

Though ridiculed as the Goddess of Door Hinges, Cardea was in fact an important Deity of the Roman family. She is often in company with Janus, the two-faced God of Thresholds and Beginnings and Endings.

Carmentis, Mistress of Prophecy

Though not counted among the traditional Twelve Olympians, Carmentis was an extremely important Roman Goddess. She was also known as Carmenta and Nicostrata. She was often in company with various Goddesses of Birth and Children, and with Apollo.

Ceres, Lady of Grain

The native Roman Goddess Ceres was assimilated with the Greek Goddess Demeter. The story of Demeter and Persephone is well-known. In Rome, Persephone was known as Proserpina.

Diana, Lady of Wild Things

Diana, a native Roman Goddess worshipped especially at Lake Nemi, was easily assimilated with the Graeco-Asian Goddess, Artemis. In archetypal psychology, Artemis/Diana has come to represent the multifaceted, contradictory, beautiful, violent aspects of the feminine psyche. Her temple at Ephesus was one of the Wonders of the Ancient World and the site of one of Saint Paul's least-successful missions. The image is an oil painting of THE GODDESS OF THE VALE by Jonathon Earl Bowser.

Erinyes, Vengeful Ones

Also known as Eumenides, "Beautiful Ones," these Greek Goddesses were adopted by the Romans, who called them Furiae. More ancient then the Olympian pantheon, the triune Erinyes once served the Great Goddess, punishing those who broke Her laws.

Flora, Lady of Flowers

Though not counted among the Olympian Twelve, Flora was a Goddess much loved by the Roman people. Her festivals were popular occasions. The reason for Her popularity and importance eluded historians and mythologists who failed to recognize the connection between flowers, sex and reproduction.

Hekate, Mistress of Magic

Hekate is a Goddess much misunderstood--not only by cotemporary historians, but also by classical authorities. Views of Hekate, a native Goddess of Asia Minor adopted by Greeks and Romans, varied from demonic witch to benevolent teacher of the Mysteries. She is a Goddess popular with modern-day Pagans.

Juno, Queen of Heaven

Though generally equated with the Greek Goddess Hera, Juno was in fact a native Latin Goddess with a mythology of Her own; some has survived. Her disposition was also much different than Hera's, and She was accounted the wisest counselor and beloved wife of Jupiter.

Kore, Stolen Spring

This Maiden Goddess is one of the protagonists in an ancient seasonal myth; unlike many other such myths, the Deity Who descended to the underworld was not the beloved son/lover, but the beloved daughter/self. See also Ceres and Hekate, profiled above.

Minerva, Lady of Handicrafts

Under Her Greek name of Athena, She was the powerful Matron Goddess of Athens. As Minerva, She was one part of the great Capitoline Triad, the three Great Ones of Rome.

Nymphae, Spirits of Nature

Many ancient peoples, and even many today, believe every aspect of nature possesses its own spirit. The Greeks and Romans called these spirits Nymphs, and often depicted them in human, female form. Nymphs varied in temperament and importance (to humans); many myths record Their affairs or marriages to Gods and mortals, and their semi-Divine offspring. See Sago Woman (Descent of the Gods chapter), Askefruer (Northern European Goddesses), Yakshi (Hindu Goddesses) and Pomona (below).

Pomona, Lady Orchard

Though a Goddess important to the Romans, little of Her mythology survived, even into the time of the Empire (first century CE). The one well-known myth is believed by modern historians to have been invented at a late date. Goddesses of fruit trees were common throughout the ancient world, as They still are today. See also Idun (Northern European section), Honored High Mistress (Creation chapter), and Sago Woman (Descent of the Gods chapter).

Venus, Mistress of Pleasure

Many modern people consider Venus to be nothing more than a Goddess of Sex; in fact, sex was only one of Her many responsibilities. Venus (Greek name, Aphrodite), was concerned with all aspects of Love, Pleasure, Beauty and Procreation. There are a few discrepancies between Her Greek and Roman myths, as related below.

Vesta, Hearth Fire

Only two myths are known of Vesta, both under Her Greek name of Hestia, and each of these appears to be a recording of the patriarchal invasions. Vesta was an ancient Deity of Hearth and Home. Her sacred fire was the central sacred site of Rome; it was prophesied that when Her fire was extinguished, Rome would fall. It did.

