Originally posted on Instagram 14th February 2023

Oshun – Yoruba deity (West Africa)

Oshun is a supernatural spirit/goddess who presides over love, fertility, and freshwater. She is the patroness of the Osun River in Nigeria and she is said to be especially attentive to women.

Oshun was one of 17 Orishas (Yoruba gods) who was sent to Earth to put things in order. She was the only woman and the men ignored her suggestions for how to make life beautiful, and so failed their mission.

They were forced to humbly beg forgiveness, and Oshun gave the world love, fertility, and beauty, thus completing creation.

Inanna – Ancient Mesopotamia

Also known as Ishtar, Inanna was originally worshipped as a vegetation deity, however she was soon raised to ‘Queen of the Heavens’ – their most favourite goddess. She eventually became goddess of sex, love, beauty, wine, and war.

Inanna is consistently depicted as a young woman who is fully aware of her sexuality and her feminine power, and she cares little for what men think.

Today, she is honoured by members of the trans community and some Pagans see her as a symbol of female empowerment.

Prende – Albania

In Albanian pagan mythology, Prende is the dawn-goddess, a protector of women, and the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. One of her symbols is the rainbow, which folk beliefs call ‘Lady Prende’s Belt’.

Until recently, Prende was worshipped in northern Albania, especially by women. On her festival day (July 26), her worshippers would wear beautiful clothes and would lay out a pestle and mortar as a symbol of a sexual union.

According to belief, Prende would be pulled across the sky by swallows – ‘the Lady’s Birds’.

Astłik – Armenia

Astłik had several changing roles over the centuries. She was originally the goddess creator of heaven and earth, but she was later simply called ‘maiden’. In the early prehistoric period, she was the goddess of fertility and love; later, she was worshipped by the heathens as the goddess of love, maidenly beauty, and water sources and springs.

The Hellenistic period gave her a similar role as the one held by Inanna or Aphrodite. Her festival has now been taken over by the Christian Transfiguration of Jesus, still celebrated in Armenia today.

Xochiquetzal – Aztec goddess

Meaning ‘Precious Feather Flower’ in Nahuatl, Xochiquetzal was the goddess of fertility, love, and beauty. She watched over women and was patroness of pregnancy, childbirth, and women’s crafts.

Her mythology states that she was originally married to Tlaloc, a rain god, before she was kidnapped and forced to marry Tezcatlipoca, who enthroned her as a love goddess.

A festival was held for Xochiquetzal every eight years, at which worshippers wore animal and flower masks.

Lada – Slavic goddess

Lada first appears in 15th and 16th century records as the goddess of love and fertility, overseer of harvests, and protector of lovers, couples, family, women, and children.

Alongside her twin brother Lado, Lada is said to be a mother goddess to some Slavic groups, and she is usually illustrated as a symbol of motherhood.

However, there is some hefty debate over Lada’s (and Lado’s) existence. Some argue that she was made up by anti-pagan clerics; others say there are some Baltic rituals that worship a goddess Lada. The truth? Who knows.

Astarte – Middle Eastern great goddess

Astarte was worshipped from the Bronze Age through to classical antiquity and she spread across several countries; she was predominantly worshipped in Syria and Canaan, but also in Egypt, Cyprus, Phoenicia, and Malta. Versions of her also exist in Roman, Egyptian, and Greek mythology.

The earliest record of her comes from the Syrian kingdom of Ebla.

Astarte’s iconography often depicted her naked and with lions, symbolising her association to both war and sexual love.