Napāt (“Close Relative of the Waters”): Vedic. God of fire hidden in water; often identified with Agni (q.v.).All Pagan deities are far more complex than I can describe here. If one interests you, don't limit yourself to what is said in this glossary; do further research, especially into their myths.
Aengus Óg: Irish. God of youth, love, and inspiration.
Agni (“Fire”): Vedic. God of fire, priest of the gods, intermediary between us and the gods.
Airmed: Irish. Goddess of healing, especially with herbs.
Airyaman (“God of the People”): Vedic. God of society, healing, and marriage; of bringing things together happily.
Amaterasu (“Shining in Heaven”): Japanese. Sun goddess.
Anahita (possibly “Pure”): Iranian. Goddess of purity, wisdom, nurturing, and the waters.
Andraste: British. A war goddess favored by the famous queen Boudicca.
Anna: The Proto-Indo-European word for “old woman, grandmother.” I use it in this book as a name for the Crone (the waning Moon). It is a nice name for the hag goddess, almost a euphemism; as if by using such a pleasant name, we might keep away the fearsome side of her.
Anubis: Egyptian. A psychopomp and god of mummification.
Apąm Napāt (“Close Relative of the Waters”): Iranian. God of the Waters, and thus of purity, he also is in charge of the afternoon.
Apā Napāt (“Close Relative of the Waters”): Vedic. God of fire hidden in water; often identified with Agni (q.v.).
Aphrodite: Greek. The Greeks translated her name as “foam born,” but it probably has its origin in “Ashtoreth,” the Phoenician version of “Astarte” (Ishtar, q.v.). Goddess of love, beauty, and passion.
Apollo: Greek and Roman. God of healing, truth, civilization, music, and the Sun.
Ares (“Strife”): Greek. God of war.
Arianrhod (“Silver Wheel”): A possible Welsh goddess who cursed Lleu Llaw Gyffes (q.v) into not having a name, weapons, or a human wife. She was tricked by Gwydion (q.v.) into giving him the first two; Gwydion then made a wife for him out of flowers.
Ariomanus: Roman. A god in Mithraism depicted with a lion's head and wings. He likely was a god of fire who served to purify the soul on its journey toward the celestial realm.
Arštat: Iranian. Goddess of justice.
Artemis: Greek. Goddess of the wild, the hunt, virginity, and the Moon.
Artio (“Bear”): Romano-Gaulish. A goddess, most likely connected with both the wild and the city.
Asherah: Near Eastern. Chief goddess, represented in worship by poles.
Asklepios: Greek. God of healing. (In Rome he was called “Aesculapius.”)
Aśvins (also “Ashvins”) (“Horsemen”): Vedic. Savior gods, close to mankind. Also called the Nāsatyas (q.v.), which was the name of one of them, applied to both.
Athena (“Of Athens”): Greek. Goddess of wisdom, communication, and the practical arts (especially weaving); also of politics and protection.
Attis: Greek and Phrygian. God who died in the spring; small plots of lettuce, which grew quickly and then died, were planted in his honor.
Aurora (“Rising”): Roman. Dawn goddess.
Aušrine (also “Aushrine”) (“Rising”): Lithuanian. Goddess of the dawn and spring.
Austėja: Lithuanian. Bee goddess, associated with honey and weddings.
Ba'al (“Lord”): Phoenician. Chief deity.
Bast (also “Bastet” or “Ubesti”): Egyptian. Cat-headed goddess of protection and fertility. In modern times, she has become especially a protector of cats.
Bes (possibly “Guardian” or “Protector”): Egyptian. Protector god, especially of pregnancy and children, he was portrayed as a gnome with a lion's face.
Boand (“White Cow,” or perhaps, “Giver of Cows”): Irish. The goddess of the river Boyne in Ireland. She unwittingly let loose the fiery water from the well of her husband, Nechtan (q.v.). Since this was the water that inspired poets, she may be prayed to for inspiration.
Brigid (also “Brighid”) (“Exalted,” “High One”): Irish. Hearth goddess, mothering goddess. As patron of poets, smiths, and healers, she is also a goddess of inspiration.
