Pagan Pathway Gathering

THE DEITIES

Home
ABOUT OUR LEADERS
THE DEITIES
WHAT THE PENTACLE MEANS?
THE ELEMENTS
SABBATS AND ESBATS
RITUAL/CIRCLE BASICS
WHAT IS PAGANISM?
WHAT IS WICCA?
WHAT IS DRUIDISM?
WHAT IS ASATRU?
THE BURNING TIMES

HERE WE ARE GOING TO COVER SOME OF THE BASICS ON THE GODS AND GODDESSES THAT THE DIFFERENT PAGAN PATHS HONOR/ BELIEVE IN OR FOLLOW. THIS IS BY NO MEANS A COMPLETE LIST AS DIFFERENT TRADITIONS OF ALL PATHS HONOR DIFFERENT GODS AND GODDESES.

WICCAN GODS AND GODDESSES
WICANS HONOR WHAT IS CALLED THE 'TRIPLE GODDESS' WHICH IS THE MAIN GODDESS IN HER 3 ASPECTS OF MAIDEN,MOTHER AND CRONE. WE WILL LIST DIFFERENT GODDESSES THAT REPRESENT THESE DIFFERENT ASPECTS...
 
THE MAIDEN:
The Maiden is the aspect of the Triple Goddess in Her youthful form.Sometimes the Maiden is shown as an ascetic virgin,at the other extreme She may be strongly associated with pleasure and sexuality.The Maiden is the Goddess of beginnings, growth, and expansion.  She is symbolized by the Waxing Moon.The Maiden is the Goddess of passion and creativity,arts, crafts, and sciences,inspiration, self-expression, and creativity -all things which stir the soul or incite the mind- belong to the maiden.
The Maiden Goddess tends to be shown in one of three main forms:
The Artist:  Goddess of all arts and crafts, skills and sciences.  The mind, intellect, and inspiration. Examples of the Maiden Goddess in this guise include:  Brighid, Flora, Kore, Minerva, and Sesheta.
The Guardian:  The Goddess as warrior and protector.  Patron of quests and causes, champion of heroes and adventurers, defender of those in need.  In this form the Maiden grants courage, guidance, and fortitude.  Examples of the Maiden Goddess in this guise include:  Anat, Artemis, and Durga.
The Lover:  Goddess of love beauty and sexuality, She is the patron of lovers and romance.  Examples of the Maiden Goddess in this guise include:  Ezili, Hathor, and Venus.
------------------------
THE MOTHER:
In Her simplest form, the Great Mother represents Deity as Mother of Creation, eternally loving, eternally nurturing.  The Mother created the Universe from Herself and sustains it with Her Divine love and providence. In this sense the Mother is a Goddess of unconditional love, compassion, and nurturing,and the Goddess of the deep fertility and creativity necessary to create and sustain life, and has endless reserves of strength and will.The Mother Goddess is symbolized by the Full Moon, representing Spirit at the Height of its powers.
Examples of the Goddess as Mother:
DEMETER -Greek Goddess of the Earth and of growing thingsIn early times Demeter was sometimes depicted as being a horse, or as being horse-headed, linking Her to Celtic Mother Goddesses like Danu, Epona, and Rhiannon.
GAIA -Gaia or Ge is the Greek Goddess of the Earth.  In Greek myth Gaia was the Primeval Mother. 
LAKSMI -Laksmi is one of the most popular Hindu manifestations of the Great Mother Goddess.
MATI SUIRA ZEMLYA -Mati Suira Zemlya means ”Mother Moist Earth.”  She is the Mother Goddess of ancient Russia, and represents the fertility of the Earth itself. 
YEMAYA -Also called Iemonja, Yemaya is the Afro-diasporic Mother Goddess. Goddess of the life-giving sea, Yemaya represents the bounty of the ocean, and the waters which give fertility to the Earth and sustenance to living creatures.
------------------------
THE CRONE:
The third expression of the energy of the Triple Goddess is the Crone. The Crone is commonly conceived of as an elderly Grandmother, and represents the last stage of life when the body is at its weakest, but psychic and magical power are at their strongest. The Crone represents the height of Feminine power, and the wisdom and experience which comes with age, wisdom, magic, and spirituality. The Crone is the Goddess of death and endings.  She is associated with the Waning Moon and  represents the ending of one cycle and the beginning of the next.
Examples of the Goddess as Crone:
BABA YAGA -Baba (Grandmother) Yaga is the Russian form of the Crone Goddess.Baba Yaga is portrayed as an ancient and wizened Witch.
HECATE -Hecate is the ancient Greek form of the Crone Goddess.Goddess of prophesy, magic and Witchcraft, Hecate was worshipped at the crossroads, and was considered a Queen of the Otherworld.
KALI -Kali is the most famous Hindu example of the Crone form of the Goddess.
TLACOLTEUTL -The name Tlacolteutl means “Refuse Eater” because this Aztec Crone Goddess had as one of Her chief characteristics the quality of consuming outmoded forms and transmuting them.
_______________
_______________
THE GOD
The God is the moving essence of the Goddess.The God governs the quality of Time. It is as Lord of Time that the God is considered Lord of the Dance of Life -Time, the sequencing of events, is what allows the Dance. The God is usually seen as the young God and the old God as he ages through the year. These 2 aspects also breakdown into 4  archetypes.
 
