Snake goddesses

thumb|upright|Mosaic of the Minerva of Peace in the Library of Congress

thumb|right|Hathor as a cow Hathor (, , , Meroitic: '''') was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity, she was the mother or consort of the sky god Horus and the sun god Ra, both of whom were connected with kingship, and thus she was the symbolic mother of their earthly representatives, the pharaohs. She was one of several goddesses who acted as the Eye of Ra, Ra's feminine counterpart, and in this form, she had a vengeful aspect that protected him from his enemies. Her beneficent side represented beauty, music, dance, joy, love, sexualit

, often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (kami) of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () and the (720 CE), as the ruler (or one of the rulers) of the heavenly realm Takamagahara and as the mythical ancestress of the Imperial House of Japan via her grandson Ninigi. Along with two of her siblings (the moon deity Tsukuyomi and the impetuous storm-god Susanoo) she ranks as one of the "Three Precious Children" (, ), the three most important offspring of

Hecate ( ; ) is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, or snakes, or accompanied by dogs, and in later periods depicted as three-formed or triple-bodied. She is variously associated with crossroads, night, light, magic, witchcraft, and the Moon. Her earliest appearance in literature was in Hesiod's Theogony in the 8th century BCE as a goddess of great honour with domains in sky, earth, and sea. She had popular followings among the witches of Thessaly, and an important sanctuary among the Carians of Asia Minor in Lagina. The earlies

thumb|Mut nursing the pharaoh, Seti I, in relief from the second hypostyle hall of Seti's mortuary temple in Abydos.

Nüwa, also read Nügua, is a mother goddess, culture hero, and/or member of the Three Sovereigns of Chinese mythology. She is a goddess in Chinese folk religion, Chinese Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. She is credited with creating humanity and repairing the Pillar of Heaven.

thumb|Ananke as represented by a modern illustration of Plato's Republic

Meretseger (also known as Mersegrit' or Mertseger) was a Theban cobra-goddess in ancient Egyptian religion, in charge with guarding and protecting the vast Theban Necropolis — on the west bank of the Nile, in front of Thebes — and especially the heavily guarded Valley of the Kings. Her cult was typical of the New Kingdom of Egypt (1550–1070 BC).

Manasa () is a Hindu goddess of snakes. She is worshipped mainly in Bihar, Odisha, Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Assam and other parts of northeastern India, chiefly for the prevention and cure of snakebite, and also for fertility and prosperity. In Hindu texts, Manasa is the daughter of sage Kashyapa, sister of Vasuki—king of Nāgas (serpents)—and wife of sage Jaratkaru. She is the mother of the sage Astika.

Coatlicue (; , , "skirt of snakes"), wife of Mixcōhuātl, also known as '''''' (, "mother of the gods") is the Aztec goddess who gave birth to the moon, stars, and Huītzilōpōchtli, the god of the sun and war. The goddesses Toci "our grandmother" and Cihuacōātl "snake woman", the patron of women who die in childbirth, were also seen as aspects of Cōātlīcue.

thumb|Chalchiuhtlicue, unknown Aztec artist, 1200–1521, gray basalt, red ochre. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2009.33

Renenūtet (also transliterated Ernūtet, Renen-wetet, Renenet) was a goddess of grain, grapes, nourishment and the harvest in the ancient Egyptian religion. The importance of the harvest caused people to make many offerings to Renenutet during harvest time. Initially, her cult was centered in Terenuthis. Renenutet was depicted as a cobra or as a woman with the head of a cobra.

In Egyptian mythology, Kebechet (spelt in hieroglyphs as Qbḥt (Qebehet) and also transliterated as Khebhut, Kebehut, Qébéhout, Kabehchet and Kebehwet) is a goddess, a deification of embalming liquid. Her name means cooling water.

Mafdet (also Mefdet, Maftet) was a goddess in the ancient Egyptian religion. She was often depicted wearing a skin of a cheetah, and protected against the bite of snakes and scorpions. She was part of the pantheon of ancient Egyptian deities that was prominent during the First Dynasty of Egypt. She was prominent during the reign of pharaoh Den whose image appears on stone vessel fragments from his tomb and is mentioned in a dedicatory entry in the Palermo Stone. Mafdet was the deification of legal justice, or possibly of capital punishment. She was associated with the protection of the king's

thumb|Sumerian name in Akkadian language|Old Babylonian cuneiform, dDim3-me

creator god and common motif in the art and religion of Aboriginal Australia

Minoan goddess figurine

pagan water spirit

thumb|Terracotta statue believed to depict Angitia, in Marsica, Italy Angitia was a goddess among the Marsi, the Paeligni and other Oscan-Umbrian peoples of central Italy. She was associated in antiquity with snake-charmers who claimed her as their ancestor. Roman interpretations probably obscure her Marsian significance.

Celtic healing deity associated with healing springs

Unut, also known as Wenut or Wenet, was a prehistoric Ancient Egyptian hare and snake goddess of fertility and new birth.

Ayida-Weddo, also known as Ayida, Agida, Ayida-Wedo, Aido Quedo, Aido Wedo, Aida Wedo, and Aido Hwedo, is a powerful loa spirit in Vodou, revered in regions across Africa and the Caribbean, namely in Benin, Suriname and Haiti. Known as the "Rainbow Serpent", Ayida-Weddo is the loa of fertility, rainbows, wind, water, fire, wealth, thunder, and snakes. Alongside Damballa, Ayida-Weddo is regarded among the most ancient and significant loa. Considered in many sources as the female half of Damballa's twin spirit, the names Da Ayida Hwedo, Dan Ayida Hwedo, and Dan Aida Wedo have also been used to r

Mamlambo is a deity in South African and Zulu mythology, the "goddess of rivers", described as a large snake-like creature.

In Aztec mythology, Malinalxochitl, or Malīnalxōch, ( , from Nahuatl malinalli "grass" and xochitl "flower") was a sorceress and goddess of snakes, scorpions, and insects of the desert. She claimed the title Cihuacoatl, meaning "Woman Serpent" or "Snake Woman". Her brother was Huītzilōpōchtli. During the migration, she was abandoned during her sleep by the Mexicas as directed by her brother. Afterward she had a son named Copil with Chimalcuauhtli, king of Malinalco.

character in the Legend of the White Snake

Wepset (wps.t) is an ancient Egyptian goddess. She is one of the personifications of the uraeus cobra that protected the kings; she is also an Eye of Ra and is mentioned as "the Eye" in the Coffin Texts. Her name means "she who burns". In New Kingdom texts she destroys the enemies of Osiris. She was mentioned as having a temple on the island of Biga; no such structure has been found there, but she appears in the temples of other deities here and in Lower Nubia.

Eingana is a creator goddess in Australian Aboriginal mythology (specifically: Jawoyn). Otherwise known as the "Dreamtime Snake", she is the mother of all water animals and humans. She is a snake goddess of death who lives in the Dreaming. She has no vagina; she simply grew in size and, unable to give birth to the life inside her, had the god Barraiya open a hole with a spear near her anus so that labour could commence. Eingana holds a sinew that is attached to every living thing; if she lets go of one, the attached creature dies.

Nagalakshmi () is a Naga goddess and the wife of Shesha, a nagaraja (king of the serpents) and one of the two mounts of Vishnu featured in Hindu Sanatan Dharma devotional, spiritual and religious texts. She is considered to be the personification of the divine ocean called the Kshira Sagara.

Scythian goddess