List of light deities

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The Norse light god Baldr

A light deity is a god or goddess in mythology associated with light and/or day. Since stars give off light, star deities can also be included here. The following is a list of light deities in various mythologies.

African[]

Egyptian mythology[]

  • Khepri, god of rebirth and the sunrise
  • Nefertem, god who represents the first sunlight

Guanche[]

  • Magec, deity of the sun and light, exact gender unknown

Dahomean religion[]

  • Lisa, deity of the sun, heat, sky

American[]

Lakota mythology[]

  • Anpao, two-faced spirit of the dawn

Maya mythology[]

  • Tohil, god associated with thunder, lightning, and sunrise

Aztec[]

  • Centzonhuitznahua, 400 gods of the southern stars
  • Centzonmimixcoa, 400 gods of the northern stars
  • Cipactonal, god of the daytime
  • Citlālicue, goddess who created the stars
  • Citlalmina, goddess of female stars
  • Citlalatonac, god of male stars
  • Tianquiztli, star goddesses
  • Xiuhtecuhtli, god of fire, day, and heat

Incan[]

  • Inti, god of the sun
  • Ch'aska ("Venus") or Ch'aska Quyllur ("Venus star"), goddess of dawn and twilight, the planet
  • Mama Killa, goddess of the moon

Asian[]

Chinese[]

Hindu[]

  • Aruṇa, personification of the reddish glow of the rising sun
  • Dyaus Pita, continues the name of the Proto-Indo-European god of the day-lit sky
  • Ushas, dawn goddess

Sumerian[]

  • Inanna, primary goddess of the planet Venus
  • Ninsianna, goddess of the planet Venus
  • Šul-pa-e, underworld god who became associated with Jupiter
  • Shulsaga, stellar goddess
  • , goddess of light

European[]

Etruscan[]

  • Albina, goddess of the dawn and protector of ill-fated lovers
  • Thesan, goddess of the dawn, associated with new life

Germanic[]

  • Baldr, god thought to be associated with light and/or day; is known by many other names, all of which have cognates in other Germanic languages, suggesting he may have been a pan-Germanic deity
  • Dagr, personification of day
  • Earendel, god of rising light and/or a star
  • Eostre, considered to continue the Proto-Indo-European dawn goddess
  • Freyr, god of sunshine, among other things
  • Teiwaz, as a reflex of Dyeus, was probably originally god of the day-lit sky

Slavic[]

Greek[]

  • Aether, primarily associated with upper air but associated with light in Hesiod's Theogony
  • Apollo, god of light, among many other things
  • Eos, goddess of the dawn
  • Hemera, personification of day
  • Hyperion, Titan of light; sometimes conflated with his son Helios
  • Theia, Titaness of sight and the shining light of the clear blue sky. She is the consort of Hyperion and mother of Helios, Selene, and Eos.
  • Zeus, as a reflex of Dyeus, could be considered god of the day-lit sky

Mari[]

Roman[]

Oceania[]

Polynesian[]

  • Atanua, Marquesan goddess of the dawn
  • Atarapa, goddess of the dawn
  • Ira, sky goddess and mother of the stars

Māori mythology[]

See also[]

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