Are the Gods and Goddess real? 
That depends on how you define reality. 
Do they live on Mount Olympus or Sinai ?  Not likely.  Just the same, they are as real as your Being right now as you read this. 
Let me explain.

In Wicca, and Paganism in general, each of the Goddess and Gods represents an ideal, a human quality, something we as people can relate to, something to engender our passions.

Above the individual Gods and Goddesses are the overall principles of male and female polarity.  Nothing happens in the Universe without this flow of Energy between polarities. 

Above even this personification is the Universal Power.  It’s very difficult to focus on this Power, however, so we invoke human-like deities to summon. 

Know that in this way we are focusing on the Powers above all. 

So by all means, use the persona of the Gods and Goddesses to facilitate your workings but know in the back of your head that you are actually directing a much higher Power.  What matters is how you relate to the God or Goddesses persona.  How he or she works with you, metaphorically speaking.*

Nor does  it really matter which Gods and Goddesses we pick; a true Pagan will always be able to understand their personal God or Goddesses in the Gods and Goddesses of other Pagan peoples.  This is as true today as it was a thousand years ago. 

So.  Without further adieu, here are the pictures of  Goddesses with a brief bio.  Followed by pictures of Gods.  Each picture links to its full sized version.  

 

Aphrodite Greek Goddess of love and passion: sexual rapture.
Born from the sea daughter of the severed member of Uranus
Her counterparts are: Venus; Roman; Ishtar: Mesopotamia and Ashtart
of the Middle East.  She is also known as Cytherea Passion: Pysical Passion

 

Aradia: Strega; Queen of the Witches, daughter of the Roman Goddess Diana and Lucifer.  Call on her when you need protection. Takes the form of a cat. Passion: Fear and Security

Arianrhod: Welsh: Goddess of the heavens and reincarnation.
Call on her to contact the ancestors. Passion: Eternal Life

Artemis: Greek; Goddess of the Moon.  She is also the Celtic Goddess Artio, the Bear Goddess.
Call on Artio to provide inspiration for artistic projects. Passion: Creativity

Astarte: Greek, Assyrian, Babylonian; Ancient Fertility Goddess Passion: Motherhood

 

Aurora: Roman Winged Goddess of the Dawn, Her lover, Tithonus, Prince of Troy was granted immortality but not eternal youth. When he aged terribly she changed him into a grasshopper Passion: Rebirth

 

 

 

Bast; Egyptian; Bast or Bastet is the Goddess of Protection, often taking the form of a cat. Passion: Beauty and Security

 

 

Brigid; Celtic; She is the often the Mother in the Triple Goddess. Passion: Sisterhood
 

Ceres: Roman; Harvest God
Here pictured with Bacchus.
She turned a a man into a newt for mocking Her. 
Perhaps for her tiny little head.
It's where the whole newt thing started.
Oops, shouldn't have said that.
She might turn me into a newtette! Passion: Security and Sustenance
 

Cerridwen: Welsh; Goddess of the Moon and Harvest. 
She is often seen as part of the Triple Goddess. Passion: Beauty and Sustenance

Demeter: The Greek Goddess Demeter represents fertility and motherhood.  Shown here rescuing her daughter Persephone
from the underworld. Passion: Motherhood and Protection

 

Diana: Roman;
Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt
She is the mistress of wild things
protector of the young and vulnerable Passion: Freedom and Autonomy

 

Dryads: Greek; Spirit of the Trees.
Celtic as Flidais; spirit of the woodlands
who commands the animals. Passion: Nature

Flora: Roman; Goddess of Spring,
flowers and beauty and plenty on the earth Passion: Beauty and Sustenance

 

 

Epona: Celtic and Roman; the Horse Goddess
Riannon in Britain and Macha in Erie
One of the only Celtic deity to have a
place in the Roman pantheon. Passion: Strength and Beauty Epona is especially significant to young women.

 

 

Eos Goddess of Dawn:  brother of Helios sister of Selene
mother of the Evening Star, Eosphorus.
Eostra to the Celts and Aurora to the Romans,
She is the Goddess of Passion and Desire, as many
gods and mortals sought her love including:
Orion, Cephalus, Astaeus, Tithonus, who she turned
into a grasshopper when she lost her desire for him Passion: Lust

 

Fortuna: Roman; Goddess of Fate. 
If you need your luck changed she is the one to call upon. Passion: Destiny

Freya: Norse Moon Goddess and leader of the Valkyries. Passion: Sisterhood and Beauty

 

 

 

Hathor: Egyptian; Goddess of cunning and beauty. 
Protector of women.
The Mirror of Hathor is an important magyc tool Passion: Beauty and Security

 

Hecate: Greek; Moon Goddess of wisdom.
Often portrayed as the Crone in the Trinity Passion: Wisdom

Hera: Greek Protector of marriage and of wives wronged.
here pictured with Zeus Passion: Jealously and Justice

Hestia: Greek; Goddess of home and hearth. Passion: Security

Inanna: Sumerian; ancient fertility Goddess Passion: Motherhood

Isis: Egyptian; the collective form of the Egyptian Triple Goddesses. 
Mother Goddess and bringer of life Passion: Life and Procreation

Lilith: Hebrew;
Adam’s first wife
who is said to have turned into a demoness and flew away. Passion: Freedom
Lilith is the Goddess of divorce

More about Lilith

 

 

 

Maat: Egyptian; Goddess of Justice and the Divine Order
pictured here with Isis Passion: Justice and Order

 

