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Illustration of various deities associated with polytheistic pantheons.
| “ | A pantheon is an overview of a given culture's gods and goddesses and reflects not only the society's values but also its sense of itself. A pantheon directed by a thunderbolt wielding autocrat might suggest a patriarchy and the valuing of warrior skills. A pantheon headed by a great-mother goddess could suggest a village-based agricultural society. To confront the pantheon of the Egyptians is to confront a worldview marked by a sense of death and resurrection and the agricultural importance of the cycles of nature. The Greek pantheon is a metaphor for a pragmatic view of life that values art, beauty, and the power of the individual, and that is somewhat skeptical about human nature. | „ |
| ~ Christopher R. Fee |
A Pantheon is a particular set of every god of any Religion, Mythology, Folklore, Culture, or Tradition.
Overview[]
A pantheon of gods is a common element of polytheistic societies, although not all polytheists have such a pantheon, and not all pantheons require a polytheistic worldview. The nature of a society's pantheon can be considered a reflection of that society:
Some well-known historical polytheistic pantheons include the Sumerian gods and the Egyptian gods, and the classical-attested pantheon which includes the ancient Greek religion and Roman religion. Post-classical polytheistic religions include Norse Æsir and Vanir, the Yoruba Orisha, the Aztec gods, and many others. Today, most historical polytheistic religions are referred to as "mythology".
Description[]
In many civilizations, pantheons tended to grow over time. Deities first worshipped as the patrons of cities or places came to be collected together as empires extended over larger territories. Conquests could lead to the subordination of the elder culture's pantheon to a newer one, as in the Greek Titanomachia, and possibly also the case of the Æsir and Vanir in the Norse mythos.
Cultural exchange could lead to "the same" deity being renowned in two places under different names, as seen with the Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans, and also to the cultural transmission of elements of an extraneous religion into a local cult, as with worship of the ancient Egyptian deity Osiris, which was later followed in ancient Greece. Max Weber's 1922 opus Economy and Society discusses tendency in the ancient Greek philosophers to interpret gods worshiped in the pantheons of other cultures as "equivalent to and so identical with the deities of the moderately organized Greek pantheon".
In other instances, however, national pantheons were consolidated or simplified into fewer gods, or into a single god with power over all of the areas originally assigned to a pantheon. For example, in the ancient Near East during the first millennium BCE, Syrian and Palestinian tribes worshiped much smaller pantheons than had been developed in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Weber also identified the link between a pantheon of gods and the development of monotheism, proposing that the domination of a pantheon by a particular god within that pantheon was a step towards followers of the pantheon seeing that god as "an international or universal deity, a transnational god of the entire world".
The first known instance of a pantheon being consolidated into a single god, or discarded in favor of a single god, was with the development of the short-lived practice of Atenism in ancient Egypt, with that role being accorded to the sun god. A similar process is thought to have taken place with respect to the Israelite deity Yahweh, who, "as a typical West Semitic deity... would have four or five compatriot gods in attendance as he became the national high god".
For beings to be apart of a pantheon, they would have to be a deity or at least deity-like, this includes deities, old ones, aeons, archons, sefirots, kupua, greater spirits and fairies, and other deity-like beings. Below is a list of every known pantheon by continent and notable deities from those pantheons.
