Elemental Goddeses

The elemental Goddesses appear in many ancient and magical traditions across the world. The balance and creation of the world is viewed as being formed from a mix of these elemental forces. The number of these elements and their names varies across the globe.

 Most ancient societies split these elements into four main building blocks; earth, air, fire and water with each element expressed in a myriad of forms; for example the element water includes the smallest drop of rain to the mighty oceans.

As Goddesses reflect the aspects of the natural world  it is unsurprising that many Goddesses appear as personifications of these elements.

Earth Goddesses

On this site the elemental Goddesses of the earth are represented by the Harvest Goddesses. This is because the earth element includes not only the physical qualities of the land but also its fertile nature. I have also included pages dedicated to some of the most well-known Goddesses including: Ceres (the Goddess we derive the word cereal from), Demeter (who only allowed the plants to grow during the cycle of the year when her daughter, Persephone was released from the underworld and Pomona (associated with orchards fruits).

This section also includes Gaia, the ancient Greek Goddess of the Earth.  Due to Lovelock’s “Gaia hypothesis” interest in this Goddess has enjoyed a recent renaissance. Her name has become synonymous with the idea of a conscious, self-regulating planet.

Air Goddesses

I have not dedicated a specific area of my site dedicated  to the elemental Goddesses of the air  as air is traditionally viewed as masculine element.

If we broaden the definition of air to include the sky Goddesses you will find information on this site for Nut, the Egyptian Goddess of the night sky, Hathor a personification of the milky way an Iris Greek Goddess of the rainbow.

Fire Goddesses

Goddesses that fall into this category can be found in three main areas of this site. The Sun Goddesses page contains solar Goddesses associated with the hot energy of the sun.  This page also includes links to important solar deities including: the Egyptian Goddesses Hathor and Bast.

In contrast the Dawn Goddesses are a personification of the first rays of the sun and the cardinal direction of the East. Eos, Aurora and Ostara are the Goddess that reflects the return of the solar energy after the long night or winter.

The sun is not the only aspect of fire energy represented by Goddesses. There are Goddesses that represent earthly fire a new page, titled Fire Goddesses dedicated to these deities. This information on the volcano Goddesses including Pele, the personification of the volcano in Hawaii that has been making the news recently.

There are also elemental Goddesses associated with ritual fires like  (Vesta), hearth fires including (Hestia) and even Goddesses whose function is to prevent the spread of destructive fires, like Stata Mater in the city of ancient Rome.

Water Goddesses

As already mentioned above, the water Goddesses reflect the many different aspects of this element. For ease I have split the elemental Goddesses of water, page into three main sections.

The first deals with sea and oceanic Goddesses, the Goddess Aphrodite is perhaps the most famous of these deities as she was said to have been born fully formed from sea foam. However it is the Italian painter Sandro Botticelli picture “The Birth of Venus,” of a Goddess on a Scallop shell that has immortalised this myth.

River Goddesses include Ganga, Goddess of the River Ganges, whose worship is still important to many modern Hindu’s.

Lastly Goddesses associated with sacred springs, wells and lakes. Many of the local Goddess names for specific sites have been lost over time. An example of this is Brigid the Celtic Goddess, who has absorbed the roles of many of these local Goddesses.

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