GAIA - (Gaea, Ge) - Greek

Greek earth goddess and personification of the earth. She was said to be second in the order of existence after Chaos, or was said to be his daughter. She gave birth to Ouranos (heaven) and Pontos (sea). Ouranos then became her consort. Their children included Kronos, Okeanos, the Cyclops and the Titans. Later, when Ouranos was castrated by Kronos, his semen combined with Gaia to engender the Erinyes, the Giants, and perhaps Aphrodite as well. Similarly, when Hephaistos failed in his attempt to rape Athena, his semen fell to the earth and resulted in the birth of the Athenian serpent-king Erechtheus. By Tartarus she was the mother of the monster Typhon. Gaia's cult was particularly prominent in Attica. She was also said to have had an oracle at Delphi that predated the oracle of Apollo. Her attributes included the fruits of the earth and the Cornucopia. According to Homer, Gaia was invoked in oaths along with Helios (sun).

GALATEA - Greek

Greek Nereid of Sicily.

GEBELEIZIS - Greek

Thracian thunder god.

GLAISRIG, GLAISTIG - Scottish

Undine; beautiful and seductive, but a goat from the waist down (which she hides under a long green dress). She lures men to dance with her and then sucks theirblood. Yet she can be benign, looking after children or old people or herding cattle for farmers.

GLAUKOS - (Glaucus) - Greek

Greek sea god. He was said to have been a fisherman who became a god when he ate a magic herb. He then leaped into the sea where he developed a tail and remained as a guardian deity of fishermen. His cult was very popular among fishermen and sailors. Glaukos was also reputed to have a gift for prophecy.

GODDESS OF SOVEREIGNTY (Banbha, Fodla, Eriu) - Celtic

The Land and the King were wed through many ceremonies. Essentually the fate of the King and the fate of the land were One and vice versa. The Favor of the Goddess could be granted by some heroic act or by being Magickally chosen (The Lia Fail could do this, more later). Women who held the Sovereignty of the land were often referred to as the Goddess (Such as Medb, Boudicca and Macha-Red Mane). Direction: Center

GORGONS - Greek

Greek female monster figures. Homer spoke of only one Gorgon. In Hesiod, however, there were three Gorgons: Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa -- the daughters of Phorkys and Ceto. They were winged, had hair consisting of snakes, and were depicted with large teeth and protruding tongues. Any mortal who looked upon would be turned to stone. Representations of their heads were used to ward off evil in Greek temples. Stheno and Euryale were immortal. Medusa, however, was mortal, and she was eventually killed by Perseus. Medusa's head was subsequently affixed to the Aegis, Athena's famous goatskin shield.

GRACES - Greek

Greek Charites (qv). The Romans referred to them as the Gratiae, which differ little from the Charites.

GRAII (Graeae) - Greek

Greek grey goddesses who guarded the cavern of the Gorgons. Daughters of Phorkys and Ceto. Their names were Deino, Enyo and Pephredo. They were depicted as old hags who had one eye and one tooth among them, which they shared. Perseus stole both the eye and the tooth on his mission to kill the Gorgon Medusa.

GRIAN (GREE-awn) - Celtic

A faerie Goddess who is still believed to live in a burgh beneth Pallas Green Hill. Her name means "sunny" and she was undoubtedly at one time a potent regional sun diety. Call on her for seasonal rites. She and Aine can easily represent the Holly andOak kings roles.

GRUAGACH, THE - ('The Long-Haired One') Scottish.

Female fairy to whom the dairymaids used to pour libations of milk into a hollow stone.

GULLVEIG - ("Gold Branch") Teutonic.

A giantess and sorceress, one of the Vanir, whom the Æsir tried to kill. This caused war between the Vanir and the Æsir, which the Vanir won. Vanir and Æsir seem to have been two early Nordic people who eventually merged.

GWENHWYFAR, GUINEVERE, GUENEVA - British

Arthur's queen. Traces of Triple Goddess.

GWYNN AP NUDD - Welsh

The Master of the Wild Hunt, The Welsh Guardian of the Dark Portals of the Underworld. He rode the Night in a flowing grey cloak upon a pale horse following his Hounds called Cwn Annwn. (very large, white with red tipped ears). They would seek out and collect souls. Direction: West or North.

HABONDIA, DAME HABONDE, ABUNDIA - British

Medieval witch goddess name, doubtless implying "abundance". Referring to the goddess NICNEVEN.

