Every culture in human history has understood the world through its gods. These deities personify the forces of nature, the cycles of life and death, love, war, wisdom and fate. They are not interchangeable figures from separate but parallel systems. Each carries the full weight of the culture they come from, shaped by centuries of devotion, story, art and ritual practice.
This guide presents a comprehensive alphabetical reference of gods and goddesses across the world’s major mythological traditions. Whether you are researching a specific deity for spiritual work, exploring a particular pantheon or building your understanding of world mythology, this list is designed as a practical reference you can return to.
For guidance on how to approach, research and build relationships with these beings see A Guide to Working with Deities and Entities.
The Deities
| Name (Origin) | Role and Attributes | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|
| Aine (Irish / Celtic) | Goddess of summer, love, prosperity and sovereignty. | Associated with the sun and midsummer; queen of the fairies in some traditions. Patron of cattle and crops. |
| Aker (Egyptian) | God of the earth and the horizon, guardian of the underworld entrance. | Depicted as a double-headed lion or two lions sitting back to back; protected the sun god Ra during his nightly passage through the underworld. |
| Amaterasu (Japanese / Shinto) | Supreme goddess of the sun and ruler of the heavens. | Central deity of Shinto; her withdrawal into a cave plunged the world into darkness until the other gods lured her out. Ancestor of the Japanese imperial family. |
| Anansi (Akan / West African) | Trickster god of stories, wisdom and cunning. | Central figure in Akan folklore from Ghana; outwitted more powerful beings through intelligence and brought stories to humanity. Spread widely through the African diaspora to the Caribbean and Americas. |
| Anubis (Egyptian) | God of embalming, death and the afterlife. | Depicted with the head of a jackal; guided souls through the underworld and oversaw the weighing of the heart against the feather of Ma’at. Protector of graves. |
| Aphrodite (Greek) | Goddess of love, beauty, desire and fertility. | Born from sea foam; her Roman counterpart is Venus. Her influence extended to all forms of love, from physical desire to divine beauty. |
| Apollo (Greek / Roman) | God of the sun, music, poetry, art, prophecy and healing. | Twin of Artemis; associated with the Oracle at Delphi. One of the most widely worshipped deities in both Greek and Roman tradition. |
| Ares (Greek) | God of war, violence and courage. | Son of Zeus and Hera; his Roman counterpart is Mars. Unlike Athena who represented strategic warfare, Ares embodied the chaos and bloodlust of battle. |
| Artemis (Greek) | Goddess of the hunt, wilderness, the moon and childbirth. | Twin of Apollo; protector of young women and wild animals. Her Roman counterpart is Diana. |
| Athena (Greek) | Goddess of wisdom, warfare strategy, crafts and justice. | Born fully armored from Zeus’s head; patron deity of Athens. Her Roman counterpart is Minerva. |
| Atum (Egyptian) | Primordial creator god who brought himself into existence. | One of the oldest Egyptian deities; associated with the setting sun. Created the first gods Shu and Tefnut from himself. |
| Bacchus (Roman) | God of wine, festivity, ecstasy and liberation. | Roman counterpart of Dionysus; associated with theatrical performance and the dissolution of social boundaries. |
| Baldr (Norse) | God of light, purity, beauty and love. | Son of Odin and Frigg; his death, engineered by Loki, marked the beginning of the end for the Norse gods and foreshadowed Ragnarök. |
| Bastet (Egyptian) | Goddess of protection, cats, home and fertility. | Originally depicted as a lioness, later as a domestic cat; protector of the home, women and children. Associated with the sun and moon. |
| Bes (Egyptian) | Dwarf deity of protection, fertility and childbirth. | One of the few Egyptian gods depicted full-face rather than in profile; protector of households and mothers during childbirth. |
| Brahma (Hindu) | Creator god and first member of the Trimurti. | Part of the Hindu trinity alongside Vishnu and Shiva; responsible for the creation of the universe and all living beings. |
| Brigid (Irish / Celtic) | Triple goddess of healing, poetry, smithcraft and fire. | One of the most beloved Celtic deities; her feast day Imbolc marks the beginning of spring. Absorbed into Christian tradition as Saint Brigid. |
