IAKCHOS (Iacchus) - Greek

Minor Greek deity associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries. He was considered the son of Demeter or Persephone. Possibly the husband of Demeter. In the mysteries, his name was invoked in connection with those of Demeter and Persephone. Some believe Iakchos to be identical with Dionysos (as Bacchus) or Zagreus. He was depicted bearing a torch and leading the participants in the mysteries.

IDUNNA - Norse

The goddess who keeps the apples of youth, by which the gods stay ever-young.

INANNA (Venus, Ishtar) - Sumerian

Sumerian Goddess of War, Knowledge, Lust and Love. The Sacred Whore with a heart of Gold, Goddess of Warriors and Protectors, patron of sacred love.

INGHEAN BHUIDHE (EEN-awn BOO-ee) - Celtic

Her name means "yelow haired girl." Though most knowledge ofher is lost, we know she was a middle sister of a tripple goddess and she represented the coming of summer, beltaine, and was honored on May 6 involving a sacred well. Use her energy in Beltaine rituals, for flower festivals, or to bless the spring planting. (See also Lassair and Latiaran)

INO - Greek

Greek heroine who raised the infant Dionysos while herself a child. Later, Hera drove Ino and her husband Athamas mad, and Ino leaped to her death in the sea, carrying her son Melicertes. She was elevated to the rank of sea goddess under the name of Leukothea, and Melicertes became Palaemon.

IRENE - Greek

See Eirene.

IRIS - Greek

"Rainbow". Greek goddess of the rainbow, and messenger of the gods. She was particularly the agent of Hera. According to Hesiod, she was the daughter of the Titan Thaumas and the nymph Electra. Also in Hesiod, it was her task to draw water from the River Styx which the gods used whenever declaring a solemn oath. She was depicted with wings and her attributes included a herald's staff and a water pitcher.

ISIS - Egyptian

The most complete flowering of the Goddess concept in human history. Daughter of Earth God Geb and Sky Goddess Nut. Protectress of the Home. Goddess of Magick, Earth, the Moon, Love, Wisdom, fertility, and Mothers.

JANUS - Roman

The Two-Faced God. God of Thresholds, Gates and Doorways.

JUNO - Roman

Married to Jupiter. Goddess of Women and Motherhood.

JUPITER - Roman (AKA Zeus - Greek)

Father of Gods and Men. God of the Sky.

 

KABEIROI (Kabiroi, Cabeiri) - Greek

Greek fertility gods whose cult involved the celebration of mysteries typically associated with vegetation deities. They originated in Greek Anatolia, possibly in Phrygia, and subsequently spread to the islands of the Aegean, to Macedonia, and to northern and central Greece. In classical times they numbered two, though their numbers seem to have varied over time. They included the gods Axiocersus and his son Cadmilus. A female pair were also mentioned, Axierus and Axiocersa, although their role was of secondary importance. Their cult was particularly prominent on the islands of Lemnos and Samothrace, where their mysteries displayed an Orphic influence.

KALI - Hindu

Goddess of Love, Birth and Death, Destruction. Personification of Creation, with Life given and Life taken upon the same coin.

KER (pl. Keres, Cer) - Greekl

In Greek belief, a destructive or malevolent female spirit of the dead. Although some sources seem refer to a single Ker, the more common belief was in a host of Keres. They were said to be the daughters of Nyx and Erebos. In the Attic festival of the Anthesteria, the spirits of the dead, or Keres, were driven from the house.

KERNUNNOS - Celtic

(See Cernunnos)

KORE - Greek

"Girl". An epithet of Persephone.

KOURETES (Kuretes, Curetes) - Greek

Semidivine beings who were believed to have been early inhabitants of Crete. It was the Kouretes who prevented Kronos from discovering the hidden infant Zeus by dancing and clashing their weapons to prevent his cries from being heard. They were often equated with the Korybantes. The Kouretes may have had their origin as worshippers of Zeus Kouros (Zeus as a young man), perhaps dating back to Minoan times.

KRATOS - Greek

"Power". Greek god of strength. Brother of Bia (force).

KRONOS (Cronos, Chronos, Cronus) - Greek

Primeval Greek god of time and a former supreme god. One of the Titans. Son of Ouranos (heaven) and Gaia (earth). Consort of Rhea. Father of Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hades and Hestia. Little worshipped by the Greeks, Kronos may represent the vestiges of a pre-Hellenic god. The worship that was accorded him was generally associated with agriculture, such as the Attican harvest festival of the Kronia. Kronos overthrew his father Ouranos, castrating him with a sickle for good measure, perhaps as a symbolic separation of heaven and earth. Fearing that his own children might do the same to him, he proceeded to swallow them. Zeus, however, was saved Rhea, who hid him in Crete and tricked Kronos into swallowing a stone wrapped in infant's clothing. When Zeus reached maturity, he forced Kronos to disgorge his brothers and sisters, then hurled him into Tartaros. Subsequently, Kronos remained a prisoner in Tartaros, although some accounts make him the king of the Golden Age. He was generally depicted with a sickle and an hourglass. Known to the Romans as Saturn.

LACHESIS - Greek

One of the Greek Moirai (qv), or Fates. According to Hesiod, the Moirai were daughters of Zeus and Themis. Lachesis was the "caster of lots" and it was she who spun out the thread of life.

LADA (Leda) - Greek

Lycian mother or fertility goddess who was the probable original of the Greek Leto.

LAMIA - Greek

A female demon in Greek belief who devoured children. According to some sources she was a queen of Libya who fell in love with Zeus. The jealous Hera deformed her and killed her children. Lamia then turned to hunting and devouring children whom she lured away from their parents. Alternatively, she took on the form of a beautiful woman, enticing young men whom she would subsequently devour.

