Guide to the Gods 1.0
La... to Lz...
Lachesis
One of the Greek Moirai (qv), or Fates. According to Hesiod, the Moirai were daughters of Zeus and Themis. Lachesis was the "caster of lots" and it was she who spun out the thread of life.
Lactans
Lactanus
Roman god of agriculture. Said to make the crops 'yield milk', i.e. thrive.
Lada
Lycian mother or fertility goddess who was the probable original of the Greek Leto.
Lahama
(Lahamu)
Sumerian water-demon.
Lahar
Sumerian goddess of sheep.
Lahmu
Mesopotamian deity.
Lahurati
Elamite god.
Laima
Latvian goddess of human fate.
Laka
Hawaiian goddess of song and dance.
Lakshmi
(Laksmi, Shri)
Hindu goddess of love and beauty. In the Vedas she was the wife of Vishnu. She was the mother of Kama.
Lalita Tripurasundari
Tantric goddess of cosmic energy.
Lama (1)
(Akkadian Lassu)
Sumerian benevolent demon, guide of worshippers.
Lama (2)
Hittite-Luwian protective god.
Lamaria
Goddess of the hearth among Svan people of western Caucasus.
Lamashtu
(Lamastu)
Akkadian demoness, equivalent to Sumerian Dimme.
Lamia
A female demon in Greek belief who devoured children. According to some sources she was a queen of Libya who fell in love with Zeus. The jealous Hera deformed her and killed her children. Lamia then turned to hunting and devouring children whom she lured away from their parents. Alternatively, she took on the form of a beautiful woman, enticing young men whom she would subsequently devour.
Lan Cai-he
1 of the 8 Immortals of China.
Landvaettir
Norse guardian spirits of a place or country.
Lao T'ien Yeh
"Old Man Heaven". Sung Chinese high god. See Yu Huang.
Lao-Tzu
(Lao-zi)
Chinese philosopher, a deity in popular imagination.
Lar
Roman god of the house. See Lares.
Laran
Etruscan war-god.
Lares
(Singular: Lar)
Roman tutelary deities, particularly of households (Lares Familiaris). They were said to be the children of Mercury and the naiad Lara.
Lares Compitales
Roman guardian deities of crossroads. Their festival was held on January 5.
Lares Familiaris
Roman tutelary deities of the home and the family, particularly associated with the hearth. Each home had a small shrine, the lararium, dedicated to these deities, typically depicted as a pair of dancing youths.
Lares Viales
Roman tutelary deities of travellers.
Larunda
Sabine earth goddess.
Larvae
Roman spirits or ghosts. See Lemures.
Lasas
Etruscan female deities.
Laseo
Sun god and divine ancestor of the Toradjas of the Indonesian Celebes Islands. His sons founded the two lines of Toradja chiefs.
Laskowice
(Leshcia)
Slavonic forest spirits.
Latona
(Leto)
Roman counterpart of the Greek Leto (qv).
Latpon
A Phoenician god of wisdom.
Lature Dano
Divine counterpart of supreme god of Indonesian Nias.
Lauka mate
Latvian goddess of fields and fertility.
Laume
Type of Lithuanian fairy.
Laverna
Old Italic underworld goddess. Libations to her were poured out with the left hand.
Leda
Greek goddess; former Anatolian mother goddess.
Legba
Celestial trickster spirit of Benin (Dahomey). He taught people the arts of divination.
Legba
Haitian god of the crossroads, the psychic crossroads where the Above meets the Below.
Lei Kung
Chinese storm god: "Duke of Thunder".
Lei-zi
Chinese goddess of thunder.
Lelwani
Hittite ruler of netherworld]
Lemminkainen
Finnish hero-god of the Kalevala.
Lemures
(Larvae)
Roman malignant spirits or ghosts of the dead, believed to wander about at night.
Leshy
Slavonic god of the forest.
Lethe
Greek nymph associated with the underworld river of the same name. Daughter of Eris (strife). The Lethe was the river of forgetfulness or oblivion.
Leto
(Latin Latona)
Greek Titaness and possible mother goddess. Daughter of Coeus (Kois) and Phoebe. Mother of Apollo and Artemis by Zeus. Leto appears to have been derived from a Lycian goddess named Lada, and she had cults of local importance in Lycia and at Phaistos on Crete.
Leucetios
Continental Celtic thunder god.
Leukothea
(Leucothea)
"White Goddess". Greek sea goddess. The name given to the deified Ino. Daughter of Cadmus. As Ino, she had been the wife of Athamas. Having been driven mad by Hera in punishment for raising the infant Dionysos, Ino leapt to her death in the sea along with her son Melicertes. She was popular among sailors and fishermen. Believed to help sailors in distress, she was first mentioned in the Odyssey where she saved Odysseus from drowning.
Leviathan (1)
(Livjatan)
Seven-headed sea monster of Phoenician mythology. He was eventually killed by Baal.
Leviathan (2)
Ugaritic god of evil.
Leviathan (3)
Gnostic serpent.
Leza
Chief god of Zimbabwean Bantu tribes.
Lha
Tibetan Bon designation for 'gods'.