Himalayan Goddesses
Tibet is a land of high plateaus, snow-peaked mountains and brilliant rainbows. It is rightly called The Roof of the World. Here, it is cold and the air is thin. Roaring, cold rivers rush down mountain sides, forming lakes, then rushing away again; here, the Yangtze, Mekong, Indus, and Brahmaputra are born. It is bounded in all directions by mountain ranges with few passes, and so the land and people remained isolated for centuries. The land continues to rise, as India slides into Asia.
The native faith of Tibet is Bon, but that has largely disappeared. Buddhism came to Tibet by way of India in the seventh century of the common era. It was vigorously opposed by Bon, and it was not until the following century, when missionary Padmasambhava combined elements of the two faiths, that Buddhism became the dominant faith, in the form of Vajrayana Buddhism (or Lamaism). Over the course of the next centuries, the warring tribes of Tibet were pacified. Great monasteries were established in isolated valleys and atop high peaks, centers of learning and art and spirituality. Great colorful wall paintings and banners, sculptures of wood and ivory and stone and metal were created, and tombs and stupas were produced by anonymous craftsmen.
Goddesses, or, more correctly, Bodhisattvas, fill a vital role in Tibetan Buddhism. As in Buddhism in general, all Bodhisattvas are considered enlightened beings who aid humans in their release of ego and journey towards union with the Ultimate. Female Bodhisattvas in Tibet are far more popualr than Their male counterparts. One Bodhisattva in particular lies close to the heart of the Tibetan people; the mere utterance of Her name is said to alleviate pain and suffering; She is Tara. Other Bodhisattvas aid in learning and magic, or lead the deceased through the Bardo, the in-between world where it is determined if a soul will go on to Union with the Ultimate or return to earth.
Women themselves also play a vital role in Tibetan Buddhism. One aspect of the faith is called Tantrism, or Tantric Yoga, or Tantric Buddhism. In Tantrism, sexuality is used as a tool, a spiritual exercise, a means of attaining Union and completion. Sexuality is not seen as sinful, or as carnal, or as a reproductive tool; rather, it is energizing and mystical, and women are the source and means of experiencing this mystical energy.  
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries of the common era, reforms were introduced by Tsong Kha Pa (1357-1419), and the secular-spiritual office of Dalai Lama was created (hence, Lamaism). The Dalai Lama is regarded by the faithful as the earthly incarnation of the spirit of compassion and mercy. This spirit is called Avalokiteshavara in India, Kuan Yin in China, Kwannon in Japan. The names vary throughout Asia, but everywhere the spirit is regarded as a Bodhisattva; that is, an enlightened being who has elected to remain on earth to aid others towards enlightenment, rather than ascend to the final bliss/annihilation of Nirvana. And so the Dalai Lama is a spirit of wisdom, compassion, peace and mercy in human form.
Within some six centuries of the introduction of Buddhism, Tibet was prosperous and entirely at peace. Then the Chinese came, in 1959. Many Western nations, despite China's protests and economic clout, have refused to remove Tibet from their maps; it remains an independent nation, not a Chinese province, though its leader is in exile, its people oppressed and beaten, its language dying. In response to the invasion and oppression, many Tibetan monks have moved to the United States and established monasteries. Tibetan Buddhism is growing in popularity in the United States, particularly along the West Coast. Freedom for Tibet has become a cause celebre among the Hollywood elite and Americans in general.

The Bardo, Ladies Who Guide

The Bardo is the after-death state of transition which precedes rebirth. Tibetan Buddhists believe that the deceased must pass certain tests to leave the Bardo and enter the next realm; those who fail are reborn on earth or return as ghosts. The Bardo Goddesses both test and aid the deceased.

gLu-maa Ghirdhima, Lady of Music and Song

This Goddess of Music and Song is one of the Eight Mothers of Buddhism. She is peaceful and benevolent in nature. She also appears in the Bardo.

Khahdoma, Ladies Occult

The Khahdoma are Tantric Deities Who can impart occult powers to Their followers when asked. Some maintain that the Khahdoma are malevolent demons. Others say that there are two kinds of Khahdoma, the "Wisdom Khahdoma" Who reside in another world, and the Khahdoma of our world Who incarnate in women.

Prajnaparamita, Lady of Wisdom

This Goddess of Transcendental Wisdom is believed by Tibetan Buddhists to be the incarnation of the perfected wisdom of Yoga. She is called the Mother of the Bodhisattvas.

rDo-rje-rnal-hbyor-ma, Lady Truth

She is the Goddess of Truth, Spiritual Energy and Knowledge. She dispels ignorance. She is the Guardian of the practices of Tibetan Tantric Yoga.

Tara, the Star Who Leads Across

A Savior Goddess much loved by the people, Tara protects humans from dangers both physical and spiritual. The mere utterance of Her name is believed to bring peace and dissipate all danger. Many myths in Hinduism, Jainism and Tantric Buddhism recount Her intercession in the lives of supplicants.

