The pantheon of female pagan deities is a diverse and expansive collection of gods and goddesses from various ancient cultures and civilizations. These deities were revered and worshipped by pagan societies and often represented different aspects of nature, fertility, wisdom, and power. One of the prominent figures in the pantheon is Isis, an Egyptian goddess associated with healing, fertility, and magic. She was worshipped as a mother figure and often depicted with a child, symbolizing her role as a protector and nurturer. Another significant deity is Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, warfare, and crafts. Known for her strategic prowess and intelligence, Athena was highly respected and revered by the ancient Greeks.
The gilt statues of the Di Consentes 12 adorned Rome’s central forum.
Join this five-day discovery of historic sites that takes you back to the extraordinary days of ancient Rome, in the company of expert guide and renowned classicist Mary Beard. Aegir God of the sea Germanic The Aesir The younger branch of the family of the Gods Germanic Baba Yaga Avenger of women Slavic Buri Ancestor of the Gods Germanic Dazhbog God of the sun Slavic Forseti God of justice Germanic Freyja Goddess of fertility Germanic Frigg Queen of the Gods Gefion Goddess of fertility Germanic Hel Goddess of the underworld and the dead Germanic Huginn and Muninn Ravens - Thought and Memory - belonging to Odin; messengers Germanic.
Known for her strategic prowess and intelligence, Athena was highly respected and revered by the ancient Greeks. She was often depicted wearing a helmet and holding a shield, symbolizing her role as a protectress. The Celtic pantheon had its share of female goddesses as well, with Brigid being one of the most revered.
A more complete list of Deities
Ancient Roman polytheism was a bit like the English language, insofar as “new” Gods were continually borrowed and absorbed into the Religio Romana from other pantheons, just as English continually borrows and absorbs foreign words, without being particularly concerned with maintaining linguistic “purity”. The traditional mindset of Roman spirituality is open and diverse, and it is perhaps for this reason that there are more Deities associated with Roman polytheism than can possibly be counted. Thus, it is impossible to list all of them. Even if a historian was able to tell you the name of every Deity recorded from the Roman era (and such a list would surely list Deities in the hundreds if not the thousands) this would still not comprise a complete list, because from the polytheistic world view every river, every grove, every force of nature is divine and likely has some kind of spirit, or Deity, attached to it. Due to these facts the following list is not comprehensive:
- Adonis: a God associated with the cycle of life, death and rebirth; beautiful lover of Venus who dies but is reborn every spring.
- Aesculapius: God of healing.
- Anna Perenna: personification of the year (annus), whose festival on 15 March involved drinking and singing of licentious songs by women.
- Annona: numen / spirit / personification of the food supply.
- Antinous: deified 19 year old (probable) lover of Hadrian; associated with young, masculine beauty, love and homosexuality.
- Apollo: God of light and the sun, healing (and disease), music (especially stringed instruments), poetry, archery and prophecy.
- Attis: Cybele’s consort.
- Aurora: Goddess of dawn.
- Bacchus: God of the vine, grapes, fruitfulness, vegetation, wine, ecstasy and madness.
- Bellona: Goddess of war and belligerence.
- Bona Dea (also Damia): the “good Goddess”; fertility Goddess mostly worshipped by women; see also Fauna.
- Camenae: healing Goddesses identified with the Greek Muses, thus music.
- Cardea: Goddess of door hinges.
- Castor and Pollux: Gods of camaraderie and strong friendship; associated with sailors and men of the cavalry who travel far and wide.
- Ceres: Goddess of agriculture, plant growth and crop fertility.
- Clementia: Goddess of mercy and clemency.
- Concordia: Goddess of Concord.
- Consus: God of the granary / grain storage.
- Cupid: God of love and desire.
- Cybele: see Magna Mater.
- Dea Dia: agricultural Goddess of growth.
- Diana: chaste Goddess of the hunt, animals (esp. wild), woodlands, childbirth, light and the moon.
- Dii familiares: collective term for all household Gods; guardians of home and family; includes the Lares, the Penates, Janus, Vesta, etc.
- Dis Pater (also, Orcus or Pluto): God of the underworld and mineral wealth.
- Discordia: Goddess of discord and strife.
- Dius Fidius: God of oaths; though Jupiter is also strongly associated with oaths.
- Dryad: general term borrowed from Hellenism denoting a tree Deity.
- Egeria: protectress of pregnant women and childbirth; a water spirit worshipped in connection with Diana and the Camenae.
- Epona: Celtic Goddess of horse riding whose cult was adopted by the Roman cavalry and spread throughout much of Europe.
- Fama: numen / spirit /personification of rumour, fame and infamy.
- F auna: G oddess of the fertility of woodlands, fields, and flocks; counterpart to Faunus; possibly another name for Bona Dea.
- Faunus: God of the earth who brings fertility to fields and flocks; associated with sexuality and pleasure.
- Fides: numen / spirit / personification of good faith, trust and honesty.
- Flora: Goddess of flowering plants; associated with spring, fertility and sexual licentiousness.
- Forculus: God of doors.
- Fortuna: Goddess of increasing prosperity, good fortune, ill fortune, chance and luck.
- Genius: protecting male spirit; the feminine counterpart is a “juno”.
- Graces: G oddesses of charm, grace and beauty; hence associated with Venus.
- Hercules: God of heroism, strength and perseverance.
- Honos : numen / spirit / personification of honour and virtus.
- Isis: Egyptian earth Goddess worshipped as an ideal mother and wife, as well as being a patroness of magic and the downtrodden.
- Janus: God of beginnings, transitions, openings, closings and entrance-ways.
- Juno: Goddess of women, marriage and motherhood.