Britannia: British. Goddess of the British Isles. Depicted as similar to Minerva (q.v.), only with a lion at her feet and a Union Jack on her shield.
Cardea: Roman. Goddess of hinges.
Castor and Pollux: Greek and Roman. Twin gods, protectors, especially of sailors, soldiers. Patrons of cattle and horse ranchers.
Cathubodua (possibly “Battle Crow”): Gaulish. A goddess of war.
Ceres (“Grower”): Roman. Goddess of growing things, especially grain, and of prosperity.
Cernunnos (“Antlered God”): Gaulish. The one who goes between opposites; god of prosperity, especially that acquired through trade. The name is also sometimes used for the Wiccan God, who is a completely different deity.
Charon: Greek. Ferryman who carries the souls of the dead across the river Styx to the Underworld.
Čista (“Teacher”): Iranian. Goddess connected with justice who shows the right way to go, in both the physical sense (e.g., roads) and the moral sense.
Cloacina (“Cleanser”): Roman. Goddess of sewers and, oddly enough, marital sex.
Coyote: American Indian. Trickster figure. He plays a lot of practical jokes, and a lot of practical jokes are played on him, but he is the giver of useful skills to humanity.
Cybele: Phrygian. Mother goddess.
Dagda Mor (also “Daghda Mor” or “An Dagda”) (“Great Good God”): Irish. Not good in a moral sense, but good at things. His title “Eochu Ollathair” means “Stallion All Father,” so he was most likely a chief god, but one who is presented in a rather comical sense, with a tunic that doesn't really cover his rump, and as a glutton. He mated with the Morrígain (q.v.), the war goddess, at Samhain (Halloween).
Demeter: Greek. Earth goddess. Her daughter, Persephone (q.v.), was stolen by Hades, god of the dead. Demeter mourned, and the Earth, deprived of her power, started to die. Nothing grew, and mankind was on the verge of starvation. Finally, Zeus made a deal with Demeter. Persephone could return only if she had eaten nothing in the land of the dead. Unfortunately, she had eaten a few pomegranate seeds. From then on, she was required to spend a certain amount of time each year in the dark land as its queen. During that time, Demeter mourns again, bringing on winter. When Persephone returns, however, so does life in this world, in the form of spring.
Dian Cécht: Irish. God of healing.
Diana: Roman. Goddess of the Moon and the hunt; protector of children.
Dievas (“Shining”): Lithuanian. God of the bright sky, order, and fate.
Dionysos: Greek. God of wine, the vine, ecstasy, and faithful marriage.
Dioskouroi (“Zeus's Boys”): Greek. The name for the Greek Castor and Pollux (q.v.) when seen together; gods of horses, sailors, healing; saviors in general.
Diwós Sunú (“Sons of God”): Proto-Indo-European. Gods of horses, sailors, healing; saviors in general; of all the gods, the ones closest to people. The “god” who is their father is Dy
us Ptr (q.v).
Domovoi: Russian. House guardian who lives behind the stove.
Dyus Ptr (“Shining Sky Father”): Proto-Indo-European. Chief god, dispenser of wisdom and justice, enforcer of the natural order of things.
Eos (“Rising”): Greek. Goddess of the spring and dawn.
Eostre (“Rising”): Germanic. Goddess of the spring and dawn.
Epona (“Horse Goddess”): Protector of horses and cavalry; possibly goddess of sovereignty and protector of children.
Eris (“Strife, Discord”): Greek. Goddess of chaos and disruption.
Firebird: Russian. A bird that dwells in a faraway land, guarding the tree of life. It may bring blessings or disaster on those who encounter it.
Flora (“Flower”): Roman. Goddess of flowers.
Fortuna: Roman. Goddess of luck. Her emblem was the wheel, which is, of course, the wheel of fortune.
Freyja (“Lady”): Norse. Goddess of love, life, and death. Her cart is pulled by cats.
Freyr (“Lord”): Norse. God of friendship, fertility, and sexuality. Gabija (“Coverer”): Lithuanian. Goddess of the hearth, protector of the family.
