The Deities

Information on this page taken from

'The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft'.
By Denise Zimmerman and Katherine A Gleason. 

The deity you want to work with on a given day will depend on what you want to do. If you are working with the Greek pantheon and you need to attract some loving energy, you may want to call on Aphordite. Within the Hindu system, you would invoke Sarasvati, Goddess of language and wisdom, for assistance in studying for a test. You can work with any God or Goddess that you want. Some deities encompass a light energy, and others are darker. Be aware of the qualities of the deity you are working with. Know that Hecate is wise and that she is associated with the underworld. Athena is also wise, and she is a warrior. She does not have as dark of energy as Hecate does. With that said, below are some of the major Gods and Goddesses from a number of different Pantheons. 

*Pantheon is the collection of all the deities from one culture. It can also be a temple that has been dedicated to all of the Gods. 

Greek Gods and Goddesses:

Aphrodite: The Goddess of sexuality, love, and beauty. She is a beautiful and often naked young woman. Sometimes she is covered, or partially covered, in a cloth. She can be seen carrying a dove or stepping out of the sea. 

Apollo: The God of healing and the arts. He is young and handsome. He carried a lyre, a bow, and arrows. He drives a golden chariot. 

Artemis: The Goddess of the Moons, the hunt, and the women. A beautiful maiden, she carries a bow and quiver of arrows. Often birds, deer, or lions accompany her. 

Athena: The Goddess of wisdom. She is a beautiful and serious young woman. A warrior she wears a breastplate and helmet and carries a lance and a shield. Sometimes she has an owl with her. She is associated with the city of Athens and with the olive tree. 

Demeter: The Goddess of the harvest. She is an old woman and the mother of Persephone. She often weeps because she and Persephone have been separated. 

Dionysus: The God of wine, the life force, and the wildness of instinct. A young man dressed in an animal skin, he carries a staff and sometimes is seen as a bull or a goat. 

Eros: The Greek God of sexual attraction. He is a small and beautifully formed young man with wings. He often carries a lyre or a bow and a quiver of arrows. 

Gaia: The Mother Earth. She sits on a throne and holds many fruits, grains, and vegetables often in a cornucopia. She is a mature woman and usually wears a robe. Gaia is often used in craft rituals. 

Hades: The God of the underworld and of wealth. He is also king of the dead. A mature man, he wears a beard and a helmet and often is seen on a throne next to his young wife persephone. 

Hecate: The Goddess of magic and the Moon. She often carries a torch and has snakes in her hair. She can have three heads - those of the maiden, mother, and crone. She can be found at the spot where three roads meet. 

Hera: The Goddess of women. Marries to Zeus, she is the queen of the Gods. She wears a crown and carries a sceptre. She is mature and beautiful. 

Hermes: The God of communication, thought, and travel. A beautiful, athletic young man, he wears sandals with wings, a helmet with wings, and carries a caduceus. 

Pan: The God of wild places and things and of shepherds. Pan plays a set of connected pipes called panpipes. He takes a form that is half man and half goat. His legs and feet are of the goat, while his chest and upper body are that of a hairy man. He usually has horns. He is frequently invoked in pagan rituals. 

Persephone: The Goddess of the harvest, fertility, and spring. She often is seen sitting with Hades on a throne in the underworld, where she spends a number of months every year. Sometimes she carries a pomegranate. She is also called "Kore", the maiden. 

Poseidon: The God of water and the seas. He always carries a trident and is associated with dolphins and horses. 

Zeus: The God of the sky and the king of the Gods. He is associated with rain and clouds and often carries a thunderbolt. He is married to Hera, but often falls in love with other women. He is a bearded man of great wisdom and authority. 

Roman Gods and Goddesses:

Ceres: The Goddess of the harvest. She is described in the same way as the Greek Goddess Demeter. 

Diana: The Goddess of fertility. A beautiful maiden huntress, she is associated with the Moon and the woods. She often has dogs or a stag with her. Diana is often used in craft rituals. 

Fortuna: The Goddess of fortune and fate. She is mature and carries a cornucopia, a rudder from a ship, a sphere, and a wheel. 

Janus: The God of beginnings and doorways. He is a bearded man with two faces, one looks into the past, the other into the future. He can see the inside and the outside of all things at the same time. 

Juno: The Goddess of women and the Moon. She is married to Jupiter and is queen of the Gods. In one of her aspects, she is the Goddess of childbirth. A beautiful woman, she has dark hair and wears a robe. The cow, the peacock, and the goose are sacred to her. 

Jupiter: The God of the sky and the king of the Gods. He is described in the same way as the Greek God Zeus. 

Luna: Goddess of the Moon. She appears as the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone. 

Mars: The God of war and agriculture. Dressed in armour and carrying a shield, Mars is a large man. His companion animals include a wolf, a woodpecker, and a vulture. 

Mercury: The God of communication, thought, and travel. He is described in the same way as the Greek God Hermes. 

Neptune: The God of water and the seas. He is described in the same way as the Greek God Poseidon. 

Pluto: The God of the underworld and of wealth. He is also king of the dead. He is described in the same way as the Greek God Hades. 

Venus: The Goddess of sexuality, love, and beauty. She is described in the same way as the Greek Goddess Aphrodite. 

Hindu Gods and Goddesses:

Agni: The God of Fire. He has razor-like golden teeth, three arms and seven legs. He carries flames, a pot full of water, and a trident. 

Brahma: The God of creation. He usually has four arms and four heads. He dresses in white and rides on a swan or a peacock. Sometimes he sits on a lotus blossom. 

Durga: The great mother Goddess. She often rides a lion and has four arms in which she carries a drum, a sword, a trident, and a bowl filled with blood. 

