List of light deities

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The Norse light god Baldr

A light deity is a god or goddess in mythology associated with light and/or day. Since stars give off light, star deities can also be included here. The following is a list of light deities in various mythologies.

African

Egyptian mythology

  • Khepri, god of rebirth and the sunrise
  • Nefertem, god who represents the first sunlight

Guanche

  • Magec, deity of the sun and light, exact gender unknown

Dahomean religion

  • Lisa, deity of the sun, heat, sky[1]

American

Lakota mythology

  • Anpao, two-faced spirit of the dawn

Maya mythology

  • Tohil, god associated with thunder, lightning, and sunrise

Aztec

  • Centzonhuitznahua, 400 gods of the southern stars
  • Centzonmimixcoa, 400 gods of the northern stars
  • Cipactonal, god of the daytime
  • Citlālicue, goddess who created the stars
  • Citlalmina, goddess of female stars
  • Citlalatonac, god of male stars
  • Tianquiztli, star goddesses
  • Xiuhtecuhtli, god of fire, day, and heat

Zapotec

  • Coquihani, god of light

Incan

  • Inti, god of the sun
  • Ch'aska ("Venus") or Ch'aska Quyllur ("Venus star"), goddess of dawn and twilight, the planet
  • Mama Killa, goddess of the moon

Asian

Chinese

Hindu

  • Aruṇa, personification of the reddish glow of the rising sun
  • Dyaus Pita, continues the name of the Proto-Indo-European god of the day-lit sky
  • Ushas, dawn goddess

Sumerian

  • Inanna, primary goddess of the planet Venus
  • Ninsianna, goddess of the planet Venus
  • Šul-pa-e, underworld god who became associated with Jupiter
  • Shulsaga, stellar god
  • Aya (goddess), goddess of light and the dawn

European

Albanian

  • Nëna e Diellit, "the Mother of the Sun"
  • Dielli, personification of the Sun
  • Hëna, personification of the Moon
  • E Bija e Hënës dhe e Diellit, "the Daughter of the Moon and the Sun"
  • Prende, dawn goddess, also referred to as Hylli i Dritës, Afêrdita "the Star of Light, Afêrdita" (Venus)
  • Zojz, as a reflex of *Dyeus, god of the day-lit sky

Baltic

  • Dievas, creator god in Baltic myths

Celtic

  • Lugh, personification of the sun

Etruscan

  • Albina, goddess of the dawn and protector of ill-fated lovers
  • Thesan, goddess of the dawn, associated with new life

Germanic

  • Baldr, god thought to be associated with light and/or day; is known by many other names, all of which have cognates in other Germanic languages, suggesting he may have been a pan-Germanic deity
  • Dagr, personification of day
  • Earendel, god of rising light and/or a star
  • Eostre, considered to continue the Proto-Indo-European dawn goddess
  • Freyr, god of sunshine, among other things
  • Sól, goddess and personification of the sun
  • Teiwaz, as a reflex of *Dyeus, was probably originally god of the day-lit sky
  • Thor, god of lightning, thunder, weather, storms, and the sky

Slavic

  • Dazhbog, god of the sun and day

Greek

  • Aether, primarily associated with upper air but associated with light in Hesiod's Theogony
  • Apollo, god of light, among many other things
  • Eos, goddess of the dawn
  • Hemera, personification of day
  • Hyperion, Titan of light; sometimes conflated with his son Helios
  • Lampetia, goddess of light, and one of the Heliades or daughters of Helios , god of the Sun, and of the nymph Neera . 
  • Theia, Titaness of sight and the shining light of the clear blue sky. She is the consort of Hyperion and mother of Helios, Selene, and Eos.
  • Zeus, as a reflex of *Dyeus, could be considered god of the day-lit sky

Mari

Roman

  • Aurora (mythology), goddess of the dawn
  • Jupiter (mythology), as a reflex of *Dyeus, god of the day-lit sky
  • Mater Matuta, goddess associated with Aurora

Oceania

Polynesian

  • Atanua, Marquesan goddess of the dawn
  • Atarapa, goddess of the dawn
  • Ira, sky goddess and mother of the stars

Māori mythology

See also

References




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