Looking Back at Gods and Goddesses of London

One of my resolutions this year was to blog about Gods and Goddesses of London. Before going in search of new Gods, here’s a look at some of the city deities I’ve covered in the past, in alphabetical order:

Aeolus
The Greek God of the winds has a temple at Kew Gardens. In mythology, Aeolus gave Odysseus a bag containing all the wind his ships needed to get back home, with warnings not to overuse it. You can read my post about the temple here: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/09/occult-london-temple-of-aeolus-at-kew.html

Aphrodite
There are many statues of Gods and Goddesses in the British Museum. I have blogged about Aphrodite, Greek Goddess of love: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2015/02/pagan-eye-aphrodite-statue-at-british.html I will be writing about many more from now on.

Euterpe
A statue of the Muse of lyric poetry stands in St George’s Garden, near St Pancras. It is one of the stops on The Pantheon of Pancras walk run by Minimum Labyrinth. Here is my earlier post: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2018/09/pantheon-of-pancras-gods-goddesses-women.html

Holda
In Greenwich Park is the site of an old well that local pagans believe is sacred to Holda, Norse Goddess of winter. There are also other deities associated with the park and I blogged about a visit there: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/08/goddesses-of-greenwich.html

Hygia
There is a frieze in Guilford Street, Bloomsbury, showing Hygia, the Goddess of health and cleanliness, plus the Muses – Calliope, Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia and Urania. Here are more details: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/07/occult-london-goddess-hygia-and-nine.html

Mithras
There is a huge underground Roman temple of Mithras underneath the Bloomberg building on Walbrook, which you can go and visit for free and learn about the history of the place. You can see a photo of it at the top of this page and here are links to two posts I wrote:
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/11/pagan-eye-roman-temple-of-mithras-in.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/11/reconstructed-temple-of-mithras-opens.html

Many of the original items discovered at the site are now in the Museum of London. I visited and photographed them in 2014, while the Temple of Mithras was closed: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/12/pagan-london-temple-of-mithras.html

Mother Goddesses
In the Museum of London there is a plaque depicting four mother goddesses, but their full identity is a bit of a mystery. Have a look at the picture to the right and find out a bit more here: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/09/occult-london-naming-fourth-goddess.html

Thames and Isis
These are the God and Goddess of London’s sacred river. Most people will be familiar with the name of Old Father Thames, but the Celtic name for the waterway was Tamesis. Even today, parts of the river have the alternative name of Isis on some maps.

In the 14th century a monk, Ranulphus Higden, described the river as being a combination of two tributaries, Thama and Ysa. Although this was probably just a version of the Celtic word, historian John Leland in his Itinerary (1546) translated Ysa as Isis. The connection with the Egyptian Goddess of magic grew from there. You can read my blog post about Thames and Isis here: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/10/deities-of-week-thames-isis.html  I would also thoroughly recommend the book Thames: Sacred River by Peter Ackroyd.
Venus
The Roman Goddess of love is depicted in a statue on a fountain in Sloane Square. Here is the link: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/02/pagan-eye-venus-of-sloane-square.html

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