Thursday, February 14, 2008

Pantheons of Love

Valentine's Day. A common character attached to it is Cupid - the Roman God of erotic love and sex. But sex gods are not uncommon, and neither are sex goddesses. So, I bring you a Thursday Thirteen that highlights some of the latter - goddesses affiliated with love and sex, from around the world. Sorry about the pictures! Next time I'll photobucket, instead of trusting blogger! =(

Photobucket
Rati is Hindu/Balinese goddess fertility, love, passion and sex.
She's the wife of Kama.


Nambi is the Masai goddess of love and sexuality.
Possibly another version of the African moon goddess Ngami.


Naamah was the Canaanite goddess of fertility and sex,
sometimes associated with prostitution.
She is also said to be a fallen angel, and later, a succubus demon.


Xochiquetzal is an Aztec goddess of fertility, love,
sensual pleasure and sex. Her name means 'beautiful like a flower'.


Lofn is the Norse goddess of forbidden love.
She smiles upon illicit unions.


Qadesh is the Syrian goddess sacred love and pleasure.
She's said to ride naked on the back of a lion.


Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of love, procreation, and war.
She was also said to be the 'courtesan of the gods'.


Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love, lust and beauty.
It is said that just the sight of her would make a mortal fall in love.


Venus was the Roman goddess of love and beauty,
and equivalent of Aphrodite.


Similar to Ishtar, Inanna was the oldest of the love goddesses of
the Mesopotamian region. She also represented war, and the planet Venus,
but was not the 'creation goddess' and not affiliated with fertility.


Ashtart or Astarte is a Semitic goddess of sexual love, fertility and war.
She was a predecessor of Aphrodite.
She was often symbolized by the lion, the horse, the dove
and a star within a circle, representing the planet Venus.


Branwen is a celtic goddess love and beauty.
In the Welsh story, she was married to the king of Ireland,
who mistreated her, starting a war.


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13 comments:

Jennifer Shirk said...

Oh, pooh. The pictures didn't come up foe me. But very interesting trivia!
Happy V-day!

Jennifer McKenzie said...

Very cool Gwen. I love these lists. They really reveal how the name changes but the culture seems to adopt similar patterns.

Kathleen Oxley said...

Great list!! I love these little tidbits of information. The pics didn't come up for me either :(

Happy Valentine's Day
*hugs*
~Kat

Unknown said...

Kewl list. Sorry your pictures didn't load properly.
Happy Valentine's Day!

Anonymous said...

I love the pictures, but am wondering if the woman on the lion is supposed to be Qadesh or Ishtar. Also I thought it was interesting how similar some of the names are, and what parts of the world mix love and war.

Excellent TT!

Anonymous said...

Oh Darn! Sorry to those who couldn't see the pics. They display okay for me *scratches head* Must be a blogger glitch. Next time I will link from photobucket instead of uploading them. Happy Vday TT everyone!

Shelley Munro said...

I can see the pictures. Great subject for a TT. It's interesting that all the different cultures have a goddess of love.

Kaige said...

Very cool list, Gwen! No problems with the pictures here. I hadn't realized some of those names were love goddesses from other cultures... makes some of those fantasy books a bit more revealing now. Hehe.

Gina Ardito aka Katherine Brandon said...

What a terrific list! Loved the pics. And yes, it is interesting that no matter how warlike the country, they all celebrated love in some form or another. Powerful thought, eh?

Gwen Mitchell said...

I think so too. And these were just some of the more 'finable' ones. There are TONS of them. Almost every culture in history has had a goddess of love/sex/fertility. It makes sense that the divine feminine would be associated with what people attach to the idea of woman. =)

Paige Tyler said...

Cool!

Happy Valentine's Day!

*hugs*
Paige

My TT is at http://paigetylertheauthor.blogspot.com/

Regina Avalos said...

Happy Valentine's Day! Thanks for stopping by my TT.

Heather said...

Cool and interesting list, Gwen - only wish we could see the pics!