List of water deities

A water deity is a deity in mythology associated with water or various bodies of water. Water deities are common in mythology and were usually more important among civilizations in which the sea or ocean, or a great river was more important. Another important focus of worship of water deities has been springs or holy wells.

As a form of animal worship, whales and snakes (hence dragons) have been regarded as godly deities throughout the world (other animals are such as turtles, fish, crabs, and sharks). In Asian lore, whales and dragons sometimes have connections.[1] Serpents are also common as a symbol or as serpentine deities, sharing many similarities with dragons.

Aztec mythology

Ainu mythology

Armenian mythology

  • Anahita, the divinity of "the Waters" (Aban) and hence associated with fertility
  • Astghik, goddess of water sources
  • Tsovinar, goddess of seas and storms

Australian aboriginal mythology

Benin mythology

  • Ezili, goddess of sweet water, beauty, and love

Canaanite mythology

  • Lotan, sea monster
  • Yam (god), god of death for creatures in rivers and the sea

Celtic mythology

Chinese mythology

Chinese sea goddess Mazu
  • Gonggong, red-haired dragon with the head of man, and water god who is responsible for the great floods, together with his associate, Xiang Yao
  • Mazu, goddess of the sea and protector of seafarers
  • Hebo, God of the Yellow River
  • Longmu, Goddess of the Xijiang River in the Lingnan area
  • Ehuang & Nuying, Goddesses of the Xiang River
  • Tam Kung, sea deity worshiped in Hong Kong and Macau with the ability to forecast weather

Honorable Kings of the Water Immortals (Shuixian Zunwang)

Dragon Kings of the Four Seas

  • Ao Kuang, Dragon King of the Eastern Sea
  • Ao Qin, Dragon King of the Southern Sea
  • Ao Run, Dragon King of the Western Sea
  • Ao Shun, Dragon King of the Northern Sea

Dogon mythology

  • Nommos, amphibious spirits that are worshipped as ancestors

Egyptian mythology

  • Hapi, God of the annual flooding of the Nile
  • Anuket, Goddess of the Nile, and nourisher of the fields
  • Nephthys, Goddess of rivers, death, mourning, the dead and night
  • Nu, uncreated God, personification of the primordial waters
  • Khnum, God of the Nile River
  • Satet, Goddess of the Nile River's floods
  • Sobek, God of the Nile river, depicted as a crocodile or a man with the head of a crocodile.
  • Tefnut, Goddess of water, moisture and fertility.
  • Osiris, God of the dead and afterlife. Originally god of water and vegetation.

Fon/Ewe mythology

Fijian mythology

Finnish mythology

  • Ahti, god of the depths and fish
  • Iku-Turso, a malevolent sea monster
  • Vedenemo, a goddess of water
  • Vellamo, the wife of Ahti, goddess of the sea, lakes and storms.

Greek mythology

  • Aegaeon, god of violent sea storms and ally of the Titans
  • Achelous, Greek river god
  • Alpheus, river god in Arcadia
  • Amphitrite, sea goddess and consort of Poseidon
  • Anapos, water god of eastern Sicily
  • Brizo, goddess of sailors
  • Carcinus, a giant crab who allied itself with the Hydra against Heracles. When it died, Hera placed it in the sky as the constellation Cancer
  • Ceto, goddess of the dangers of the ocean and of sea monsters
  • Charybdis, a sea monster and spirit of whirlpools and the tide
  • Cymopoleia, a daughter of Poseidon and goddess of giant storm waves
  • Doris, goddess of the sea's bounty and wife of Nereus
  • Eidothea, prophetic sea nymph and daughter of Proteus
  • Electra, an Oceanid, consort of Thaumas
  • Eurybia, goddess of the mastery of the seas
  • Galene (Γαλήνη), goddess of calm seas
  • Glaucus, the fisherman's sea god
  • Gorgons, three monstrous sea spirits
  • The Graeae, three ancient sea spirits who personified the white foam of the sea; they shared one eye and one tooth between them
  • Hippocampi, the horses of the sea
  • The Ichthyocentaurs, a pair of centaurine sea-gods with the upper bodies of men, the lower fore-parts of horses, ending in the serpentine tails of fish
  • Ladon, a one hundred-headed sea serpent who guarded the western reaches of the sea, and the island and golden apples of the Hesperides
  • Leucothea, a sea goddess who aided sailors in distress
  • Nerites, watery consort of Aphrodite and/or beloved of Poseidon
  • Nereus, the old man of the sea, and the god of the sea's rich bounty of fish
  • Nymphs
  • Oceanus, Titan god of the Earth-encircling river Okeanos, the font of all the Earth's fresh-water
  • Pan, Patron God of fishing
  • Palaemon, a young sea god who aided sailors in distress
  • Phorcys, god of the hidden dangers of the deep
  • Pontus, primeval god of the sea, father of the fish and other sea creatures
  • Poseidon, Olympian God of the Oceans and king of the sea gods; also god of rivers, storms, flood and drought, earthquakes, and horses. He controlled every aspect of the seas. His Roman equivalent is Neptune.
  • Potamoi, deities of rivers, fathers of Naiads, brothers of the Oceanids, and as such, the sons of Oceanus and Tethys.
  • Proteus, a shape-shifting, prophetic old sea god, and the herdsman of Poseidon's seals
  • Psamathe, goddess of sand beaches
  • Scylla, a Nereid metamorphosed into a sea monster
  • The Sirens, three sea nymphs who lured sailors to their death with their song
  • The Telchines, sea spirits native to the island of Rhodes; the gods killed them when they turned to evil magic
  • Tethys, Titan goddess of the sources fresh-water, and the mother of the rivers (Potamoi), springs, streams, fountains and clouds
  • Thalassa, primordial goddess of the sea
  • Thaumas, god of the wonders of the sea and father of the Harpies and the rainbow goddess Iris
  • Thetis, leader of the Nereids who presided over the spawning of marine life in the sea, mother of Achilles
  • Triteia, daughter of Triton and companion of Ares
  • Triton, fish-tailed son and herald of Poseidon
  • Tritones, fish-tailed spirits in Poseidon's retinue

