GODS/GODDESSES OF/OR ASSOCIATED WITH RAIN

Nagas
Hindu mythology

In Hindu myth, nagas are a primeval race of divine serpent-people that play an
important part in religion. They are half human and half snake and are still
worshipped as the bringers of fertility, especially in southern India. Nagas are
believed to live in palaces {Patala} in the underground city Bhogavati. They are
considered the protectors of springs, wells and rivers. They bring rain and thus
fertility, but are also thought to bring disasters such as floods and drought.
Their ruler is Sesha. Some of the nagas are: Ananta, symbol of eternity, Vasuki,
Manasa {fertility goddess and protector against snake bites}, and Mucilinda.
In the myths of Malay mariners, nagas are a many-headed dragons of enormous
size. On Java and Thailand, a naga is a mythical serpent or dragon, a serpent
god, a ruler of the netherworld who possesses immense wealth. In Java it is also
called Sesa. In Thailand, a naga is often sculpted in temples as a dragon with
five heads. It is the symbol of Narayana.

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Mbaba Mwana Waresa
African mythology

Mbaba Mwana Waresa is a beloved goddess of the Zulu people of Southern Africa,
primarily because she gave them the gift of beer. She is the goddess of the
rainbow, rain, harvest and agriculture. The story of her search for a husband is
well known, and recently appeared in a beautifully illustrated children's book.

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Tlaloc
Aztec mythology

The Aztec god of rain, agriculture, fire, and the south. In his kingdom he
receives those killed by thunderbolts, water, leprosy, and contagious diseases.
He is the consort of the water goddess Chalchiuhtlicue and sometimes regarded as
the father of the Moon-god Tecciztecatl. Each year a large number of children
were sacrified by drowning. He is of pre-Aztec origin and known from the time of
the Toltecs. His image figures prominently in their art. He presided over the
third of the five Aztec world ages.

also known as: Nuhualpilli

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Ua
Polynesian mythology

The Maori god of rain. He is the father of Hau Marangi, the god of mist or fog.
Ua has many name: Ua-Roa {'Long Rain'}, Uanui {'Heavy Rain'}, Uawhatu {'Hail'},
and Ua Nganga {'Rainstorm'}. Ua-Roa was one of the gods who caused the earth to
be flooded during the war between the sons of Rangi. The Earth Goddess Papa was
entirely submerged so that she remained hidden from the storm caused by Tawhiri-
Mahuta. Gradually the showed some of her beautiful parts above sea level and
these are the islands of Polynesia.

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Deng
African mythology

The creator and sky god, as well as a god of rain and fertility, among the Dinka
people in Africa. He is the son of the goddess Abuk.

also known as: Denka

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Curicaberis

A culture hero and sky and Sun god of the Tarascan people {an Indian tribe west
of Mexico}. He is the consort of the rain and fertility goddess Cueravaperi. He
gave his people laws and the calendar.

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Julunggul
Aboriginal mythology

Rainbow serpents are a common motif throughout world mythology, but most
particularly in Oceania, Africa and South America; universally, they are
associated with immortality/rebirth, rain and water. This rainbow serpent,
Julunggul, is a great Goddess of the Aborigines of Australia. She oversees the
initiation of adolescent boys into manhood.

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Bunbulama
Aboriginal mythology

Goddess of the rain. Djanggawul sisters/daughters of the Sun, these Australian
goddesses unceasingly brought forth living creatures from their endlessly
pregnant bodies. Their long vulvas broke off piece by piece with these births,
producing the world's first sacred artifacts.

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Chalchiuhtlicue
Aztec mythology

This Aztec Goddess, whose name means 'jade skirt' or 'lady precious gren', was
matron of lakes and streams. A personification of youthful beauty and ardour,
Chalchiuhtlicue was represented as a river from which grew a prickly pear tree
laden with fruit, symbolising the human heart. She ruled over all the waters of
the Earth; oceans, rivers, rain, etc., but was also associated with marriage.
Her husband is Tlaloc, the god of rain. She unleashed the flood to punish the
wicked that the destroyed the fourth world {according to the Aztec, we are in
the fifth world}.

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Zeus
Greek mythology

Zeus, the youngest son of Cronus and Rhea, he was the supreme ruler of Mount
Olympus and of the Pantheon of gods who resided there. Being the supreme ruler
he upheld law, justice and morals and this made him the spiritual leader of both
gods and men. Zeus was a celestial god, and originally worshiped as a weather
god by the Greek tribes. These people came southward from the Balkans circa 2100
B.C.E. He has always been associated as being a weather god, as his main
attribute is the thunderbolt, he controlled thunder, lightning and rain.
Theocritus wrote circa 265 B.C.E: 'sometimes Zeus is clear, sometimes he rains.'
He is also known to have caused thunderstorms. In Homer's epic poem the Iliad he
sent thunderstorms against his enemies. The name Zeus is related to the Greek
word dios, meaning 'bright.' His other attributes as well as lightning were the
scepter, the eagle and his aegis {this was the goat skin of Amaltheia}.

Before the abolition of monarchies, Zeus was protector of the king and his
family. Once the age of Greek kings faded into democracy he became chief judge
and peacemaker, but most importantly civic god. He brought peace in place of
violence, Hesiod {circa 700 B.C.E.} describes Zeus as 'the lord of justice',
Zeus was also known as 'Kosmetas' {orderer}, 'Soter' {savior}, 'Polieos'
{overseer of the polis city} and also 'Eleutherios' {guarantor of political
freedoms}. His duties in this role were to maintain the laws, protect
suppliants, to summon festivals and to give prophecies {his oldest and most
famous oracle was at Dodona, in Epirus -northwestern Greece}. As the supreme
deity Zeus oversaw the conduct of civilized life. But the 'father of gods and
men' as Homer calls him, has many mythological tales.

