| | In May, the quiet creek I crossed earlier in the day became a monstrous torrent after a prolonged downpour. Flash floods, hurricanes, and tsunamis remind us of the god-like powers many cultures attribute to water. And water is magical: the way it shapeshifts between solid ice and whispery mist; the fluid way droplets join together to form rivulets or shimmering puddles; the way it shapes itself to the land, yet also scours the land into new shapes over millennia. |
The sea god Shavi of the Deep Dark, plays a critical role in The Sea God’s Lover, the second in-progress-novel in my series of fantasies set in the ancient Near East. Researching attributes for the androgynous Shavi led me down a research rabbit hole of ocean and water gods from around the world~
 | Abzû or Apsû, from Sumerian and Akkadian religion, is the divine fresh water from underground aquifers. The fertilizing qualities of all lakes, springs, rivers, fountains, and rain originate from the Abzû. He is also the primordial freshwater ocean, who mated with the saltwater ocean goddess Tiamat to conceive the Earth. The Enūma Eliš begins: "When above the heavens did not yet exist nor the earth below, Apsû the freshwater ocean was there, the first, the begetter, and Tiamat, the saltwater sea, she who bore them all; they were still mixing their waters, and no pasture land had yet been formed, nor even a reed marsh." Tanks of holy water in Babylonian and Assyrian temples were also called abzû or apsû depending on the language. |
 | Bunzi (also Mpulu Bunzi and Phulu Bunzi) is a goddess of rain and serpent water-spirit in the traditional religion of the African Bakongo people, also venerated by the Woyo people of central Africa. The goddess Bunzi is sometimes depicted as a multicolored serpent who rewards Her worshippers with an abundant harvest. She is also said to appear in the rippling water of the river at sunset. |
 | Chalchiuhtlicue ("She of the Jade Skirt") is an Aztec deity of water, rivers, seas, streams, and storms. Chalchiuhtlicue is associated with fertility, and is the patroness of childbirth. She was highly revered in Aztec culture at the time of the Spanish conquest, and was an important deity figure in the Postclassic Aztec religion of central Mexico. Chalchiuhtlicue is one of many Aztec rain gods. |
 | Danu is a Hindu goddess, embodiment of the primeval waters and mother of the danavas. Both “Danu” and “danavas” are derived from the Vedic word Da meaning “to give.” As a word for "rain" or "liquid", dānu is also the Avestan term for "river." Danu is ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰenh₂- "to run, to flow," which may also lie behind the ancient name for the river Danube, Danuuius – perhaps of Celtic origin or an early Scythian loanword. Other related river names are Don, Dnieper, and Dniester. There is also a Danu river in Nepal. The Irish Tuatha dé Danann ("Tribe / People of Danu") are sometimes linked to the Vedic water goddess Danu, or to the Irish goddess Anu as *di[a] Anu (the "goddess Anu"). |
 | The Dragon King, also known as the Dragon God, is a Chinese water and weather god. He is regarded as the dispenser of rain and has dominion over all bodies of water. One of his epithets is Dragon King of Wells and Springs. Dragon processions were held on the fifth and sixth moon of the lunar calendar all over ancient China, especially on the 13th day of the sixth moon (the Dragon King's birthday). These rituals dedicated to the Dragon King, especially prevalent in farming villages, encouraged the deity to make rain. There were also Dragon King miao shrines all over China for folk to worship local dragon kings. |
 | Manannán, also known as Manannán mac Lir (Manannán son of the Sea), is a sea god, warrior, and otherworld guardian in traditional Irish, Manx, and Scottish religion who is also one of the Tuatha Dé Danann (People of Danu). He uses a mist of invisibility to cloak himself and his dwelling, has a self-navigating boat named “'Wave-sweeper,” a horse that can course over water as well as land, and a deadly strength-sapping sword. In Scottish and Manx legend he is also called “little Manannán, son of the Sea.” The Isle of Man (Mannin) is probably named after him. He shares legends with the Welsh god Manawydan fab Llŷr (Manawydan son of the Sea). |
 | Mazu or Matsu is a sea goddess in Chinese folk religion, Chinese Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. Mazu is the deified form of Lin Moniang, a shamaness from the coastal province of Fujian who is said to have lived in the late 10th century. After her death, she became revered as a guardian deity of Chinese seafarers, including fishermen and sailors, roaming the seas to protect her believers through miraculous interventions. Mazu or Ma-tsu, means “Maternal Ancestor,” “Mother," "Granny," or "Grandmother." |
