“This beautiful volume—akin to Athena’s gift of weaving to the Greeks—provides a tapestry of glimmering threads of goddess figures from the world’s mythologies. This is an important introductory reference volume crafted with scholarship both deep and wide.”
—Safron Rossi, PhD, editor of Joseph Campbell’s Goddesses: Mysteries of the Feminine Divine

“Something deep within every woman is healed and validated when she learns the rich feminine history of goddesses and heroines through history and their importance in all the world’s cultures. And it’s all here in this magnificent work.”
—Christiane Northrup, MD, ob/gyn physician and author of the New York Times bestsellers The Wisdom of Menopause and Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom

“It’s really valuable to have a book describing all goddesses and heroines. I’m sure many artists will find it inspiring.”
—Erica Jong, author of Fear of Flying

“For almost thirty-five years, generations of students and scholars have used editions of Patricia Monaghan’s rich and detailed encyclopedias describing thousands of goddesses and heroines. This wonderful new edition contains an introduction to bring the book up-to-date, discussing the most recent finds of female figures. This will be a superb addition to anyone’s library.”
—Miriam Robbins Dexter, author of Whence the Goddesses: A Source Book

Patricia Monaghan, PhD (1946–2012), was a leader in the contemporary women’s spirituality movement as well as an award-winning poet, scholar, activist, and mentor. In 1979, she published the first encyclopedia of female divinities, a book that has remained in print since then in various formats and that she later expanded into the current volume.

Contents

Introduction
Note on Spelling and Pronunciation

Africa

Introduction
African Pantheon
Egyptian Pantheon
African Diaspora Pantheon

Eastern Mediterranean

Introduction
Eastern Mediterranean Pantheon
Christian and Jewish Pantheon

Asia and Oceania

China and Korea
Introduction
Chinese, Mongol, and Taiwanese Pantheon
Korean Pantheon

Circumpolar North
Introduction
Circumpolar North Pantheon

India
Introduction
Hindu and Buddhist Pantheon of India, Nepal, and Tibet

Southeast Asia and Indonesia
Southeast Asian and Indonesian Pantheon

Japan
Introduction
Japanese and Ainu Pantheon

The Pacific Islands and Australia
Introduction
Pacific Islands Pantheon
Australian Pantheon

Europe

The Baltic
Introduction
Baltic Pantheon

The Celtic World
Introduction
Continental Celtic and Breton Pantheon
Irish and Scottish Pantheon
British and Manx Pantheon
Welsh, Cornish, and Arthurian Pantheon

Finno-Ugric Cultures
Introduction
Finno-Ugric Pantheon

Greece
Introduction
Greek Pantheon

Rome
Introduction
Roman and Italic Pantheon
Etruscan Pantheon

Scandinavia
Introduction
Scandinavian Pantheon

Southeastern Europe
Introduction
Southeastern European Pantheon

Slavic Peoples
Introduction
Slavic Pantheon

The Americas

North America
Introduction
North American Pantheon

Mesoamerica
Introduction
Mesoamerican Pantheon

South America and the Caribbean
Introduction
South American and Caribbean Pantheon

Bibliography
Index
About the Author