Hindu Goddesses
Hinduism is in vogue in the West: it's far-out, spiritual, anti-materialism, sexual, ascetic and--best of all--not our parents' religion. These, at least, are the strains inherited by the West; but they are only bits and pieces, often taken out of context, and so misunderstood and/or misused. The sexual aspect of Hinduism, for instance, known as Tantrism or Tantric Yoga, is greatly misunderstood. It is not a free-for-all, religious permission to engage in orgies, anytime, anywhere. Tantrism is actually a deeply spiritual path, which seeks union with the Divine; the spiritual and sexual powers of women are considered indispensible towards this end. The form of Divinity generally worshipped in Tantrism is Kali, Goddess of Creation, Destruction, Time and Death. She is often called simply Mother. (Tantrism is also practiced by some Buddhists, especially those of Tibet; see Himalayan Goddesses.) 
Hinduism is an ancient faith, formed by the amalgamation of the matriarchal Goddess faith of the Dravidians and the patriarchal warrior faith of the Aryans. As in Greece, many of the sky, fire and war Gods of the Aryans married the Goddesses of India. As Hinduism evolved over thousands of years, it developed a theology both esoteric and exoteric, which provided for both the spiritual and practical needs of its adherents. Its central tenet is the unification of the soul with the Ultimate Reality. All Gods and Goddesses are seen as aspects of Ultimate Reality, teachers on the path to union.
Goddesses perform a vital role in Hinduism. Some are Matrikyas, or "Mothers." Each village has its pantheon of guardian Matrikyas. Some Goddesses are providers of comfort and enlightenment. Many have been born into human form: in Hinduism, Deities and humans and even animals are all forms of the same energy, and intermingle and interchange freely. Thus, Gods can die; many of Hinduism's great epics center around a God and Goddess, each born into human form, seeking out the other and thus finding completion. Most importantly, however, Goddesses are Shaktis; that is, they are animating energy. Each God has His Shakti, His female Other, His female Self, His female Half. Without His energizing, creative Shakti, the God would be inanimate, motionless, powerless, mind without activity. Without Her God Self, the Shakti would remain energy only, without purpose, without direction, without mind. The Shakti often takes the form of the God's wife; thus, Lakshmi and Vishnu. And so Energy and Mind, the two primal creative principles, are united.
Unfortunately, over the millenia, Mind has taken precedence over Energy. Mind has been associated with the purely spiritual, with the male, while Energy has been associated with matter, with the female. This dichotomy is best expressed by the caste system. The caste system is of political, economic and religious origin. Politically, it arose out of the ancient invasions, a means of ensuring the "racial purity" of the invading Aryans. Economically, it was a means of differentiating between greater and lesser occupations, much as the Celts listed Bard, Smith and Druid as the three greatest callings. Religiously, reincarnation and caste were intertwined; as one gains enlightenment, one is born into higher and more priestly castes, the better to devote oneself to meditation and study.The caste system quickly became a means of economic and political oppression, and it was partly in response to this that Buddhism was founded: officially, Buddhism rejects the caste system as one of many illusions of the physical world. In 1947, the newly-independent nation of India declared the caste system unconstitutional. Unofficially, it is still extant, and people still advertise in the personals for spouses by caste.

Ahalya, Lady Wisdom

This myth is an excellent example of patriarchal versus matriarchal values. It may also recount, in the obscure language of myth, the ancient Aryan invasions.

Anumati, Lady Who Favors

Her name means "Divine Favor." She is a Moon Goddess. Many Hindu Goddesses are worshipped as givers of wealth, intelligence, prosperity, children, and spiritual enlightenment. Anumati is one such Goddess.

Devi, The Goddess

Her name means, literally, "Goddess." She is the sum total of all existence; all derives from Her and all ultimately returns to Her. The Goddesses here profiled are but some of Her infinite number of aspects.

Durga, Lady Destruction

This manifestation of Devi was created in a moment of crisis. She is a fierce Goddess with a multitude of Her own manifestations and names. Her creation likely recounts an historical invasion and/or battle, but between whom is difficult to say for certain.

Ganga, Cleansing Stream

The Ganges is the Holy River of Hinduism. Bathing in its waters cleanses one of all sins. The Ganges Herself, however, has been terribly polluted by the factories along Her banks. Environmentalists are fighting to restore Her physical purity.

Kali, Lady Black Time

Kali is the most well-known and least-understood of the Hindu Goddesses. An aspect of Devi, She is often portrayed as a blood-thirsty, barbaric Goddess by those who do not understand Her.

Lakshmi, Lady Wealth

She is the Goddess of Prosperity and Beauty, the wife of Vishnu. She is said to have arisen from the churning of the primal milk ocean. Sita and Radha are two of Her incarnations, profiled below.

Lalita, The Playful Child

Lalita is a woman-child Goddess. She delights in all play and pleasure, both child-like and sexual. The universe is a great toy to Her, created for Her enjoyment.

Parvati, Lady Carnality

She is passionate sexuality. Parvati is the wife of Shiva, and ruler of all the elves and spirits of the earth.

Radha, Infinite Love

Her name means "Beloved One." In Hindu mythology, She is a milkmaid, the beloved of Krisha. She is an incarnation of Lakshmi, he an incarnation of Vishnu. Throughout Hindu mythology, spousal Goddesses and Gods take on mortality and reunite in human form.

Sarasvati, Lady of Knowledge

Her name means "The Flowing One." She is the personification of the Sarasvati River in north-western India. She is the Goddess of Knowledge, Speech and the Arts.

Shakti, Cosmic Energy

Shakti is a concept difficult for many Westerners to comprehend, unfortunately. Each God in Hinduism has His Shakti, the very energy of existence. Without His Shakti, the God would be mind without life, without movement, without creativity. Shakti is active, creative energy, while the God is mind (sometimes described as passive energy). Each Goddess profiled here is the Shakti of a God. Quantum physicists seem to have an easier time with this....

Sita, Faithful Wife

Sita is an ancient Goddess of the Fields adopted into Hindu folk-mythology. She is an incarnation of Lakshmi, the wife of Rama (who is, in turn, an incarnation of Vishnu). The tale told here is my re-interpretation of a famous scene from the RAMAYANA.

Usas, Lady of the Dawn

Usas is the Goddess of the Dawn. She remains eternally young while men grow old.

Yakshi, Spirits of Air and Tree

The Yakshi (singular Yakshini), inhabit the sacred tree of every village. Their male counterparts are the Yaksas. They are similar to the Nymphae (Graeco-Roman section).

