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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

  • 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

American

  • Anpao, two-faced spirit of the dawn
  • Tohil, god associated with thunder, lightning, and sunrise

Aztec

Asian

Chinese

Hindu

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

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
  • 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

  • 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

See also