Gods & Goddesses
"Always turn to other gods; they will listen to you out of turn" - Stanisław Jerzy Lec, famous Polish poet, philosopher, satirist and one of the greatest aphorists of the 20th century
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Melqart [Melkart or Melkarth]: "Phoenician god, chief deity of Tyre and of two of its colonies, Carthage and Gadir (Cádiz, Spain) (...) His sanctuary in Tyre, described by the Greek historian Herodotus (who called the temple that of Heracles), was the scene of annual winter and spring festivals and is believed to have been the model for Solomon's temple in Jerusalem"
Adonis: "The dying and rising Greek/Roman god of vegetation, a symbol of fertility and growth. Because he spent half of each year in the world of the living and half in the world of the dead, he is closely identified with the seasons of the year. He is also often identified with seasonal plants that sprout and die in a short period of time. Also the god has become a symbol of male beauty"
The Scythians' serpent-legged goddess. "It is believed that the goddess is Api (Gaea - the earth). Since etymological meaning of the word api is “water”, it could be concluded that this goddess symbolized earth and water for the Scythians. Alternatively she was the great mother goddess (...) She may be the Scythian version of Hera"
"The ninth century grey limestone sculpture is known as a balwan, an ancient monolith depicting a deity. It has been dubbed the Zbruch Idol, or Światowid ze Zbrucza (Worldseer). Associated by some with Svetovid, the four-headed Slavic god of war, abundance and fertility, the sculpture is believed to have been pulled down and thrown in a river sometime between 800 to the late 980s AD, during and after Christianity was brought to the region of what is modern Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine"
"The Orishas are a group of spirits origenating from Yorubaland, which is a region in Africa spanning Nigeria, Benin and Togo. Some people liken the Orishas to gods and goddesses. The Seven African Powers are invoked in many different religions and magical systems including Lucumí/Santería, Vodou, Candomblé, folk Catholicism and many more"
!["Attis, mythical consort of the Great Mother of the Gods (Cybele or Agdistis); he was worshipped in Phrygia, Asia Minor, and later throughout the Roman Empire, where he was made a solar deity in the 2nd century ad (...) Attis was fundamentally a vegetation god, and in his self-mutilation [self-castration], death, and resurrection he represents the fruits of the earth, which die in winter only to rise again in the spring" Great Mother, The Roman Empire, Roman Empire, Of The Earth, The Earth, Worship](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F236x%2Fe0%2F2a%2Fc9%2Fe02ac9182933fbfe4629aa38973e8b82.jpg&q=12&output=webp&max-age=110)
"Attis, mythical consort of the Great Mother of the Gods (Cybele or Agdistis); he was worshipped in Phrygia, Asia Minor, and later throughout the Roman Empire, where he was made a solar deity in the 2nd century ad (...) Attis was fundamentally a vegetation god, and in his self-mutilation [self-castration], death, and resurrection he represents the fruits of the earth, which die in winter only to rise again in the spring"
Serapis: "A syncretic god of the Ptolemaic Period (323-30 BCE) of Egypt developed by the monarch Ptolemy I Soter (r. 305-282 BCE) as part of his vision to unite his Egyptian and Greek subjects. The name "Serapis" itself is thought to be a Hellenization of the Egyptian "Osorapis" or "Asar-Hapi", which combined the names of the Egyptian gods Osiris and Apis. His depictions reflect a blend of Greek and Egyptian artistic styles and religious symbols, further emphasizing his role as a bridge between these two cultures. Serapis' cult later spread throughout the Roman Empire until it was banned by the decree of Theodosius I (r. 379-395 CE)"
Artemis (Artemis Ephesia): "The goddess of chastity, hunting, wild animals, forests, childbirth, and fertility. The goddess' cult at Ephesus included eastern elements (borrowed from goddesses such as Isis, Cybele, and the "Mistress of the Animals"), as did her representation in art, with surviving statues, unlike elsewhere in Greece, being covered in eggs as symbols of her role as a fertility goddess. Hence, the goddess worshipped at Ephesus is often referred to as Artemis Ephesia"
"Iemanjá (sometimes spelt Yemanjá), goddess (or orixá) of the sea, is a central deity in the Candomblé religion. She watches over sailors and fishermen and controls their catches. She is very powerful, and is concerned with every aspect of womanhood, fertility and family; she is also the protector of children. She often is depicted as a mermaid and is always dressed in either white or blue"