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I'm seeking names of deities who embody the values of natural order, justice, or wisdom/knowledge.

I've already gone through the ancient Greek ones, listed below, but I would like different sounding names from other cultures, such as the Americas, Africa, Oceania, and the rest of Europe.

Kybélê Díkē Dikaiosýnē Eunomía Korýbantes Praxidíkē Nómos Athēnâ Thémis

3 Answers 3

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Natural Order

  • Chinese
    • the gods are energies or principles revealing, imitating and propagating the way of Heaven (Tian 天), which is the supreme godhead manifesting in the northern culmen of the starry vault of the skies and its order.

    • Shangti is the supreme god of law, order, justice, and creation. He is also known as Jade Emperor, Yellow Emperor, or Yu Huang Shang-Ti, although there are sometimes important distinctions made between these names and Jade Emperor can mean another deity.

Justice

  • Anbay is a pre-Islamic deity who was originally worshipped in Qataban, in what is now southern Arabia. He was regarded as a deity of justice and an oracle
  • Datin was an oracular deity also associated with oaths and justice worshipped in pre-Islamic northern Arabia
  • Haukim is a pre-Islamic deity who was originally worshipped in Qataban, in what is now southern Arabia.[1] He was concerned with arbitration and the law.
  • Hendursaga is the god of law in Sumerian, Babylonian, and Akkadian mythology.
  • Mandanu in Babylonian and Akkadian mythology is a god of divine judgement.
  • Nahundi or Nahhundi (in Akkadian, Nahhunte) was the ancient Elamite god of the sun and of law.
  • Ninsusinak was the national god of the Elamite empire and consort of the mother goddess Pinikir. He was also god of oaths and judge of the dead.
  • Pugu is the sun god of the Yukaghir of Siberia. Like many other solar gods, he was also seen as a god of justice and law.
  • Utu was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god, god of justice, morality, and truth, and the twin of the Mesopotamian goddess Inanna (Ishtar in the Assyrio-Babylonian language)

Knowledge or wisdom

  • Ancient Egypt
    • Neith, goddess sometimes associated with wisdom
    • Thoth, originally a moon deity, later became god of wisdom and scribe of the gods
    • Sia, the deification of wisdom
    • Isis, goddess of wisdom, magic and kingship. She was said to be "more clever than a million gods".
    • Seshat, goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and writing. Scribe of the gods. Credited with the invention of writing and the alphabet.
  • West African
    • Anansi, the spider trickster and spirit of all stories, best known from Akan and Ashanti folklore; according to some tales, also creator of the sun, moon and stars, and teacher of agriculture to humans
    • Orunmila, god of wisdom, knowledge, and divination
  • Armenian
    • Anahit, goddess of wisdom
    • Tir, the god of written language, schooling, rhetoric, wisdom, and the arts
  • Celtic
    • Ogma, a figure from Irish and Scottish mythology, said to have invented the Ogham alphabet
  • Chinese
    • Wenchang Wang, the god of literature and scholarship
    • Kui Xing, God of examinations
    • Zhuyu Xingjun, God of examination successes
    • Guan Yu, God of military exams
    • Lu Dongbin, God of daoist inner alchemy knowledge
    • Laozi, God of wisdom
  • Hindu
    • Saraswati, goddess of knowledge, creativity and speech
    • Brihaspati, Guru of the gods, bestower of knowledge and eloquence
    • Shukra, Guru of the demons, bestower of knowledge
    • Dakshinamurthy, aspect of the god Shiva as a guru and bestower of knowledge
    • Hayagriva, god of knowledge and wisdom
    • Gayatri, form of Saraswati and the goddess of hymns
  • Roman
    • Egeria, a water nymph who gives wisdom and prophecy in return for libations of water or milk at her sacred grove
    • Fabulinus, the God who teaches children to speak
    • Minerva, goddess of wisdom and crafts, the Roman equivalent of Athena
    • Providentia, goddess of forethought
    • Neptune, the god of the sea and freshwater, is said to have all the knowledge of water
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Greek:

  • Order and Justice: Zeus is the Lord of Order and Justice (Zeus Nomos "Zeus the Lawgiver", Zeus Ktêsios "Zeus Protector of Property", Zeus Horkios "Zeus Watcher of Oaths", Zeus Kosmêtês "Zeus the Orderer"). The Horai were the daughters of Zeus and Themis ("Moral Order"). Of them Dike ("Justice") was especially connected to Zeus. So, overall Zeus is the prime god of order and justice.

  • Wisdom: 'Metis' literally means "wisdom". In myth, Zeus swallowed the Titaness Metis and birthed Athena from his head. Thus, Athena is metis incarnated through Zeus' mind. Hermes was the god of wisdom as cunning. Roman:

  • Jupiter and Minerva correspond exactly to Zeus and Athena.

Germanic:

  • Order and Justice: Tyr, who is a linguistic equivalent of Zeus, is the god of justice and oaths. He is the god of the 'Thing', which was the legal assembly.
  • Wisdom: Odin was the god of widom. The Romans equated him to Mercury/Hermes.

Indian:

  • Order and Justice: Varuna and Mitra were the Lords of the 'Rta' or "Cosmic Order". They also have clear parallels to Zeus.
  • Wisdom: Sarasvati is the goddess of wisdom.

Outside of Indo-European myths you have the following.

Egyptian:

  • Order and Justice: Maat is the goddess of Order and Justice.
  • Wisdom: Thoth is the embodiment of wisdom and the husband of Maat.

Mesopotamian:

  • Order and Justice: Utu-Shamash, the sun god, is the god of order and justice.
  • Wisdom: Nanna-Sin, the moon god, is the god of wisdom. Enki is a god of the kind of cunning intelligence, like Hermes.
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  • As far as the Americas go, the Aztecs believed that Quetzalcoatl was a god of wisdom. I do not find a god of justice among them. The Inuits had the god Issitoq who punished those that violated oaths.
    – DarkWolf
    Aug 15, 2020 at 2:54
  • I think you've conflated Egyptian with Mesopotamian in your last section.
    – Draconis
    Jan 4, 2021 at 2:14
  • Yeah, I originally intended to put in a line for "Mesopotamian" between those entries. I guess I forgot to. I was originally going to add Anatolian and Persian examples as well but the entry seemed to be getting too long for that. Thanks.
    – DarkWolf
    Jan 4, 2021 at 21:14
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Yama is the god of death and justice in Hinduism which I found interesting. Forseti is another god of justice in Norse mythology. Toth is the Egyptian god of wisdom.

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