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ENCYCLOPEDIA

OF GODDESSES

AND HEROINES

Patricia Monaghan

ABC-CLIO


No encyclopedia, no matter its length, could list all the goddesses

the world has known. Due to colonization and forced

conversion, innumerable goddesses and their stories have

been lost. But an impressive amount of information remains,

although scattered in sacred texts, literary epics and drama,

story collections, ethnographies, and many other works. This

encyclopedia brings together thousands of such sources to

offer an entry point for further research. Casual and curious

readers will find the legends and myths the most compelling

part of this work, but researchers will be able to trace each

figure to additional writers, who in turn will provide further

reference points.

Goddesses can appear as free-spirited young nymphs, as

self-reliant workers, and as aged sages. They can be athletes

or huntresses, dancers or acrobats. They can be herbalists

or midwives. We find goddesses who are teachers, inventors,

bartend- ers, potters, surfers, magicians, warriors, and

queens. Virtually any social role that women have played or

are capable of playing appears in a goddess myth somewhere.

These volumes show the breadth of possibilities associated

with the feminine through many ages and cultures.

Despite its length, there is no question that some goddesses

are missing from this encyclopedia. In some cases, their stories

have not yet been published in English. In other cases, the

narratives do not specify their names. A figure might be called

‘‘the earth goddess’’ while, in the same story, a male divinity

is given a personal name. The quest to reclaim lost goddesses

is never- ending, for like the Venus of Hohle Fels Cave, information

continually comes to light. Such new information

can only add to the richness of images of female potency and

power offered in these pages.

2 | Introdution


I

AFRICA

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS VII

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IX

INTRODUCTION XI

NOTE ON SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION XVII

SYMBOLS AND ASSOCIATIONS XIX

APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF GODDESS MYTHS XX

AFRICA 1

EGYPT 27

AFRICAN DIASPORA 39

II

ASIA

III

EUROPE

CHINA 107

KOREA 127

CIRCUMPOLAR 135

INDIA 151

SOUTHEAST ASIA AND INDONESIA 215

JAPAN 235

THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 247

AUSTRALIA 269

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS VII

THE BALTIC 283

THE CELTIC WORLD 291

FINNO-UGRIC CULTURES 355

GREECE 371

ROME 445

SCANDINAVIA 473

SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE 499

THE SLAVIC PEOPLES 509

IV

THE AMERICAS

NORTH AMERICA 525

MESOAMERICA 577

SOUTH AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 589

Contents | 3


AFRICAN PANTHEON

ASONA Eldest daughter of Abrewa, primal

woman of the Akan people, Asona was so

beautiful that the back of her head was more

beautiful than the face of any other woman.

When the first gold was found, protected by a

venomous snake, Asona said that she would

rather die and leave her children with a rich

inheritance than live and have them poor. She

took the gold from the snake but was fatally

bitten. She left her descendents wealthy,

and her ambition remains within her family.

(Ephirim-Donkor)

ATAGE The goddess of a hill in southwestern

Nigeria where an important festival is

held, Atage is said to have breasts like large

water-storage pots. Such huge breasts suggest

that the goddess was connected with fertility,

as does the tradition of women praying at her

shrine for healthy children. At the end of the

dry season, in March, the goddess’s priest sets

the time of Atage’s festival by consulting the

Ifa , after which he spends the night naked on

the goddess’s mountain. Any child born on the

day of the festival is named for the goddess

and considered her favorite. (Parringer 1951)

IDEMILI A primary goddess of the Nnobi

Igbo, Idemili lived in lake waters where

she appeared in the shape of a mermaid (see

Mammywata). Her husband was the god

Urashi, with whom she formed an image

of the perfect couple. Together, they were

invoked for healthy pregnancy and other

blessings. She was a healing goddess, whose

priests and priestesses often served as doctors

and herbalists. (Amadiume 1987)

MAAT Goddess of truth, Maat took the form

of an ostrich feather balanced on the underworld’s

scales, opposite someone’s heart. If

the dishes balanced, the heart was light with

justice, and the soul would live

on. But if the dishes did not

balance, the monstrous

goddess Ammut destroyed

the person forever. Sometimes

divided into two goddesses indicating

natural and moral law, Maat has been described

as a personified abstraction. But some

scholars point to her temples, the priesthood

dedicated to her, and the herds of sacred

cattle tended in her name to argue that she

was an ancient goddess. (Ellis; Faulkner 1990;

Muller; Wiedemann)