Lhamo
Tibetan goddess.
Li
Chinese divine lord of fire.
Libanza
Supreme god of the Upotos of the Congo.
Liber
Old Italic fertility god. Originally associated with animal husbandry and the cultivation of crops, he was later equated with the Greek Dionysos. He was part of a chthonic triad including Libera and Ceres. His festival, shared with his consort Libera, was the Liberalia, celebrated on March 17.
Libera
Old Italic fertility goddess. She was later equated with the Greek Persephone. She was part of a chthonic triad with Liber and Ceres. Her festival, shared with her consort Liber, was the Liberalia, celebrated on March 17.
Liberalitas
Roman god of generosity.
Liber Pater
Roman god of human and agricultural fertility, linked with Dionysus.
Libertas
Roman goddess of freedom and constitutional government. Her attributes included the pileus (the cap worn by freed slaves) and a sceptre or lance. Her principal sanctuary was a temple on the Aventine Hill in Rome.
Libitina
Roman goddess of death and funerals.
Lightning Brothers
North Australian weather gods.
Lilith
Jewish female demon. The night devil of Isaiah xxxiv: 14.
Lilitu
(Ardat-lili)
Babylonian nocturnal demon.
Liluri
Ancient Syrian mountain-goddess.
Lir
(Welsh Llyr)
Irish sea god.
Lisa
Chameleon goddess of Benin (Dahomey). Her husband was Mawu.
Li Tie-guai
1 of the 8 Immortals of China.
Liu
Chinese god of crops.
Ljeschi
(Lychie)
Slavonic fauns and satyrs of the forest.
Ljubi
Albanian female demon.
Lleu Llaw Gyffes
Welsh hero god, Lleu of the Dexterous Hand, analog of Irish Lug. He was the son of Arianrhod and Gwydion.
Llyr
(Irish Lir)
Welsh sea god. Father of Bran, Branwen, and Manannan.
Loa
Haitian Voodoo divinities.
Locana
Buddhist goddess.
Lodur
(Lodurr)
Nordic god who helped Odin and Hoenir create the first human beings.
Logi
Nordic personification of fire.
Logos
"Word" or "Reason". For some Stoics of the Hellenistic age, Logos was the divine personification of the reason or plan underlying the cosmos. It was Philo of Alexandria (1st century AD) who first conceived of Logos in anthropomorphic terms. The Christians subsequently picked up the term and used it to refer to the "Word" which was made flesh in Jesus Christ.
Lokapalas
Vedic 'world-guardians'.
Loki
Nordic trickster god, god of mischief. His wife was Sigyn. It was Loki who devised the ruse by which the blind god Hod accidentally killed Balder with a sprig of mistletoe.
Longorik and Longolap
Sons of the god Micronesian Alulei.
Lono and Laka
Polynesian god to whom the first fruits were offered.
Losna
Etruscan moon goddess.
Lotan
Canaanite primeval serpent ( = Leviathan).
Louhi
Finnish goddess of sorcery and evil.
Loviatar
Finnish goddess of disease.
Lowa
Micronesian creator god.
Lowalangi
(Lowalani)
God of world above among Nias in Indonesia.
Loz
Babylonian god who ruled the underworld Meslam jointly with Nergal and Ninmug.
Lucifer
Roman name for the morning star. Equivalent to the Greek Eosphoros.
Lucifer
Christian name for the devil.
Lucina
Roman goddess of childbirth.
Lu Dong-bin
(Lu Yan)
1 of the 8 Immortals.
Lug
(Lugh, Lleu, Lugus)
Celtic hero god. Known to the Irish as Lugh, and to the Welsh as Lleu. He was also prominent among the continental Celts, giving his name to the towns of Laon, Leyden, and Lyons (Lugdunum). His festival, the Lugnasad, was held on August 1.
Lugalbanda (Lugulbanda)
Deified king of the Sumerian city of Uruk (Erech). Father of Gilgamesh.
Lugh Lamfota
(Lugh of the Long Arm/Hand)
"Lugh of the Long Arm/Hand". An Irish deity analogous to the continental Celtic Lug, and to the Welsh Lleu Llaw Gyffes. He led the Tuatha De Danann to victory over the Fomors at the Battle of Mag Tuireadh.
Lugus
Celtic deity, continental form of Lug (qv).
Lu-Hsing
Chinese god of salaries and employees.
Luk
(Lukelang)
High god of Caroline Islands.
Luna
"Moon". Roman goddess of the moon. Equated with the Greek Selene and, to some extent, Hekate. Her principal sanctuary was a temple on the Aventine Hill in Rome. Her festival was on March 31.
Lung Wang
Chinese dragon-king.
Luonnotar
Finnish creator goddess.
Lupan
Chinese god of carpenters.
Lupercus
Roman god of flocks and fertility. He was also a god of wolves, presumably in the capacity of a protector of domestic animals against wolves. His festival was the Lupercalia, celebrated on February 15.
Lur
Basque name of the earth-goddess.
Luxovius
Celtic god of healing.
Lyangombe
A god chief among the people of the Congo.
Lychie
See Ljeschi.
Lykurgos
Greek name of north Arabian god.
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