| Cernunnos (Celtic) | Horned god of nature, wild animals, fertility and the underworld. | One of the most recognizable Celtic deities; depicted seated with antlers, holding a torc and a serpent. Associated with liminal spaces and the cycle of life. |
| Cerridwen (Welsh / Celtic) | Goddess of transformation, inspiration and the cauldron of knowledge. | Keeper of the Cauldron of Inspiration; her story of the shape-shifting chase with Gwion Bach is central to Welsh mythology and later Druidic tradition. |
| Coyote (Various Indigenous North American) | Trickster deity of transformation, creativity and chaos. | Appears across many distinct Native American traditions with varying characteristics; brings both gifts and trouble to humanity through cunning and unpredictability. |
| Dagda (Irish / Celtic) | Father god of wisdom, agriculture, strength and the seasons. | One of the most powerful figures in Irish mythology; wields a great club and owns a cauldron of abundance. Chief of the Tuatha De Danann. |
| Demeter (Greek) | Goddess of the harvest, grain, agriculture and the seasons. | Her grief over Persephone’s abduction created winter; central to the Eleusinian Mysteries. Her Roman counterpart is Ceres. |
| Dionysus (Greek) | God of wine, festivity, ecstasy, theatre and religious frenzy. | Born twice; his rites involved ritual madness and liberation from social norms. His Roman counterpart is Bacchus. |
| Durga (Hindu) | Warrior goddess of protection, power and the destruction of evil. | Created by the combined energies of all the gods to defeat the demon Mahishasura; embodiment of divine feminine power. Rides a lion or tiger in battle. |
| Enki / Ea (Mesopotamian / Sumerian) | God of wisdom, water, creation, magic and crafts. | One of the most important Sumerian deities; gave humanity the gifts of civilization and often intervened to protect humans from the wrath of other gods. |
| Enlil (Mesopotamian / Sumerian) | God of wind, air, storms and kingship. | Chief of the Sumerian pantheon for much of ancient Mesopotamian history; decreed the fates of gods and humans alike. |
| Epona (Gaulish / Celtic) | Goddess of horses, fertility, travel and the afterlife. | Uniquely among Celtic deities she was adopted into the Roman military pantheon; depicted riding a mare or surrounded by horses. |
| Ereshkigal (Mesopotamian) | Queen of the underworld and goddess of the dead. | Sister of Inanna; ruler of the land of no return. Her descent myth parallels Inanna’s and reveals the darker counterpart to the above-world divine feminine. |
| Eros (Greek) | God of love and desire. | In early tradition a primordial force of creation; in later tradition the winged son of Aphrodite. His Roman counterpart is Cupid. |
| Forseti (Norse) | God of justice, law and reconciliation. | Son of Baldr; presides over all legal disputes among gods and men. His hall Glitnir is described as the finest in Asgard. |
| Freya (Norse) | Goddess of love, fertility, beauty, war, death and magic. | One of the most powerful Norse deities; leader of the Valkyries, teacher of seidr magic to Odin. Half of those who die in battle go to her hall Folkvangr. |
| Freyr (Norse) | God of fertility, abundance, sunshine and fair weather. | Twin of Freya; associated with prosperity, good harvests and virility. His boar Gullinbursti and ship Skidbladnir are among the great treasures of the gods. |
| Frigg (Norse) | Goddess of marriage, motherhood, foresight and the home. | Wife of Odin and queen of Asgard; knows the fates of all beings but rarely speaks of what she knows. Mother of Baldr. |
| Ganesha (Hindu) | Elephant-headed god of beginnings, wisdom, writing and the removal of obstacles. | Son of Shiva and Parvati; invoked at the start of any new endeavor. One of the most widely worshipped deities in Hinduism. |
| Geb (Egyptian) | God of the earth, vegetation and fertility. | Husband of Nut the sky goddess; father of Osiris, Isis, Set and Nephthys. His laughter was said to cause earthquakes. |
| Hades (Greek) | God of the underworld and ruler of the dead. | Brother of Zeus and Poseidon; though stern and unyielding he was not considered evil, simply the impartial ruler of all who die. His Roman counterpart is Pluto. |
| Hathor (Egyptian) | Goddess of love, beauty, music, dance, fertility and motherhood. | One of the oldest and most important Egyptian deities; depicted as a cow or a woman with cow’s horns. Associated with joy and the protection of women. |