MESHAT This goddess was called the ‘‘mistress

of the house of books,’’ inventor of writing

and secretary of heaven. Charged with

studying the stars to determine the axes of

new buildings. Meshat invented mathematics;

she measured the length of human lives with

palm branches. (Muller; Wilkinson)

NEKHBET The vulture-headed goddess

of the Nile’s source, she was creatrix of the

region around the city of Nekheb, whence

her name. After unification of the two lands,

Nekhbet became the king’s protector. As goddess

of the upper reaches of the river, she was

called the ‘‘twin’’ of Wadjet, goddess of the

Lower Nile; together they formed the Neb-Ti,

the ‘‘two mistresses.’’ (Lesko; Lichtheim 1976;

Muller; Parkinson; Wiedemann)

4 | African Pantheon


LA SIRENA

The image of the siren

is common in Haitian

folk art, representing

African water goddesses

who arrived in the

western hemisphere with

enslaved Africans who maintained

but adapted their religious traditions.

A figure of both beauty and threat, the water

goddess remains popular in African diaspora

communities today.

NUEJI Among the Lunda and Bemba, Bantu-speaking

peoples of central Africa, this

moon goddess is embodied in the black stork

whose white underbelly looks like the moon

when it flies during the night. She represents

the dry season and sterility, for in her stork

embodiment she controls the seasons. She

also represents a ritual object, the torch of life

that is lit at dawn after a night when young

people have been initiated. (Bonnefoy)

NYAKAE Among the Ashanti, this supreme

goddess was connected with the moon. Early

scholars described the divinity as male, but

now she is considered female; Nyame may

have been a dual-sexed divinity. (Parringer)

NYAME The crocodile goddess Nyakae

was the spouse of the high god Okwa and,

because people depended upon fish for their

livelihood, the source of abundance. A similar

goddess, the python Nalwanga, was the divine

spouse of the king of Buganda. (Burton 1982)

SELKHET In Egyptian tombs, mourners

placed golden figures of guardian goddesses.

One was Selkhet, a scorpion goddess of

great antiquity who, with the god Qebhsnuf,

protected the vessels that held the corpse’s

intestines. Selkhet offered instructions in

the customs of the afterlife. Shown with a

scorpion headdress, she symbolized rebirth.

(Lesko; Muller)

African Pantheon | 5


EUROPEAN PANTHEON

ADECINA This water goddess was honored

in the Celtic region of Spain, near contemporary

Castle Tuŕon. Her symbols were the goat

and the cypress tree. (Bonnefoy I)

BIMA N CHAN This Cambodian heroine

was taken into the sky by the moon god

Chan, who had fallen in love with her. When

his other wives grew envious of her, Bima n

Chan begged the moon to lift her higher, but

the strong wind there blew her to pieces. Her

head fell to earth, but her body remained

aloft. (Bonnefoy)

CHIMERA Part goat, part lion, and part

dragon, this Greek monster endangered the

land of Lycia. She was the daughter of an

equally monstrous mother, Echidna. Probablyshe

was originally a volcano goddess, for

there was a volcano of her name in the country

she terrorized. (Hesiod; Ovid 1958)

CIRCE Daughter of the sun and sister of

Cretan queen Pasiphae, this illustrious witch

gained the rulership of Colchis by marrying

its prince. Then she killed him so that she

could rule alone. When Circe’s subjects discovered

her crime, they rose against her. The

enchantress fled, escaping on her father’s

rays to the island of Aeaea, a name sometimes

used to refer to her. There, Circe lived in a

stone house, tended by lions and wolves. She

entertained herself by crafting magic potions

that she tried on humans shipwrecked in her

vicinity. When Odysseus was shipwrecked on

Aeaea, she turned his men into swine. The

king escaped her spells, but he could not

escape her charms, and fathered two

sons by Circe. (Cohen; Friedrich;

Hesiod; Homer 1996; Kereń yi1

979; Larson 2001; Marinatos;

Ovid 1958; Reeder; Schein)

AOTIS

An early dawn or sun goddess, she rode

through the sky in a chariot drawn by white

steeds. She may be a form of the goddess

Helen; she was honored as a spirit of fertility.

(Larson 1995; Lonsdale)

6 | European Pantheon


ASIAN PANTHEON

EHUANG

This daughter of a river god shared a husband with her

sister, Nuÿing. When he died, Ehuang drowned herself

in sorrow. The story may have descended from a tradition

of human sacrifice in which women shamans

sacrificed themselves to prevent famine from drought

or other natural disaster. (Strassberg; Yuän)

GWENDYDD GWENDYDD was the

wtwin sister of the great magician Merlin;

she may also, or alternatively, have been his

lover or wife. She held all of Merlin’s magical

secrets, for after he was trapped by Nimue inside

an enchanted tree, he passed along both

his knowledge and his power to Gwendydd.

