List of fertility deities
A fertility deity is a god or goddess associated with sex, fertility, pregnancy, and childbirth. In some cases these deities are directly associated with these experiences; in others they are more abstract symbols. Fertility rites may accompany their worship. The following is a list of fertility deities.
African
- Ala, Igbo goddess of fertility
- Asase Ya, Ashanti earth goddess of fertility
- Denka, Dinka god of the sky, rain and fertility
- Mbaba Mwana Waresa, Zulu goddess of fertility, rainbows, agriculture, rain and beer
Ancient Egyptian
- Amun, creator-god, associated with fertility
- Bastet, cat goddess sometimes associated with fertility
- Bes, household protector god associated with music, dance, and sexual pleasure
- Hathor, goddess who personified the principles of love, motherhood and joy
- Heqet, frog-goddess of fertility
- Heryshaf, god of creation and fertility
- Isis, goddess of motherhood, magic and fertility
- Mesenet, goddess of childbirth
- Min, god of fertility, reproduction, and lettuce
- Osiris, god of the afterlife, the dead, and the underworld agency that granted all life, including sprouting vegetation and the fertile flooding of the Nile River
- Renenutet, goddess of the true name, the harvest and fertile fields
- Sobek, god of the river, warfare and fertility
- Sopdet, goddess of the fertility of the soil
- Tawaret, goddess of fertility and childbirth
- Tefnut, goddess of water and fertility
- Qetesh, goddess of sacred ecstasy and sexual pleasure
Yoruba
American
- Atahensic, Iroquois goddess associated with marriage, childbirth, and feminine endeavors
- Kokopelli, Hopi trickster god associated with fertility, childbirth and agriculture
- Hanhepi Wi, Lakota goddess associated with the moon, motherhood, family and femininity
Aztec
- Tonacatecuhtli, god of sustenance (fertility).
- Tonacacihuatl, goddess of sustenance (fertility).
- Coatlicue, goddess of fertility, life, death and rebirth.
- Chimalma, goddess of fertility, life, death and rebirth.
- Xochitlicue, goddess of fertility, life, death and rebirth.
- Xochipilli, god of love, art, games, beauty, dance, flowers, maize, fertility, and song.
- Xochiquetzal, goddess of fertility, beauty, female sexual power, protection of young mothers, pregnancy, childbirth, and women's crafts.
- Toci, is the "Mother of the Men", see Temazcalteci
- Temazcalteci, goddess of maternity (fertility).
Inca
- Mama Killa, the goddess of the moon, the menstrual cycle, and a protector of women
- Mama Ocllo, mother goddess, associated with fertility
- Sara Mama, goddess of grain
- Pacha Kamaq, Creator of the World
- Pachamama, fertility goddess who presides over planting and harvesting and causes earthquakes
Inuit
- Akna, goddess of fertility and childbirth
- Pukkeenegak, goddess of children, pregnancy, childbirth and the making of clothes
Mayan
- Akna, goddess of motherhood and childbirth
- Goddess I, goddess of eroticism, female fertility, and marriage
- Ixchel, jaguar goddess of midwifery and medicine
- Maximón, god of revenge, death, and fertility
- Maya maize god, gods of maize
Muiscan
Vodou
- Ayida-Weddo, loa of fertility, rainbows and snakes
- Guédé, family of spirits that embody the powers of death and fertility
Taíno
- Atabey (goddess), mother goddess of fresh waters and fertility (of people).
- Yúcahu, masculine spirit of fertility (of crops such as Yucca) along with his mother Atabey who was his feminine counterpart.
Asian
Chinese
- Jiutian Xuannü, a fertility goddess as well as a deity of war, sex, and long life [1]
Southeast Asian
- Sowathara, A female figure as symbol of the fertile earth.
Japanese
- Kichijōten, goddess of happiness, fertility, and beauty
- Kuebiko, god of agriculture and knowledge
- Inari Ōkami, goddess of fertility, rice, agriculture, foxes, industry
- Shinda, fertility god of the Ainu people
Indian
- Aditi, goddess of space, consciousness, the past, the future, and fertility
- Banka-Mundi, goddess of the hunt and fertility
- Prithvi, goddess of the earth and the fertility form of Bhumi
- Gayatri, goddess of Vedas and adi shakti with fertility form of Savitri
- Chandra, lunar god associated with fertility
- Lajja Gauri, goddess associated with abundance and fertility
- Manasa, snake goddess associated with fertility and prosperity
- Matrikas, a group of 7 - 16 goddesses who are associated with fertility and motherly power.