North America[]
Huītlōpōchtlizi, King of the Aztec pantheon
Algonquin[]
Abenaki[]
- Odziozo
- Glooscap
Blackfoot[]
- Apistotookii
Lenape[]
- Kishelemukong
Cherokee[]
- Unetlanvhi
Creek[]
- Ibofanga
Crow[]
- Akbaatatdia
Haida[]
Ho-Chunk[]
- Red Horn
Inuit[]
- Anguta
- Torngarsuk
Lakota[]
- Wakan Tanka
Mesoamerican[]
Aztec[]
Mayan[]
Mixtec[]
- Dzahui
Olmec[]
- Olmec Dragon
Teotihuacan[]
- Feathered Serpent
Zapotec[]
- Cocijo
Miꞌkmaq[]
- Niskam
Miwok / Ohlone[]
Narragansett[]
- Cautantowwit
[]
- Asdzą́ą́ Nádleehé
Nuu-chah-nulth[]
- Andakout
Pawnee[]
- Tirawa
South America[]
Viracocha, King of the Inca pantheon
Aymara[]
- Pachamama
Brazilian[]
- Ci
Chilean[]
Chilote[]
- Pincoya
Mapuche[]
- Ngünechen
- Antu
Inca[]
- Viracocha
- Inti
Guaraní[]
- Tupã
Mochica[]
- Ai apaec
Muisca[]
Patagonian[]
- Setebos
Selk'nam[]
- Temáukel
Talamancan[]
- Sibú
Uru[]
- Tiw
Europe[]
Zeus, King of the Greek pantheon
Albanian[]
- Zojz
Baltic[]
Latvian[]
Lithuanian[]
- Dievas
Prussian[]
Basque[]
- Sugaar
- Mari
Celtic[]
Gaelic (Irish / Scottish)[]
Brythonic (Welsh / Breton / Cornish / Arthurian)[]
Circassian[]
- Theshxwe
Estonian[]
- Pikne
Etruscan[]
- Catha
Finnish[]
Greek[]
Hungarian[]
- Ördög
Norse/Germanic[]
Ossetian[]
- Xucau
Proto-Indo-European[]
- Dyeus
Roman[]
Sami[]
- Beaivi
Slavic[]
Africa[]
Ra, King of the Egyptian pantheon
Akan[]
Arabian Pre-Islam[]
Qataban[]
- Anbay
Qedarite[]
- Atarsamain
Nabataeans[]
- Al-Lat
Sabaean[]
- Almaqah
Baluba[]
- Kabezya-Mpungu
Canaanite / Phoenician[]
Dahomean[]
Efik[]
- Abasi
Egyptian[]
Georgian[]
- Adgilis Deda
Igbo[]
Lotuka / Otuho[]
- Ajok
Maasai[]
- Ngai
Mesopotamian[]
Akkadian[]
- Antu
Assyrian[]
- Ashur
Babylonian[]
Hurrian[]
Sumerian[]
Moabite[]
Nyanga[]
Voodoo[]
- Bondye
- Baron Samedi
- Legba
- Damballa
Yazidi[]
- Melek Taus
Yoruba[]
- Olorun
- Olófin
- Olodumare
Zulu[]
- Unkulunkulu
Asia[]
Vishnu, the most well known deity of the Hindu pantheon
Ainu[]
- Kotan-kar-kamuy
- Ape-kamuy
- Kamuy-huci
Anatolian[]
Hittite[]
- Tarhun
Luwian[]
Armenian[]
- Aramazd
Buddhism[]
- Buddha Gautama
- Avalokitheshvara
Burmese[]
- Thagyamin
Chinese[]
Hindu[]
Indonesian (Balinese / Batak / Javanese / Sundanese)[]
- Barong
- Batara Guru
- Sunan Ambu
- Dewi Sri
Japanese[]
Korean[]
Manchu[]
- Abka Hehe
Persian / Zoroastrian[]
- Ahura Mazda
- Vohu Manah
Philippine[]
Tagalog[]
- Bathala
Visayan[]
- Kan-Laon
Qiang[]
- Mubyasei
Scythian[]
- Tabiti
Sikhism[]
- Waheguru
Tibetan[]
- Chenrezig
- Vajrapani
Turko-Mongol (Turkic / Mongol)[]
- Tengri
- Kayra
- Erlik
Oceania[]
Pele, the most well known deity of the Hawaiian pantheon
Australian Aboriginal[]
New South Wales[]
- Birrahgnooloo
Northern Territory[]
- Altjira
Queensland[]
- Anjea
South Australia[]
- Akurra
Tasmania[]
- Moinee
Victoria[]
- Baiame
Fijan[]
Polynesia[]
Cook Islands[]
- Varima-te-takere
Hawaiian[]
- Kāne
Māori[]
- Tāne
Rapa Nui[]
Samoan[]
- Tagaloa
Other[]
Cthulhu, the most well known deity of the Lovecraftian pantheon.
Pantheons that don't come from any preexisting polytheistic Religion, Mythology, Folklore, or Tradition, either that or they don't have a natural starting point.
Abrahamic (Judaism / Christian / Islam)[]
Gnosticism[]
- Sophia
- Bythos
- Yaldabaoth
Kabbalah[]
- Keter
Lovecraftian[]
Zothique[]
- Thasaidon
Pegāna[]
- Mana Yood Sushai
- Sish