Morgan (Morrigan): Celtic; Goddess of War and Magyc. 
In some versions she is mated with the Merlin,
others she is the Lady of the Lake, others the sister of Arthur
Collectively in the Triple Goddess as Morrigan or Morrigna with Badb and Macha Passion: Female Strength and Power

 

The Muses: Greek Goddesses of Inspiration. 
 Summon the Muses for creative task such as music, poetry, painting, sculpting, etc. Passion: Creativity

Nephtys: Egyptian; Goddess of sisters and midwifes,
and fond of surprises. Passion: Motherhood and Sisterhood

 

Norns: Celtic; the collective name of the three sisters of fate. 
Another excellent source of good fortune. Passion: Sisterhood

 

Nuit: Egyptian; the crown of the heavens, Sky Mother. 
Copulates with Geb to make the world turn. Passion: Order

 

Persephone: Greek; Goddess of Spring and Healing
Goddess of the Underworld her return to the earth
signifies the beginning of spring.   In her underworld
role she advocates for the souls of the dead. Passion: Rebirth
 

Selene: Greek; Goddess of the Moon and logic. 
Call on her when you have a problem to solve. Passion: Truth and Beauty

 

Venus: Roman; Goddess of Love and passion Passion: Beauty and Love

 

 

 

 

Vesta: Roman; Goddess of Fire protector of home and hearth Passion: Security

 

 

 

 

And the Gods . . .

Notice how the male Gods represent male attributes as the female Goddesses represent the female ideal.

Amon Re (Ra) Egyptian; Sun God
Greek as Helios.
Celtic as Lugh Passion: Male Power

Adonis: Greek; lover of Aphrodite. Passion: Desirability

Anubis: Egyptian; protector of Isis and home and family,
later son of Re (Ra) later son of Osiris Passion: Protection

Apollo: Greek and Roman; Sun God Passion: Male Power

 

Cernunnos: Celtic and Roman; the Horned God of the Hunt Passion: the Hunt

Dionysus: Greek ; Bacchus: Roman;
God of Wine as a social catalyst,
civilization, harmony and justice.  His divine groupies are the Maenads, wild women who pursued Dionysus dancing and carrying on, the first witches, eating the raw flesh of animals.  You go grrrl! Passion: Celebration

Dagda Celtic; the good God of male competence. Passion: Ability

Eros: Greek; the God of love and passion Passion: Sex

 

 

Horus: Egyptian; The all seeing eye of Horus.
Call him when you seek to know and understand the truth. Passion: Truth

Hymen: Greek Marriage protector and guardian of fidelity.   
Call on Hymen when a relationship is on need of rekindling.
Here Cupid rekindles the torch of Hymen.  Passion: Loyalty

 

Jesus the Christ: Considered by Christians to be their personal savior but in reality a Pagan deity.  (see Jesus the Pagan) Passion: Love

 

 

Lucifer: Strega; Mate of Diana
and father of Aradia. 
God of the Sun and Light,
later vilified by Christianity
as the fallen angel, the devil.

Passion: Rebelliousness and Courage

 

Odin: Norse; Lord of the Norse pantheon, mate of Freya. Passion: Dominance

 

Osiris: Egyptian; counterpart of Isis.  Symbolizes power of death. 
Call on Isis and Osiris in situations of great need. Passion: Immortality

 

Pan: Greek; God of Nature, the Greek Horned God. 
Passion, and partying.
Here with Daphnis  Passion: Sex

Poseidon: Greek; God of the Sea Passion: the Sea

 

Ptah: Egyptian; represents the male facility for competence and craftsmanship.  Call on Ptah when you are doing a project.  Passion: Skill

Thor: Norse; Thunder God, Celtic as Taranis Passion: Strength

 

 

 

Thoth; Egyptian; God of Reincarnation. 
Moon God.  Bringer of Wisdom. Passion: Knowledge

 

And last but not least,
a picture of  Zeus with
one of his many groupies Passion: Sex

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this brief presentation of many of the most popular Gods and Goddesses.   In addition, it's been stated that an acolyte should avoid mixing pantheons.  For instance a God from the Norse pantheon and a Goddess from a Greek or Roman pantheon.  I don't know about that but it is important to understand the unique aspects of each God and Goddess.  For instance, Diana might be invoked for a love spell that might fall flat unless you are aware that Diana always picks her lovers and does so on the sly, outwardly espousing chastity.  Hera too is a Goddess to evoke carefully.  While she is the patron of  marriage, she is also a vengeful wife who punishes the illicit affairs of her husband Zeus in a horrific manner.  Zeus often had her chained to Mount Olympus because she was so wrathful. 

One final word regarding the images presented here and on the Spells and WitchCraft website in general. Images not created by our coven have been gathered from websites all over the world. Where possible artist's permission has been granted except where no information was available and no copyright information present. These orphan images are presented as fair use as part of our not-for-profit teaching mission but will be removed or credited as the artist desires. Also, right-click to save image has been disabled on all but our own images to discourage copyright infringement.

Also, it has been noted that the images selected of both women and men present an unrealistic ideal of real human bodies. Yes, they are, after all, Goddesses and Gods. As such, they present an ideal not necessarily obtainable in a given individual but rather something to strive for in each of us.

so may it be  
               Reni

*The difference between invoking the Powers and praying is that prayer is petitioning God for favors, literally prostrate oneself at the feet of God.  We, as children of the Universe, have the right to influence reality in whatever way we choose.  This is not to say we will always succeed.  But we have the right to seek our own satisfaction.