| Hekate (Greek) | Goddess of magic, crossroads, the moon, night and witchcraft. | Guardian of the threshold between worlds; invoked at crossroads where three roads meet. Associated with torches, keys and the hound. Central to many modern witchcraft traditions. |
| Hephaestus (Greek) | God of fire, the forge, craftsmanship and technology. | Divine smith of the gods; created their weapons and palaces. His Roman counterpart is Vulcan. |
| Hera (Greek) | Queen of the gods, goddess of marriage, women and family. | Wife of Zeus; her jealousy of his many affairs drives much of Greek myth. Her Roman counterpart is Juno. |
| Hermes (Greek) | God of travel, communication, trade, thieves and the messenger of the gods. | Guide of souls to the underworld; patron of merchants and tricksters alike. His Roman counterpart is Mercury. |
| Hestia (Greek) | Goddess of the hearth, home and domestic life. | First of the Olympians but rarely depicted in mythology; her presence was felt in every home fire. Her Roman counterpart is Vesta. |
| Horus (Egyptian) | God of the sky, kingship and protection. | Son of Osiris and Isis; his ongoing battle with Set represents the eternal struggle between order and chaos. The pharaoh was considered Horus incarnate. |
| Inanna / Ishtar (Sumerian / Akkadian) | Goddess of love, war, beauty and political power. | One of the most complex and powerful deities of ancient Mesopotamia; her descent into and return from the underworld is among the oldest recorded mythological narratives. |
| Indra (Hindu / Vedic) | King of the gods and deity of lightning, thunder, storms and rain. | Chief deity of the Rigveda; his defeat of the serpent Vritra released the cosmic waters and allowed life to flourish. |
| Iris (Greek) | Goddess of the rainbow and divine messenger. | Personification of the rainbow connecting earth and sky; one of the messengers of the gods alongside Hermes. |
| Isis (Egyptian) | Goddess of magic, healing, motherhood and protection. | One of the most powerful and widely worshipped deities of ancient Egypt; reassembled Osiris after his murder by Set and conceived Horus. Her cult spread throughout the Roman Empire. |
| Izanagi (Japanese / Shinto) | Creator god who shaped the islands of Japan with his wife Izanami. | His descent into the underworld to retrieve Izanami and subsequent flight from her rotting form is a foundational Shinto myth of creation and purification. |
| Izanami (Japanese / Shinto) | Creator goddess who died giving birth to fire, becoming goddess of the dead. | Her transformation from creator to death goddess after dying in childbirth reflects Shinto themes of the dangerous boundary between life and death. |
| Janus (Roman) | God of beginnings, gates, transitions and time. | Uniquely Roman with no Greek equivalent; depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions. The month of January is named for him. |
| Khepri (Egyptian) | God of the rising sun, creation and renewal. | Depicted as a scarab beetle or a man with a scarab head; represented the sun at dawn and the cycle of rebirth. |
| Khnum (Egyptian) | Ram-headed god who fashioned humans on a potter’s wheel. | Creator of the human body and guardian of the Nile’s source; associated with fertility and the annual flooding of the Nile. |
| Kali (Hindu) | Goddess of time, destruction, liberation and the annihilation of evil. | Fierce manifestation of Durga; her terrifying form destroys what must be destroyed to allow renewal. Deeply revered in Tantric tradition as the ultimate liberating force. |
| Krishna (Hindu) | God of love, compassion, divine joy and protection. | Eighth avatar of Vishnu; his teachings in the Bhagavad Gita are central to Hindu philosophy. Revered both as a divine child and as the supreme being. |
| Kuan Yin / Guanyin (Buddhist / Chinese) | Goddess of mercy, compassion and kindness. | Bodhisattva of compassion widely venerated across East and Southeast Asia; hears the cries of all beings and responds with unconditional compassion. |
| Lakshmi (Hindu) | Goddess of wealth, prosperity, beauty and good fortune. | Wife of Vishnu; invoked for material and spiritual abundance. Celebrated at Diwali as the goddess of light and prosperity. |
| Loki (Norse) | God of mischief, trickery, transformation and chaos. | Shape-shifter and agent of both salvation and catastrophe for the Norse gods; his increasingly destructive actions culminate in Ragnarök. Father of Fenrir, Jörmungandr and Hel. |
