What goddesses do you know of? I need to know their names, what they were goddess of (love, rain, death, etc), and what culture or country they were from.
2006-10-13 14:00:22 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
Greek godesses:
1. Hera -- godess of marriage and maternity
2. Athena -- godess of war and wisdom
3. Artemis -- godess of the moon, hunt, and forests
4. Hestia -- godess of fire, home and family
5. Aphrodite -- godess of love and lust
6. Demeter -- godess of the earth and harvest
2006-10-13 14:08:38 · answer #1 · answered by Kami 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Without a doubt the maximum number of Goddesses exist in Hindu Tradition (the total count of Gods and Godesses being 33 million) with approximately half being Goddesses. But the most prominent are
Saraswati - Goddess of Knowledge
Lakshmi - Goddess of Wealth
Durga - Goddess of Strength (also called Shakti or Warrior Goddess or Parvati)
Navaratri (Nine day festival) is celebrated every year (around October in India and around the world) for praying to them for health, wealth and wisdom .
Most of the other Goddesses are said to be incarnations of these most prominent ones.
Other prominent Goddesses are
Kali - Goddess of Destruction of evil forces
Bhoomadevi - Mother Earth
Maari amman - Goddess of Rain
Ganga - River Goddess capable of washing away sins
Annapurani - Goddess of Food
Kannagi - Goddess of Chastity and Virtue
Almost every village/settlement has its own guardian God and/or Goddess and those who trace the traditions to the past can find some interesting tales.
Perhaps of interest is the only supreme being who combines man and woman as one is "Ardhanareshwara" where Shiva and Parvati (husband and wife) form two halves. It is a unique sight found in Madurai and is considered to be one of the wonders of the world.
Hindu Philosophy also advocates Advaita which says all our souls are all part of a supreme consciousness which is neither man nor woman nor eunuch but is made up by all collectively and so Gender is used metaphorically rather than literally.
2006-10-16 10:13:39 · answer #2 · answered by kalyan19677 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
People also forget the Norse goddesses, key examples:
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Freyja (sometimes anglicized as Freya), sister of Freyr and daughter of Niord (Njǫrðr), is usually seen as the Norse fertility goddess.
Freyja means "lady" in Old Norse (cf. fru or Frau in Scandinavian and German). While there are no sources suggesting that she was called on to bring fruitfulness to fields or wombs, she was a goddess of love, beauty, sex, and attraction. She was also the goddess of war, death, magic, prophecies, and wealth. Correspondingly, Freyja was one of the most popular goddesses.
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Frigg (Eddas) or Frigga (Gesta Danorum) was said to be "foremost among the goddesses," 1 the wife of Odin, queen of the Ãsir, and goddess of the sky. One of the Ãsynjur, she is a goddess of marriage, motherhood, fertility, love, household management, and domestic arts. Her primary functions in the Norse mythological stories are as wife and mother, but these are not her only functions. She has the power of prophecy although she does not tell what she knows 2, and is the only one other than Odin who is permitted to sit on his high seat Hlidskjalf and look out over the universe. She also participates in the Wild Hunt (Asgardreid) along with her husband.
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2006-10-13 21:13:03 · answer #3 · answered by keraphem 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you can, get your hands on a copy of The Book of Goddesses, by Kris Waldherr. It's out of print, I believe, but if you can find it used, it's a gorgeously illustrated book of 26 goddesses -- one for every letter of the alphabet. There's info on where each is from and what she's for, as well. I'd type out who's in the book, but I just loaned my copy to a coworker!
2006-10-13 22:42:53 · answer #4 · answered by lilgoat4 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Greek:
Athena-the goddess of wisdom
Aphrodite-the goddess of love
Demeter-goddess of the harvest
Artemis-goddess of the hunt
Hera-married to Zeus
Norse:
Freya-the goddess of abundance,desire, love fertility
Frigg ?
Gefjon-the goddess of fertility
Egyptian:
Amenti-lady at the gates
Isis-lady of life
Neith-lady supreme
Ma'at-cosmic balance
Uadjet-lady cobra
Qetesh-sacred love
Nut-celestial mistress
US:
Eva Longoria-hot actress goddess
2006-10-13 21:17:31 · answer #5 · answered by Justme 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My fellow "Norsemen" left Off RAN the goddess of the sea. All cultures considered the list is too long for this forum
2006-10-14 01:34:45 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I second the godchecker.com suggestion.
If you go there, you can look through very good lists of goddesses (and gods) from many different cultures and belief systems.
It has helped me with a few different papers in the last year or so.
2006-10-13 23:08:02 · answer #7 · answered by Alli Cobra 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I myself follow 5 different goddesses, Aradia, Lillith, Cerridwen, Hecate and the Morrigan. There are so many more and I am including a link to a very informative site that gives names and who and what they are.
http://www.angelfire.com/realm2/amethystbt/goddesses.html
This is one of the best sites that have found!
2006-10-15 22:35:36 · answer #8 · answered by raven_moon_macleod 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I always liked Epona, goddess of horses, and Bast, the Egyptian goddess who looked like a cat.
2006-10-14 01:06:35 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
wikipedia has a pretty good list of most of the ancient Celtic and Gaelic gods and goddesses. with diecent info on most of them.
there really are simply too many to name here.
2006-10-13 21:04:14 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
there is a whole book devoted to just names of goddess throughout the world and who they were and what they were famous for.
There is also a matching book of gods names.
2006-10-13 22:06:20 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