Near Eastern Goddesses
The Near East--defined here as the Iranian Plateau east to the Mediterranean, and from the Black and Caspian Seas south through the Arabian Peninsula--is one of the oldest inhabited regions of the world; Jericho is the oldest known city in the world. The Near East is also one of the most excavated regions, and so detailed archaeological records extend back thousands of years. These archaeological records reveal a few surprises. For one, the three Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam are newborns. Even Zoroastrianism only appeared in Persia circa 600 BCE.
Before the Abrahamic religions, the faiths of Sumeria, Babylonia, Akkadia, Phoenicia and Syria, Anatolia, Armenia and Georgia, Arabia and Persia flourished. Records stretching back thousands of years reveal worship of a Mother Goddess by sedentary agricultural peoples. In some areas, the Goddess was accompanied by a Divine Daughter or two, and/or a Consort/Son. Then, like Greece, the Near East was invaded by patriarchal tribes from the north. Gods gained in power. The well-known pantheons of the region developed, featuring Deities such as Inanna, Ea, Marduk, Baal, El, Astarte. Great ziggurats were constructed in Mesopotamia. The heroic saga of Gilgamesh was written, as were great romances and religious hymns; the oldest surviving written work in the world, a hymn to Sumerian Inanna by the priestess Enheduanna, comes from this time. The Goddesses Whose stories are told here were powerful and loved in ancient days; one, Asherah, even appears in the Bible, as if to stubbornly remind us of Her existence. These Goddesses at one time watched over passion and war, the sea and the desert, the Land of the Dead and the Heaven of Stars.
But the Near East is no longer the home of Goddesses, or even Gods. Only God.
The Near East is the Holy Land to many of the world's faithful; it is the home of Judaism's Abraham, Christianity's Christ, Islam's Prophet. It is a land of color-stripped cliffs, high mountains, hot deserts, cool oasi, olive orchards and goat herds. It is also the home of fundamentalism, tanks, guns, jihad, infata, oil wealth, racial division, car bombs, tombs ancient and modern, hatred and intolerance.
Fundamentalism--whether religious, political, ethnic--is the great scourge of the modern world. Religious fundamentalism in particular, tied to ideas of racial purity, separatism, and moral superiority, may prove the great bain of the next century. To believe implicitly--for one's self--in the rightness of one's faith is all well and good; to have found the faith which resonates with one's soul, which fills the mind with color and music, is a great thing indeed. But to force that faith on others, against their will, is another matter entirely. No one faith will ever satisfy all the peoples of the world; we are all different, in our thoughts and perceptions and needs and experiences; and so the faiths which satisfy us, which resonate with us, will differ. This is a realization--a fact--which few in the world have intellectually recognized and which fewer still have accepted in their hearts.  

Anahita, Immaculate One

Her name means "Immaculate One." In the Zoroastrian religion, She is a Goddess of the Moon, Fertility and War. She is the Ruler of Water. The ancient Romans and Greeks considered Her the same as Diana/Artemis and Venus/Aphrodite (see Graeco-Roman section). Her Sister-Goddess was Armaiti (see Creation chapter).

Anath, Bloody Mistress

Also known as Anat, She was worshipped throughout Canaan, Syria and Phoenicia. She was a popular Goddess of War and Fertility. She was largely syncretized with Asherah and Astarte (both profiled in this section), and so there is some confusion as to Her myths and relationship to other Deities of the area.

Asherah, Lady Tree

Asherah was a Goddess popular with the ancient Israelites, despite their priests' call to remain loyal to Yahweh. Biblical prophets condemn Her repeatedly under the name Ashtoreth; it is the use of this name, a seeming combination of Asherah and Astarte, which has caused so much confusion for modern scholars. See the story of Jezebel and Athaliah in the Descent of the Gods chapter.

Astarte, Lady Queen

Astarte, also known as Ashtart, Astart and Aththarth, was a Goddess of the Assyrians. Her worship spread through the ancient Near East, particularly along the Mediterranean coast. She was the Goddess of Fertility, Love, Sacred Sexuality, Sailing and Law. One of Susan Seddon Boulet's most famous paintings depicts this Goddess.

Atargatis, Ocean Mermaid

Known to the Romans as Dea Syria, Atargatis was a Goddess of Creation and Fertility. She was usually depicted with a fish tail; hence, Her modern identification as the Mermaid Goddess. Her worship spread to Asia Minor, Greece, Egypt and Rome.

Cybele, Lady Lioness

Also known as Kybele and Magna Mater and the Mother of the Gods, the worship of this Goddess spread throughout the Roman Empire. Her festival came first on the Roman calender. Along with Her Consort, Attis, Cybele was worshipped in wild, emotional, bloody, orgiastic, cathartic ceremonies.

Daena, Lady Guardian

Her name means "That Which Has Been Revealed." In Zoroastrian tradition, She is the daughter of Armaiti (see Creation chapter). She is a judge of the dead, who leads them to either Heaven or Hell.

Husbishag, Lady of the Book

This Akkadian Goddess of the Underworld keeps a secret book. In it is written the time of death of all living things.

Inanna, Queen of Heaven

Inanna is a well-known Sumerian Goddess. Her name is usually translated as "Queen of Heaven." Inanna's Babylonian counterpart was Ishtar. She is the Ruler of the Sky, the Earth and the Fertility of all things. She possesses the power of life and death. The most famous of Inanna's myths tells of Her descent to the Underworld to reclaim Her slain Lover, Dumuzi. The following is a retelling of one of Inanna's lesser-known myths; it might well recount a resurrgence of the Goddess faith following the patriarchal invasions.

Nanshe, Lady of Dreams

Also known as Nanshebargunu, this Sumerian-Babylonian Goddess was the interpreter of dreams. At the New Year, She judges each person and always shows compassion towards the weak and poor.