HADES (Aides, Dis, Plutos) - Greek

"The Unseen One". Greek god of the underworld. Since riches were commonly buried in the ground, he also figured as a god of wealth, Plutos, although the latter is often considered a separate deity. Son of Kronos and Rhea. Brother of Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter and Hestia. After Zeus killed Kronos, dominion over the underworld fell to Hades, while Zeus claimed the heavens and Poseidon the seas. He became the husband of Persephone after abducting her (for this story see the entries for Demeter and Persephone). His home in the underworld was often referred to as the "House of Hades". The tasks of judging the souls of the deceased and of punishing sins were assigned to other underworld deities. His cult was restricted to Pylos. He was depicted as dark bearded, bearing a sceptre and a key.

HAMADRYADS - Greek

Greek tree nymphs. See Dryads.

HARPIES (Harpy) - Greek

"Snatchers". Greek winged female monsters or demons. They may have originated as wind spirits: in Homer they were merely described as winds that swept people away. They were usually three in number, the most common names being Aello, Kelaino (Podarge) and Okypete. Daughters of Thaumas and Elektra, or of Poseidon and Gaia. In early myths they were described as beautiful, but later writers depicted them as ugly bird-like monsters with large claws. In one version, the Harpies were eventually killed by Calais and Zetes.

HATHOR- Egyptian.

An ancient Sky Goddess; Ra's daughter by Nut, or his wife; sometimes the wife or mother of Horus the Elder, Goddess of pleasure, joy, love, music and dancing. Protectress of women and embodiment of the finest female qualities.

HECATE, HEKATE - Greek (also, Roman)

Greek goddess associated with the underworld and with magic. Not mentioned in Homer, she is believed to have originated in Caria in southwest Anatolia. According to Hesiod she was the daughter of the Titan Perses and the nymph Asteria. Elsewhere she is said to be the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She was also a goddess of crossroads and waysides, and pillars known as Hekataea were commonly erected at crossroads and doorways, perhaps to ward off evil. She was especially associated with travel by night, although it is nor clear whether she was regarded as the protectress of night travellers or their chief peril. Hekate was also considered a patron of Medea and of witches, and she had an occult following among women in Thessaly, where she was regarded as a moon goddess. She assisted in the search for Persephone after her abduction by Hades. In this connection, as well as in connection with her role in night travel, she was depicted bearing a torch. In later representations, she was shown as having three bodies, particularly in the Hekataea which allowed her to keep watch over all roads at once. Her epithets included Enodia, a reference to her role as a goddess of waysides, and Trioditis, a reference to her role as a triform goddess of crossroads.

HEIMDAL - Norse

Watcher at the gates of Asgard, he can hear the grass growing on the ground and the wool on a sheep's back, and needs no sleep. He is the son of nine etin-maids, perhaps the nine waves. His hall is called Himinbjörg (Heaven-Mountain). He owns the Gjallarhorn (the Horn Resounding) which he shall blow at the beginning of Ragnarok to gather the hosts of the gods. Some see this horn as a cowhorn, others as one of the sousaphone-like lurhorns used in Bronze Age rituals. Under the name of Rig ("King"), he came to Midgard in order to father the three tribes of humans - thralls, freemen, and rulers - and to teach runes and lore to the last. Heimdall is described as very fair, with golden teeth. His horse is called Gullpr ("Golden-Mane"). He is a greatfoe of Loki: according to one tale, when Loki had stolen Freya's necklace, Heimdall changed into a seal and fought with him in that shape, winning it back. Heimdall and Loki will slay each other at Ragnarok. Heimdall is sometimes seen as a rather aloof god and lacking inhumour; however, he is a great teacher, and an especially good god to call on for those who work in subjects calling for cool intellect rather than the furious inspiration given by Odin.

