Guide to the Gods 1.0
Ia... to Iz...
I
Chinese god of bowmen, often called the 'excellent archer'.
Iakchos
(Iacchus)
Minor Greek deity associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries. He was considered the son of Demeter or Persephone. Possibly the husband of Demeter. In the mysteries, his name was invoked in connection with those of Demeter and Persephone. Some believe Iakchos to be identical with Dionysos (as Bacchus) or Zagreus. He was depicted bearing a torch and leading the participants in the mysteries.
Ialdabaoth
The first Gnostic Archon.
Iao
A Gnostic Archon; called 'serpent-faced'.
Iapetus
(Iapetos)
Greek Titan.
Iblis
(Eblis)
Islamic name for the devil.
Icheiri
Household gods of Caribbean Indians.
Ictinike
Sioux 'father of lies'. The son of the sun god, he was expelled from heaven for his deceit and trickery.
Ida
Hindu goddess of prayer and devotion.
Ida-Ten
Japanese Buddhist god of law and monasteries.
Idris
Islamic immortal prophet.
Idun
(Iduna, Idunn)
Norse goddess, wife of Bragi, guarded golden apples of youth.
Ifa
Yoruba oracular demi-god.
Igigi
Common name for all the great gods of Mesopotamia. They were the spirits of heaven, in contrast to the Anunnaki, who were the spirits of the earth.
Ihi
(Ehi)
Egyptian god of the sistrum.
Ihuaivulu
Araucanian monster-spirit of volcanoes.
Ikenga
God of Ibo of Nigeria.
Ikto
Sioux inventor of human speech.
Il
A Semitic name for god, similar to El.
Il-a-bi
Ugaritic father god.
Ilah
South Semitic moon god.
Ilamatecuhtli
Aztec fertility or mother goddess. Also known as Citlalinicue ("Star Garment").
Ilazki
(Illargui, Iretargui)
Basque name for feminine moon.
Illapa
(Ilyapa, Katoylla)
Inca god of lightning, thunder and rainstorms.
Illujanka
Hittite snake demon.
Ilma
Finnish god of the air.
Ilmarinen
Finnic creator, sky, smith god.
Ilumquh
Arab/Sabaean moon god.
Ilythia
Greek goddess of childbirth.
Imana
Creator god of Rwandans.
Imberombera
Australian mother-creatress and consort of Wuraka.
Imdugud
Mesopotamian demonic being in the form of a lion-headed eagle. Associated with Ningirsu.
Imhotep
(Imhetep)
Egyptian god of learning and medicine.
Imiut
Egyptian protective deity of underworld.
Imra
Supreme god of Kafirstan in Hindu Kush.
Imset
(Amset)
Egyptian son of Horus.
Inanna
(Inini; Akkadian Ishtar)
Sumerian goddess of love and war. Her consort was Dumuzi.
Inapatua
Aranda (Australia) pre-human shapeless creatures.
Inapertwa
Tasmanian primordial beings.
Inar
(Inara)
Hittite goddess who destroyed a great serpent and its family.
Inari
Japanese god of rice cultivation, and god of prosperity.
Indigetes Dii
Roman name for deified mortal heroes, such as Aeneas, Heracles and Romulus.
Indra
Chief Vedic god, Hindu god of war and of fertility. Indra fought many military campaigns, notably those in which he defeated the Asuras and the Adityas.
Indrani
Indian wife of Indra.
Ing
Divine progenitor of Germanic Ingwaeones, title of god Frey.
Inguma
Basque spirit.
Infoniwoo
Taiwanese god of generation.
Inmar
Sky-god of Finno-Ugric Votyak (Udmurt) people.
Inmutef
(Iunmutef)
Egyptian bearer of the heavens.
Ino
Greek heroine who raised the infant Dionysos while herself a child. Later, Hera drove Ino and her husband Athamas mad, and Ino leaped to her death in the sea, carrying her son Melicertes. She was elevated to the rank of sea goddess under the name of Leukothea, and Melicertes became Palaemon.
Inshushinak
(In-Shushinak)
Principal Elamite god.
Inti
Inca sun god.
Inuus
Old Latin god of herds.
Io (1)
Greek priestess of Hera.
Io (2)
Supreme being of the Maori and other Polynesian peoples.
Ioskeha
(Iouskeha)
Creator god of the Iroquois and Hurons.
Ipet
(Ipi)
Egyptian hippopotamus goddess.
Irene
See Eirene.