The Pari, Kind Djinn

Ancient Persians honored the Pari as benevolent beings formed of fire. They lived on the odor of delicious foods and perfume. They are eternally at war with the evil Pairikas.

Shataqat, Lady Healer

The story of Shataqat may be based on a real person. This Syrian myth recounts the exploits of a Healer in search of a cure for a King.

Siduri, Lady of Happiness

Siduri is the Goddess of Wine, Wisdom and Merry-making. She recognizes the reality of death and encourages Her followers to enjoy all the pleasures of life. She was honored by the Babylonians, Sumerians and Akkadians. She plays an important role in the EPIC OF GILGAMESH.

Tashmetu, Lady Who Listens

Tashmetu is said to possess "a wide ear." A compassionate Goddess, She listens to the prayers of Her faithful, and in turn opens their ears to Divine instruction. Her husband is Nebo, God of Teaching and Writing. She was worshipped by the Assyrians, Babylonians and Sumerians. 

Tiamat, Mother Dragon

Her name means "Bitter Ocean." She may not have been a Goddess, so much as a personification of the primordial waters. The story of Her murder by Marduk, told here, may well recount the overthrow of the Goddess-worshipping culture of ancient Mesopotamia.

North American Goddesses
The site I got this from had nothing listed under the Native Goddesses but the first two are ones with definitions came from the companion book for the Goddess Oracle meditation cards by Amy Sophia Marashinsky from Element Books Inc. Pubs. 1997. White Owl Woman is a deity that I have past lives memories of and shared what I remember of her here.
'Alahtin, Lady Moon
Asintmah, First Woman
Bear Maiden, Salmon Mistress
Chuginadak, Passionate One
Gendenwitha, Morning Star
Korawini?i, Mother of All Peoples
Maka, Mother Earth
Minnehaha, Buffalo Bride
Norwan, Dancing Porcupine
Corn Mother, Restorer of Life & Onenha, Lady Corn Woman
Southwestern indigenous aboriginals and pueblo peoples—the Arikara, Pawnee, Cheyenne, Mandan, Hidasta, Abnaki, Cherokee, and Huron—see corn as a Goddess. Corn Woman encompasses the figures of Corn Mother, The Corn Maidens, and Yellow Woman. They all relate to corn as a Sacred being who gives of herself to her people to sustain them and nourish them. The Arikara Creator God, Nesaru, fashioned Corn Mother from an ear of corn which grew in heaven. Corn Mother then came to Earth and taught people how to honor the deities and to plant corn. When Corn Woman comes to you she brings her love for you in the form of food to tell you it is time to nourish yourself.

Pinga, Lady of the Hunt
Sedna, Ruler of Sea Animals
The Inuit of North America call their sea Goddess Sedna (sed’nah). Sedna was once a beautiful woman who was not satisfied with the many suitors who courted her. Wooed by a seagull with promises of plenty of food and servants, she went to live with the bird people. Instead of the promised conditions, she was forced to live in filth and squalor. When her father came for a visit, she begged him to take her back home with him across the waters. The bird people pursued them and to save his life, her father threw Sedna overboard. When she tried to climb back into the boat, he cut off her fingers. Sedna’s cut fingers transformed into fish and sea mammals. She swims into your life to tell you to stop being a victim.

White Buffalo Woman
White Owl Woman
She is a goddess from Atlantis of the Algonquin and Anastasi that guides intuition, psychic gifts and their development, inspiration, creativity, and sometimes acts as a messenger and guide through the realms of dreams, visions, past life regressions, and life path lessons. When She shows up it is a VERY BIG DEAL, for She doesn’t come to people often, in fact its exceedingly rare. The southeast Indians of Florida tell me that it had been many decades since they had heard of Her coming to any one at all, and were surprised to learn she had shown up in my pst life memories regression therapy. They knew I wasn’t telling tales because it happened in one of their moon lodges in the Everglades with the Medicine Woman of the tribe there to witness.

Northern European Goddesses
Northern Europe (Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and parts of Germany) is most famous as the home of the Vikings. The Vikings are among the world's great adventurers and explorers. They lived in a fortunate era, when the climate of Northern Europe was warmer than usual; food was plentiful, more people could devote their time to things other than agriculture, and the population exploded. Driven by a sense of curiousity, a quest for fame, and a scarcity of land at home, the Norse set out in their long boats to explore the world. Between the eighth and eleventh centuries of the common era, they discovered and colonized Iceland and Greenland; colonized Britain, Normandy (from Northman/Norman), and Russia; raided the cities and villages of Spain, Morocco and Italy; traded with Persia, India and Byzantium; served as mercenraies in the army of the Byzantine Emporer; and were the first Europeans (it is believed) to land in North America. There, they established short-lived colonies which have been recently excavated. They were brutal, but no more so than others of their era, and their trading and exploration were vital to the development of the Medieval and later Renaissance economies.
While the Vikings are the most famous residents of Northern Europe, the Finns and Saami make their home there, too. Contrary to popular belief, the Finnish people are not related to the Slavic Norse; they are a distinct ethnic and linguistic group, related instead to the Hungarians and some peoples of Siberia. The Saami, too, are different. Traditionally, the Saami are reindeer herders, who criss-cross the Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish borders in seasonal search of pasture and shelter. In modern times, though, many Saami have settled down to life in the city; anthropologists fear that traditional Saami culture is on the verge of extinction, evolving into something new.  
Northern Europe is also the Land of the Midnight Sun. It is a beautiful land of ice plains, green hills, roaring rivers and fjords. Water--in its many forms as ocean, river, rain, snow, ice and mist-- appears often in Scandinavian mythology, reflecting its constant presence and vital importance in the lives of the people. Reindeer and bears also appear often the northern mythology, reflecting their importance as sources of food and fame. Two other common elements in northern mythology are fate and the end of the world: the ancient Norse in particular believed that every person had a destiny unique to him or her. They also believed that the final battle of Ragnarok, between the Gods and Goddesses, and the Frost Giants, would destroy creation. Though generally considered a patriarchal culture by historians, women and Goddesses played an important role in the society and religion. They were Goddesses of immortality and love, spring and war, destiny and death.

