A water deity is a deity in mythology associated with water or various bodies of water. Water deities are common in mythology and were usually more important among civilizations in which the sea or ocean, or a great river was more important. Another important focus of worship of water deities has been springs or holy wells.
Mindiss (or Mindis) is not a deity in Serer religion, but a pangool with goddess–like attributes. She is a female protector of the Fatick Region. Offerings are made in her name at the River Sine. She appears to humans in the form of a manatee,[4] She is one of the best known fangool (singular of pangool). She possess the attributes of a typical water fangool, yet at the same time, she is a blood fangool.[5] The Senegalese Ministry of Culture added the Mbind Ngo Mindiss site to its list of monuments and historic sites in Fatick. It is the site where offerings are made, situated on the arms of the sea which bears her name, in the Sine.[6]
Yoruba
Oshun, an orisha of fresh "sweet" waters and the Osun River.
Olokun, an ocean orisha. In Edo-Benin mythology (not Yoruba) he was the god of all waters.
Yemoja, originally the orisha of the Ogun River (largest river in Yoruba land) but became the orisha over the sea waves by way of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Originally was the metaphysical mother of all the Orishas. In some traditional-myths she is the co-creator of humans with Obatala.
Ebisu, god of fortunes and fishery, often being referred to marine megafaunas such as whales and whale sharks (hence being also called "Ebisu-shark").[7][8]
Oden: the Bugkalot deity of the rain, worshiped for its life-giving waters[11]
Ocean Deity: the Ilocano goddess of the ocean whose waters slammed the ediface of salt being built by Ang-ngalo and Asin, causing the sea's water to become salty[12]
Gods of the Pistay Dayat: Pangasinense gods who are pacified through the Pistay Dayat ritual, where offerings are given to the spirits of the waters who pacify the gods[13]
Anitun Tauo: the Sambal goddess of win and rain who was reduced in rank by Malayari for her conceit[14]
Apûng Malyari: the Kapampangan moon god who lives in Mt. Pinatubo and ruler of the eight rivers[16]
Lakandanum: variant of the Kapampangan Naga, known to rule the waters[17]
Bathala: the Tagalog supreme god and creator deity, also known as Bathala Maykapal, Lumilikha, and Abba; an enormous being with control over thunder, lightning, flood, fire, thunder, and earthquakes; presides over lesser deities and uses spirits to intercede between divinities and mortals[18]
Anitun Tabu: the Tagalog goddess of wind and rain and daughter of Idianale and Dumangan[19]
Lakapati: the Tagalog hermaphrodite deity and protector of sown fields, sufficient field waters, and abundant fish catch[20]
Amanikable: the Tagalog god of the sea who was spurned by the first mortal woman; also a god of hunters[21]
Great Serpent of Pasig: a giant Tagalog serpent who created the Pasig river after merchants wished to the deity; in exchange for the Pasig's creation, the souls of the merchants would be owned by the serpent[26]
Quadruple Deities: the four childless naked Tau-buid Mangyan deities, composed of two gods who come from the sun and two goddesses who come from the upper part of the river; summoned using the paragayan or diolang plates[27]
Bulan: the Bicolano moon god whose arm became the earth, and whose tears became the rivers and seas[32]
Magindang: the Bicolano god of fishing who leads fishermen in getting a good fish catch through sounds and signs[33]
Onos: the Bicolano deity who freed the great flood that changed the land's features[34]
Hamorawan Lady: the Waray deity of the Hamorawan spring in Borongan, who blesses the waters with healing properties[35]
Maka-andog: an epic Waray giant-hero who was friends with the sea spirits and controlled wildlife and fish; first inhabitant and ruler of Samar who lived for five centuries; later immortalized as a deity of fishing[36]
Maguayan: the Bisaya god who rules over the waters as his kingdom; father of Lidagat; brother of Kaptan[37]
Maguyaen: the Bisaya goddess of the winds of the sea[38]
Magauayan: the Bisaya sea deity who fought against Kaptan for eons until Manaul intervened[39]
Lidagat: the Bisaya sea deity married to the wind; daughter of Maguayan[40]
Bakunawa: the Bisaya serpent deity who can coil around the world; sought to swallow the seven "Queen" moons, successfully eating the six, where the last is guarded by bamboos[41]
Manunubo: the Hiligaynon and Aklanon good spirit of the sea[47]
Launsina: the Capiznon goddess of the sun, moon, stars, and seas, and the most beloved because people seek forgiveness from her[48]
Kapapu-an: the Karay-a pantheon of ancestral spirits from whom the supernatural powers of shamans originated from; their aid enables specific types of shamans to gush water from rocks, leap far distances, create oil shields, become invisible, or pass through solid matter[49]
Neguno: the Cuyonon and Agutaynen god of the sea that cursed a selfish man by turning him into the first shark[50]
Polo: the benevolent Tagbanwa god of the sea whose help is invoked during times of illness[51]
Diwata Kat Sidpan: a deity who lives in the western region called Sidpan;[52] controls the rains[53]
Diwata Kat Libatan: a deity who lives in the eastern region called Babatan;[54] controls the rain[55]
