A Goddess is a female deity and in many cultures they are associated with motherhood and the Earth. This list identifies goddesses from cultures across the world including:
AFRICA: Nowa
AMERICA: White Buffalo Woman
AZTEC: Coatlicue; Tlazolteotl
CHINA: Kuan Yin; Nu-Kua
EGYPT: Bast; Isis; Nut; Selkhet
GREECE: Aphrodite; Artemis; Athena; Cybele; Daphne; Demeter; Gaea; Hera; Persephone
HAITI: Erzulie
INDIA: Durga (shown at right); Kali; Parvati; Tara
JAPAN: Amaterasu; Uzume
MALI: Nommo
MEXICO: Xochiquetzal
NIGERIA: Ala-Ale-Ane
NORDIC: Freya; Hel
POLYNESIA: Hina; Taranga
SUMERIAN: Ereshkigal; Inanna
UNIVERSAL: Goddess of Growth
Ala-Ale-Ane – she who blesses the harvest
NIGERIA – Mother Goddess
Creator of the living, queen of the dead. Guards morality and society. Upholds the law, nothing functions without her blessing.
Central to any Ibo village is the sacred tree shrine to Ala, the all-important Earth Goddess of Nigeria.
Associations: flowers, fruit, produce.
Amaterasu – she of the great shining heaven
JAPAN – Sun Goddess
Goddess of all deities, guardian of the people, keeper of cultural unity. Ancestress of humanity.
Fought with her destructive brother Susano-o and hid in a cave, hiding the sun. Returned after long enticement.
Associations: Rising Sun
Aphrodite – Venus – she who came from the sea
GREECE – Moon Goddess
Goddess of love, physical love, beauty, passion, generosity, fertility, creation and renewal.
She has the power to unite all things by love. Protectress of marriages, flowers and gardens.
Associations: Dove, dolphin, tortoise, swan, ram.
Artemis – Diana – she who protects the newly born
GREECE: Moon Goddess
Virgin Goddess guardian of wild animals and childbirth. Fiercely protective of modesty. Also patron of archery.
Roaming the forest with her gang of nymphs, she is always ready to kill any man who approaches her.
Associations: Bow, arrow, wild animals, unicorn.
Athena – Minerva – the essence of family bond
GREECE – Wisdom Goddess
Maiden Goddess, controls lightning, thunder, blue sky, unlimited powers, wisdom and intelligence. Goddess of war and conflict.
Brought the benefits of plough, yoke, bridle, spindle, loom, trumpet and flute to earth, for humans to use.
Associations: Helmet, shield, owl.
Bast – Bastet – she who protects the spirit of joy
EGYPT – Sunrise Goddess
Goddess of dawn, civilisation, home, plenty, art, music, dance, creation, birth, fertility, sexual pleasures, enlightenment and lesbians.
She is the cat-headed incarnation of Isis, related to Neith, the Night Goddess and personifies the benefits of the Sun.
Associations: Cats, lynx, kittens.
Coatlicue – the serpent-skirted goddess
AZTEC – Earth Goddess
Goddess of life, death and rebirth. Loves human sacrifice. Also called the Fivefold Goddess as she guards all directions.
Fearful appearance with skirt of serpents, necklace of human hearts. Gave virgin-borth to the God Quetzelcoatl.
Associations: Serpent, skull, pyramid.
Cybele – Rhea – guardian of mountains and forests
GREECE – Earth Mother
Mother of Hades, Hera, Poseidon and Demeter. Her priests performed self-castration to be closer to her. Worshippers can be reborn every 20 years.
Zeus tried to rape her but failed, ejaculating on the ground. As all of nature is Earth Mother, she became pregnant.
Associations: Wild animals, lion, dog, bees.
Daphne – expression of earth’s femininity
GREECE – Virgin Priestess
Determined to keep her virginity in a celebration of earth’s femininity. Escapes Apollo’s advances by changing into a laurel tree.
Performed secret rituals which were spied on by a mortal male. The intruder was exposed and killed.
Association: laurel wreath.
Demeter – Ceres – keeper of the eleusinian mysteries
GREECE – Earth Goddess
The eternal Earth Mother the grower of all things. She and her daughter Persephone together symbolise the seasonal cycle, and the forces of rebirth.
Angry at the loss of her daughter she withheld growth energy, causing plants to wither & die.
Association: torch, crown, sceptre, stalk of grain.
Durga – she who is the unapproachable
INDIA – eternal mother
The fiercest form of Devi – the all-embracing Hindu goddess. Born of flames she is the slayer of demons.
Invoked to annihilate the negative forces of weakness and indecision. Represents the female principle of energy.
Association: lion, tiger, buffalo.
Ereshkigal – ruler of the rainbow gardens
SUMERIAN – Death Goddess
So terrifying that no humn dared to draw her image. She absorbs the dead into her body. Her lips were black, her face was blue.
When Inanna invaded her underworld, she slew her and hung her naked corpse on a snake.
Association: lion, lion cubs, boat.
Erzulie – the voodoo goddess of temptation
HAITI – Love Goddess
She possesses her voodoo worshippers with frightening force, demanding surrender and making them speak in high-pitched voices.
She flirts with her worshippers, demands gifts of beads, combs, sigar cakes, honey and champagne.
Association: flowers, fish, shells.
Freya – the queen of the valkyries
NORDIC – Ruler of Death
As well as being the Ruler of Death, Freya also represents sexuality and promiscuity. Controls spirits killed in battle.
Wore a magical amber necklace. Drives a cat-drawn chariot.
Association: Boar, dove.
