Dutch goddesses on International Goddess Day
Today is the first Sunday of September, which since a few years has been dubbed ‘International Goddess Day’ by some pagans. I like this idea – the pagan religion is one of a few world wide religions in which female deities get as much if not more attention as their male counterparts (if there are female deities at all). So yeah, everyday is goddess day if you ask goddess worshippers, but let’s just spread the word that there are many goddesses, large and small, some worshipped by millions, others long forgotten (but slowly waking up again).
For me it’s a nice opportunity to shine some light on the goddesses that were once worshipped in the Netherlands by the peoples who lived here thousands of years ago. In fact, some of them are being enthousiastically rediscovered – Nehalennia even has her own modern temple. For this website, I’m trying to stick to the facts. It’s quite astounding how many deities – male and female – were once worshipped in and around this little area that is now known as the Netherlands. Here are seven goddesses (click on the names); but seek and you shall find many more!
Arcuana
Baduhenna
Hludana
Hurstrga
Nehalennia
Sandraudiga
Tanfana