Gaea: Greek. The earth goddess.
Ga
eśa (also “Ganesha”) (“Lord of Categories”): Hindu. An elephant-headed god, overcomer of obstacles.
Genius (“One Who Gives Birth”): Roman. A divine being who is intimately connected with a certain thing—a person, an area, a group of people, etc.
God: Wiccan. The male principle personified, with attributes such as death, power, and sexuality.
Goddess: Wiccan. The female principle personified, with attributes such as birth, fertility, and sexuality.
Green Man: Modern Pagan. A personification of the forces of the wild, especially of forests.
Guan Yin (“Perceiver of Prayers”): Buddhist. A divine being (technically a bodhisattva) of mercy and compassion. Also spelled “Kwan Yin,” but pronounced the same way.
Gwouwindā (“Giver of Cows”): Proto-Indo-European. A goddess of prosperity; a mother goddess.
Gwydion (possibly “Born of Wood[s]”): A magician in Welsh literature who may have been a god.
Hathor (“House of Horus”): Egyptian. A very complicated goddess, mixing motherhood, sexuality, fertility, death, and protection. She was often depicted with a cow's head.
Heimdall: Norse. God who guards the road to the realm of the gods.
Hekate: Greek. Goddess of witchcraft and the crossroads.
Helios (“Sun”): Greek. God of the Sun, as the great “eye in the sky,” he sees the deeds of men and is thus a god of justice, truth, and sight.
Hephaestus: Greek. God of smiths and potters, thus of artisans in general.
Hera: Roman. Queen of the gods; patron of marriage and children.
Herakles (“Glory of Hera”): Greek. Hero god; originally half-human, he knows what it's like to be us. Because he had to wander so far in his Twelve Labors, he protects travelers and also merchants.
Hercules: Roman. Version of Herakles.
Hermes: Greek. Messenger of the gods, leader of the soul to the land of the dead. Also a god of magic, commerce, travel, thieves, and skills.
Herne (“Horn”): English. A hunting god, leader of the Wild Hunt (the procession of the dead across the sky or through the world, especially at Samhain); the name is sometimes used by Wiccans for their God. The “horn” refers to one he blows, not ones on his head, and he is therefore not related to Cernunnos (q.v.).
Hestia: Greek. Goddess of the hearth. Her priestesses were chosen from among widows.
Horae (“Seasons”): Greek goddesses of time.
Horus (“Distant [or “Superior”] One”): Egyptian. God of the Sun, hero god, destroyer of evil.
Iðunn (also “Idunn”) (possibly “Ever Young”): Norse. Keeper of the apples that keep the Norse gods immortal and young.
Inanna (“Lady of the Sky”): Sumerian. Goddess of sexuality, life, death, and kingship. Famous for descending to the land of the dead to recover her lover Dumuzi.
Indra (“Man,” “Hero”): Vedic. Protector, warrior, god of the thunderstorm; with his lightning weapon (vajra) he killed V
tra, the great serpent of Chaos. As Indravayu, he has been combined with the wind god, emphasizing his storm nature.
Iris: Greek. Goddess of the rainbow and, in early times, the messenger of the gods.
Irmin: Possible Germanic god of the world pillar.
Ishtar: Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian. Goddess of cities, sexuality, and war.
Isis (“Throne”): Egyptian. Mother goddess, sovereignty goddess, wife of Osiris, mother of Horus.
Janus (“Doorway,” or possibly “Going”): Roman. God of beginnings and of doors; he was depicted with two faces—one looking one way, one looking the other—showing that he was the god of the moment between one thing and another.
Juno: Roman. Goddess of marriage. That she was also Juno Seispes Mater Regina, “Purifier, Mother, Queen,” shows that she was much more.
Jupiter (“Shining Sky Father”): Roman. Head of the gods, wielder of the thunderbolt, and a god of justice. Sometimes referred to as “Jupiter Optimus Maximus,” “Jupiter Best and Greatest.”
Kali (“Dark”): Hindu. Goddess of destruction. She also has a motherly side, but to find it, you have to deal with her scary side.