Iris
"Rainbow". Greek goddess of the rainbow, and messenger of the gods. She was particularly the agent of Hera. According to Hesiod, she was the daughter of the Titan Thaumas and the nymph Electra. Also in Hesiod, it was her task to draw water from the River Styx which the gods used whenever declaring a solemn oath. She was depicted with wings and her attributes included a herald's staff and a water pitcher.
Irmin
Old Germanic god associated with the tribe known as the Herminones.
Irra
Babylonian plague demon.
Iruwa
Chaga sun god of East Africa.
Isdes
Egyptian 'lord of the west' and judge of the dead.
Isdustaya and Papaya
Proto-Hattic goddesses of fate in Asia Minor.
Ishhara
(Isara, Esara)
Hittite and Syro-Mesopotamian goddess.
Ishkur
Sumero-Akkadian god of rain and thunderstorms, equivalent of Hittite Addad.
Ishtanu
(Hattic Eshtan)
Hittite sun god.
Ishtar
(Akkadian; Sumerian Inanna)
Babylonian great goddess, goddess of love and fertility. She is variously given as the consort of Marduk, Asshur and Tammuz. It was she who descended into Aralu, the Babylonian underworld, to retrieve Tammuz. All natural fertility on earth declined during her absence. The sun god Shamash ordered her release, whereupon the earth was restored to vitality.
Ishum
A fallen god of the Mesopotamian Underworld.
Isinu
(Akkadian Usmu or Usumu)
Mesopotamian Janus-headed god.
Isis
(Aset, Eset)
"Throne". Egyptian mother goddess. Daughter of Geb and Nut according to the Heliopolitan genealogy. Sister and wife of Osiris. Mother of Horus. She was depicted in human form, crowned either by a throne or by cow horns enclosing a sun disk. A vulture was also sometimes incorporated in her Crown. She is sometimes depicted as a kite above the mummified body of Osiris. As the personification of the throne, she was an important source of the pharaoh's power. Her cult was popular throughout Egypt, but the most important sanctuaries were at Giza and at Behbeit El-Hagar in the Nile delta. Isis later had an importan cult in the Greco-Roman world, with sanctuaries at Delos and Pompeii. Her Latin epithet was Stella Maris, or "star of the sea".
It was Isis who retrieved and reassembled the body of Osiris after his murder and dismemberment by Seth. In this connection she took on the role of a goddess of the dead and of funeral rites. Isis impregnated herself from the corpse and subsequently gave birth to Horus. She gave birth in secrecy at Khemmis in the Nile delta and hid the child from Seth in the papyrus swamps. Horus later defeated Seth and became the first ruler of a united Egypt. Isis, as mother of Horus, was by extension regarded as the mother and protectress of the pharaohs. The relationship between Isis and Horus may also have influenced the Christian conception of the relationship between Mary and the infant Jesus Christ. The depiction of the seated holding or suckling the child Horus is certainly reminiscent of the iconography of Mary and Jesus.
Iskur
Hittite weather-god.
Istadevata
Buddhist protective deities.
Istanu
(Hattic Estan, Luwian Tiwat, Hurrian Shimegi)
Hittite sun god.
Isten (1)
Egyptian god.
Isten (2)
Hungarian supreme god.
Isum
Akkadian herald of the gods.
Isvara
Sanskrit designation for supreme world ruler.
Italapas
Chinook name for the trickster/creator deity Coyote.
I-Ti
Chinese god of wine.
Itzamna
Mayan moon god and god of healing.
Itzananohk'u
Mayan god of Lacandon.
Itzcoliuhqui
Mexican god of darkness, biting cold, volcanic eruptions, disaster and destruction.
Itzlacoliuhque
Aztec obsidian knife god.
Itzli
Aztec stone knife god and god of sacrifice.
Itzpapalotl
"Obsidian Knife Butterfly". Aztec agricultural goddess.
Iustitia
See Justitia.
Iuturna
See Juturna.
Iuventus
See Juventas.
Ix
One of the four Mayan Bacabs, deities of the four cardinal directions. He represented the west and the colour black.
Ixazalvoh
See Ixzaluoh.
Ixbalanque
See Xbalanque.
Ix Chebel Yax
Mayan goddess: patroness of weaving and wife of Itzamna.
Ixchel
Mayan moon goddess, patroness of womanly crafts.
Ixtab
Mayan goddess of the noose and the gallows, guardian of suicides.
Ixzaluoh
(Ixazalvoh)
Mayan water goddess, inventor of weaving.
Ixtliton
Aztec of medicine and good health.
Iya
North American Sioux: embodiment of evil.
Izanagi
A Japanese creator god. With Izanami he formed part of the semi- divine first human couple in Japanese myth. Their children were the first gods and the ancestors of the human race.
Izanami
Japanese divine mother. See Izanagi.
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