  | In Hawaiian mythology, Nāmaka (or Nā-maka-o-Kahaʻi, the eyes of Kahaʻi) is as a sea goddess in the Pele family. She is Pele’s older sister, the cool majestic waves of the ocean—contrasting with Pele’s volcanic fire. When Pele caused a conflagration by staying too close to the fire god Lono-makua, it was Nāmaka who drove Pele away. In another myth, Pele quarreled with her powerful sister, and Nāmaka sent tidal waves to destroy Pele's lands and homes. Pele fled to the high mountains out of Nāmaka’s reach, and periodically throws hot lava down to the waves, illustrating both the conflicting natures and balanced power of the two sisters. |
 | Olókun is an orisha spirit in Yoruba religion. Olókun is revered as the ruler of all bodies of water and the authority over other water deities, and is highly praised for their ability to give great wealth, health, and prosperity to their followers. Communities in both West Africa and the African diaspora view Olókun variously as female, male, or androgynous. In West Africa directly adjacent to the coast, Olókun takes a male form among his worshipers, while in the interior, Olókun is a female deity. In Santería, Olókun is an androgynous orisha, both a man and a woman. |
 | Poseidon, is the Olympian god of the sea, earthquakes, floods, and horses from ancient Greek religion. Poseidon's most distinctive attribute is the trident, a three-pronged fishing spear and he is often crowned with a wreath of wild celery. His name may be derived from posis (from the Proto-Indo-European root word *pótis, meaning “lord”) and the Doric word dâwon, "water" (from Proto-Indo-European *dah₂- "water," or *dʰenh₂- "to run, flow"). This etymology would make *Posei-dawōn the master of waters. He is one of many ocean and water gods in Greek mythology. |
 | Ryūjin (“Dragon God”) symbolized the bounty and power of the ocean in traditional Japanese religion. In some traditions Ryūjin is equivalent to the Japanese water dragon Watatsumi or Wadatsumi ("great deity of the sea")—who may also be another name for the sea god Ryūjin. In many myths Ryūjin has the ability to transform into a human shape. The deity also has knowledge of medicine and brings rain and thunder. He is considered the patron of Japan, since the Japanese people lived off the bounty of the sea for millennia. Ryūjin lives in his palace under the sea built out of red and white coral, from where he controls the tides with magical tide jewels. Sea turtles, fish, jellyfish, and sea snakes are Ryūjin's servants. |
 | Talay, Talai Khan, or Dalai Khan, is god of the oceans and seas in Turkish, Mongolian, and Altai mythology. He lives where nineteen seas meet and protects the creatures in them. He can take the form of a giant fish (whale) and decides on the rise and fall of the tides. The name Talay may come from the verb Dalmak, meaning vastness, depth, or infinity; the word Talaz, meaning wave, or the words Taluy/Daluy, which mean ocean. The first word of the title Dalai Lama, given to the spiritual leaders of Tibetan Buddhism (Lamaism) means Ocean. It is used to describe a wisdom and compassion as vast as the ocean. |
 | Yamm (or Yam, “sea”) was a minor deity in Ugaritic religion, though He received plentiful offerings and played a key role in Ugaritic mythology. Yamm represents the ocean and other sources of water; he was worshiped along the eastern Mediterranean coast. His secondary name was Nahar, “River.” His most common epithet is ṯpṭ nhr, “River judge” or “River ruler.” |
In the Baal Cycle, Yamm is an enemy of the weather god Baal, who ultimately defeats him. This may reference a historical conflict between competing cults, with worshippers of Baal creating this liturgy to celebrate their triumph:
“Surely I struck down Yamm, the Beloved of El,
Surely I finished off River, the Great God,
Surely I bound [the Sea Monster] and destroyed him.
I struck down the Twisty Serpent . . .
“Surely I struck down Yamm, the Beloved of El,
Surely I finished off River, the Great God,
Surely I bound [the Sea Monster] and destroyed him.
I struck down the Twisty Serpent . . .
More on water-related goddesses:
April’s Goddess~Aphrodite (born of sea foam) and Tiamat versus Marduk
April’s Goddess~Aphrodite (born of sea foam) and Tiamat versus Marduk
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