- Parvati, goddess associated with fertility, marital felicity, devotion to the spouse, asceticism, and power
- Sinivali, goddess associated with fecundity and easy birth.
European
Baltic
Celtic
- Brigid, Irish goddess associated with fertility
- Cernunnos, horned god associated with fertility
- Damara, fertility goddess worshipped in Britain
- Damona, Gaulish fertility goddess
- Epona, goddess of horses and fertility
- Hooded Spirits, a group of deities theorised to be fertility spirits
- Nantosuelta, goddess of nature, the earth, fire, and fertility
- Onuava, goddess of fertility
- Rosmerta, Gallo-Roman goddess of fertility and abundance
Etruscan
Finno-Ugric
- Äkräs, Finnish god of fertility
- Rauni or Raun, Finnish-Estonian goddess of fertility
- Peko or Pellon-Pekko, Karelian-Seto god of fertility
- Metsik, West Estonian spirit of fertility
- Šun-Šočõnava, Mari goddess of fertility and birth.
- Mu-Kyldyśin, Udmurt god of fertility and earth.
- Zarni-Ań, Komi goddess of fertility, represented by a golden woman.
- Babba or Aranyanya, Hungarian goddess fertility, represented by a golden woman.
- Kalteš-Ekwa, Ob-Ugric goddess of fertility, represented by a golden woman.
Germanic
Greek
- Aphaea, local goddess associated with fertility and the agricultural cycle
- Aphrodite, goddess of love, beauty and sexuality
- Aphroditus, god of male and female unity, fertility, and the moon
- Artemis, goddess of the hunt, the moon, wild animals, wilderness, childbirth, virginity, fertility, young girls and health and disease in women
- Cybele, Phrygian Earth Mother goddess who embodies the fertile earth
- Demeter, goddess of agriculture and the fertility of the earth
- Dionysus, god of wine and festivity, associated with fertility
- Eros, god of sexual love, fertility and beauty
- Gaia, Earth Mother and goddess of the fertile earth
- Hera, goddess of the air, marriage, women, women's fertility, childbirth, heirs, kings and empires
- Ilithyia, (also called Eileithyia) goddess of childbirth and midwifery, likely of Minoan or earlier origin.
- Pan, god of shepherds, flocks, mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music; associated with fertility
- Phanes, primeval deity of procreation and the generation of new life
- Priapus, rustic god of fertility, protection of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia
- Rhea, goddess of fertility, motherhood and the mountain wilds
- Tychon, a daemon imagined as a boy
Roman
- Bona Dea, goddess of fertility, healing, virginity, and women
- Candelifera, goddess of childbirth
- Carmenta, goddess of childbirth and prophecy
- Ceres, goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and motherly relationships; equated with the Greek goddess Demeter
- Diana, goddess of the hunt, wilderness, the moon and childbirth; equivalent to the Greek Artemis
- *Domidicus, the god who leads the bride home
- *Domitius, the god who installs the bride
- Fascinus, embodiment of the divine phallus
- Fecunditas, goddess of fertility
- Feronia, goddess associated with fertility and abundance
- Flora, goddess of flowers and spring
- Inuus, god of sexual intercourse
- *Jugatinus, the god who joins the pair in marriage
- Juno, goddess of marriage and childbirth; equivalent to the Greek goddess Hera
- Liber, god of viniculture, wine and male fertility, equivalent to Greek Dionysus; in archaic Lavinium, a phallic deity
- Libera, goddess of female fertility and the earth
- Lucina, goddess of childbirth
- Mars, god initially associated with fertility and vegetation, but later associated with warfare and the Greek god Ares
- *Manturna, the goddess who kept the bride at home
- Mutunus Tutunus, phallic marriage deity associated with the Greek god Priapus
- Ops, fertility and earth-goddess
- Partula, goddess of childbirth, who determined the duration of each pregnancy
- *Pertuda, goddess who enables penetration
- Picumnus, god of fertility, agriculture, matrimony, infants and children
- *Prema, goddess who holds the bride down on the bed
- Robigus, fertility god who protects crops against disease
- *Subigus, the god who subdues the bride to the husband's will
- Terra, earth goddess associated with marriage, motherhood, pregnant women, and pregnant animals; equivalent to the Greek Gaia
- Venus, goddess of love, beauty and fertility, equivalent to the Greek goddess Aphrodite
- *Virginiensis, the goddess who unties the girdle of the bride
Sami
- Beiwe, goddess of fertility and sanity
- Rana Niejta, goddess of spring and fertility
Slavic
- Dzydzilelya, Polish goddess of love, marriage, sexuality and fertility
- Jarilo, god of fertility, spring, the harvest and war
- Kostroma, goddess of fertility
- Radegast, West Slavic god of hospitality, fertility, and crops, associated with war and the sun
- Siebog, god of love and marriage
- Svetovid, god of war, fertility and abundance
- Zeme, goddess of the earth, associated with fertility
- Živa, goddess of love and fertility
Norse
- Freyja, goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, gold. Also a war/death goddess. Taught Odin seiðr magic.
