Childhood gods

Bes (; also spelled as Bisu, , ), together with his feminine counterpart Beset, is an ancient Egyptian deity, of Nubian or C-Group culture origin worshipped as a protector of households and, in particular, of mothers, children, and childbirth. Bes later came to be regarded as the defender of everything good and the enemy of all that is bad. According to Donald Mackenzie in 1907, Bes may have been a Middle Kingdom import from Nubia and his cult did not become widespread until the beginning of the New Kingdom, but more recently several Bes-like figurines have been found in deposits from the Naqa

Kṣitigarbha (, , Wylie: sa yi snying po) is a bodhisattva primarily revered in East Asian Buddhism and usually depicted as a Buddhist monk. His name may be translated as "Earth Treasury", "Earth Store", "Earth Matrix", or "Earth Womb". Kṣitigarbha is known for his vow to take responsibility for the instruction of all beings in the six worlds between the death of Gautama Buddha and the rise of Maitreya, as well as his vow not to achieve Buddhahood until all hells are emptied. He is therefore often regarded as the bodhisattva of hell-beings, as well as the guardian of children and patron deity o

Japanese god of fishers and luck

In ancient Roman religion, Vagitanus or Vaticanus was one of a number of childbirth deities who influenced or guided some aspect of parturition, in this instance the newborn's crying. Some sources relate it to the Latin noun vagitus, "crying, squalling, wailing," particularly by a baby or an animal, and the verb vagio, vagire. Vagitanus has thus been described as the god "who presided over the beginning of human speech," but a distinction should be made between the first cry and the first instance of articulate speech, in regard to which Fabulinus (fari, "to speak"; cf. fabula) was the deity t

thumb|300px|Gallo-Roman examples of the fascinum in bronze. The topmost is an example of the "fist and phallus" amulet with a manus fica. thumb|150px|Phallus inscribed on a paving stone at Pompeii In ancient Roman religion and magic, the fascinus or fascinum was the embodiment of the divine phallus. The word can refer to phallus effigies and amulets, and to the spells used to invoke his divine protection. Pliny called it a medicus invidiae, a "doctor" or remedy for envy (invidia, a "looking upon") or the evil eye.

In Etruscan religion and myth, Thalna was a divine figure usually regarded as a goddess of childbirth. Determinate gender, however, is not necessarily a characteristic of Etruscan deities, and Thalna is also either depicted as male, or seems to be identified as a male figure because of the placement of names around a scene. Her other functions include friendship and prophecy. Her name may mean "growth, bloom." She appears in Etruscan art in the company of Turan, Tinia, and Menrva.

In Roman mythology, Pilumnus ("staker") was a nature deity, brother of Picumnus. He ensured children grew properly and stayed healthy. Ancient Romans made an extra bed after the birth of a child in order to ensure the help of Pilumnus. He also taught humanity how to grind grain. He was also sometimes identified as the father of Daunus and the ancestor of Turnus.

Ibeji (known as Ibejí, Ibeyí, or Jimaguas in Latin America) is the name of a pair of Orisha representing divine twins in the Yoruba religion of the Yoruba people (originating from Yorubaland, an area in and around present-day Nigeria). In the diasporic Yoruba spirituality of Latin America, Ibeji are syncretized with Saints Cosmas and Damian. In Yoruba culture and spirituality, twins are believed to be sacred, and are granted protection by the Orisha Shango. If one twin should die, it represents bad fortune for the parents and the society to which they belong. The parents therefore commission a

In the popular religion of ancient Rome, though not appearing in literary Roman mythology, the god Fabulinus (from fabulari, to speak) taught children to speak. He received an offering when the child spoke its first words. He figured among what Walter Pater enumerated in Marius the Epicurean (1885) among: the names of that populace of 'little gods', dear to the Roman home, which the pontiffs had placed on the sacred list of the Indigitamenta, to be invoked, because they can help, on special occasions, were not forgotten in the long litany— Vatican who causes the infant to utter his first cry,

In ancient Roman religion, Averruncus or Auruncus is a god of averting harm. Aulus Gellius says that he is one of the potentially malignant deities who must be propitiated for their power to both inflict and withhold disaster from people and the harvests.

Roman nature god

Mars Iovantucarus was a Celtic god who was associated with the Treveran healer-god Lenus Mars at his sanctuary at Trier. The name reflects the deity's function as a protector of youth, and the temple was visited by pilgrims who often brought with them images of children, often depicting as holding pet birds as offerings to the god. At Tholey, also in Treveran territory, ‘Iovantucarus’ was also used as an epithet of Mercury.

Khoriphaba is a God in Sanamahism, the indigenous religion of Manipur. He is the son of Sky God Salailen and the Goddess Konthoujam Tampha Lairembi. He came down from heaven to earth to search for his mother and then for a bride. He is best known for wrestling with Loyalakpa in the Lai Haraoba festival. He is also a Sagol Kangjei(polo)-playing God.

Chijoraji or Chijoragi is a name given to the infant Jesus carried in the hand of the Virgin of Candelaria (called by the Guanches Chaxiraxi) in Tenerife. Chijoraji is the name the aboriginal Guanches applied to this representation of Christ.

Chinese mythological figure

god of beech trees