The Akkan, Ladies of Birth

The Akkan are a quadrinity of Saami Goddesses Who oversee conception, birth and destiny. They are Madderakka, Sarakka, Juksakka and Ugsakka.

Allwise, Swan Maiden

Her name means "All-white." She and Her two sisters, Swanwhite and Olrun, are the Swan Maidens. The story of Their marriage to three mortal men, told below, is the basis of the ballet, "Swan Lake."

The Askefruer, Ash Nymphs

The Askefruer, or "Ash Maidens," are a northern variation on a common mythological theme: spirits, often depicted as human women, inhabiting trees. The ash tree was particularly important to ancient northerners: the World Tree, the axis about which the world revolved, was the ash tree Yggdrasill. See Honored High Mistress (Creation chapter), Sago Woman (Descent of the Gods chapter), Nymphae (Graeco-Roman Goddesses) and Yakshi (Hindu Goddesses).

Berchta, Mistress of Destiny

She is the "White Lady" who spins destiny. She is also known as Holda and Baba Yaga (Eastern Europe Goddesses); in fairy tales, She has come to be called Mother Holle, while Hans Christian Anderson calls Her the Snow Queen.

Borghild, Lady of Mists

She is the personification of the evening mist, or perhaps the moon, Who kills the light of day. She is the wife of Sigmund. Her myth became part of the dynastic struggles of the Germanic classic, the VOLSUNG SAGA.

Eastre, Lady of Spring

From Her name, which means "Radiant Dawn," comes our word Easter. At Her spring festival, She is celebrated with singing, dancing, parades, flowers, ringing bells and colored eggs. The rabbit is Her sacred animal.

Freya, Passionate Queen

Freya, or Freyja, is a descendent of the ancient Great Mother or Earth Mother. She is one of the Vanir, a pantheon of native fertility and peace Deities Who were driven into exile by the arrival of the Aesir (see Descent of the Gods chapter). To ensure peace, Freya and Her brother, Frey, agreed to live with the Aesir. She is often confused with the similar Goddess, Frigga.

Gunnlud, Mistress of Poetry

She is the Norse Goddess Who guards the mead of poetry, Odrerir. She is also known as Gunnlauth and Gonlod.

Hild, Mistress of Battle

Hild is the Chief of the Valkyries (profiled below). At the side of Her lover, She makes war against Her father. The battle will continue until Ragnarok, the end of creation.

Holda, Host of the Dead

Holda was worshipped by the Thuringians, Hessians and Suevi of modern Germany. She oversees the sky, lakes and streams. She leads the Host of the Dead through the mountains, whose screams are the wild wind.

Idun, Lady of the Apples

Idun is one of many Tree Goddesses Who populate world mythology. In Norse mythology, She is the guardian of the golden apples, which keep the Gods and Goddesses eternally young and healthy. As this story illustrates, without Idun, the Deities will grow old and die.

Nanna, Pure One

She is the wife of Balder, the Dying God of Norse mythology. She is the essence of purity, flowering blossoms and vegetation.

Norns, Spinners of Fate

The Norns are the Northern European variation on a common mythological theme: the Goddesses of Fate. They are usually three in number. They sit at the foot of Yggdrasill, spinning the fate of all beings, Divine and mortal.

Rana Nedia, Lady of Green Hills

She is the Spring Goddess of the Saami. She makes the hills green for the reindeer.

Valkyries, Fierce Warriors

The Valkyries are a common image in opera and the sports world. To the Norse, they are beautiful warriors Who choose the slain of the battlefield and escort them to Valhalla, where they await Ragnarok. Norse mythology contains many tales of Valkyries falling in love with mortal men.
Oceanic Goddesses

Apakura, Vengeful Mother

She is a Goddess honored by the Maori of New Zealand. She is one of many mythological mothers Who shaped Their sons for excellence and glory.

Brogla, Spirit of Dance

Her name means "Native Companion." She is honored by the Aborigines of Australia. A dancer of great fluidity and beauty, She was taken away by the dancers of nature, the Whirlwinds.

'Eleipaio, Lady Flycatcher

She is a Goddess honored by the Hawaiians, particularly canoe builders. This tale is an example of the intertwining of natural phenomena, human experience and mythology.

Haumea, Mother of Hawai'i

She is the Mother of Hawaii, Who taught women the correct way to give birth. Her daughters are Pele, the Goddess of Volcanoes, and Hi'iaka, the Goddess of the Hula (both profiled below).