- Jupiter: protecting God of the sky and weather, especially thunder, lightning, rain and storms; also associated with the swearing of oaths.
- Juturna: Goddess of fountains.
- Juventas: Goddess of youth.
- Lar (plural Lares): protecting spirit/s of the household.
- Larvae (also, Lemures): malevolent spirits of the dead.
- Latona: mother of Apollo and Diana (twin Deities of light).
- Liber: see Bacchus.
- Libera: consort of Liber / Bachhus; identified with the Greek Ariadne.
- Libertas: numen / spirit / personification of liberty and personal freedom.
- Libitina: Goddess of the dead.
- Limentinus: God of the threshold.
- Lucifer: the morning star; literally “bringer of light”.
- Luna: Goddess of the moon, may be considered an aspect of Diana.
- Lymphae: general term for Deities of springs, streams and similar water divinities; similar to Greek Naiads.
- Magna Mater: Phrygian earth Goddess of nature; great mother of all.
- Manes: spirits of the dead, generally friendly.
- Mars: God of violence, war, valour and virility.
- Matuta: Goddess worshipped mostly by young women; associated with growth, Aurora and the Greek Leucothea.
- Mercury: God of financial gain, trade, travel, writing, language, communication, cunning, trickery and psychopomp.
- Minerva: Goddess of skilled thought leading to skilled action, thus wisdom, workmanship and strategy.
- Miseria: numen / spirit / personification of misery and wretchedness, Cicero refers to her as kin to other spirits of unhappiness, including Dolus (deceit), Metus (anxiety), Invidentia (envy), Mors (death), Tenebrae (darkness), Querella (lamentation), Fraus (fraud / delusion) and Pertinacia (obstinacy). We may add to this list Melancholia (alternately, Melancholica); note that mania and psychosis almost certainly belong to the domain of Bacchus. See also Discordia.
- Mithras: Persian God of light.
- Nemesis: numen / spirit / personification of divine retribution.
- Neptune: God of water, the sea and horses.
- Nox: Goddess of night.
- Nundina: Goddess associated with the purification and naming of children (for girls on the 8th day; for boys on the 9th).
- Ops: Goddess of the wealth of the harvest, consort to Saturn.
- Osiris: consort to Isis.
- Pales: Deity of shepherds, flocks and livestock.
- Parcae: Goddesses of childbirth and destiny (Nona, Decuma and Morta); determining the length of a person’s life and their allotment of suffering.
- Pax: Goddess of peace.
- Penates: spirits of the household provisions / food stores / pantry.
- Picus: agricultural Deity associated particularly with the fertilisation of the soil with manure; associated with Faunus.
- Pietas: personification of a respectful and faithful attachment to Gods, country and family.
- Picumnus and Pilumnus: agricultural Gods associated with childbirth.
- Pomona: Goddess of fruit.
- Portunus: God of harbours.
- Priapus: God of animal and vegetable sexuality and fertility; protector of gardens.
- Proserpina: Goddess of the underworld, associated with spring and the life, death, rebirth cycle; consort to Dis Pater.
- Quirinus: deified Romulus, the founder of Rome.
- Robigo: God of mildew and wheat rust, a fungal disease affecting grain. Robigo can therefore protect crops from wheat rust.
- Roma: numen / spirit / personification of Rome.
- Rumina: Goddess of breastmilk.
- Sabazius: Phrygian God of vegetation.
- Salus: Goddess of safety, good health and well-being.
- Serapis (also Sarapis): Greco-Egyptian God of the sky; associated with healing and fertility.
- Saturn: God of agricultural abundance, sowing, seeds and mythological ruler of a past golden age.
- Silvanus: God of the woods and fields.
- Somnus: God of sleep.
- Sol: God of the sun, may be considered as another name for Apollo.
- Spes: numen / spirit / personification of hope.
- Tellus: Goddess of the earth; Ovid states she is one and the same as Vesta.
- Terminus: God of property boundaries; may be associated with steadfastness.
- Trivia: (also Hekate / Hecate), Goddess of crossroads (usually three-way), ghosts, the undead and witchcraft.
- Venus: Goddess of love, relationships, passion, pleasure, beauty, charm and fertility.
- Vertumnus: God of orchards.
- Vesta: Vesta is the Goddess of ritual-fire, hearth-fire, and home; associated with purity and virginity.
- Victoria: Goddess of victory, especially military victory.
- Vulcan: God of destructive and fertile (creative) fire.
Sources: drawn from my blog neo polytheist; britannica.com; Kamm, The Romans (Routledge) and Ovid, Fasti (Penguin Classics); Turcan, The Gods of Ancient Rome (Routledge); Scheid, An Introduction to Roman Religion (Indiana University Press).
“Abundantia, the Gifts of the Sea” by Makart (1870)
Written by M’ Sentia Figula (aka Freki). Find me at neo polytheist and on romanpagan.wordpress.com.
Roman goddess of hearth, home and domestic life.
Brigid was the goddess of poetry, healing, and fire. She was believed to bring inspiration and creativity, and her festival, Imbolc, marked the beginning of spring. In Norse mythology, the goddess Freya held a prominent position. Freya was the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, and she was associated with war and death as well. She was believed to have the power to bring love and pleasure to those who worshipped her. These examples are just a fraction of the female deities that existed in pagan cultures. Each goddess represented different aspects of life and played a crucial role in the spiritual beliefs and practices of ancient societies. The worship of these deities provided a connection to nature, an understanding of feminine power, and a sense of community and belonging..
Reviews for "The Goddesses of Ancestry: Connecting with the Divine Feminine Through Heritage"
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