The Hero is the Champion Who overcomes all obstacles and embodies creativity, vitality, and self expression (Astrologically: Mars). The Hero is the temporal or outward aspect of the Young God’s energy. The Hero God represents independent young manhood,energy, vitality, and growth
Examples of the Hero:
APOLLO -Venerated by the Greeks and Romans, Apollo is the God of life force and vitality, creativity and self-expression,God of beauty, Master of all arts and crafts, He is the Lord of prophesy and healing,  Patron of both physical and spiritual medicine. Apollo is also God of music.
GREEN MAN -The Green Man, also called Green Jack or Green George, represents the spirit of vegetation which returns to the Earth in Spring and flourishes in Summer.
MARS -Although usually thought of as a God of war, the Roman God Mars is actually much more than this. Mars represents the Summer season, the growing crops, the warmth of the Sun which fertilizes the Earth.
PERCIVAL -Percival or Peredur figures in the legend of King Arthur as the Knight who finds the sacred Grail, which restores the stricken King to health.
THOR -Originally called Thunar, or “Thunder”, Thor is the Germanic God of storms and fertility.
------------------
 
The Lover is the Consort of the Goddess, the Dying and reborn God Who embodies all virtues (the Sun).The Lover represents the God as Consort of the Goddess.The Lover represents the principle of the God at Its greatest power. The Lover represents the joy of life and the exuberance of being.
Examples of the Lover:
ATTIS -Attis is the consort of the Mother Goddess Cybele, Whose worship originated in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and later became popular throughout the Roman empire. 
HORUS -In Egyptian mythology the God Osiris taught the Egyptians all arts and sciences and ruled them as their King.
LUGH -Also called Lugus and Lleu, Lugh is the Celtic version of the dying and reborn God. 
TAMMUZ -According to an ancient Mesopotamian myth, Tammuz was the King of Uruk, and husband of the Goddess Ishtar.
XANGO -Xango is the Afro-diasporic God of fertility.  Lord of storms, Xango is accompanied by thunder and lightning, and governs the rains which fertilize the Earth.  Xango is thought of as the epitome of masculine beauty.
------------------------ 
 
The King is the God of justice and cosmic order, prosperity and expansion (Jupiter). King, Father, Counselor, Judge. Of all the forms of the God, this is the one with which most Wiccans have the greatest difficulty. The King is the God of the harvest. He is the Sun which has begun to dim, following the Summer Solstice,the spirit of the crops, literally sacrificing His life that others may live.He is the father Who has given up the independent life of a child to be part of a family.The King is a Judge,the God of honor and of law, of honesty and civility.The King is the temporal or outward aspect of the Old God.
Examples of the King:
ATLAS -Atlas is one of the Titans, Gods of pre-classical Greece. A God of the sky.
JUPITER -Roman King of the Gods, Jupiter is related to and identified with the Greek Zeus, but is not identical to Him.
NODENS -A God of the ancient Celts, much of Nodens’ mythology is lost. He was King of the Gods, and is associated with prosperity and expansion.
RA -Falcon headed God of the Sun, Ra was considered chief among the Gods of Egypt for many centuries.
YU-HUANG-SHANG-TI -The “Supreme August Jade Emperor,” Chinese King of Heaven, Who maintains the balance and order of the Universe and the eternal progress of its cycles. Patron of government and of law, Yu-Huang-Shang-Ti is God of justice and honor, duty and responsibility.
--------------------
The Sorcerer is the Divine Fool, the Magician Who rules over magic, prophesy, and the Otherworld (Mercury).  The Sorcerer is also called the Horned God, because He is often shown with horns or antlers, and is identified with the forest (as a symbol of the Otherworld).
Lord of Winter, the Old God is also Lord of the Hunt and of the forests, Master of Game and of all wild creatures and places.
Lord of Death, the Old God was also the Patron of Shamans, Priests, and Sorcerers.  He presided over omens, dreams, and ecstatic trance.  In many ancient traditions the Old God led the “Wild Ride” in which the souls of the dead were believed to ride forth by night in a great and tumultuous procession, in which the living could also join through trance and astral projection.  This was the central feature of the now extinct German form of Witchcraft known as the Hexenrai.
The most common name for the Old God which you will find in modern Wicca is “Cernunnos.”  Cernunnos is the name of an ancient Celtic form of the Sorcerer archetype, and means literally “Horned One” (From Cornu -”horn”).  The name of Cernunnos is attested from a number of ancient -mainly Gallic- Celtic inscriptions.  It is also preserved in modern folk versions such as Herne the Hunter, and the Giant of Cerne Abbas.
Other Celtic names for Cernunnos include Secullos, Dagda, and the Fisher King.
 