Hawaiian mythology

Hittite mythology

Hindu/Vedic mythology

Varuna, the Lord of the All the Water Bodies

Incan mythology

  • Pariacaca, god of water and rainstorms
  • Paricia, god who sent a flood to kill humans who did not respect him adequately

Indonesian mythology

Inuit mythology

  • Aipaloovik, an evil sea god associated with death and destruction
  • Alignak, a lunar deity and god of weather, water, tides, eclipses, and earthquakes
  • Arnapkapfaaluk, a fearsome sea goddess
  • Idliragijenget, god of the ocean
  • Nootaikok, god who presided over icebergs and glaciers
  • Sedna, goddess of the sea

Japanese mythology

Korean mythology

  • Imoogi or Imugi, giant serpents of Korean folklore which later become true dragons
  • King Munmu, a king who wished to become a dragon before his death to protect Korea from the East Sea
  • Dragon King, an undersea deity believed to determine the fortunes of fishermen and sailors

Lithuanian mythology

  • Bangpūtys, god of sea and storm
  • Laumė, goddess of wild spaces, including waters

Luganda mythology

Lusitanian mythology

Māori mythology

Mayan mythology

Mesopotamian mythology

  • Abzu, god of fresh water, father of all other gods
  • Asherah, Mother goddess whose title is "She Who Walks Upon the Sea"
  • Enbilulu, god of rivers and canals
  • Enki, god of water and of the River Tigris
  • Marduk, god associated with water, vegetation, judgment, and magic
  • Nammu, goddess of the primeval sea
  • Nanshe, goddess of Persian Gulf, social justice, prophecy, fertility and fishing
  • Sirsir, god of mariners and boatmen
  • Tiamat, goddess of salt water and chaos, also mother of all gods

Norse/Germanic mythology

  • Ægir, personification of the sea
  • Nine Daughters of Ægir, who personify the characteristics of waves
  • Mímir, god of the spring of Mímisbrunnr, which gives the drinker wisdom, from which Odin sacrificed an eye to drink
  • Rán, sea goddess of death who collects the drowned in a net
  • Njord, god of the sea, particularly of seafaring
  • Nehalennia, goddess of the North Sea
  • Nerthus, goddess of lakes, springs, and holy waters
  • Nix, water spirits who usually appear in human form
  • Sága, goddess in the form of a waterfall
  • Freyr, god of rain, sunlight, fertility, life, and summer
  • Tiddy Mun, a bog deity once worshipped in Lincolnshire, England who had the ability to control floods

Ossetian mythology

Persian/Zoroastrian mythology

  • Anahita, the divinity of 'the Waters' (Aban) and hence associated with fertility, healing and wisdom.
  • Apam Napat, the divinity of rain and the maintainer of order.
  • Tishtrya, Zoroastrian benevolent divinity associated with life-bringing rainfall and fertility.
  • Haurvatat, the Amesha Spenta associated with water, prosperity, and health in post-Gathic Zoroastrianism
  • Ahurani, Ahurani is a water goddess from ancient Persian mythology who watches over rainfall as well as standing water

Philippine mythology

Roman mythology

Slavic mythology

  • Kostroma, goddess of fertility. After discovering that her husband, Kupala, is her brother, she jumped into the forest lake (in other legends into the river Ra). After her death she became a mavka (or rusalka).
  • Mati-syra-zemla, moist mother, also the earth goddess
  • Mokosh, moistness, lady of waters, goddess of moisture
  • Morskoi, the god and king of the sea
  • Rusalki, female ghosts, water nymphs, succubi or mermaid-like demons that dwell in waterways.
  • Veles, god of earth, waters, and the underworld
  • Vodyanoi, water demon who lived in lakes and rivers

Island Nations mythology

Taíno mythology

Tonga mythology

  • Nyami Nyami, a river spirit of the BaTonga of Zambia and Zimbabwe

Western European mythology

Yoruba mythology

  • Yemoja, a river orisha and ocean orisha as well in new world Yoruba religions
  • Oshun, a river orisha
  • Olokun, an ocean orisha

Vietnamese mythology

  • Lạc Long Quân, legendary ancestor of Vietnamese people.
  • Cá Ông (Vietnamese name for blue whales, also dolphins and whale sharks in some cases), king of the sea and patron of fishermen.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 謝婧, 下園知弥, 宮崎克則 (2015). "明清時代の中国における鯨資源の利用" (pdf). 西南学院大 学博物館研究紀要 第3号. Seinan Gakuin University: 9–14. Retrieved 2016-01-16.
  2. ↑ https://journeyingtothegoddess.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/goddess-nantosuelta/
  3. ↑ 村上健司編著 (2005). 日本妖怪大事典. Kwai books. 角川書店. p. 182. ISBN 978-4-04-883926-6.
  4. ↑ 大藤時彦他 (1955). 民俗学研究所編, ed. 綜合日本民俗語彙. 第2巻. 柳田國男 監修. 平凡社. p. 763.
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