| Lugh (Irish / Celtic) | God of the sun, craftsmanship, skill and many arts. | Known as the Many-Skilled; champion of the Tuatha De Danann in the second Battle of Mag Tuired. The festival Lughnasadh is named for him. |
| Luna (Roman) | Goddess of the moon. | Personification of the moon in Roman tradition; her Greek counterpart is Selene. Distinct from Diana who also held lunar associations. |
| Ma’at (Egyptian) | Goddess of truth, justice, cosmic order and morality. | Represented by the feather against which the dead were judged; her concept of moral order underpinned all of Egyptian civilization. |
| Mars (Roman) | God of war and agriculture. | Father of Romulus and Remus and therefore ancestor of the Roman people; unlike Ares his Greek counterpart he was deeply respected rather than feared. |
| Mictlantecuhtli (Aztec) | God of death and ruler of Mictlan, the underworld. | Presided over the lowest level of the Aztec underworld where those who died natural deaths eventually arrived after a long journey through nine levels. |
| Minerva (Roman) | Goddess of wisdom, strategic warfare, crafts and commerce. | One of the three Capitoline deities alongside Jupiter and Juno; her Greek counterpart is Athena. |
| Morrigan (Irish / Celtic) | Goddess of war, fate, death and sovereignty. | Shape-shifting deity who appears as a crow or raven on battlefields; foretells doom and influences the outcome of conflicts. Associated with the land itself and its sovereignty. |
| Namtar (Mesopotamian) | God of fate and death, messenger of the underworld. | Served as an agent between the living world and the realm of the dead; personified the inescapable nature of fate and the fragility of mortal life. |
| Nephthys (Egyptian) | Goddess of mourning, night, rivers, service and protection of the dead. | Sister of Isis and Osiris; despite being Set’s wife she helped Isis reassemble Osiris. Guardian of the dead alongside Isis. |
| Nike (Greek) | Goddess of victory. | Winged personification of victory in all forms; companion of Athena and Zeus. Her Roman counterpart is Victoria. |
| Njord (Norse) | God of the sea, wind, fishing and coastal prosperity. | Father of Freya and Freyr; associated with seafaring and the abundance of the ocean. Patron of sailors and fishermen. |
| Nut (Egyptian) | Goddess of the sky, stars and the cosmos. | Depicted as a woman arching over the earth, her body forming the sky; swallowed the sun each evening and gave birth to it each morning. |
| Odin (Norse) | Allfather of the Norse gods; god of wisdom, war, death, poetry and magic. | Sacrificed his eye at Mimir’s well for wisdom and hung from Yggdrasil nine days to gain the runes. Leader of the Wild Hunt and the Aesir gods. |
| Osiris (Egyptian) | God of the afterlife, resurrection, agriculture and fertility. | Murdered by his brother Set and resurrected by Isis; became the ruler of the dead and embodiment of eternal life and rebirth. |
| Pan (Greek) | God of the wild, shepherds, rustic music and nature. | Half-man half-goat deity of wild places; his sudden appearances caused inexplicable fear, giving us the word panic. |
| Parvati (Hindu) | Goddess of love, fertility, devotion and divine power. | Wife of Shiva and mother of Ganesha; her gentler aspects complement Shiva’s asceticism. Appears in fierce forms as Durga and Kali. |
| Persephone (Greek) | Goddess of spring and queen of the underworld. | Daughter of Demeter; her time in the underworld with Hades creates the seasons. Her Roman counterpart is Proserpina. |
| Poseidon (Greek) | God of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses. | Brother of Zeus and Hades; ruled the oceans and caused earthquakes with his trident. His Roman counterpart is Neptune. |
| Ptah (Egyptian) | Creator god of craftsmen, architects and the arts. | Said to have created the world through thought and speech; patron of all creative arts. Chief deity of Memphis. |
| Ra / Re (Egyptian) | Supreme sun god and king of the gods. | Traveled across the sky each day in his solar barque and through the underworld each night; the pharaoh was considered his earthly representative. |
| Saraswati (Hindu) | Goddess of knowledge, wisdom, music, arts and learning. | Wife of Brahma; invoked by students, artists and scholars. Her festival Vasant Panchami marks the beginning of spring. |
