A common question I get asked is, "How do I know which goddess to work with?"
In truth there are so many to choose from. There is no one size fits all response. It's a deeply personal one that you have to feel into.
Notice what things you are attracted to, what cultures, and symbols. For example if you like Ancient Egypt and cats, consider calling on Bastet. If you like fairies and magic perhaps call on Cordelia or Aeracura. There is no one size fits all approach to this.
I like to think the goddess we need most is that one that keeps appearing for us, whether we keep seeing posts about her online or reading about her. She tends to find her way to you.
Each goddess seems to have her own energetic pattern as well. For example, I've had experiences with Kali Ma and picked up on her traits of hers that I later learned were witnessed by other women as well.
So if you are unsure who to work for you can simple sit in your sacred space with a few lit candles sinking into a meditative state and ask her to reveal her name to you. If you are visual notice as she approaches you what she looks like, what she is wearing, how you feel when she is near. These will all be good indicators of figuring out who she is.
After you know her name, do some research on her. What does she stand for? What was she the goddess off? And then you can go back to her and visit asking her more questions, seeing what messages she has for you, or why she's appearing at this time.
This takes major trust with your intuition. Working with goddesses isn't as logical or rational as we might want it to be.
I've created a list below of goddesses and what they are associated with.
You may use this as reference when working with a new goddess, or perhaps inspire you to work with someone else.
Notice what symbols and themes are coming up for you currently, perhaps it's one of the goddesses below sending you a signal.
I've divided the goddesses up according to their pantheons. This list is NOT an accumulation of every goddess out there but the most popular ones I've come across in my work.
Greek
Aphrodite - love, beauty, art, fertility
Artemis - moon, wilderness, the hunt
Athena - wisdom, battle strategy, city-states
Demeter - harvest
Eso - dawn
Eris - strife, chaos, discord
Gaia - earth
Hekate - Crossroads, moon, magic, necromancy, witches
Hera - marriage
Hestia - hearth, temple
Iris - rainbow
Nemesis - justice, revenge, retribution
Persephone - underworld, spring
Rhea - mother of gods
Celtic
Aine - love, fertility, fairies
Badb - war goddess
Branwen - love, beauty, "white raven"
Brigid - triple goddess, healing, poetry, smithcraft
Cerridwen - mother, "cauldron"
Danu - mother, fertility, "flowing one"
Medb - earth
Morrigan - war, death, "phantom queen"
Rhiannon - otherworld, white horse, birds
Aeracura - fairy queen
Cordelia - fairy goddess, spring, summer
Coventina - water, wishing wells
Damara - fertility, children, peace, harmony
German
Ostara - spring, fertility, opportunity, new life
Hawaiian
Pele - volcanoes, fire
Hebrew
Lilith - first wife of Adam
Mayan
Ixchel - medicine woman, moon
Egyptian
Anuket - river
Bastet - cat
Hathor - love, beauty, music, happiness, cow, mother
Isis - fertility, motherhood, magic
Ma'at - defender of order, fairness, integrity
Meskhenet - death, mourning
Nephthys - childbirth
Nut - sky, celestial bodies
Sekhmet - warrior goddess, lionness
Ishtar - mother, fertility, healing, protection, wisdom
Hindu
Durga - Mother of the Universe
Kali - death, destruction, ego eradicator
Lakshmi - luck, lotus, prosperity, elephants
Parvati - love, peace
Saraswati - knowledge, art, music, poetry, language
Shakti - feminine force, source of all, creator of all
Tara - peace, "star", cooperation, unity
Japanese
Amaterasu - sky goddess
Mesopotamian
Ishtar - fertility, love, sexuality
Chinese
Chang'e - moon
Kuan Yin - mercy, compassion, purity, love
Sumerian
Inanna - Queen of Heaven, mother, fertility
African
Yemanya - ocean goddess
Gnostic
Sophia - wisdom, dove, peace
Norse
Freya - fiery flames of hearth, passion, love
Frigg - love, marriage, fertility
Hel - underworld
Now clearly there are goddesses I'm sure I left out and will continue to update this list as I see fit. This is meant to be a starting point. A place of reference. A source of inspiration and intrigue.
May the goddess guide you always.
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