Wicca Spirit Newsletter Pantheons & Deities

Apollo was the son of Jupiter and Latona. His twin sister was Diana. He was the god of music, playing a golden lyre. The Archer, far shooting with a silver bow. The god of healing who taught man medicine. The god of light. The god of truth, who can not speak a lie. One of Apollo's more important daily tasks was to harness his chariot with four horses an drive the Sun across the sky. His tree was the laurel. The crow his bird. The dolphin his animal.

CERES

Ceres daughter of Saturn and Rhea. Wife-sister of Jupiter and mother of Prosperpina. Ceres is the goddess of grain, growing plants and the love that a mother bears for her child. Personified and celebrated by women in secret rituals at the festival of Ambarvalia, held during the month of May.

DIANA

Diana is the mother of wild animals and forests, and a moon goddess. Oak groves are especially sacred to her. She is praised for her strength, athletic grace, beauty and her hunting skills. With two other deities she made up a trinity: Egeria the water nymph, her servant and assistant midwife; and Virbius, the woodland god.

JUNO

Juno was the Queen of the Gods and Jupiter's wife. The Goddess of heaven and of the moon Juno symbolized the matronly qualities desired for in Roman women. She was the protector of woman during childbirth, rearing, and their preparation for marriage. It was said that she was present and watching during all marriage ceremonies.

Juno protected the City of Rome when the Gauls attacked. Before the attack the sacred geese in the temple of Juno alerted the Romans of the pending danger. This warning gave the Romans the opportunity to attack and defeat the Gauls and save their city. In addition to geese the peacock was also a sacred symbol of Juno.

A daughter of Jupiter, Minerva, is born through magic. It was said she came directly from the head of Jupiter , not needing the aid of Juno for her birth. This turn of events caused Juno to feel jealousy. Angry, Juno seeks a magic flower that is suppose to allow fertilization without a man. Finding the rare flower Juno uses it to become pregnant and gives birth to Mars.

Juno is the Roman supreme goddess and is married to the ruling god, Jupiter. She is believed to watch and protect all women. Every year, on the first of March, women hold a festival in honor of Juno called the Matronalia. To this day, many people consider the month of June, which is named after the goddess who is the patroness of marriage, to be the most favorable time to marry. The peacock is sacred to Juno.

JUPITER

Jupiter the supreme ruling god. Considered god of the sky and weather, and guardian of all property, oaths and treaties.

Jupiter is the king of the Roman gods. He has had many different names because he was adapted to fit the Roman's current needs. When the Roman Republic first appeared, he was Jupiter Lucetius. Jupiter Lucetius was the god of sun and moonlight. He also went by the names of Jupiter Elicius (god of wind, rain, storms, thunder, and lightning), Jupiter Dapalis (god of sowing), Jupiter Liber (god of creative forces), and Jupiter Terminus (god of boundary stones of fields). These incarnations of the god were caused by the fact that the early republic was very agricultural.

As the Roman Republic turned into the Roman Empire, Jupiter became known as a militant god. He assumed names such as Jupitor Strator, Jupitor Feretrius, and Jupiter Victor(warrior gods), Jupiter Optimus Maximus(great god of the empire), Jupiter Conservator Orbis(protector of the empire), and Jupitor Conservator Ator Augustorum(protector of the emperor). His main temple, Capitolum Vetus, was located on the Capitoline Hill. Jupiter is often depicted as a bearded older man, probably to show that he is wise.

His sacred animal is the eagle. The planet that bears the name Jupiter, does so because it is the largest and most majestic planet.

MARS

Mars was the consort of Rhea Sylvia and father of Romulus and Remus, and therefore the father of the Roman people. He was the Roman god of war, the beginning and ending of battles.

Mars was the god of young men and their activities, primarily war. He was celebrated in March and October. His festival was called the Quinquartus. It was five days of celebration during the vernal equinox. Mars was the son of Juno and the father of the twins Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. The planet Mars was named after the god because its red color looked like blood.

MERCURY

Mercury was the Roman god of commerce. Merchants prayed to him in order to get good business. Mercury was the son of Jupiter and Maia. He was also the messenger of the gods. He used the characteristic winged sandals to help him get around faster. He was first worshipped in 495 B.C. when a temple was dedicated to him near Circus Maximus. He was often depicted with a money bag to indicate his work as god of commerce. He was also said to have had a caduceus and a winged helmet. His name comes from the Latin word "mercari". Mercari means having to do with deal or trade. His sacred animal was the chicken and he is sometimes depicted with it. His festival is celebrated on May 15.