HEL, HELA - Norse

Goddess of Death, Ruler of the underworld. Teutonic Goddess of the kingdom of the dead, not considered as a place of punishment. Daughter of Loki and Angurboda, and sister of the Midgard serpent of the ocean encircling the Earth, and of the devouring Fenris-wolf. Half her face was totally black. Hel-Ruler of the kingdom of death, the Prose Edda describes her as half-black, half-white (she is sometimes seen as half-rotting, half alive) and of grim and unmistakable appearance. Her name may originally derive from theburied slab-rock grave-chambers of the Stone Age. TheHel-word is known to all branches of the Germanic speech,and clearly very old, but there is some question as to whether the goddess was recognised as an independentperson before the Viking Age. The Prose Edda, probably suffering from semantic contamination (the use of the English word Hell for the frightful Christian afterworld), describes her hall as full of horrors, but older sources make it rather pleasant, and indeed a close reflection of the idealized god-house seen in descriptions of Valhall (Hel and Odin have much in common, in fact). The specialization of the Germanic afterlife into the glorious Valhall where the chosen battle-dead go and the hideous Hel where everyone else ends up is probably a product of Christian influence on the retelling of Norse god-lore; our earlier sources offer far more options (going to the hall of the deity to whom one is closest, dying into a hill or rock where the other ghosts of one's family dwell, remaining as the guardian of a stead, being reborn in a child who bears one's name and/or lineage), and the name Valhall does not become specialized for Odin's hall until the middle of the tenth century, when it is probably a description rather than a proper name. There is no evidence for the worship of the goddess Hel in elder times, but there are several folk who work with her today. Also called Hella.

HELIOS (Helius, Sol) - Greek

"Sun". Greek sun god. According to Hesiod, he is the son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. His siblings were Eos (dawn) and Selene (moon). He drove his four-horsed chariot across the sky each day from east to west, descending beneath the ocean at night and returning by its northern stream to the east. According to one story, Helios was absent when Zeus divided the world among the gods, and he was given the island of Rhodes, which had just risen from the sea, in compensation. Rhodes was the center of his cult, where he was the dominant deity at least as early as the 5th century BC. The famous Colossus of Rhodes was an image of Helios. A festival of Helios was also celebrated on Rhodes, during which a four-horsed chariot was driven off a cliff, symbolizing the setting of the sun beneath the sea. He was depicted driving a four-horsed chariot, and with a halo of rays about his head. The Romans worshipped Helios as Sol.

HEMERA - Greek

"Day". Greek goddess of the day. Hesiod gives her as the daughter of Erebus and Nyx. She may also have been the consort of her brother Aether.

HEPHAISTOS (Hephaestus, Hephaestos) - Greek

Greek god of fire and patron of blacksmiths. Son of Zeus and Hera. In the Iliad, Homer made him the husband of Charis. However, in the Odyssey he was said to be the consort of Aphrodite, and this rather unlikely pairing became the more widely accepted version. Although considered one of the twelve Olympians, he was thrown from the heavens by Hera, who could not accept a child born with deformed legs. According to one legend, he spent the first nine years of his life in the sea, cared for by Eurynome and Thetis. According to another legend, he was taken in and cared for by the people of Lemnos, on whose island he had an important sanctuary. The cult of Hephaistos appears to have originated in Greek Anatolia, or perhaps on Lemnos. His cult seems never to have been very popular in mainland Greece, although he did have a sanctuary in Athens. He also had an important shrine at Ephesus in Anatolia. Despite his lameness, Hephaistos was famed as a blacksmith of extraordinary skill. His smithy was said to be under Mt Aetna, where he was believed to work with his assistants, the Cyclops. He was credited with fashioning the sceptre of Zeus, the Aegis of Athena, the chariot of Helios, arms for Achilles and Aeneas, and the shield of Herakles. Hephaistos was never very lucky in love. His nominal consort, Aphrodite, was never faithful to him, and few if any of her children were fathered by the lame smith god. On one occasion, Hephaistos attempted to force himself on Athena, but she evaded him and his semen fell to the earth where it gave birth to the Athenian serpent-king Erechtheus.

HERA - Greek

Greek queen of heaven. Daughter of Kronos and Rhea. Sister and wife of Zeus. Mother of Ares, Hephaistos, Hebe and Eileithyia. Though widely worshipped throughout the Greek world, Hera was chiefly known as the jealous and often vindictive wife of the philandering Zeus. In her own right, she was worshipped as a goddess of marriage, of childbirth, and of the life of women in general. Her marriage was said to have resulted after Zeus seduced her in the form of a peacock, although in some versions it was Hera who seduced Zeus with the aid of a magic girdle. At Athens and Samos their marriage was celebrated as the hieros gamos ("sacred marriage"), even though the conduct of Zeus would seem to have made a mockery of this notion. The morality of Hera's conduct was also questionable by modern standards, as she mercilessly persecuted mortal women for the crime of having been raped by her husband. Her chief cult centre was at Argos, where the Heraeum boasted a statue of Hera in ivory and gold by Polycletus. Other important sanctuaries were at Athens and on Crete and Samos, although she had sanctuaries throughout the Greek world. A festival of women's games was also held in her honour every four years at Olympus. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her, and the apple and the pomegranate were her sacred fruits. She was often depicted as a matronly figure seated on a throne, bearing a diadem and a sceptre.