Kami: Japanese. The term for any spiritual being; it can be used for either the singular or the plural.
Kanaloa: Hawaiian. God of sailing and the Underworld.
Kane: Hawaiian. Ancestor, creator, and fertility god.
Kane-kuaana: Hawaiian. A Mo‘o (a sacred water lizard), originally a woman, who brings or withholds fish and pearls. Khnum (“Builder”): Egyptian. A god who creates the world and people by forming them from clay.
Kindreds: The sacred figures seen as a whole, encompassing the deities, the Ancestors, the Land Spirits, etc.
Kirnis: Slavic and Baltic. God of cherries.
Ku and Hina: Hawaiian. God and goddess, respectively, of fertility and the continuation of mankind.
Ku-ka-ohia-laka: Hawaiian. God of canoe-making, but also of hula.
Kupa-ai-ke‘e: Hawaiian. Craft god.
Laima: Baltic. Goddess of fate, pregnancy, birth, and childhood.
Leshy (“Of the Forest”): Russian. Shape-changing god of the forest.
Liber: Roman. God of wine and freedom.
Liberty: Throughout the history of the United States, Liberty has been called upon as the country's protecting goddess. Her image is found on coins, and she has been celebrated in song. Her most famous image, the one seen by immigrants entering New York harbor, has become the symbol of the dreams of our country. She is thought of more as a metaphor than as an actual goddess, of course, but, as Pagans, we can invoke her in a literal way, just as the Romans did, under the name Libertas.
Lleu Llaw Gyffes (“Bright One with the Steady Hand”): Welsh. Champion god, god of kingship and justice.
Loki: Norse. A figure in Norse mythology who spends most of his time working against the gods. Indeed, in the final battle at the end of the world, he will be one of the leaders of the army opposing the gods. There is no evidence that he was ever worshiped.
Lug (also “Lugh”) (“Shining,” or perhaps “Champion”): Irish. God of lightning, kingship, protection, and agriculture. He is called “He of many skills,” and is a patron of artisans.
Ma'at (“Truth, Order”): Egyptian. Goddess of justice, not in the legal sense but in that of doing the right thing. It is by her that the rightness of our actions is determined.
Manannán mac Lir (“Little One of the Isle of Man, son of the Sea”): Irish. A god of the sea and of wisdom. “Mac Lir” means “Son of the Sea,” which is probably not meant to indicate who his father was but what he was associated with. His earliest name was probably Oirbsen.
Marduk (possibly “Bull Calf of the Sun”): Babylonian. A god of lordship, protection, and war, he fought against Chaos and created the Cosmos from her body.
Mari: Proto-Indo-European word for “maiden,” used here as a title for that aspect of the triple goddess.
Mars: Roman. God of war and agriculture; likely originally one of thunder.
Maruts: Vedic. A warrior troop that accompanies Indra (q.v.) and may originally have been connected with thunder.
Mater: Proto-Indo-European word for “mother,” used here as a title for that aspect of the triple goddess.
Mater Dea: Roman. The name means “mother goddess.”
Mati Syra Zemlja: Russian. Earth Goddess.
Matronae (“Mothers”): Celto-Germanic. Deities who appear in groups of three on a large number of images from Britain, Gaul, and Germany. They are often shown with babies and seem to have been protectors of children.
Mnōt (“Moon, Measurer”): Proto-Indo-European. God of the Moon and, because the Moon measures out time, of measurement and right thinking.
Mercury: Roman. A go-between—messenger of the gods, protector of merchants (and thus a god of wealth), guide to the land of the dead. Also a god of knowledge.
Minerva (possibly “Thought”): Roman. Goddess of wisdom, communication, and the practical arts; also of politics and protection. Equivalent to the Greek Athena (q.v.).
Miϑra (also “Mithra”) (“Contract”): Iranian. God of the human laws, protector from the vagaries of the divine. In later Sanskrit, his name becomes the everyday word for “friend.”
Mithras: Roman. The god at the center of a mystery cult that seems to have been based on the idea of the development of the soul into a level of divinity. Not the same god as either Miϑra or Mitra.