Ganesha: The elephant-headed God. He is the overcomer of obstacles. Besides his elephant-head, he has a potbelly. In his four arms, he carries roses, a piece of his broken tusk, a thorn, and a bowl. He often rides upon a very small rat. 

Hanuman: The monkey God. His job is to tour the world singing the name of God. He has great strength and learning and is mischievous. Often he has wings. He can be a fierce warrior. 

Indra: The God of war. Usually riding a horse, Indra takes the form of a golden or red man and carries a thunderbolt. Sometimes he rides a white elephant. His name means 'strong'. 

Kali: The Goddess of Earth, Nature, and destruction. With wild dark hair, a blood-smeared body, and a protruding tongue, she wears a necklace of human skulls and often stands on her husband Shiva. 

Krishna: The God of love. He takes the form of a man with glue skin. He often plays the flute. 

Lakshmi: The Goddess of fortune and beauty. Always beautifully dressed, she is golden and sits on a lotus blossom. 

Sarasvati: The Goddess of language and wisdom. She has six arms and three faces. She often rides a swan or sits on a lotus. 

Siva or Shiva: The God of change, transformation, and destruction. He is the creator of yoga and a dancer. A man with a third eye between his eyebrows, he carries a trident and an axe. 

Vishnu: The God of preservation. He is also seen as the liberator and the highest God. In his four arms he holds a club, a shell, a disk, and a lotus. 

Egyptian Gods and Goddesses:

Amun, Amon, or Amen: The God of creation. He carries a whip and sometimes is seated in a throne. he can be depicted as a ram with a coiled cobra on his head. 

Anubis: The God of the dead. He has the body of a man and the head od a jackal. Sometimes he is shown as entirely jackal. 

Bastet or Bast: The Goddess of the Sun and pleasure. She has a human body and the head of a cat. She carries a rattle and wears a breastplate decorated with the head of a lion. 

Geb: The God of the Earth. He often lies beneath Nut, the Goddess of the sky. He has dark skin and sometimes wears a goose on his head. 

Hathor: The Goddess of beauty, love, and pleasure. She is a woman with the horns of a cow. Sometimes all of her takes the form of a cow. She often carries a rattle. 

Horus: A Solar God and the avenger of evil. Horus is seen in the form of a man with the head of a falcon with the Moon as one eye and the Sun as the other. Sometimes he appears as a child standing in the back of a crocodile. 

Isis: The mother Goddess. She is associated with fertility, the Moon, magick, and resurrection. She is usually seated and sometimes holds the infant Horus. 

Nephthys: The Goddess of Earth and fertility. She takes the form of a woman with a hieroglyph on her head. 

Nut or Nuit: The Goddess of the sky. She is young and slim. Stars shine from within her body. She usually appears naked, arched over Geb, the Earth God. 

Osiris: The God of fertility and resurrection. He takes the form of a mummy with the head of a live man. His face often has a slight green cast. 

Ptah: The God of creation and chief of the underworld. He takes the form of a mummified man with a shaved head or appears as a dwarf. 

Ra: The Sun God. He takes the form of a man with the head of a falcon. As the Sun appears to move across the sky, so he travels through the sky. At night, he journeys through the underworld and his head takes the form of that of a ram. 

Buddhist/Asian Gods and Goddesses:

Buddha: The Awakened One. The Buddha takes many different forms. He often sits cross-legged and appears to be fat and happy. Sometimes he is golden in colour. 

Maitreya: The future Buddha. He takes the form of a man wearing a headdress and holding a white flower. 

Quan yin: The Goddess of mercy in the Japanese tradition. She also has cults all over China. She will protect you from danger. Newlyweds often pray to her for fertility. She is sometimes referred to as the Queen of Heaven. She is pictured sitting on a lotus, holding a vase full of the dew of compassion. In addition, she is associated with the willow tree. 

Celtic Gods and Goddesses:

Brigid: The Goddess of healing, inspiration, and craftspeople. She has great strength and can be called upon to help you endure hardship. 

Cernunnos or Kernunnos: The Horned God. He takes the form of a man with the horns of a stag. He is the universal father. Sometimes he has three heads. He is the consort of the Lady. He is often called in pagan rituals. 

Cerridwen: The Goddess of the Moon, the harvest, and inspiration. She is often seen as a hag, stirring the cauldron of knowledge. It takes her a year and a day to prepare her brew - the same amount of time a witch studies between dedication and First Degree Initiation and between First Degree and Second Degree Initiation. 

Herne: The God of the Underworld. He is the leader of the phantom hunt. He is usually depicted with the antlers of a stag. 

Morrigan: The Goddess of war, and vegetation. She is Queen of the demons and has three faces. In her warlike aspect, she takes the form of a bat with red eyebrows. She can also appear as a raven, crow, or horse. She will take care of the wrongdoing that someone has done. 

Ogma: The God of language and inspiration. He takes the form of a wise old man. He wears animal skins, and golden chains pour out of his mouth. he invented the Druidic alphabet. 

Other Gods and Goddesses frequently used in Wiccan Rituals:

Aradia: The Queen of the witches in the Italian tradition. She is very powerful and can be called on to protect any witch. 

Astarte: The Goddess of love and war in the Middle Eastern tradition. She is very powerful and can be called on to protect any witch. 

Freyja: The Goddess of love and fertility in the Norse tradition. She is a beautiful woman who drives a chariot drawn by cats. Sometimes she rides a golden boar. 

Thor: The God of thunderstorms and the life force in the Norse tradition. He is a really big guy with a red beard. In his hands, which are sheathed in ion gloves, he carries a hammer. Two goats draw his chariot. 

The Venus of Willendorf: The Goddess of fertility from prehistoric Europe. She has large breasts and a big bottom and practically no arms or feet.