HERAKLES (Heracles, Roman Hercules) - Greek

Greek hero, worshipped as a deity. It has been variously speculated that the mythical Herakles may have derived from an actual Greek chieftain or shaman who protected his people from external dangers which later became the labours of Herakles. Some parallels can be seen with the Mesopotamian figures of Ninurta and Gilgamesh. He was the son of Zeus and Alkmene, and the husband of Deianeira. The jealous Hera sent two snakes to kill Herakles in his cradle, but the infant strangled them. When he grew up, he was forced to serve King Eurystheus, who assigned him his twelve labours. These labours were: (1) the slaying of the Nemean lion; (2) the slaying of the Lernaean Hydra; (3) the capture of the Arcadian stag; (4) the destruction of the Erymanthian boar; (5) the cleansing of the Augean stables; (6) the shooting of the man- eating birds of the Stymphalian marshes; (7) the capture of the Cretan bull; (8) the capture of the man-eating horses of Diomedes; (9) the theft of the girdle of the Amazon queen Hippolyta; (10) the capture of the cattle of Geryon; (11) the acquisition of the golden apples of the Hesperides; and (12) the capture of Cerberus. Having completed the twelve labours, Herakles went on to have many more battles and escapades. It was also during this latter period that he wed Deianeira. On the way home, the centaur Nessus tried to rape her, and Herakles shot him with a poisoned arrow. The dying centaur told Deianeira to preserve some of the blood from his wound, as it had the power of making whomever she wished fall in love with her. Some years later, Herakles fell in love with Iole. Deianeira devised a robe with some of the centaur's blood smeared on it and sent it to Herakles, thinking to win back his love. Instead, the blood poisoned Herakles, causing a painful death. His body was burned on a pyre on Mt. Oita. After his death, Herakles was deified and given the task of guarding the gates to Olympus. There he became the consort of the goddess Hebe. The cult of Herakles was widespread, and he had sanctuaries on Thasos and Mt. Oita, where sacrificial fire festivals were held every four years to commemorate his death. The Dorian kings regarded Herakles as their ancestral god. He was commonly depicted wearing the skin of the Nemean lion, bearing either a bow or a club, or performing one of his labours.

HERMAPHRODITOS (Hermaphroditus) - Greek

Greek androgynous deity. The cult of Hermaphroditos appeared first in Cyprus, but never became prominent in the rest of the Greek world until the Hellenistic period. Originallythe son of Hermes and Aphrodite. The Naiad Salmakis (associated with a fountain of the same name in Caria, a region of Anatolia) fell so passionately in love with him that their bodies merged into one. In some versions, it was her entreaties to the gods that finally resulted in their becoming one being.

HERMES - Greek

Greek messenger of the gods. Son of Zeus and the nymph Maia. He was believed to have been born on Mt. Cyllene in Arcadia. His cult seems to have originated in Arcadia, where he was a god of fertility depicted in ithyphallic images. His name probably derives from hermaion (pl. herma), the Greek word for a pile of stones used to mark boundaries or as landmarks erected to guide travellers. Stone pillars called hermen were also erected in front of Greek houses, and Hermes was supposed to dwell in these pillars, guarding over the houses. Thus Hermes was considered a god of travellers and merchants, of roads and of doorways. Paradoxically, he was also a patron of thieves and gamblers, and of good fortune. In his capacity as messenger of the gods he was depicted with a broad-brimmed hat (petasus) appropriate for travel, winged sandals (talaria), and a herald's staff entwined with snakes (kerykeion, Latin caduceus). Hermes is credited with the invention of the lyre (kithara) and with the invention of fire. These feats he performed on the day of his birth, in addition to the theft of Apollo's cattle. His personality had much mischief and trickery about it. He also had the typical sexual appetites of a Greek god. Among the many errands the gods entrusted him with, it was Hermes who was sent to retrieve both Persephone and Eurydice from the underworld. He had many epithets, including Epimelios (guardian of flocks), Nomios (also a reference to his role as guardian of flocks), Hodios (patron of travellers). He was also known as Oneiropompos (conductor of dreams) and Psychopompos (leader of souls in the underworld) in his roles as god of dreams and of passage to the afterlife. In his role as god of doorways he was known as Pylaios or Propylaios. In his capacity as "the good shepherd", he was depicted carrying a sheep on his shoulders, with the epithet of Kriophoros (ram-bearer). In earlier Greek art, he was depicted as bearded, wearing a long tunic, and equipped with his cap, winged sandals and staff (the kerykeion). Later, he came to be portrayed as a beardless youth.