Mitra (“Contract”): Vedic. Enforcer of agreements, god of justice, protector of friendship.
Mitravarua: Vedic. A combination of the gods Mitra and Varua (q.v.), both gods of law, the former of social law, and the latter of the 
ta, the order of the cosmos.
Moneta: Roman. A title applied to Juno as protector of money; she may have been a separate goddess.
Morpheus (“Shaper, Molder”): Greek. God of sleep.
Morrígain (“Nightmare Queen”): Irish. Goddess of sovereignty, war, and sexuality. The accent is on the second syllable.
Nāsatyas: Vedic. Nāsatya is one of the Aśvins, whose name is applied to both.
Nechtan (possibly “Nephew” and/or “Wet”): Irish. Guardian of the Well of Wisdom from whom only the worthy could drink.
Nike (“Victory”): Greek. Goddess of victory.
Ninurta: Mesopotamian. God of agriculture, healing, and war.
Norns: Norse. Three goddesses who water the World Tree and determine people's fates.
Nuit: Thelemic. Goddess of the stars, of infinite possibility, and of the great Void.
Nut (“Sky”): Egyptian. Goddess of the night sky.
Odin (“Ecstatic One”): Norse. God of war, wisdom, magic, and inspiration.
Ogma (also “Oghma”) (“Writing”): Irish. God of writing and thought.
Ogmios: Gaulish. Version of Ogma.
Osiris: Egyptian. Lord of the Underworld, husband of Isis, father of Horus. One version of his original name is Asar.
Pan (“Nourisher, Protector”): Greek. God of the pastures; that is, of the land in between the domesticated and the wild. Bringer of divine madness.
Pele: Hawaiian. Goddess of the volcano.
Perkons: Latvian. Version of Perkūnas.
Perkūnas (“Striker”): Baltic. Hero god, protector of the common people.
Perkw
nos (“Striker”): Proto-Indo-European. Protector, warrior, god of the thunderstorm. Patron of farmers.
Persephone: Greek. Goddess of the spring and of new growth, but also the queen of the dead.
Perun (“Striker”): Russian. Protector, warrior, god of the thunderstorm.
Pomona (“Fruit”): Roman. Goddess of fruit and fruit trees.
Poseidon (possibly “Lord of Earth”): Greek. God of the ocean, earthquakes, and horses.
Pthivi (also “Prithivi”) (“Wide Extending One”): Vedic. An earth goddess.
Pū
an (“Nourisher”): Vedic. God of travel and marriage; also a psychopomp. He was given offers at the beginning of sacrifices.
Quetzalcoatl (“Feathered Serpent”): Aztec. Wind, Sun, and creator god; a culture hero who, after giving the Aztecs corn and the practical arts, left, promising to return.
Quirinus (“God of the Assembly”): Roman. God of the people as a whole.
Rán (possibly “Robber”): Norse. Goddess of the sea; she pulls down ships with her net.
Rašnu (Also “Rashnu”): Iranian. God of justice and truth; one of the judges of the dead.
Rātri: Vedic. Goddess of night, sister of the dawn goddess Uas (q.v.).
Re-Horakhty (“Re, Horus of the Horizon”): Egyptian. Sun god, defeater of enemies.
Rhiannon (“Great Queen”): Welsh. Goddess of sovereignty and of wisdom.
Rosmerta (“Great Provider”): Gaulish. God identified by the Romans with Fortuna (q.v.), often represented holding a rudder, thus guiding us in our actions. More commonly, she stands next to a vat and holds what may be a strainer for what is in the vat. Possibly had a sovereignty role.
Rudra (“Howler”): Vedic. God of the jungle, and not in the nice sense.
Sarasvati (“Marshy”): Vedic, Hindu. Goddess of speech, eloquence, poetry, the arts, and music.
Saturn: Roman. God of the Golden Age and harvest.
Saulė (“Sun”): Lithuanian. Sun goddess.
Scythian Ares: Scythian. According to Herodotus (4.61–2), the Scythians worshiped Ares in the form of a sword stuck into a pile of brushwood.
Selene (“Moon”): Greek. Goddess of the Moon.