(Ellis 1995)

KALI Her tongue juts out of her black face.

Her four hands hold weapons. Her necklace

and earrings are strung with dismembered

bodies. Kali wears snakes all about her body,

writhing on her head and around her neck.

She was born at time’s beginning, manifesting

herself when the demon Da ruka threatened

the gods. Parvat entered the body of Shiva and

gathered poison stored in his throat, bursting

forth as three-eyed Kali, armed with a trident.

This emanation dispatched the demon, but

her battle-fury was uncontained, and Kali

threatened the world until Shiva restrained

her. Stories of Kali as a demon-destroyer

connect her with Durga, as does her name

Chamunda (see Matrikas), formed from demons

Chanda and Munda, whom she killed.

O NU An early goddess described in the

Chinese text Classic of Mountains and Seas,

O Nu was the daughter of Lei Zu, the thunder

goddess. Her name means ‘‘lovely girl,’’ and

she was the mother of a hero. Another figure

of this name also goes by Yuän-fu (‘‘liaison

wife’’) and was the mother of culture-bringing

gods. (CMS)

RANGDA In Bali, Indonesia, shadow

puppets are a popular form of entertainment,

with many plays based upon mythic

narratives. A common demon in these plays

is Rangda the sorceress, who derives from a

pre-Hindu indigenous goddess.

Asian Pantheon | 7


AMERICAN PANTHEON

NONOOSQUA

“mother of flowers’’ lives in the House of

Myths, from which she brings forth all

the plants every spring, when two old

women call forth her power in ritual.

(Boas 1898)

MICTECACHUATL This Aztec goddess

ruled the nine rivers of the afterlife to which

evil souls were condemned. There, they

suffered boredom and monotony, while better

souls enjoyed heaven’s colorful existence. She

was depicted with no face, only the bones of a

skull. (Carrasco; Caso)

MIS When the young woman Mis found her

father’s body after a battle, she lost her wits

and drank his blood. Thereafter, she wandered

through the mountains, killing animals for

food with her bare hands. Mis lived without

human contact until a harper attracted her

with music. Coming to his camp, she spoke

her first human words since her father’s

death. Mis went to live with her harper. But

he was killed in battle as her father had been.

This time, she did not go mad, but became a

poet. (Bourke et al.; Ellis 1995; Gwynn vol. 3)

NAMPAN This goddess of abundance produced

magnificent gardens full of tasty foods,

but no one seemed able to learn her magic,

according to the Aguaruna. So she gave up on

humanity and moved to the sky, where she

lived with the sun. She taught her daugh- ters

the power of singing to the garden, and her

direct descendents know secret garden- ing

songs. Her songs were also helpful in brewing

beer. (Brown)

8 | American Pantheon


SOLNTSE THE SLAVIC sun goddes

lived with the moon in a little three-bedroom

house in the sky. One room was hers, one was

the moon’s, and the children—all the stars in

the sky—bunked together in the last. (Dexter)

SIN Although a fairy woman, Sin had thepowers

of a goddess, for she was able to change

water into wine and leaves into pigs, in

order to feed battalions of warriors that she

conjured from thin air. When king Muirchertach

mac Erc killed her family, she appeared

to him as a beautiful seductive woman, then

drove him mad and killed him, revealing her

identity just before he died. (Bourke et al.;

Ellis 1988; Markale 2000; Rees and Rees)

SOIKA GAAKWA The Seneca moon goddess

is called ‘‘our grandmother,’’ but she represents

all stages of woman’s life. Each stage

of her own lunar cycle has a different name,

and each moon within the year has a name of

its own. No celestial body had more power, for

this goddess brought luck in hunting. (Parker)

VOK SNEDWEJAS This Modoc woman

was a bear every night but transformed herself

into a beautiful woman in the daylight.

She lived in wealth and comfort on a mountain,

but she was lonely until she saw a handsome

young hunter. She made herself visible

so that he fell in love with her; but at night,

he discovered that she turned into a bear.

Fear- ful of being rejected, she suggested that

he return to his human family; but he refused,

saying that they had been abusive to him.