His most famous was told by Hesiod in his Theogony, of how Zeus usurped the
kingdom of the immortals from his father. This mythological tale of Zeus'
struggle against the Titans {Titanomachy} had been caused by Cronus, after he
had been warned that one of his children would depose him. Cronus knowing the
consequences, as he had overthrown his father Uranus. To prevent this from
happening Cronus swallowed his newborn children Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and
Poseidon, but his wife Rhea {who was also his sister} and Gaia her mother,
wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes in place of the infant Zeus. Cronus
thinking it was the newborn baby swallowed the stone. Meanwhile Rhea had her
baby taken to Crete and there, in a cave on Mount Dicte, the divine goat
Amaltheia suckled and raised the infant Zeus.

When Zeus had grown into a young man he returned to his fathers domain, and with
the help of Gaia, compelled Cronus to regurgitate the five children he had
previously swallowed {in some versions Zeus received help from Metis who gave
Cronus an emetic potion, which made him vomit up Zeus' brothers and sisters}.
However, Zeus led the revolt against his father and the dynasty of the Titans,
defeated and then banished them. Once Zeus had control, he and his brothers
divided the universe between them: Zeus gaining the heavens, Poseidon the sea
and Hades the underworld. Zeus had to defend his heavenly kingdom. The three
separate assaults were from the offspring of Gaia: they were the Gigantes,
Typhon {Zeus fought them with his thunder-bolt and aegis} and the twin brothers
who were called the Aloadae. The latter tried to gain access to the heavens by
stacking Mount Ossa on top of Mount Olympus, and Mount Pelion on top of Mount
Ossa, but the twins still failed in their attempt to overthrow Zeus. As he did
with the Titans, Zeus banished them all to 'Tartarus', which is the lowest
region on Earth, lower than the underworld.

According to legend, Metis, the goddess of prudence, was the first love of Zeus.
At first she tried in vain to escape his advances, but in the end succumbed to
his endeavor, and from their union Athena was conceived. Gaia warned Zeus that
Metis would bear a daughter, whose son would overthrow him. On hearing this Zeus
swallowed Metis, the reason for this was to continue to carry the child through
to the birth himself. Hera {his wife and sister} was outraged and very jealous
of her husband's affair, also of his ability to give birth without female
participation. To spite Zeus she gave birth to Hephaestus parthenogenetically
{without being fertilized} and it was Hephaestus who, when the time came, split
open the head of Zeus, from which Athena emerged fully armed.

Zeus had many offspring; his wife Hera bore him Ares, Hephaestus, Hebe and
Eileithyia, but Zeus had numerous liaisons with both goddesses and mortals. He
either raped them or used devious means to seduce the unsuspecting maidens. His
union with Leto {meaning the hidden one} brought forth the twins Apollo and
Artemis. Once again Hera showed her jealousy by forcing Leto to roam the Earth
in search of a place to give birth, as Hera had stopped her from gaining shelter
on terra-firma or at sea. The only place she could go was to the isle of Delos
in the middle of the Aegean, the reason being that Delos was, as legend states,
a floating island. One legend says that Aphrodite was the daughter of Zeus
and Dione.

Besides deities, he also fathered many mortals. In some of his human liaisons
Zeus used devious disguises. When he seduced the Spartan queen Leda, he
transformed himself into a beautiful swan, and from the egg which Leda produced,
two sets of twins were born: Castor and Polydeuces and Clytemnestra and Helen of
Troy. He visited princess Danae as a shower of gold, and from this union the
hero Perseus was born. He abducted the Phoenician princess Europa, disguised as
a bull, then carried her on his back to the island of Crete where she bore three
sons: Minos, Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon. Zeus also took as a lover the Trojan
prince Ganymede. He was abducted by an eagle sent by Zeus {some legends believe
it was Zeus disguised as an eagle}. The prince was taken to Mount Olympus, where
he became Zeus' cup bearer. Zeus also used his charm and unprecedented power to
seduce those he wanted, so when Zeus promised Semele that he would reveal
himself in all his splendor, in order to seduce her, the union produced
Dionysus, but she was destroyed when Zeus appeared as thunder and lightening.
Themis, the goddess of justice bore the three Horae, goddesses of the seasons to
Zeus , and also the three Moirae, known as the Fates. When Zeus had an affair
with Mnemosyne, he coupled with her for nine consecutive nights, which produced
nine daughters, who became known as the Muses. They entertained their father and
the other gods as a celestial choir on Mount Olympus. They became deities of
intellectual pursuits. Also the three Charites or Graces were born from Zeus and
Eurynome. From all his children Zeus gave man all he needed to live life in an
ordered and moral way.

Zeus had many Temples and festivals in his honor, the most famous of his
sanctuaries being Olympia, the magnificent 'Temple of Zeus', which held the gold
and ivory statue of the enthroned Zeus, sculpted by Phidias and hailed as one of
the 'Seven Wonders of the Ancient World'. Also the Olympic Games were held in
his honour. The Nemean Games, which were held every two years, were to honour
Zeus. There were numerous festivals throughout Greece: in Athens they celebrated
the marriage of Zeus and Hera with the Theogamia {or Gamelia}. The celebrations
were many: in all, Zeus had more than 150 epithets, each one being celebrated in
his honour.

Contributed by WaterSpirit