Amore Deus for you Hearts

Gayathri Krishnaraj

Living in India, we’ve heard of a lot of Gods but never much about the Love God or Gods in this case. If you’re still standing in a temple, mosque or church praying to meet ‘the one’, make sure you ask the right wish from the right one. To help you out with your wish, here’s whom you need to contact.

Cupid

Let’s begin with the most popular of all. Cupids!

Cupid is the God of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love Goddess Venus and the war God Mars, and is also known as Amor. Of course, we know Cupid hits people with his arrows but did you know there are two kinds of them? One is sharp and golden pointed while the other is blunt, tipped of lead. A person wounded by the golden arrow is filled with uncontrollable desire, but the one struck by the lead feels aversion and desires only to flee. I bet it’s easier for you to know now which arrow you’re hit by…

Eros

While on the topic of Cupid, let me introduce you to Eros. Eros is the Greek version of Cupid, Eros was Aphrodite’s son and the God of desire and attraction (although, he was sometimes depicted as one of the Protogenoi, or primeval gods). Much like his Roman counterpart, he often took the form of a young winged boy, complete with bow and arrow. He was fiercely loyal to his mother— although he was prone to fits of disobedience. That rebellious aspect of the God showed up prominently in his most famous myth.

A young woman named Psyche was born and proclaimed to be so beautiful that she was the second coming of Aphrodite. Aphrodite grew angery when she heard the claim and sent Eros to shoot her with an arrow which’ll cause Psyche to fall in love with the ugliest man on Earth as punishment. However, Psyche was so attractive that Eros fell in love with her ignoring his mother’s wishes and whisked Psyche away. Eros never revealed his identity but Psyche’s curiosity got the better of her and she peeked in on him when he was sleeping. Betrayed by his love, the God fled and Psyche wandered the Earth until Zeus agreed to let them get married.

While Eros may be the exemplar of love, Anteros his brother was the deity of the reciprocal love and the avenger of unrequited love. Anyone who’s experienced one-side love, it’s Anteros’s duty to punish the loved person making them go through the same kind of pain the one-sided lover did.

Anteros, along with Eros, was winged and one of the Erotes, translating in plural to “loves”. Erotes were the attendant love deities of Aphrodite, and they were usually depicted as winged babies following their mother.

Xochiquestal

Now moving a few miles away to the Aztech empire. Xochiquestal is a mythological Goddess associated with concepts of fertility, beauty, and female sexual power. She serves to be a protector of young mothers and a patroness of pregnancy, childbirth, and the crafts practised by women such as weaving, embroidery and believe me, she’s not someone to be messed with. She’s also called Ichpochtli and along with her traits, she casts love spells. Marigolds are sacred to her. So, maybe try marigolds this Valentine’s day Instead of roses?

Cliodhna

Residing in the Emerald Isle, Clíodhna, the Irish Goddess sometimes depicted as a banshee or the Queen of Banshees (or Fairies, depending on the translation) was also the Goddess of Love. She was considered to be the most beautiful woman in the world. Unlike many other love deities, Clíodhna remained chaste, keeping her love locked away until she met the mortal Ciabahn—who, in a lucky coincidence, happened to be among the most handsome men ever to have walked the Earth. Clíodhna loved him so much that she left Tir Tairngire, the land of the Gods, to be with him.

Unfortunately, when the other Irish deities found out about Cliodhna’s decision, they conspired to get her back. While Ciabahn was away, Clíodhna was lulled to sleep by the music played by a local minstrel and was subsequently taken by a wave (the tide in the area is still referred to as “Clíodhna’s wave”). Depending on the source, she was either returned to Tir Tairngire or drowned in the sea.

Tu Er Shen

He might be a relatively minor deity in the land of myths, but Tu Er Shen—or Hu Tianbao, as he was known in his mortal form—is the God of homosexual love and marriage. Born during the Qing dynasty, Hu Tianbao realized that he was attracted to an official of the local government, spying on him naked through a hole in his bathroom wall. When his peeping was discovered, Tianbao was beaten to death. Moved by his unrequited love, the Gods of underworld took pity on him and restored him to life as the deity of homosexual relationships.

Perhaps because they were used as a slang term for homosexual men, rabbits are considered a symbol of homoerotic love in China, and Tu Er Shen is often depicted as a rabbit in the shrines dedicated to him. Sadly, in many of the places where he is worshiped, homosexual activity remains a punishable criminal offense.