| Sekhmet (Egyptian) | Lioness goddess of war, healing, the sun and destruction. | Embodiment of the fierce heat of the sun; both a destructive force and a powerful healer. Protector of pharaohs in battle. |
| Selene (Greek) | Goddess of the moon. | Personification of the full moon; drove a silver chariot across the night sky. Her Roman counterpart is Luna. |
| Set (Egyptian) | God of chaos, desert, storms, violence and foreigners. | Brother and murderer of Osiris; his battle with Horus represents the eternal conflict between chaos and order. Not wholly evil; also protected Ra’s solar barque from the serpent Apep. |
| Shiva (Hindu) | God of destruction, transformation, yoga and time. | Part of the Hindu Trimurti alongside Brahma and Vishnu; destroyer and transformer who enables new creation. Lord of dancers and patron of ascetics. |
| Skadi (Norse) | Goddess of winter, skiing, mountains and hunting. | Giantess who joined the Aesir; her marriage to Njord and subsequent separation reflects the incompatibility of mountain cold and warm coastal waters. |
| Sol / Sunna (Norse) | Goddess of the sun. | Personification of the sun who drives her chariot across the sky each day pursued by the wolf Skoll; destined to be devoured at Ragnarök. |
| Susanoo (Japanese / Shinto) | God of storms, the sea and agriculture. | Brother of Amaterasu; his impetuous behavior caused her to withdraw and plunge the world into darkness. Later slew the eight-headed serpent Yamata no Orochi. |
| Tezcatlipoca (Aztec) | God of night, sorcery, memory, time and the earth. | Known as the Smoking Mirror; rival of Quetzalcoatl and embodiment of conflict, change and the darkness necessary for creation. One of the primary creator deities. |
| Thor (Norse) | God of thunder, lightning, storms, strength and the protection of mankind. | Son of Odin; wields the hammer Mjolnir. His battles against giants protect both gods and humans. Thursday is named for him. |
| Thoth (Egyptian) | God of writing, knowledge, wisdom, the moon and magic. | Keeper of divine records and mediator between good and evil; credited with inventing writing and the sciences. His Greek counterpart is Hermes. |
| Tiamat (Babylonian) | Primordial goddess of the salt sea and chaos. | Her body was split by Marduk to form the heavens and the earth in the Babylonian creation myth Enuma Elish; represents primordial creative and destructive power. |
| Tyr (Norse) | God of law, justice and war. | The most just of the Norse gods; sacrificed his hand to bind the wolf Fenrir. Tuesday is named for him. |
| Ullr (Norse) | God of hunting, archery, skiing and winter. | One of the oldest Norse deities though he appears less in surviving myths than the major Aesir; patron of hunters and athletes. |
| Varuna (Hindu / Vedic) | God of the sky, cosmic order, water and divine law. | One of the most ancient Vedic deities; guardian of moral law and universal order, later associated with the ocean. |
| Venus (Roman) | Goddess of love, beauty, desire, prosperity and fertility. | Mother of Aeneas and divine ancestor of the Roman people through the Julian family; her Greek counterpart is Aphrodite. |
| Vishnu (Hindu) | Preserver of the universe and second member of the Trimurti. | Descends to earth in ten avatars including Rama and Krishna whenever cosmic order is threatened. Part of the Hindu trinity alongside Brahma and Shiva. |
| Vulcan (Roman) | God of fire, the forge and volcanoes. | Divine smith of the gods; his Greek counterpart is Hephaestus. Volcanoes were believed to be the chimneys of his forge beneath the earth. |
| Woden / Wotan (Germanic) | God of wisdom, war, death, magic and poetry. | Germanic counterpart of Odin; Wednesday is named for him. Led the Wild Hunt through winter storms. |
| Xipe Totec (Aztec) | God of agriculture, seasons, renewal and the cycle of life. | Known as Our Lord the Flayed One; his rituals of renewal involving the shedding of skin represented agricultural renewal and the cycle of the seasons. |
| Yemoja / Yemaya (Yoruba) | Mother goddess of the ocean, water and all living things. | Supreme mother deity in Yoruba tradition; her waters nourish and sustain all life. Widely venerated in Candomble and Santeria traditions across the African diaspora. |
| Zeus (Greek) | King of the gods, god of the sky, lightning, thunder and justice. | Ruler of Mount Olympus; his Roman counterpart is Jupiter. Enforcer of divine law and hospitality, though his own conduct was often far from just. |
Photo by Jingxi Lau on Unsplash