MINERVA

Minerva the daughter of Jupiter and Juno. Considered to be the virgin goddess of warriors, poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, crafts, and inventor of music. Ovid called her the "goddess of a thousand works." The Romans celebrated her worship from March 19 to 23 during the Quinquatrus, the artisans' holiday.

Minerva, Goddess of wisdom and learning, meditation, inventiveness, accomplishments, the arts, spinning and weaving, and commerce. Minerva was identified with Pallas Athene, bestower of victory, when Pompey the Great built her temple with the proceeds from his eastern campaigns. Minerva and Mars are honored Quinquatras, five days at the Spring equinox. But Minerva has many aspects, attributes, names and epithets.

NEPTUNE

Neptune is the god of the sea. He is the son of Saturn, whom he helped to overthrow, and the brother of Jupiter and Pluto. His festival is celebrated on July 23. God of all the fresh water (from rivers, springs, etc.) and of equestrian accomplishments. Equated to the Greek Poseidon, He is also the God of the sea. He had temples in the Circus Flaminius and later on the Campus Martius. His festival, the Neptunalia is celebrated on July 23. But Neptunus has many aspects, attributes, names and epithets.

PLUTO

Pluto is the Roman god of the underworld. He chose this realm after he and his two brothers overthrew their father and divided up the world. He was first thought to be a fierce and cruel god who didn't listen to prayers and didn't care about sacrifices. The later cults stressed the milder aspects of the god. He was later believed to be the one that puts precious metals and other treasures in the earth.

PROSERPINA

Proserpina is the counterpart of the Greek goddess, Persephone. She was kidnapped by Pluto and taken to his underworld and made queen of the dead.

SATURN

Saturn was Jupiter's father. He was king of the gods and sky before Jupiter and his brothers, Neptune and Pluto, decided to fight the power of their father and overthrow him. They divided up the world. Jupiter ruled the Earth and the sky, Pluto ruled the underworld, and Neptune ruled the sea.

After he was dethroned, he fled to Italy and ruled there during what is known as the Golden Age, a time of peace and prosperity. The Golden Age is restored every year for 7 days starting December 17, during his festival, known as Saturnalia. During this time everyone is happy and treated well. Saturn had other children besides Jupiter, Pluto, and Neptune. His other children were Juno (goddess of marriage) and Ceres (goddess of the grain).

Saturn was an ancient Italian deity. It was attempted to identify him with the Grecian god Cronos, and fabled that after his dethronement by Jupiter he fled to Italy, where he reigned during what was called the Golden Age. In memory of his beneficent dominion, the feast of Saturnalia was held every year in the winter season. Then all public business was suspended, declarations of war and criminal executions were postponed, friends made presents to one another, and the slaves were indulged with great liberties. A feast was given them at which they sat at table, while their masters served them, to show the natural equality of men, and that all things belonged equally to all, in the reign of Saturn. Faunus,* the grandson of Saturn, was worshipped as the god of fields and shepherds, and also as a prophetic god. His name in the plural, Fauns, expressed a class of gamesome deities, like the Satyrs of the Greeks.

VENUS

Venus is the Roman goddess of love and sexual desire. She was worshipped under many names in imperial times such as Venus Genetrix(mother of Aeneas), Venus Felix(bringer of good fortune), Venus Victrix(bringer of victory), and Venus Verticordia(protector of feminine chastity). She was married to the god Vulcan, but often cheated on him. She committed adultery with many men, among them Mars, Adonis(a shepherd), Anchises (father of Aeneas).

Cupid was Venus's son and the god of love.

Venus, daughter of Jupiter and Dione, although sometimes portrayed as being created by Uranus from the foam of the sea at the moment of his death. As the goddess of love, she is the "queen of pleasure" and mother of the Roman people. She was married to Vulcan, the lame god of the forge, and mother of Cupid, Hymen, Priapus and Aeneas. She is also associated with her lover, Mars the god of war. Considered a nature goddess, associated with the arrival of spring. Venus is the bringer of joy to gods and humans.

VULCAN

Vulcan the son of Jupiter and Juno. Husband of Maia and Venus.

God of fire and volcanoes, and the manufacturer of art, arms and armor for gods and heroes.

Next Issue: Pt. II - Minor Greek and Roman Deities

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