Editing Goddess (section)

===Indo-European traditions===
{{See also|Proto-Indo-European religion}}
Pre-Christian and pre-Islamic goddesses in cultures that spoke Indo-European languages.

====Indian====
{{Further|Proto-Indo-Iranian religion|Rigvedic deities}}
* [[Ushas]]: is the main goddess of the [[Rigveda]] and is the goddess of the [[dawn]]. 
* [[Prithivi]]: the Earth, also appears as a goddess. [[Rigvedic rivers|Rivers]] are also deified as goddesses. 
* [[Agneya]]: or Aagneya is the Hindu Goddess of Fire. 
* [[Varuni]]: is the Hindu Goddess of Water. Bhumi, Janani, Buvana, and Prithvi are names of the Hindu Goddess of Earth.

====Iranian====
* [[Anahita]]: or [[Anahit]], or Nahid, or Arədvī Sūrā Anāhitā, or Aban: the divinity of "the Waters" and hence associated with fertility, healing, beauty and wisdom.
* [[Daena]]: a divinity, counted among the [[yazatas]], representing insight and revelation, hence "conscience" or "religion".
* [[Spenta Armaiti]]: or [[Sandaramet]], one of the [[Amesha Spentas]], a female divinity associated with earth and Mother Nature. She is also associated with the female virtue of devotion (to family, husband, and child). In the Iranian calendar, her name is on the twelfth month and also the fifth day of the month.
* [[Ashi]]: a divinity of fertility and fortune in the [[Zoroastrian]] hierarchy of [[yazatas]].<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://roshangaran-pub.ir/bookshow/B968846641|title = Goddesses in Iranian Culture and Mythology|date = 2014|publisher = Tehran: Roshangaran va Motale’at-e Zanan Publications|last = Taheri|first = Sadreddin}}</ref>

====Greco-Roman====
[[File:Ceres statue.jpg|thumb|Portrait-Statue of an unknown woman as [[Ceres (mythology)|Ceres]], Roman goddess of agriculture and motherly relationships]]
{{Main|Religion in ancient Greece|Religion in ancient Rome}}
* [[Eleusinian Mysteries]]: [[Baubo]] (goddess of mirth), [[Demeter]] (goddess of the harvest) and [[Persephone]] (goddess of spring, queen of the Underworld as the wife of Hades).
* [[Muses|Greek muses]]: [[Calliope]] (goddess of [[epic poetry]]), [[Clio]] (history), [[Erato]] (love poetry), [[Euterpe]] (music, song, and [[lyric poetry]]), [[Melpomene]] (tragedy), [[Polyhymnia]] (sacred poetry), [[Terpsichore]] (dance), [[Thalia (Muse)|Thalia]] (comedy and pastoral poetry), and [[Urania]] (astronomy).
* [[Aphrodite]]: Goddess of love and beauty.
* [[Artemis]]: Virgin goddess of the wilderness and the hunt.
* [[Athena]]: Virgin goddess of strategy, warfare, and crafts.
* [[Eris (mythology)|Eris]]: Goddess of chaos.
* [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]]: Primordial goddess of the Earth. Most gods descend from her.
* [[Hecate]]: Goddess of sorcery and crossroads. Often considered a [[chthonic]] or lunar goddess. She is either portrayed as a single goddess or a triple goddess (maiden, mother, crone).
* [[Hera]]: Goddess of womanhood, marriage and childbirth, queen of Olympus as the wife of Zeus.
* [[Hestia]]: Virgin goddess of the hearth, domesticity and family.
* [[Iris (mythology)|Iris]]: Goddess of rainbows.
* [[Leto]]: Titan goddess of childhood.
* [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]]: Goddess of victory. She is predominantly pictured with Zeus or Athena and sometimes Ares.
* [[Selene]]: Titan goddess of the Moon.
* [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]]: Titan goddess of motherhood.

====Celtic====
{{Main|Celtic pantheon}}
Goddesses and Otherworldly Women in [[Celtic polytheism]] include:
* Celtic antiquity: [[Brigantia (goddess)|Brigantia]]
* [[Gallo-Roman]] goddesses: [[Epona]], [[Dea Matrona]]
* Irish mythology: [[Áine]], [[Boann]], [[Brigid]], [[Cailleach|The Cailleach]], [[Danu (Irish goddess)|Danu]], [[Ériu]], [[Fand]] and [[The Morrígan]] ([[Nemain]], [[Macha]], and [[Badb]]) among others.
 
The Celts honoured goddesses of nature and natural forces, as well as those connected with skills and professions such as healing, warfare and poetry. The Celtic goddesses have diverse qualities such as abundance, creation and beauty, as well as harshness, slaughter and vengeance. They have been depicted as beautiful or hideous, old [[Cailleach|hags]] or young women, and at times may transform their appearance from one state to another, or into their associated creatures such as crows, cows, wolves or eels, to name but a few. In [[Irish mythology]] in particular, tutelary goddesses are often associated with [[sovereignty]] and various features of the land, notably mountains, rivers, forests and [[holy well]]s.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wood|first1=Juliette|title=The Celts: Life, Myth, and Art|url=https://archive.org/details/celtslifemythart0000wood_j3t9|url-access=registration|date=2001|publisher=Duncard Baird Publishers|location=London|isbn=9781903296264|page=[https://archive.org/details/celtslifemythart0000wood_j3t9/page/42 42]|edition=New}}</ref>

====Germanic====
[[File:Freia Gestures to Hyndla by Frølich.jpg|thumb|The goddess [[Freyja]] is nuzzled by the boar [[Hildisvíni]] while gesturing to [[Hyndla]] (1895) by [[Lorenz Frølich]].]]
{{Further|List of Germanic deities and heroes#Goddesses}}

Surviving accounts of [[Continental Germanic mythology|Germanic mythology]] and [[Norse mythology]] contain numerous tales of female goddesses, [[Jötunn|giantesses]], and divine female figures in their scriptures. The [[Germanic peoples]] had altars erected to the [[Matres and Matrones|"Mothers and Matrons"]] and held celebrations specific to these goddesses (such as the Anglo-Saxon [[Mōdraniht|"Mothers-night"]]). Various other female deities are attested among the Germanic peoples, such as [[Nerthus]] attested in an early account of the Germanic peoples, [[Ēostre]] attested among the [[Anglo-Saxon paganism|pagan Anglo-Saxons]], and [[Sinthgunt]] attested among the pagan continental Germanic peoples. Examples of goddesses attested in Norse mythology include [[Frigg]] (wife of [[Odin]], and the Anglo-Saxon version of whom is namesake of the modern English weekday [[Friday]]), [[Skaði]] (one time wife of [[Njörðr]]), Njerda (Scandinavian name of [[Nerthus]]), that also was married to [[Njörðr]] during Bronze Age, [[Freyja]] (wife of [[Óðr]]), [[Sif]] (wife of [[Thor]]), [[Gerðr]] (wife of [[Freyr]]), and personifications such as [[Jörð]] (earth), [[Sól (Sun)|Sól]] (the sun), and [[Nótt]] (night). Female deities also play heavily into the Norse concept of death, where half of those slain in battle enter Freyja's field [[Fólkvangr]], [[Hel (being)|Hel]]'s realm [[Hel (location)|of the same name]], and [[Rán]] who receives those who die at sea. Other female deities such as the [[valkyries]], the [[norns]], and the [[dís]]ir are associated with a Germanic concept of [[destiny|fate]] (Old Norse ''[[Wyrd|Ørlög]]'', Old English ''[[Wyrd]]''), and celebrations were held in their honour, such as the [[Dísablót]] and [[Disting]].