Diwata na Magbabaya: simply referred as Magbabaya; the good Bukidnon supreme deity and supreme planner who looks like a man; created the earth and the first eight elements, namely bronze, gold, coins, rock, clouds, rain, iron, and water; using the elements, he also created the sea, sky, moon, and stars; also known as the pure god who wills all things; one of three deities living in the realm called Banting[58]
Dadanhayan ha Sugay: the evil Bukidnon lord from whom permission is asked; depicted as the evil deity with a human body and ten heads that continuously drools sticky saliva, which is the source of all waters; one of the three deities living in the realm called Banting[59]
Bulalakaw: the Bukidnon guardian of the water and all the creatures living in it[60]
Python of Pusod Hu Dagat: the gigantic Bukidnon python living at the center of the sea; caused a massive flood when it coiled its body at sea[61]
Bulalakaw: the Talaandig deity who safeguards the creatures in the rivers; the lalayon ritual is offered to the deity[62]
Pamulak Manobo: the Bagobo supreme deity and creator of the world, including the land, sea, and the first humans; throws water from the sky, causing rain, while his spit are the showers[65]
Eels of Mount Apo: two giant Bagobo eels, where one went east and arrived at sea, begetting all the eels of the world; the other went west, and remained on land until it died and became the western foothills of Mount Apo[66]
Segoyong: the Teduray guardians of the classes of natural phenomena; punishes humans to do not show respect and steal their wards; many of them specialize in a class, which can be water, trees, grasses, caves behind waterfalls, land caves, snakes, fire, nunuk trees, deers, and pigs[70]
Tunung: the Maguindanao spirits who live in the sky, water, mountain, or trees; listens to prayers and can converse with humans by borrowing the voice of a medium; protects humans from sickness and crops from pests[71]
Tonong: divine Maranao spirits who often aid heroes; often lives in nonok trees, seas, lakes, and the sky realm[72]
Umboh Tuhan: also called Umboh Dilaut, the Sama-Bajau god of the sea and one of the two supreme deities; married to Dayang Dayang Mangilai[73]
Umboh Kamun: the Sama-Bajau totem of mantis shrimp[74]
Sumangâ: the Sama-Bajau spirit of sea vessels; the guardian who deflects attacks[75]
Nyai Roro Kidul, Javanese Queen of the South Sea (Indian Ocean).
Cambodia
•Yeay Mao, a neak ta divinity in Khmer Buddhism that is the patron guardian of sailors, travelers, and hunters.
Vietnamese
Động Đình Quân, Kinh Dương Vương's father-in-law, grandfather of Lạc Long Quân, he was a Long Vương who lived in Dongting Lake.
Lạc Long Quân, he is the ancestor of the Vietnamese people and is also one of the top Long Vươngs under the Water Palace.
Bát Hải Long Vương or Vua Cha Bát Hải Động Đình, he is a Long Vương and also the father of Mẫu Thoải. He is the son of Lạc Long Quân and one of the heads of the Water Palace.
Đông Hải Long Vương, was the 25th son of Lạc Long Quân and Âu Cơ who ruled the whole Bồ Sào region, ruled the Red River, gathered people scattered because of floods to re-explore the hamlets, and kept quiet villages throughout the delta form Ngã ba Hạc to the sea estuary.
Mẫu Thoải, the head goddess of all rivers, lakes and seas. She governs water and all things related to water.
Long Vương, the Long Vương is a common name for the gods who rule over the sea and ocean.
Hà Bá, the god who manages the rivers (note that each river has its own governing god, and each person's power may be less or more powerful than Hà Bá).
Bà Thủy, goddess has the same function as Hà Bá
Cá Ông, this god often appears in the form of large fish (such as whales, dolphins, sperm whales,...) to help ships that have accidents due to weather at sea.
Độc Cước, god of protection for the people of the sea.
Thuồng Luồng or Giao Long, They can be water monsters, they can also be water gods.
Tohora (Maori name for southern right whales), the great whale who saved legendary hero Paikea, famously known as the Whale Rider, (also the Maori name for humpback whales) from drowning and carried him to land. This led to the creation of New Zealand.
Momoke, fair maidens, said to be water spirits with skin as pale as milk. These 'white ones' approach those on land during the night, emerging from deep pools of water to collect food or to seduce men before returning to the water depths. It is said that the Momoke come from an underwater nation, though some have said that this watery kingdom is also 'Avaiki'; paradise, heaven and the source of all of creation.
Father Thames, human manifestation and/or guardian of the River Thames that flows through Southern England, while his ancient worship is obscure, he has become a popular symbol of the river in modern times, it being the subject of the song "Old Father Thames" and the model of several statues and reliefs scattered around London.[78]
The Ichthyocentaurs, a pair of centaurine sea-gods with the upper bodies of men, the lower fore-parts of horses, ending in the serpentine tails of fish.
Kymopoleia, daughter of Poseidon and goddess of violent sea storms.
Leucothea, a sea goddess who aided sailors in distress.
Nerites, watery consort of Aphrodite and/or beloved of Poseidon.
Nereus, the old man of the sea, and the god of the sea's rich bounty of fish.
Morana, a goddess associated with the winter, death and rebirth. Death and the afterlife itself are tightly connected to the bodies of water, while the effigy of Morana is thrown into a river at the end of winter so it can carry her away.
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