- Freyr, god associated with farming, weather and fertility
- Frigg, goddess associated with prophecy, marriage and childbirth
- Gefjun, goddess of ploughing and possibly fertility
- Odin The allfather. God of war, wisdom and seiðr (magic)
- Thor, god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind.
Near East
Mesopotamian
- Ama-arhus, Akkadian fertility goddess
- Amasagnul, Akkadian fertility goddess
- Gatumdag, Sumerian fertility goddess and tutelary mother goddess of Lagash
- Inanna, Sumerian goddess of love, fertility, and warfare
- Ishtar, Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility, love, war and sexuality
- Lahmu, Akkadian
- Nanshe, Sumerian goddess of social justice, prophecy, fertility and fishing
- Ningal, Sumerian mother goddess
- Nin-imma, goddess of the female sex organs
- Sharra Itu, Sumerian fertility goddess
Iranian
- Anahita: or Anahit, the divinity of "the Waters" and hence associated with fertility, healing, beauty and wisdom.
- Spenta Armaiti: or Sandaramet, female divinity associated with earth and Mother Nature.
- Ashi: a divinity of fertility and fortune.[2]
Arabian
- Allāt or al-Lāt, fertility goddess associated with the earth
- Al-‘Uzzá, a goddess worshipped at a stone cube at aṭ-Ṭā’if and Mecca.[3][4][5]
Armenian
Canaanite
- Baʿal, storm god responsible for earthly fertility
- Hadad, the later Aramaean form of Baʿal
- Lahmu, Lehem a Canaanite goddess
- Tanit, consort of Baʿal Hammon at Carthage
Hittite
- Hutellurra, Irsirra, and Tawara, goddesses of midwifery and nursing children
- Nikkal, goddess of fruits
- Shaushka, goddess of fertility, war and healing
Hurrian
- Nikkal, goddess of fruits
Turco-Mongol
- Umay, goddess of fertility and virginity
Ugaritic
Oceanian
- Gedi (mythology), Fijian god of fertility, who taught mankind the use of fire
- Makemake, Rapa Nui creator-god, associated with fertility
- Tagroa Siria, Fijian god associated with fertility
- Tangaroa, Rarotongan god of the sea and creation, associated with fertility
Hawaiian
Indigenous Australian
- Anjea, goddess or spirit of fertility
- Birrahgnooloo, Kamilaroi goddess of fertility
- Dilga, Karadjeri goddess of fertility and growth
- Julunggul, Yolgnu rainbow snake goddess associated with fertility, initiation, rebirth and the weather
- Kunapipi, mother goddess and the patron deity of many heroes
- Rainbow Serpent, creator god and god of rain and fertility
- Ungud, snake god or goddess associated with rainbows and the fertility and erections of the tribe's shaman
- Wollunqua, snake god of rain and fertility
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fertility deities. |
- The Dinner Party - this artwork features a place setting for Fertile Goddess.[6]
- Fertility rite
- Earth Mother
- Religion and agriculture
- Agricultural spiritualism
- Earth goddess
- Fall of man#The agricultural revolution
References
- ↑ Liu, Peng (2016). ""Conceal my Body so that I can Protect the State": The Making of the Mysterious Woman in Daoism and Water Margin". Ming Studies. 74: 48–71. doi:10.1080/0147037X.2016.1228876.
- ↑ Taheri, Sadreddin (2014). "Goddesses in Iranian Culture and Mythology". Tehran: Roshangaran va Motale’at-e Zanan Publications.
- ↑ Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad (1955). Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah - The Life of Muhammad Translated by A. Guillaume. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 38.
- ↑ Al-Kalbi, Hisham (1952). Kitab Al-Asnam Translated by Nabih Amin Faris. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 17.
- ↑ Rice, Edward (May 1978). Eastern Definitions: A Short Encyclopedia of Religions of the Orient. New York: Doubleday. p. 433. ISBN 9780385085632.
- ↑ Place Settings. Brooklyn Museum. Retrieved on 2015-08-06.
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