LADY OF THE LAKE - British (Arthurian)

In some legends Vivienne (or Viviane); in others, Vivienne was the daughter of the Lady of the Lake by Dylan, son of Arianrhod and Gwydion. In Thomas Mallory, the Lady of the Lake is called Nimue.

LASSAIR - Celtic

The eldest of a tripple goddess. Her name means "flame." Invoke her during seasonal rites. (See also Inghean Bhuide and Latiaran)

LATIARAN - Celtic

The youngest of a tripple Goddess with Inghean Bhuidhe andLassair. She represented the first harvest of Lughnasadh. Her sister Inghean Buidhe represented Beltaine, as Lassair represented Midsummer. Use her aid in fire magic at Lughnasadh.

LEANNAN SIDHE- Irish

Fairy lover, succubus. In the Isle of Man she is malevolent and vampiric.

LEDA - Greek

Greek goddess; former Anatolian mother goddess.

LETHE - Greek

Greek nymph associated with the underworld river of the same name. Daughter of Eris (strife). The Lethe was the river of forgetfulness or oblivion.

LETO (Latin Latona) - Greek

Greek Titaness and possible mother goddess. Daughter of Coeus (Kois) and Phoebe. Mother of Apollo and Artemis by Zeus. Leto appears to have been derived from a Lycian goddess named Lada, and she had cults of local importance in Lycia and at Phaistos on Crete.

LEUKOTHEA (Leucothea) - Greek

"White Goddess". Greek sea goddess. The name given to the deified Ino. Daughter of Cadmus. As Ino, she had been the wife of Athamas. Having been driven mad by Hera in punishment for raising the infant Dionysos, Ino leapt to her death in the sea along with her son Melicertes. She was popular among sailors and fishermen. Believed to help sailors in distress, she was first mentioned in the Odyssey where she saved Odysseus from drowning.

LIBER - Roman (AKA Dionysos - Bakchos - Greek)

God of Nature, Wine and Ecstasy.

LILLITH - Hebrew

In ancient Hebrew legend, she was Adam's first wife, who would not subordinate herself to him and was turned into a demoness.

LOCHA - Celtic

Maidservent to Queen Meave who died defending her in a war with Ulster.

LOGOS - Greek

"Word" or "Reason". For some Stoics of the Hellenistic age, Logos was the divine personification of the reason or plan underlying the cosmos. It was Philo of Alexandria (1st century AD) who first conceived of Logos in anthropomorphic terms. The Christians subsequently picked up the term and used it to refer to the "Word" which was made flesh in Jesus Christ.

LOKI - Norse (Also known as Logi, Loge)

God of Mischief, Trickery. Devine Catalyst, Breaker of Stagnation, Force for change. Giant Foster brother of Odin. An etin brought among the Aesir by Odin, who swore blood-brotherhood with him, Loki wavers between a weal-bringing culture-hero/Trickster and a woe-bringing destroyer. He is responsible for getting the gods most of their good, but only after he has led them to the edge of destruction. He often travels with Thor, sometimes leading him into trouble and sometimes getting him out of it. Loki also brings a surprising amount of humour into the Norse tales (and into the practice of the Northern religion today). The need for this function of his appears explicitly in the tale of how the giantess Skadi was reconciled to accepting weregild from the gods instead of insisting on revenge: one of her conditions is that they must make her laugh, and it is only Loki who can accomplish this. Loki may have appeared in cultic dramas as a ritual Lord of Misrule: inversion and reversal of all sorts are typical for him. As well as being the father of the Wolf Fenrir, the Midgard serpent, and, allegedly, Hel, he is also the mother of Odin's eight-legged horse Sleipnir, and cross-dresses in the typically feminine falcon-hides of Frigga and Freyja when he needs to fly between the worlds. Bad nineteenth-century etymology associated Loki with Logi (fire) and, helped along by Wagner, the image of Loki as a fire-being seems to be with us to stay. Modern thought also associates Loki especially with computers, for a number of reasons. After the death of Balder, the gods bound Loki in an underground cave, and Skadi hung a venom-dripping snake over his face. The venom is caught in a cup by his Aesir-wife Sigyn; supposedly, when she turns away to empty it, his writhings cause earthquakes. There is much debate among true folk as to whether Loki is really bound, or just how bound he is, however. Not surprisingly, views on Loki range from those who think of him as a merry friend to those who see him almost as a Nordic Satan. Although he plays a key role in many of our holy tales, it is fairly safe to guess that he was not worshipped in the sense that the other gods and goddesses were - but whenever a drink is given to Odin, according to the terms of their oath, Loki also gets one.

LORELEI - German

A beautiful siren who sat on a cliff above the Rhine, luring boatment to their death with her songs.

LUGH - Celtic

Sam ildanach (many skilled). This is the Celtic Mercury. The grandson of Balor (leader of the Fomorians and the son of Cian and Ethniu, a Sidhe princess. His feast is Lughnasadh, a celebration of the death of his "foster mother", Tailtiu. He is the combination of the Tuatha de Dannans and the Fomors. He replaces Nuada as the King and battle leader of the Tuatha de Dannan and leads them to ultimate victory in the second Battle of Moytura. He is sometimes called the "Shining One" and/or Lugh Lamhfada (of the "long arm"). He also has attributes of a carpenter, mason, poet,Druid, physician and a goldsmith. He can be considered the Irish God of just about everything. He was also the father of the great Irish hero, Cuchulain. Direction: East, South or Southwest.

LUNA - Roman

Moon Goddess, identified with Diana and the Greek Selene.

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