Ancient Roman Deities


Aradia (pronounced "Ah-ray-dee-uh") -- moon/lunar goddess; Queen of the Witches; goddess of magick; protectress; very benevolent; a goddess particularly called The Lady, but also, her mother, Diana, is called The Lady (though, other goddesses are, as well); Aradia is the daughter of Diana; Aradia is often the mate of the Celtic horned god (of forest, nature, plants, and animals), Cernunnos (pronounced "Care-noon-Ohss"), called The Lord (though, other gods are, as well). The Celtic fire and water goddess is Brigid, and the sun-god is Lugh, whose festival is Lughnasadh, a Sabbat, held August 1 or July 31, and Ostara is the spring, maiden goddess, of the Spring Equinox Sabbat (around March 21).

Bel or Belunus -- from where is derived the name for the Beltane Sabbat, and for the balefire (also from the Phoenician or Babylonian god, Baal, their sun-god); a sun-god; god of fertility; god of sexual debauchery, license, and union; god of spring, too

Ceres (pronounced "Sear-reez") -- mother-goddess of corn, and the harvest, and grain, and spring and summer; goddess who controls the seasons; her grief for her daughter Proserpina leaving her at autumn causes winter, and decline in nature and plant-life, and Ceres' joy at her daughter's return in spring causes summer and new growth in nature/life; her Greek counterpart goddess is Demeter, an earth goddess

Diana -- goddess of the moon; Mother-Goddess; goddess of nature; goddess of the hunt; a goddess revered by many Witches; mother of Aradia; with her brother, she begat (conceived) Aradia, in the form of a cat; Diana's Greek goddess counterpart is the nature and moon goddess, virgin huntress, and goddess of virgins, Artemis (Artemis is sister of Apollo, the sun god), though, while being virgins, both Diana and Artemis were also said to have sex, and children; Germanic goddess counterpart is Freya, goddess of love, battle, and cats, whose Germanic brother and consort (companion or mate) is Frey, or Freyr, her brother

Dionysus -- can be an overall god, something like Apollo; Dionysus is god of wine, sexual license, debauchery (like the god, Saturn, at least before the winter solstice), and especially fertility, in plants, people, animals, etc.

The Three Fates -- three goddesses, a maiden, a mother, and a crone (old woman), said to weave human destinies on their loom; they are called the Norns or Nornes in Germanic pantheons, and there, they are, Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld, who are also goddesses of Witches, and those using divination, like psychics; the Lares were household deities, and associated with good/bad luck, and fate; and then, you have various nature spirits and tree spirits, like the Dryads, and Homodryads, for example, and so forth

Fauna -- a goddess of nature and the natural environment, and more so, of animals

Faunus -- god of fields, and deer, and nature, and fertility; mate of Fauna

Flora -- goddess of spring, flowers, and sexual license; her festival is the Floralia on April 28 - May 3

Fortuna -- goddess of fortune and luck, and wealth; money spells are often performed with invoking her assistance

Gaia -- Greek earth-goddess; Mother Earth

Janus -- god of the new year; god who sees in two directions, past and future; god who has two faces, therefore; a god of gateways and doorways; a GateKeeper; what is a called a holder of the keys (though, so are other gods/deities); a guardian; something like the Egyptian god Anubis, or the god Osiris, or the Roman god, Dionysus (or the Greek god, Bacchus), in the gateway aspect; Heimdall, the Germanic god, guardian of the BiFrost Bridge between heaven and earth, is similar, too

Juno -- a moon goddess; mother goddess; the wife of Jupiter; and goddess of marriage; Greek counterpart, Hera (though, Hera is more jealous, of a deity); in Germanic, her goddess "equal" is Frigg

Jupiter -- general god; king of the gods; husband of Juno; and he's a weather god; god of lightning; Greek counterpart, Zeus; in Germanic, he's like the god Odin or Woden, or the thunder god, Thor

Liberty -- French goddess of freedom

Lucifer -- his name means "light-bringer" or "light-bearer;" this is the Italian god of the sun, and the god of light; the mate and brother of Diana, and father of Aradia; he has nothing to do with evil, or the "Early Church" (a Roman church mixing new names with older paganism of the time) twisting of that name or term (a common name two thousand years ago) into an entity that doesn't exist except for their archetype that they imagined up, which, too, if you read in that bible, even, Lucifer (only used once) was in reference to a human, "pagan" king, of Babylon, as far as is in the verse, and anything else is dreamed up metaphorically, and somehow, then, made literal, to suit those people, or probably the Council of Nicea (who choose what to include as "Scripture," which later on was formed into one of the, now old, one could say, bible versions, around 1400 or 1500, with James I)

Lupercus -- god of flocks and fields; god of fertility and abandon (particularly sexual); his festival, the Lupercalia, can be celebrated to coincide with Valentine's Day (February 14), and was held around February, within the 13th to 21st or 25th; the festival of Venus, goddess of love, is February 13th, and/or 14th

Luna -- moon goddess; her Greek goddess counterpart is Selene

Mars -- god of war, and of agriculture; Greek counterpart, Aries

Mercury -- god of communication and messenger of the gods

Minerva -- goddess of wisdom and skill; could be associated with owls, like the Greek goddess, Athena, goddess of wisdom, skill, and battle, and victory; her Greek counterpart is Athena

Neptune -- god of the oceans; his symbol is the Trident, or three-forked stick (like a stang, or standing/staff/pole type of home altar); Greek counterpart, Poseidon

Ops -- either a god or goddess of the harvest, usually a goddess

Pan -- a horned god; god of nature, and sexual license, and animals, like stags, deer, goats, etc., and god of music, and personal abandon, and of flocks, fields, herds, and so on; sometimes paired with the goddess Diana; can be a sun god if identified with the Greek god of the sun and of order, Apollo (Apollo's the brother of, and is sometimes paired with, his sister, Artemis)

Pluto -- lord or god of the Underworld; Greek counterpart, Hades

Proserpina (pronounced "Pro-ser-pine-ah"), or Proserpine -- goddess of plants, maidens, and springtime, and autumn, and of the seasons; wife of Pluto; daughter of Ceres; she descends into the Underworld to be with Pluto at the autumnal equinox (around September 22, or Harvest Home), and returns on the spring equinox (around March 21) to be with her mother, again, who is Ceres; Greek counterpart, Persephone (pronounced "Per-sef-fo-nee")

Saturn -- a god of the harvest, and of various powers, and of fate; god of levels or rings of power; god of debauchery and sexual license during his festival, the Saturnalia, on December 17-23, near the winter solstice (around December 21), and the rest of the year he's the god of order and laws, and justice, and of karma

Uranus -- a sky god

Venus -- goddess of love, beauty, sex, and storms; one of her festivals is February 13th and 14th; Greek counterpart, Aphrodite

Vesta -- goddess of home and heart, and of fire, and of virgins; her attendants were the Vestal Virgins (priestesses)



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