HEROS - Greek

A Thracian god of the underworld. He was depicted as a horseman, and his image was frequently incorporated in funerary stelae.

HESPERIDES - Greek

Greek nymphs who guarded the tree of the golden apples. According to Hesiod, they were the daughters of Erebos and Nyx (night). Other accounts make them the daughters of Atlas and Pleione, Atlas and Hesperis, Phorkys and Ceto, or of Hesperos. Their names were most commonly given as Aegle, Erytheia, and Hesperia (or Arethusa).

HESPEROS (Hesperus, Roman Vesper) - Greek

Greek god of the evening star. In some versions, the father of the Hesperides.

HESTIA (Roman Vesta) - Greek

Greek goddess of fire and the hearth. Daughter of Kronos and Rhea. She remained a virgin all her life, on the assumption that she was wedded to the sacred hearth fire. Her worship was largely focused on household hearths, but public cults later emerged at the civic hearth. Small offerings of food and drink were typically made at household hearths before meals.

HIMEROS (Himerus) - Greek

Greek god of desire. An attendant either of Aphrodite or of Eros.

HOLDA - Norse

Goddess similiar to Hel. A goddess known through German folklore, her name means "the Gracious One". She has much in common with Frigga, being the patroness of spinners and the keeper of social order, especially enforcing taboos about working on holy days. She is also said to be the keeper of the souls of unbaptized (or sometimes simply young) children, andwomen who want to bear children ask for them at her well. Holda also appears at times as the leader of the WildHunt. According to one tale, it was she who taught humanshow to plant and process flax. When it snows, Holda is supposed to be shaking out her feather-bed.

HORAI (Horae) - Greek

The Seasons. Greek goddesses associated with the three Greek seasons: spring, summer and winter. Daughters of Zeus and Themis. Their names were Eunomia (good order), Dike (justice), and Eirene (peace). The Athenians recognized only two Horai: Thallo, associated with the blossoms of spring, and Karpo, associated with the ripened fruit of summer or autumn. The Horai were honoured in the annual festival known as the Horaia. The Horai eventually developed into the four modern seasons.

HORUS - Egyptian

Diety attributed to the New Aeon. Son of Isis and Osiris. His Sacred Animal is the Falcon. God of Healing and the All-Seeing Eye.

HYAKINTHOS (Hyacinthus) - Greek

Commonly known as a hero from Greek myth, but generally believed to have originated as an ancient pre-Hellenic god, probably of vegetation. In the Greek legend, Hyakinthos was loved by Apollo, who accidentally killed him with a discus. This would suggest that Hyakinthos was originally a dying god like Adonis or the Mesopotamian Dumuzi whose death and resurrection symbolized the natural cycle of cereal vegetation. At Amyklai in Sparta Hyakinthos was regarded as a deified hero well into the Hellenic period. There he was worshipped in an annual festival, the Hyakinthia, where the worshippers passed from mourning for Hyakinthos to celebration for Apollo -- certainly suggestive of a rite associated with cereal vegetation where the dead plant gives new life through its seed.

HYGIEIA (Hygeia) - Greek

Greek goddess of health. Daughter of Asklepios, the god of healing. Some later writers made her the consort of Asklepios. Her sacred animal was the snake, depicted drinking from a saucer or other drinking vessel held in her hand. Her worship spread to Rome in 293 BC, where she came to be identified with Salus.

HYMEN (Hymenaios, Hymenaeus) - Greek

Greek god of marriage. He was traditionally said to be the son of Apollo and a Muse, while later writers made him the son of Dionysus and Aphrodite. He was invoked at weddings in the marriage song. He was depicted as a winged youth bearing a wedding torch and a garland.

HYPERION - Greek

Greek god of light. One of the Titans. Son of Ouranos (heaven) and Gaia (earth). Consort of Theia. Father of Helios (sun) and Selene (moon). Hyperion may have been little more than a personification of the sun or an epithet of Helios.

HYPNOS (Roman Somnus) - Greek

Greek god of sleep. Son of Erebos and Nyx (night). Brother of Thanatos (death).

 

 

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