Sequana: Gaulish. Goddess of the Seine river.
Shang Ti (also “Shangdi”) (“Celestial Lord”): Chinese. The creator god, the divine version of the Emperor.
Silenus: Greek. Follower of Dionysos. Usually shown as drunk, often on a donkey.
Silvanus (“Lord of the Forest”): Roman. Originally a god of the forest, he came to be seen as also the protector of the land that had been carved out of the forest, and thus of property and those who inhabited it.
Skaði: Norse. Goddess of winter, snow, and skiing.
Soma (“The Pressed Out”): Vedic. Personification of a drink that brought ecstasy; in later Hinduism, god of the Moon.
Spider Woman: American Indian. Plains and southwestern culture hero.
Sraoša (Also “Sraosha”) (possibly “Obedience”): Iranian. God of prayer and the victory that comes from it.
Sūrya (“Sun”): Vedic. Sun god.
Svantevit: Slavic. God of protection; depicted with four heads/faces, he can therefore see danger approaching from any direction.
Tahuti: Egyptian. Original name of Thoth (q.v.).
Taranis (“God of Thunder”): Gaulish. God of the thunderstorm.
Telepinu: Hittite. God of farmers.
Terminus (“God of Borders”): Roman. God of borders and border stones.
Teutates (also “Toutatis”) (“Of the People”): Gaulish. God who protects a group of people.
Thor (“Thunder”): Norse. Protector, warrior, god of the thunderstorm, patron of farmers, enemy of the forces of Chaos, whom he fights with his lightning hammer Mj
lnir.
Thoth: Egyptian. God of wisdom, magic, and writing; he is pictured with the head of an ibis.
Thunderbird: American Indian. Spirit/god of the storm, especially of the beginning of the rainy season in desert areas.
Thunor (“Thunder”): Anglo-Saxon. God of lightning, thunder, and farming.
Tiwaz (“Shining”): Proto-Germanic. God of the sky and oaths.
Tva
(also “Tvashtar”): Vedic. God of crafts, maker of miraculous weapons.
Týr (“Shining”): Norse. God of the oath and of war.
Uas (“Rising”): Vedic. Goddess of the dawn, the sister of night. Often found spelled “Ushas.”
Vāc (“Word”): Vedic. Goddess of speech.
Varua (“Encloser”): Vedic. Enforcer of the moral order, both social and cosmic.
Veles: Slavic. God of cattle and perhaps the Underworld; possibly an opponent of Perun.
Velnias: Lithuanian. God of the Underworld and the earth.
Venus (“Desire”): Roman. Goddess of love and beauty.
Vesta (possibly “Burning”): Roman. The hearth goddess. She was believed to be present in the fire on the hearth, where she was given some of the food from each day's main meal.
Viu (also “Vishnu”): Hindu. Creator of the extent of the world, and its sustainer.
Vulcan: Roman. God of smiths and potters, and thus of artisans.
Westyā (“She of the Household”): Proto-Indo-European. A hearth goddess.
Weyland (also “Wayland”): Anglo-Saxon. A smith who, among other things, fashioned a winged cloak.
Woden (“Ecstatic One”): Anglo-Saxon. God of wisdom, magic, inspiration, and travel; related to the Norse Odin (q.v.).
Xápōm Népōt (“Close Relative of the Waters”): Proto-Indo-European. Protector of a well of fiery water that inspires and enlivens but is dangerous to those who aren't worthy to drink from it.
Xáryomēn (“God of Our People”): Proto-Indo-European. God of society, healing, and marriage; of bringing things together happily.
Yama (“Twin”): Vedic. God of death.
Žemepotis: Lithuanian. Protector of the household and its land.
Žemyna (“Earth”): Lithuanian. Earth goddess; goddess of life and death. She is also appealed to for knowledge.
Zeus (“Shining Sky”): Greek. Chief of the gods; lord of justice, lightning, and hospitality.
Zorya: Slavic. Goddesses of the morning and evening stars.
Zurvan Akarana (“Time Who Is Alone”): Zoroastrian. The god of eternal time in a heretical form of Zoroastrianism.