Do I need a patron deity?
Do you "need" anything? Patron deities give you an image for when you are calling upon the God and Goddess. Like patron Saints in Christianity, patron deities may symbolize luck, wealth, good fortune, etc. I have an aunt who never goes anywhere without her Saint Christopher {saint of travel} medal. You may chose an image of Mercury and his winged feet to see you safely through your travels.
How do I chose a patron deity?
They’re a couple of ways that I can think of and probably many, many more. One is to think of your favorite time in history, the farther back the more likely you're going to run into a civilization that had a pagan religion. In history classes during high school, I always found myself paying more attention during our lessons on ancient Egypt. Because of my fascination with this time period I have chosen Isis {my namesake} and Osiris as my patron deities and the Egyptian religion as my basis. That doesn't mean I've limited myself to only Egyptian magick and gods, I enjoy working with many different traditions.
Another method is just to study the different pantheons and traditions and chose a deity that best personifies the qualities you most want. Do you want love and beauty? Aphrodite might be a good choice. Want mischief and frolic, call upon Pan. Looking for a fiery warrior, look to Mars of Rome or Bride {breed} of Scotland.
If you are looking for both male and female aspects I suggest that you don't cross your pantheons, it could cause lots of problems. If you chose to work with different pantheons individually, like calling upon Aphrodite during a spell to help a relationship and then call upon Bridge to help you fight a battle.
Pantheons are the group/family of gods/goddesses for a culture. The following are a list of some of the deities for the cultures listed. If you are interested in learning about different pantheons I suggest visiting http://web.raex.com /~obsidian/PanIndex.html. It is a wonderful website and I got much of the information for this lesson from it.
| God/Goddess | What they do/are |
| British | |
| Agrona | warrior Goddess associated with Rivers |
| Belatucadros | God of the common soldier |
| Boudicca | victory Goddess |
| Brigit | Goddess of fire, smith craft, poetry, childbirth, motherhood |
| Maponus | God of poetry & music |
| Modron | mother Goddess, appears as washerwoman |
| Irish | |
| Aedh | Lord of fire |
| Aengus | God of beauty & perfection of form |
| Aine | Faery Goddess of love & desire |
| Boudicca | Goddess of Victory |
| Brigit | Goddess of fire, smith craft, poetry, childbirth, motherhood |
| Daghda | God of water & fertility |
| Dioncecht | God of healing |
| Donn | God of the underworld & the dead |
| Eochaid | God of the sun & lightening |
| Etan | Goddess of craftsmanship & artisans |
| Flidais | Goddess of the hunt, forests & wildlife, lust & sex |
| Goibhniu | God of smith craft & brewing |
| Ler | God of the sea |
| Liban | female water spirit |
| Lugh | sun God, head of the pantheon |
| The Morrigan | guides the fallen soldiers to the afterlife |
| Nechtain | male water spirit |
| Nuada | warrior God |
| Oghma | God of knowledge, magick, eloquence |
| Scathach | warrior Goddess |
| Welsh | |
| Aeron | war God |
| Arawn | God of the underworld & the dead |
| Arianrhod | Goddess of the night |
| Beli | God of Gods, head of pantheon |
| Ceridwen | Goddess of knowledge |
| Gwydion | God of magicians & tutors |
| Math | God of magick & knowledge |
| Mabon | God of youth |
| Rhiannon | Goddess of horses |
| Taliesin | God of bards |
| Taran | war God |
| Egypt | |
| Amon-Ra | sun God, head of Pantheon |
| Anubis | God of dead & mortuaries |
| Bast | cat Goddess |
| Bes | God of childbirth, protector against evil |
| Hapy | God of the Nile |
| Hathor | Goddess of love & sexuality, music & dance |
| Heket | Goddess of childbirth |
| Horus | God of vengeance |
| Isis | Goddess of motherhood, healing, rebirth & reincarnation |
| Khnum | God of craftsmen & potters |
| Khonsu | moon God, healing |
| Ma'at | Goddess of law, truth, & order |
| Nephthys | Goddess of mortuaries, protector of Pharaohs' spirit |
| Nut | sky Goddess |
| Onuris | God of war, the hunt, & the chase |
| Osirus | God of eternal life |
| Sekhmet | war Goddess |
| Seshet | Goddess of writing, history, libraries, & archives |
| Seth (Set) | brother of Osirus, the darkness in the light |
| Taurt | Goddess of childbirth & women |
| Thoth | God of knowledge, magick, art, & science |
| Greek | Roman | |
| Aeblus | Lord of winds | |
| Algos | God of pain & suffering | |
| Aphrodite | Venus | Goddess of love, sex, & beauty |
| Apollo | God of the sun, music, & archery | |
| Ares | Mars | God of warfare & battle |
| Aridne | Flora | Goddess of vegetation |
| Artemis | Diana | Goddess of the wilderness & all things in it, the hunt, woman, childbirth |
| Athena | Minerva | Goddess of war & government |
| Demeter | Ceres | Goddess of harvest & cultivated land |
| Dionysios | Baccus | God of wine, fruition, & ecstatic celebration |
| Eros | Cupid | bringer of passion & love |
| Hades | Pluto/Dispater | Lord(s) of the underworld (Pluto) & dead (Dispater) |
| Hebe | Juventas | Goddess of domestic virtues & work |
| Hekate | Goddess of crossroads & night travel, patroness of witchcraft | |
| Hephaestus | Vulcan | God of craftsmen & smith craft |
| Hera | Juno | Goddess of matronly virtues & womankind |
| Hermes | Mercurius | God of messages, fertility, fortune & fate, music, dreams, omens, protector of travels |
| Hestia | The Penates | Goddess(s) of home & family |
| Iris | Goddess of the rainbow | |
| Pan | Faunus | God of field, grove, & wooded glen |
| Plutos | God of prosperity & wealth | |
| Poseidon | Neptune | God of the sea |
| Selene | Diana | Goddess of the moon |
| Zeus | Jupiter | Lord of the universe, king of the Gods |
| Eos | Aurora | Goddess of dawn |
| Bellona | Goddess of frenzied & violent war | |
| Janus | God of space, time & passage | |
| Liber | God of vegetation & husbandry | |
| Lucifer | the morning star | |
| Vesper | the evening star | |
| Vesta | guardian of the household | |
| Fauna | Goddess of animals |