When we hear the word Egypt, all that comes to our head is Mummies. While that maybe a tale for another time, here’s one of the most popular and longest-lasting of the Egyptian Goddesses - Hathor. Hathor was mentioned as early as the second dynasty (around 2890-2686 BC), and perhaps even before that. Since she survived long, Hathor took on a number of roles, including spells as the Goddess of love, beauty, mining, and music. However, it was her time as the Eye of Ra which led to her most interesting stories. The Eye of Ra is the term Egyptians used for the feminine counterpart to Ra, a role filled by a number of Goddesses, including Ra’s daughter, Hathor.

Found in King Tut’s tomb, the story “The Destruction of Mankind” speaks of a time when Hathor, at Ra’s insistence, became the War Goddess - Sekhmet to punish humans for their sinful ways. When the blood-thirsty Goddess spun out of control, Ra tried to stop her but failed. Hence, Ra managed to get her drunk before she killed the last person on Earth. Hathor immediately lost memory of what she was doing and returned to normal.

Rati

Hinduism definitely plays a large role in love and lust and that’s where Rati comes in. Popularly known as the Wife of Kama, the God of Love, she is spoken under several names, most of which describe her immense beauty. This made it obvious that Rati would be the Goddess of desire. Being born to either Daksha or Brahma she was the reason for the latter’s suicide, due to his lust over her because of which Rati too immediately killed herself.

But Rati’s biggest claim to fame was successfully changing Shiva’s mind. The Destroyer, sworn to ascetic ways after his first wife’s death, was forced to fall in love again. As revenge, he killed Kama, turning him to ash with his third eye. The best known version of the story has Rati persuade Shiva to revive her husband, with the caveat that Kama would be invisible for eternity.

Oshun

In the Yoruba region of West Africa, Oshun was the Goddess of beauty and love, especially of the erotic kind. Renowned for her beauty, she is usually depicted as a woman adorned with jewelry, though she is sometimes shown as a mermaid. Oshun is also pre-eminent among the female deities of the Yoruba religion and demands the respect the title deserves. When the Gods were first creating Earth, they

neglected to ask Oshun to assist. So, she made it impossible for them to create anything until they asked her to help.

Due to her reputation for complete purity, Oshun is also often associated with fresh water, an extremely important resource for the people of Western Africa. In addition, she also protects women and children during childbirth and is also seen as a protector from diseases, especially smallpox.

The God of married love, Hymen was a not-so-popular God of the Greek pantheon. Either as the Son of Apollo and Muse or Dionysus and Aphrodite, he led a charmed life thanks to his beauty, until he fell in love with a unnamed maiden, who didn’t feel the same way. While Hymen was trying to court her, she was kidnapped by pirates, along with a number of other young women (some versions of the myth even have Hymen taken by the pirates because his beauty made them mistake him for a woman).

Whatever the reason, Hymen found himself on the ship and killed the pirates, saving the girls, and convincing his love to marry him. Their marriage was so successful that they became idols for every Greek couple. His name is included in wedding songs in order to invoke his blessing.

Yue Lao

“The Man under the Moon,” – Yue Lao, a popular figure in Chinese mythology for he is the matchmaker and overseer of heterosexual marriages. Widely connected with the red thread of destiny, Yue Lao is often seen as benevolent deity, binding two people’s hearts together in love and marriage.

The best known story involving Yue Lao is that of Wei Gu and his quest to find a wife. After years of unsuccessful attempts, Wei Gu came to Yue Lao insisting he know who his future wife was. Wei Gu was shown a vision of an old woman with a young child, living in poverty. Distraught that the old woman was to be his wife, Wei Gu ordered his servant to kill the young child, but she escaped with a serious injury. Years passed when he finally found a suitable wife and noticed she had a scar. When Wei Gu asked about it, he was astonished to find that she had been the young child he tried to have killed (although he probably never told her; some secrets are best kept hidden).

Freyja

Lastly, here’s Freyja, which translates to “lady,” had a number of roles in the Norse belief system. Apart from being a Goddess of love, she was also the Queen of Fólkvangr, a place similar to Valhalla, where half of those who died in battle would go after death. However, unlike most of the other deities on this list, Freyja had a vicious bad side, full of greed, jealousy, and evil deeds. Among other things, she’s credited for teaching witchcraft to humans, a practice seen as evil by the Norse.

She was often at odds with Loki, who sought to torment the Goddess and steal items from her, including her famed necklace Brísingamen, which was later retrieved by Heimdall. In addition, Freyja would constantly scour the Earth for her husband, who would go missing from time to time, crying tears of red gold as she searched. She did have one tremendous advantage over the other deities on this list. Her favored mode of transportation was a chariot pulled by cats.