Mabh (Medhbh,
Maebe) - Gaelic goddess of love and fertility, queen of the faeries,
as well.
Mahadevi
- See Devi.
Manu - Hindu
founder of human race.
Marena
- Slavic Goddess of winter, and as such She became (not unpredictably)
a spirit of hunger, sickness, epidemic, and death. Nevertheless, late
versions of Her show an increasing association with home and hearth. She was
wife of her brother Kupala. In Christian time some her functions were
conflated with St. Maria.
Maria Morevna - Probably
not divine as such, there are nevertheless some echoes of a connection with
Marena, Slavic goddess of winter. She is a warrior-princess who figures in
one version of the Koshchei cycle. She weds Prince Ivan, and warns him from
examining a particular room in her kremlin. In it, she holds captive
Koshchei, who is released upon Ivan's ill-considered ministrations. After
much hardship and adventure, she is released from captivity and Koshchei
slain by a repentant Ivan, in a fairly thinly glossed initiatory sequence.
Mars - God
of war and soldiers. Similar to Ares, Mars did not have that Deity's
grim and brutal reputation, but was seen rather as a legitimate apotheosis
of the State's power and majesty.
Marzana
Poland - The Polish equivalent of Marena.
Mawu
- (West African) supreme goddess of the Fon people of Abomey (Republic
of Benin). Mawu , the Moon, brings cooler temperatures to the African world.
She is seen as an old mother who lives in the West.
Maya
- Hindu Goddess of nature and universal creator.
Medea - Circe's
neice, and companion to Jason in his quest for the Golden Fleece. When Jason
decided to marry royalty, Medea killed the bride and disappeared in a
chariot drawn by dragons.
Medusa
- One of the three Gorgons, who were three monstrous daughters of the
sea god Phorcys and his wife, Ceto. Her equally hideous sisters were Stheno
and Euryale. (The Gorgons are monstrous creatures covered with impenetrable
scales, with hair of living snakes, hands made of brass, sharp fangs and a
beard. They live in the ultimate west, near the ocean, and guard the
entrance to the underworld). She was the only one who was mortal. Her gaze
could turn whoever she looked upon to stone.
Mefitis
- Roman Goddess of miasmas and sulphuric vapours; associated closely with
plagues and malarias, as these were regarded as the results of the volcanic
emissions so common in Italy.
Megaera
- One of the three Greek goddesses known as the Erinyes. The Romans
called them Furies.
Mellonia - Roman
Presiding Goddess of bee-keeping.
Mercurius -
The Messenger and Herald of the Gods, He also had responsibility for
travelers and roadways. Similar in many ways to Hermes, Mercurius in
the Roman world bore the cadeucus (a serpent entwinned staff) as a symbol of
his office. The Romans also gave him authority over winds, and in this
context he is said to be always a bane to Apollo, in that he constantly is
stealing away Apollo's herds (the clouds).
Mercury - Roman
messenger of the gods. Corresponds to the Roman god Hermes.
Meretseger -
"She Who Loves Silence" The Egyptian goddess of the
Valley of the Kings.
Min -
"the Firm One" The Egyptian god of male fertility.
Minerva
- Daughter of Jupiter, Goddess of war and peace or, more properly, the
decisions and actions of the State. As such, she is also a Goddess of
wisdom. Based on an early Etruscan Goddess, She became heavily connected
with Pallas Athene.
Mokosh
- (Weaver or Spinner) Slavic Goddess of home and hearth, perhaps sovereign
over the Domovoi, a patroness of fertility and midwivery, and one of the
eight primary Slavonic deities. She was the wife of Perun, and was
represented as a woman with a large head, long arms and unkempt hair. Her
sacred day is Friday. In Christian times she became conflated with the
Virgin Mary, and St.Paraskeva.
Montu
- "Nomad" The Egyptian god of war.
Morae - Roman
goddesses of Necessity. Corresponds to the Greek goddesses, the Fates.
Morpheus - God
of dreams.
Morrigan - Irish-Celtic
goddess of war and death who could take the shape of a crow or raven. She is
associated with the sometimes frightening aspects of female energy, and is
wife to Dagda. Also associated with the crow.
Morrighan
- Gaelic goddes of the moon, and the most likely candidate for the
Great White Goddess, the queen of the faeries and the goddess of rivers,
lakes, and water; she often assumes the form of a raven or
crow, for she is also the goddess of war and death and is said to haunt
battlefields right after a battle; there are
many sacred wells in Ireland which are dedicated to her; the Great mother;
Patroness of witches and priestesses, Goddess of night and magic.
Mut
- "Mother" The Egyptian Theban mother-goddess and wife of
Amon. Also known as "Nut".
Click
here to
return to the Deities index.
Contact
Us
©
Copyright 2003 Witchcraft Online. All Rights Reserved.