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Jupiter, the sky father of Roman religion and mythology.
The sky often has important religious significance. Many religions, both polytheistic and monotheistic, have deities associated with the sky.
The daytime sky deities are typically distinct from the nighttime ones. Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature reflects this by separating the category of "Sky-god" (A210) from that of "Star-god" (A250). In mythology, nighttime gods are usually known as night deities and gods of stars simply as star gods. Both of these categories are included here since they relate to the sky. Luminary deities are included as well since the sun and moon are located in the sky. Some religions may also have a deity or personification of the day, distinct from the god of the day lit sky, to complement the deity or personification of the night.
Daytime gods and nighttime gods are frequently deities of an "upper world" or "celestial world" opposed to the earth and a "netherworld" (gods of the underworld are sometimes called "chthonic" deities).[1] Within Greek mythology, Uranus was the primordial sky god, who was ultimately succeeded by Zeus, who ruled the celestial realm atop Mount Olympus. In contrast to the celestial Olympians was the chthonic deity Hades, who ruled the underworld, and Poseidon, who ruled the sea.[2]
Any masculine sky god is often also king of the gods, taking the position of patriarch within a pantheon. Such king gods are collectively categorized as "sky father" deities, with a polarity between sky and earth often being expressed by pairing a "sky father" god with an "earth mother" goddess (pairings of a sky mother with an earth father are less frequent). A main sky goddess is often the queen of the gods and may be an air/sky goddess in her own right, though she usually has other functions as well with "sky" not being her main. In antiquity, several sky goddesses in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Near East were called Queen of Heaven.
Gods may rule the sky as a pair (for example, ancient Semitic supreme god El and the fertility goddess Asherah whom he was most likely paired with).[3] The following is a list of sky deities in various polytheistic traditions arranged mostly by language family, which is typically a better indicator of relatedness than geography.
^Kearns, Emily (2011-12-15), "Chthonic Deities", The Homer Encyclopedia, Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe0296, ISBN 978-1-4051-7768-9, But the word "chthonic" is usually taken to refer principally to what is under the earth.
^Buckler, John (2015-12-22), "Helicon", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.2979, ISBN 978-0-19-938113-5
^El was identified with the obscure deity Yahweh in early Hebrew religion, ultimately giving rise to Hebrew monotheism by the 7th century BCE; according to the Hebrew Bible it was 7th-century Judean king Josiah who removed the statue of Asherah from the temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem. See also The Hebrew Goddess.
The sky often has important religious significance. Many religions, both polytheistic and monotheistic, have deities associated with the sky. The daytime...
religion, a nature deity is a deity in charge of forces of nature, such as a water deity, vegetation deity, skydeity, solar deity, fire deity, or any other...
deity or sun deity is a deity who represents the Sun or an aspect thereof. Such deities are usually associated with power and strength. Solar deities...
Egyptian mythology, Nut is the sky mother and Geb is the earth father). Earth mother God in Abrahamic religions Skydeity Thunder god Worship of heavenly...
as a personification of the sky, but this name was a title of the weather god Baal which developed into a separate deity, Baalshamin, and Aramaic texts...
Magec, deity of the sun and light, exact gender unknown Lisa, deity of the sun, heat, sky Anpao, two-faced spirit of the dawn Tohil, god associated with...
their species. Many mythologies have deities especially associated with the sky. In Egyptian religion, the sky was deified as the goddess Nut and as...
Zimu in Southern and Northern Ndebele) is a creator god, supreme deity and skydeity in the traditional religion of the Sotho-Tswana people. Modimo and...
A night deity is a goddess or god in mythology associated with night, or the night sky. They commonly feature in polytheistic religions. The following...
shamanism and animism. It generally involves the titular sky god Tengri, who is not considered a deity in the usual sense but a personification of the universe...
created images of their deities for many purposes. A temple would house the statue of a god or goddess, or multiple deities, and might be decorated with...
Tlaltecuhtli, the earth deity whose body created the world Tezcatlipoca, Aztec deity associated with the earth, the night sky, the night winds, hurricanes...
or Dyauspitr (Sanskrit: द्यौष्पितृ, IAST: Dyáuṣpitṛ́) is the Rigvedic skydeity. His consort is Prthvi, the earth goddess, and together they are the archetypal...
A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over the universe, nature or human life....
become fragmented and mixed with Christian traditions. The cults of old deities transformed into folklore (individual tales, myths, songs, etc.) without...
in finding a spouse Mapatar: the Ifugao sun deity of the sky in charge of daylight Sun God: the Ibaloi deity who pushed up the skyworld and pushed down...
ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as the god of kingship, healing, protection, the sun, and the sky. He was worshipped...
worshiped in northern Mesopotamia and in Syria Zojz, lightning and sky god, chief deity Shurdh, weather and storm god I Verbti, weather and storm god Bangpūtys...
primary chief deity of the early Turkic and Mongolic peoples. Worship surrounding Tengri is called Tengrism. The core beings in Tengrism are the Sky Father (Tenger...
Sopdu – A god of the sky and of Egypt's eastern border regions Thoth – A moon god, and a god of writing and scribes, and patron deity of Hermopolis Wadj-wer...
Sacred mountains – Mountains central to certain religions Skydeity – Deity associated with the sky Standing stone – Large upright standing stonePages displaying...
layer of heaven. He is the supreme god of the pantheon and the son of the skydeity named Tengri. This son, Kara Han (the black king or ruler of the land...
A lunar deity is a deity who represents the Moon, or an aspect of it. Lunar deities and Moon worship can be found throughout most of recorded history...
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