So they lived together until their son was

born, at which point the man felt he should

visit his family and introduce the child. Vok

Snewed’jas warned him that he should never

leave the child with other children. But Vok

Snewed’jas’s husband failed to notice his son

turning into a bear while playing with other

children. Terrified, they killed the boy. Away,

Vok Snewedjas knew her child had died and

came roaring into the village. Hunters brought

her down, whereupon she turned back

into a beautiful woman. Her husband was

distraught with grief, but a young girl who

understood magic revivified Vok Snewed’jas

and her son. The family then returned to the

mountain and were never seen by humans

again, although sometimes their voices are

heard on the wind. (Curtin 1971)

MEDUSA

Her name means ‘‘queen,’’ a title

often used of the primary female

divinity. Athena, the offended

goddess turned Medusa into a

snake-haired Gorgon, later engineering

Medusa’s murder by sending

Perseus to decapitate her. He had

to be specially equipped, because

Medusa’s glance turned living

beings to stone. So Perseus carried

a mirror. Looking into it, he saw

Medusa’s reflection and struck off

her head. (Apollodorus; Burkert;

J. Fontenrose; Friedrich; Frothingham;

Ovid 1958; Tyrell)

American Pantheon | 9


In nearly seven years of work on this encyclopedia, I have been grateful to

receive the assistance of innumerable people. Without the help of the DePaul

University Library staff, especially Pat McGrail, the obscure sources could

never have been accessed. Colleagues at DePaul provided ongoing support; the

assistance of the University Research Council was especially welcome. I am

deeply appreciative of the work of the Women’s Theological Institute and the

Temple of Diana in Wisconsin, where some of the information herein was first

presented. The genial but critical community of the online Goddess Scholars

listserv and that of the Association for the Study of Women and Mythology,

especially Sid Reger, Maureen Aakre Ross, and Dana Alder, is deeply appreciated.

Finally, all the Fellows, Scholars, and Board Members of the Black Earth

Institute have provided significant and welcome support.

Colleagues across the nation who provided analysis and commentary have

included Mary Jo Neitz, Dawn Work Makinne, Cristina Eisenberg, Judith

Roche, and Miriam Robbins Dexter. Wendy Griffin’s assistance is especially

noted. Friends and family were understanding of the demands of such a comprehensive

work; thanks to Eileen Monaghan, Tim Monaghan, Janet Berres,

Ray Olson, Flo Golod, Barbara Flaherty, Sandi Liss, Nancy Hutson, and Gaye

Mack. Deeply missed are the supportive friends who have passed on, especially

Deb Trent and Mary Emily McDermut. Finally, my husband Michael Mc-

Dermott, who understood that weekends and vacations (and often midnights

too) were for writing and research, enthusiastically provided support through

the arduous process of completing this encyclopedia.

Thank you all.

10| Acknowledgments


Copyright 2010 by Patricia Monaghan

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,

in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the

inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior

permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Monaghan, Patricia.

Encyclopedia of goddesses and heroines / Patricia Monaghan.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978–0–313–34989–8 (set : hardcover: alk. paper) — ISBN

978–0–313–34990–4

(set : ebook) — ISBN 978–0–313–34991–1 (v. 1 : hardcover :

alk. paper) — ISBN 978–0–313–34992–8 (v. 1 : ebook) — ISBN

978–0–313–34993–5 (v. 2 : hardcover. : alk paper) — ISBN

978–0–313–34994–2 (v. 2 : ebook)

1. Goddesses—Encyclopedias. 2. Women heroes—

Encyclopedias. I. Title. BL473.5.M663 2010 202. 11403—dc22

2009043962

ISBN: 978–0–313–34989–8 EISBN: 978–0–313–34990–4 (set)

14 13 12 11 10 1 2 3 4 5

This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an

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This book is printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the

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Credits | 11


No matter from what culture they arise, goddesses have been

associated with the natural world. Animate or inanimate,

lasting or temporary, natural objects provide the most common

goddess symbols. Although goddesses are often depicted or described

as having a woman’s body, they also appear as animal,

plant, mountain, water source, or celestial object. Because the

distinction is not always clear between a tree symbolizing a

goddess, and the tree being the embodiment of that divinity,

the descriptions in this section include both.

In addition to natural objects, abstract ideas such as wisdom

or wildness can be associated with goddesses. Often a divinity

is associated with more than one such quality, some of which

can be in apparent opposition, as with goddesses connected

with both virginity and fertility. Other common associations

are with phases of life and specific human activities, such as

hunting and weaving. The following list offers an overview of

common goddess associations, as well as exemplary goddesses

in each category.

ABC-CLIO

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