Hi'iaka, Lady of the Hula

She is honored by the Hawaiians. Her name means "Cloudy One," a reference, perhaps, to the clouds of steam which rise when lava meets sea, or to the clouds of soot which rise when Pele's fire burns the forests.

Hine moa, Passionate Princess

Hine and Hina are common Goddess names throughout the Pacific; in some cases, the name has become a title, bearing connotations of sacrality, greatness, and femininity. The various Goddesses Hine/Hina worshipped may simply be aspects of one Great Goddess. This particular Hine is honored by the Maori of New Zealand for Her love, determination and bravery.

Julunggul, Rainbow Serpent

Rainbow serpents are a common motif throughout world mythology, but most particularly in Oceania, Africa and South America; universally, they are associated with immortality/rebirth, rain and water. This rainbow serpent, Julunggul, is a great Goddess of the Aborigines of Australia. She oversees the initiation of adolescent boys into manhood.

Kura, Falling Flower

Like Kore of Graeco-Roman mythology, Kura fell into the Underworld. Her story is told by the Maori of New Zealand.

Magigi, Lady of the Flood

In many myths, the world is destroyed in punishment for a great sin; usually, a husband and wife survive to repopulate the earth (sometimes a brother and sister, sometimes more than two people). In the case of this tale from the Caroline Islands, Magigi forsees the flood, and so She and Her husband survive.

The Mar'rallang, Twin Wives

This Aboriginal story may upset some feminists: it recounts the marriage of two sisters to one man, who were so alike that they bore the same name. The sameness of the sisters, however, may allude actually to a two-season year, a two-sun cosmology, a dual-ruler system, the dichotomy/unity of life and death, and so on. In Greek mythology, the opposite is common: twin brothers (or a father and son, or uncle and nephew) marry the same woman.

Pele, Fiery Creation

Pele is the most well-known Oceanic Goddess. She is the Goddess of Volcanoes, Lava and Volcanic Fire. She can be both benevolent and malevolent, and appears as a hag or young woman.

Purlimil, Flowers of Blood

This tragic tale of love and murder comes from Australia. Remember it when next you see a red field of the Flowers of Blood.

Rata, Lady of Inspiration

Rata is the Goddess of Inspiration honored by the Hawaiians. In a way, Her role is the same as that of the serpent in the Book of Genesis.

Sinebomatu, Warder of Bwebweso

Her name means "Woman of the Northeast Wind." She is honored by the Dobu of Melanesia as the Doorkeeper of the Land of the Dead.

Tei Tituaabine, Mother of Trees

She is worshipped by the natives of the Gilbert Islands of Micronesia. She is a Tree Goddess Whose tale is similar to that of Sago Woman (Descent of the Gods chapter). See also Idun (Northern European Goddesses) and Pomona (Graeco-Roman Goddesses).

South American Goddesses

Axomama, Lady of Potatoes

Her name means "Potato Mother." Potatoes have been the staple food of the peoples of the Andes since ancient days; they come in a wide variety, which are only now being discovered by distributors in industrialized nations.

Caipora, Lady of the Beasts

Among Brazilians, She is a Goddess of the Wilderness. She protects animals from human hunters.

Chasca, Lady of the Dawn

Among the Inca of Peru, She was honored as a Goddess of the Dawn and Twilight. She was the special Protectress of virgins and young girls.

Cocamama, Lady of Coca

This tale from Peru recounts the creation of that most deliciously addictive food, chocolate. The ancient Peruvians believed coca brought health and happiness.

Mama Pacha, Mother Earth

Mama Pacha was the Earth Mother of the Chincha of Peru. She oversees planting and harvesting. Some depict Her as a great dragon Who causes earthquakes.
Mama Quilla, Lady Moon
In the Incan tongue, Her name means "Mother Moon" or "Golden Mother." She oversaw marriages, the calendar and feast days.

Nungui, Lady of the Manioc

Among the Jivaro of Peru, She is an Earth Goddess Who oversees vegetation. She is honored as the Giver of Civilization. The manioc is Her special plant.

Star Woman, Heavenly Wife

This is another tale of a supernatural woman who weds a mortal man. As told by the Chaco, Ge and Apinaye of Brazil, a woman brought agriculture to the people of earth.

Yemanja, Mistress Sea

Originally an African Goddess, She is now worshipped through the Carribbean and along the Atlantic coast of South America, particularly in Brazil. She is the benevolent Goddess of the Sea.

South-East Asian Goddesses

Agemem, Lady Creatrix

Among the Tinguian of the Philippines, She is honored as co-Creatrix of the sun, moon, earth and stars, along with Her husband, Kadaklan.

Amitabha, Merciful Buddha

In Indonesia, She is honored as a Lady of "Infinite Light." She saves souls

Aponibolinayen, Sun Bride

In a reversal of the usual story, this Tinguin tale tells of a mortal woman carried to the heavens. She married the Sun.

Ba Ngu', Lady Dolphin

The Annam of Indonesia see the dolphin as a benevolent creature. The dolphin is actually a Goddess, Who rescues sailors. Dead dolphins which are found at sea or wash up on shore are ceremonially buried.

Duc Ba, Spirits of Trees

Like the Nymphae (Graeco-Roman Goddesses), Askefruer (Northern European Goddesses), and Yakshi (Hindu Goddesses), the Duc Ba are feminine spirits of trees. They are worshipped by the Annam of Indonesia.