DRUID GODS AND GODDESS
 
IRISH AND SCOTTISH DEITIES
Lugh Lamh-fada (Long Handed), Son of the Sun, father of Cu/Chullain. He is known by many names, such as Lleu in Wales, and Lugos in Gaul, and appears to be one of the few pan-Celtic deities.He is more commonly known as "Lamhfada", or "God with the Large Hand".
Dagda the Good (good not because of his moral disposition but because of the diversity of his skills) He is King of the Tuatha de Dannans, most of the time, and is father to many of the Gods.
Nuada Argat-lamh (Silver Hand) twice king of the Dannans. He has a counterpart in the Norse God Tyr.
Morrigu, Babd, and Nemhain (a triple goddess of War, and also connected to sovereignty) A powerful Goddess.
Brigid (a triple Goddess of Fire, Poetry, and the Forge). She is a fertility deity, as she assists in childbirth of animals and of people. The festival of Imbolc is sacred to her, and the folk would often leave bits of cloth outside their back door for her to touch and bless as she travelled abroad through the night.
Diancecht, god of healing. His name translates roughly as Dia- "God", and Cecht- "of the plough".
Manannan mac Lir, God of the sea and master of magic. His name survives in the Isle of Man. His realm,is the Sea, the Sea is the Sky to him.In this way his concern is not merely the sea but also of the passages to the Otherworld, of which he is the guardian. His many titles include "Lord of Mists", "Lord of the Land of Women", "Lord of the Land Beneath the Waves".
 
WELSH-CELTIC DEITIES
Arawn, lord of the Annwyn (the Otherworld).
Math ap Mathonwy, the quintessential wizard. Math requires a virgin to rest his feet upon, apparently to prevent him from contacting the Earth and thereby losing his power.
Pwyll, lord of the kingdom of Davyd, and husband of Rhiannon.
Arianhrod: She is the Goddess of Caer Arianhrod, which is sometimes identified with the constellation Coronea Borealis ("Northern Crown"), which is where the souls of slain heroes go. Her name means "Silver Wheel", which may also refer to the constellation, or to the Wheel of the Year that is celebrated at each of the Fire Festivals.
Rhiannon, (wife of Pwyll) Goddess associated with horses and the Underworld. She is the great Goddess with whom Pwyll is joined as a sacred king.
Cerridwen, mother of the poet Taliesson (and perhaps therefore a patroness of poets). She possesses a cauldron in which a magical wisdom-granting brew can be concocted.
Lyr, god of the sea
Manawyddan, the Welsh counterpart to the Irish Manannan.
 
GAULISH DEITIES

Lugh (Roman= Mercury)

Belinus (Roman= Apollo)

Taranis (Roman= Mars) a thunder god

Teutatis (Roman= Jupiter)

Brigid (Roman= Minerva)

Cernunnos (Roman= Dispater) the Animal Lord or Green Man, and probably the God depicted on a panel of the Gnudstrup Cauldron. 

Esus, Hu'Hesu, the perpetually Dying God

Epona, the Horse Goddess, with attributes of fertility for mares and women.

ASATRU GODS AND GODDESSES
 

ODIN - father of the Gods, associated with wisdom, poetry, victory

THOR - a God of strength and might, defender of the Gods and men

FRIGGA - mother of the Gods, wise, involved with family and children

TYR - one-handed God renowned for sacrifice, valor, and war prowess

BALDER - most beautiful of the Gods, soft-spoken, bold, and good

SKADI - mountain-dwelling Goddess who hunts on skis

HEIMDAL - watchman guarding the Rainbow Bridge to the realm of the Gods

IDUN - Goddess who keeps the magic apples that renew the Gods' youth

FREYA - Goddess of love, fertility and procreation, but with a warrior aspect also

FREY - virile fertility God whose domain includes love, joy, prosperity

NJORD - God connected with the sea as a source of food and prosperity through trade

Most of these Gods and Goddesses belong to the family or tribe we call the Aesir, but the last three are of another line, the Vanir.