| ASTRAEA: Greek, daughter of Zeus and THEMIS (or of Astraeus and EOS). Goddess of justice and purity, she abandoned the Earth in disgust at its violence at the end of the Golden Age, and became the constellation Virgo. ASVA: ('Mare') Hindu dawn goddess, envisaged as a mare; another form of USHAS. ASYNJOR, THE: Teutonic. Female attendants of FRIGG in Vingolf, Hall of the Goddesses. Sometimes they are taken to include the VALKYRIES and the NORNS. ATABEl: Haiti. Mother of sky god Joca-huva. ATAENTSIC: Amerindian, Iroquois and Huron. Mother of Breath of Wind, who gave birth to twins who fought in her womb, causing her death. From her body she made the Sun and the Moon, which were set in the sky by Master of Winds, Breath of Wind's husband. ATALANTA: Greek. Her legend overlaps that of ARTEMIS. A Nature and hunting goddess, who would only marry the man who could beat her in a race; those whom she defeated had to die. Melanion (also called Hippomenes) won her by the trick of dropping the three golden apples which APHRODITE had given him; by pausing to pick them up, lost the race and married him. The couple were later turned into lions for profaning a temple of Zeus; another patriarchal demotion? She was the cause of the death of the hero Meleager, in circumstances strongly suggesting the sacrificed god theme; and the name of her son (some say by Meleager himself) was Parthenopaeus. This (like the Irish Aengus mac Og - see BOANN) means 'son of a virgin', not in the celibate sense but denoting a woman or goddess in her own right, not a mere consort. ATANUA: ('Dawn') Polynesian, Marquesas. Daughter of ATEA after Atea became a male god. She also bore him many children. Her amniotic fluid from a miscarriage is one explanation of the origin of the sea. ATARYATIS DERKETO: Babylonian fish goddess of Askalon, said to have been the divine mother, by the god of wisdom Oannes, of Semiramis, a historical Queen of Babylon. ATE: Greek. Daughter of Eris or of Zeus. A trouble-making goddess, prompting men and gods to irresponsibility. She even tricked Zeus into an imp rodent vow at Heracles' birth, and Zeus banished her to Earth - but sent two of his other daughters, the Litae, to follow her around and try to mitigate the trouble she caused. The Litae were wrinkled and lame, and anyone who welcomed them with respect was showered with blessings. ATEA: ('Vast-Expanse', 'Light') Polynesian. The goddess who filled the dome of the sky when the world was created. After the birth of her son Tane, she changed sex and became a male god. ATERGATIS: Originally a Syrian goddess of generation and fertility, she spread farther and acquired other characteristics such as wisdom and destiny. Overlaps with ISHTAR. As Dea Syria, her cult reached Egypt, Rome, the Danubian provinces, and even Britain. Often depicted with a snake or having a fish's tail; fish were sacred to her. ATHENE, ATHENA: Greek, a warrior goddess, yet also one of intelligence and the arts of peace. Protector of towns, above all of Athens. Protector of heroes and patroness of architects, sculptors, spinners and weavers, and said to have invented the plough and the flute. Born fully armed from the head of Zeus after he had swallowed METIS, who was pregnant by him. Depicted helmeted, with shield and spear, and wearing the aegis (a kind of cape breastplate). Her cult animal was the owl, and the oak and the olive were sacred to her. Festivals: 19-23 March (the Lesser Panathenaea), 25 December (Day of the Geniae), the third day from the New Moon and the sixth day from the Full Moon. 777: Tarot, Twos, Emperor, Star, World; gems, ruby, star ruby, turquoise, onyx, artificial glass; plants, amaranth, tiger lily, geranium, olive, coconut, ash, cypress, yew, hellebore, nightshade; animals, man, ram, owl, eagle, peacock, crocodile; minerals, phosphorus, lead; perfumes, musk, dragon's blood, galbanum, asafoetida, scammony, indigo, sulphur; magical weapons, Inner Robe of Glory, Horns, Energy, Burin, Censer, Aspergillum, Sickle. Roman equivalent: MINERVA. ATHTARAT: see ASTARTE. ATHTOR: Egyptian. Personification of Mother Night, the primordial element covering the infinite abyss. ATIRA: Amerindian, Pawnee. Wife of creator god Tirawa. ATROPOS: see MOERAE, THE. ATTAR: Morning Star (Venus), goddess of Southern Arabia. AUCHIMALGEN: Chile. Moon goddess of the Araucanians, and their only beneficent deity. Wife of the Sun. Protectress against disasters and evil spirits. AUDHUMLA: Teutonic. A primordial cow goddess in the creation legend, wetnurse of the giants. According to the Prose Edda, 'four rivers of milk ran from her teats'. AUKERT: Egyptian. A name for the underworld, and sometimes personified as a goddess. AUNT PIETY: Chinese goddess of the magical arts. May appear as a woman or as a vixen. AURORA: see EOS. AVILAYOQ: Eskimo. The mother of the human race by her husband, a dog. Her father threw her into the sea as a sacrifice to calm a storm; she grabbed at the gunwale of his boat, and he chopped off her fingers and put out one eye. Her fingers became the seals, whales, and other sea animals. She herself became the goddess SEDNA. AXO-MAMA: Peruvian potato-mother. AYA: Assyro-Babylonian dawn goddess, consort of the Sun god Shamash, and mother of Misharu, god of law and order, and Kittu, god of justice. AYIZAN: Haitian Voodoo. The first priestess, with Loco the first priest. They are the most important of the ancestral loa (divinities). Both are closely associated with the creator Sun god Legba; she is sometimes called Legba's wife and sometimes Loco's, and Loco is 'chief of Legba's escort'. She is patroness of the public square and marketplace, and also of initiation rituals, and is the loa of the psychic womb of mankind. Loco and Aziyan are 'the moral parents of the human race, not only in the sense of source or origin, but even more emphatically, in the sense of guardians', and as well as being teachers, they are 'the major healers of the pantheon'. (Deren, Divine Horsemen, p. 143.) She in particular protects against malevolent magic. Her symbol is the palm leaf. AZ: A Persian demoness of lust and greed. [BACK] [NEXT] This document can be re-published only as long as no information is lost or changed, credit is given to the author, and it is provided or used without cost to others. ©1987 Janet & Stewart Farrar |