Gimokodan, Lady of the Dead

The Bogobo of the Philippines call Her the Gimokodan Woman. She sits beside the River of the Underworld and feeds the spirits of deceased infants.
Jata, Primal Serpent

The Dyaks of Borneo worship Her as the serpent Who lived in the primeval waters. Along with the Sun, Mahatala, She created the universe. See Aida Wedo and Ayizan (Central American Goddesses) and Julunggul (Oceanic Goddesses).

Munsumundok, Creatrix

This rather grisly story of creation comes from the Dusun of Sarawak, Borneo. It recounts the creation not only of celestial phenomena and humans, but also of trees and food. See also Sago Woman (Descent of the Gods chapter) and Nungui (South American Goddesses).

Pajau Yan, Lady Moon

Among the Chams of Vietnam, She is a benevolent Goddess of Health, Healing and Good Fortune. A lunar eclipse is Her way of honoring the Sun; She feeds the dead with the fragrant Flowers of Transition.

Po Ino Nogar, Great One

Among Vietnamese and Cambodians, Her name means "Great One." She is a polyandrous Goddess, Who gave people rice.

Rabia, Reborn Moon

This story told by the Ceram of Indonesia bears a striking resemblence to that of Kore/Demeter/Persephone (see Graeco-Roman Goddesses) and Kura (Oceanic Goddesses). It is about an Earth Goddess Who sinks into the ground and is then reborn.

Rangda, Lady of Sex and Death

On the island of Bali, She is worshipped as a Goddess of Sexuality, Fertility, Lust and the Dead, as well as Magic and Charms.

Sangiyan Sari, Lady Rice

The Buginese of the Celebes Islands honor Her as Goddess of Rice. If She leaves, there will be famine.

Satine, Lady of the Underworld

This complex story is told by the Ceram of Indonesia. Satine is the Goddess of the Underworld. She sits on the Ninth Mountain; the dead must cross the other eight Mountains before they reach Her.

Usi Afu, Lady Earth

Her name means "Lady Earth." With Her husband Usi-Neno, "Lord Sun," She created everything, and continues to impart vitality and fertility.

Western European Goddesses

Aeval, Lady of Sexuality

Among the Celts of Ireland, Aeval was the Fairy Queen of Munster. She held a midnight court to determine if husbands were satisfying their wives' sexual needs, or not, as the women charged.

Ain, Lady Law

Along with Her sister, She wrote the Brehon Laws, an ancient law code of Celtice Ireland which protected women's rights.

Arduinna, Lady of the Forests

The Celts of Gaul (France) honored Her as Goddess of Justice and Childbirth. The Ardennes Forest, named after Her, were Her special domain.

Arianrhod, Silver Wheel

Among the Celts of Wales, She was a Goddess of Childbirth, the Moon, Fertility and Fate. She derives Her name from the Milky Way and/or the zodiac.

Banshees, Fairies of the Sidhe

Ireland, like many nations, experienced a succession of migrations and invasions. Unlike the pre-Hellenic Greek Titans, Who remained Deities, the ancient Gods and Goddesses of Ireland became demons or fairies. Such is the case with the Banshee, ancient Deities driven underground. Such hills beneath which they make their home are still called sidhe ("shee"), and some Irish still claim decsent from these Deities/fairies; hence the surname, "O'Shea."

Beag, Mistress of the Well

The Irish Celts said Beag owned a magic well, the Well of Wisdom.

Branwen, Lady Love

Her name means "White Breasted" or "White Cow." The ancient Welsh worshipped Her as the daughter of Sea, and as Goddess of the Moon and Love.

Brigid, High One

Her name means "High One." The Celts of Ireland knew Her as Triune Goddess of Healing, Poetry and Smithcraft. See also the Descent of the Gods chapter.

Cerridwen, Lady of Inspiration

To the Celts of the British Isles and Brittany, She was Goddess of Wisdom, Poetry and Grain. Her annual slaying of Gwion mimics the change of the seasons. She is often depicted with Her Cauldron of Wisdom.

Danu, Great Mother

She is the "Mother of the Gods" of the Tuatha De Danaan, one of the ancient people who settled in Ireland. Her children and followers were transformed into the Banshee (Profiled above). Under a variety of names, including Anu and Don, Danu was worshipped through pre-Christian Europe.

Epona, Horse Mistress

She was the only Celtic Goddess to be honored by the Romans with a temple in their capital city. She was especially popular with Roman soldiers. Among the Gaulish Celts themselves, She was worshipped as Goddess of Horses, Asses, Mules, Oxen, and, to an extent, Springs and Rivers.

Mari, Lady Justice

She is the Basque Goddess of Rain and Drought. Via the latter, She punishes those guilty of lying, stealing and pride. She assumes many different forms

.Medb, Lady Sovereignty

In ancient Ireland, a king was ritually wed to this Goddess (in the person of Her Priestess) to legitimize his reign. She was considered a Triune Goddess Who oversaw sovereignty, war, sexuality and intoxication. Her name is more recognizable in its phoetic spelling: Maeve.

Morrigan, Mistress War

The Morrigan is a Triune Goddess made of three largely autonomous Goddesses. Their names vary, but they are usually called Macha, Badb and Nemain. She/They were (a) War Goddess/es.

Sheila-na-gig, The Vulva

For obvious reasons, this Celtic Goddess was attacked by Christian missionaries as vulgar, lustful and demonic. To the Pagan Celts, however, She was a Goddess of Women and Fertility.

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