Faces of the Goddess Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bastet

Originally known as Bast, a warrior goddess of the sun represented as a lioness (similar to the lioness-headed goddess Sekhmet of Upper Egypt), in later years Bastet changed into a cat goddess, and came to be associated with the moon. Her main centre of worship was the city of Bubastis, in the Delta region of Lower Egypt.

She was considered the protector of the Pharaoh, and occasionally depicted as the embodiment of the Eye of Ra, the feminine counterpart of the sun god. The bronze statue with gold ornaments known as the Gayer-Anderson cat, on display in London's British Museum, is thought to be an image of Bastet.

Answer: Lakshmi

In Hindu mythology, Lakshmi is the wife and shakti (energy) of Vishnu, one of the major gods of Hinduism, and their relationship is held as a paradigm for Hindu marriage ceremonies. Her close association with the lotus (padma), the national flower of India, is reflected in many of her epithets. According to the main Hindu creation myth, Lakshmi emerged during the churning of the ocean. Lakshmi is often worshipped by Hindus at Diwali, the autumn festival of lights that signifies the victory of light over darkness, good over evil and hope over despair.

Answer: Pachamama

In Inca mythology, Pachamama was associated with mountains and earthquakes as well as agriculture. The sun god, Inti, and the moon goddess, Killa, were her children, sired by her husband, Pacha Kamaq. While originally Pachamama had a cruel aspect, as she demanded many sacrifices (occasionally including human), after the Spanish conquest she came to be identified with the Virgin Mary, so that her benevolent aspect prevailed. Nowadays Pachamama is still worshiped by the local populations in parts of the Andean region, and has been adopted by some New Age movements as a manifestation of Mother Nature.

Answer: Freyja

The day, obviously, is Friday, named after the Norse goddess Freyja ("Lady" in the Old Norse language). A member of the Vanir, the fertility deities who later were absorbed into the Aesir, Freyja is the daughter of Niördhr and the sister of Freyr. She owns the famed necklace Brisingamen and a cloak of falcon feathers, rides in a chariot pulled by two cats, and has a rather unusual pet - a boar by the name of Hildisvíni ("battle swine"). Like other goddesses of love and lust, Freyja is also identified with war (mainly in the "Prose Edda"), and receives half of the souls of slain warriors in her heavenly hall, Fólkvángr.

After the Christianization of Scandinavia, Freyja retained her role as a fertility goddess in the folk traditions of rural areas at least until the late 19th century.

Answer: Amaterasu

Amaterasu ("shining in heaven") is the Japanese goddess of the sun, and also of the whole universe. In the oldest tales, Amaterasu is one of the three children of Izanagi, born during the latter's cleansing ritual after his visit to the underworld; her siblings are Susanoo, the storm god, and Tsukuyomi, the moon god.

The texts also tell of the conflict between Amaterasu and Susanoo, which caused Amaterasu (and hence the sun) to hide in a cave for a long time. The Emperors of Japan are considered to be her direct descendants: according to the legend, Amaterasu bequeathed to her grandson Ninigi-no-Mikoto a mirror, a jewel and a sword, which became the three Imperial Regalia of Japan.

Answer: Artemis

The daughter of Zeus and Leto and twin sister of Apollo, Artemis (known as Diana by the Romans) was the Greek goddess of forests, wild animals and the hunt, and the protector of young girls. She cherished her own chastity, and demanded virginity from her followers - retaliating against any who broke their vows. Men who tried to get too close to the goddess suffered even worse fates.

The gruesome end of Actaeon, the hunter who was so unlucky as to see Artemis naked and was turned into a stag by the goddess - to be torn to pieces by his own hounds - has been often depicted by artists.

However, according to some myths, Artemis fell in love with the giant Orion, her hunting companion, though she eventually caused his death.

Answer: Pele

Passionate, jealous and mercurial, Pele is the goddess of fire, lightning, wind and - of course - volcanoes. She dwells in the Halema'uma'u crater at the summit of Kilauea, one of the most active volcanoes on Earth. According to the legend, she is the daughter of the earth goddess Haumea and the sky god Kane Milohai, and has many siblings with whom she was often at odds because of her volatile temper. Stories about her many love affairs and her fits of anger (culminating in destructive lava flows) abound. Though the ancient religion of Hawaii was abolished in 1819, belief in the goddess continued for some time, and the natives of the islands still speak of her with respect.

Answer: Ishtar

Particularly worshiped in the Upper Mesopotamian kingdom of Assyria, Ishtar - goddess of fertility, love and war - is the counterpart of the Sumerian Inanna and the Phoenician Astarte, and the personification of the planet Venus. According to some scholars, her worship may have involved sacred prostitution.

In one of the most famous myths about Ishtar, when her lover Tammuz (god of the harvest) was killed, she descended into the underworld - over which her sister, Ereshkigal, ruled - to beg for his release.

In the "Epic of Gilgamesh", Ishtar asks the hero to marry her, but is turned down and in retaliation unleashes the Bull of Heaven against him and his friend Enkidu. The spectacular eighth gate to the inner city of Babylon, built of glazed bricks, was dedicated to her; the lions, bulls and dragons represented on the bricks symbolize the goddess.

Answer: Coatlicue

Like the Hindu goddess Kali, the Aztec goddess Coatlicue was both a mother figure and a destructive force - as emphasized by her necklace of human hearts, hands and skulls. Her name means "snake shirt" in Classical Nahuatl: snakes are often identified with the Earth, reflecting Coatlicue's nature of primordial Earth goddess. According to the myth, she was impregnated by a ball of feathers that fell on her from the sky while she was sweeping a temple, and gave birth to Huitzilopochtli, the god of war and human sacrifice, who emerged from her womb fully grown and armed for battle (an echo of the Greek myth of the birth of Athena). True to her dual nature, Coatlicue was the patron of childbirth, but was also associated with warfare.

Answer: Brigid

The pre-Christian Irish goddess Brigid (also spelled Brigit or Brighid) was a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the supernatural race of beings who became identified with the main deities of Gaelic Ireland. She was the protector of poetry, and was also associated with holy wells and the spring season; her festival, Imbolc, celebrated on 1st February, marked the beginning of the spring. With the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, Brigid was syncretized with St Brigid of Kildare, the Christian saint who shared her name and some of her features; the saint's feast day came to coincide with Imbolc.