Book of Shadows

The Dark Gods

Acheron: The god of the River of Woe in the Greek underworld. It (or Styx) must be crossed to enter Hades.

Achlys: Greek primordial goddess of death, poison, despair, and eternal night. She appears as a hag, similar to a banshee.

Akitophis: The name of an unknown goddess in the PGM, possibly a name or epithet for Ereshkigal.

Anubis: Jackle-headed god of death and embalming in Egyptian mythology.

Araphel: Hebrew personification of darkness. Means "fog."

Arawn: The king of Annwn (the Otherworld or Underworld) in Welsh mythology. He leads the Wild Hunt and collects souls of the dead. Also called Gwyn ap Nudd.

Astaroth: Caananite version of Astarte, since demonized, becoming a destruction-and-rebirth goddess similar to Kali.

Azrael: Hebrew and Islamic Angel of Death, who separates the soul from the body.

Baba Yaga: A hag in Slavic mythology. She lives in a hut on chicken legs and travels in a giant, flying mortar and pestle.

Baron Samedi: The loa of the dead in Voodoo, who rules over death, resurrection, and debauchery.

Breksta: Lithuanian goddess of the twilight and dreams.

Camazotz: The monstrous Mayan god of bats, who lives in Xibalba, the Underworld. His name literally means "death-bat."

Circe: A witch and a daughter of Helios from the Odyssey, who was trained in magic by Hecate. She can turn people into animals using magical herbs.

Czernobog: The "black god" in Slavic mythology, representing the dark half of the year.

Epiales: The Greek god of nightmares, personifying sleep paralysis demons.

Erebus: Greek primordial god and personification of darkness, the mate of Nyx.

Ereshkigal: Mesopotamian Queen of the Underworld, the sister of Inanna.

The Erinyes (Furies): The Greek goddesses of punishment, Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. They can be called upon to curse someone who really, really deserves it.

Hades: Greek Lord of the Underworld and King of the Dead. Also the god of wealth.

Hecate: Greek goddess of the night, witchcraft, and the crossroads.

Hel: Norse Queen of the Underworld, who rules the dead. She is half black and half white, or half alive and half dead.

Gullveig: A Norse goddess who may be a variant of Freya. A witch who was resurrected three times after the Aesir burned and pierced her with spears.

Kali: Hindu goddess of death, destruction, time, and regeneration, the dark aspect of Durga the protector.

Kalma: Finnish goddess of death and decay. Her name means "the stench of corpses." She is protected by a doglike monster called Surma.

Kek/Kauket: The respective male/female personifications of primordial darkness in Egyptian mythology.

Leliel: Hebrew angel of the night and of conception. (I think of her as being the mate of Azrael.)

Lethe: The goddess of forgetfulness and of the river of the same name in the Greek underworld. It is in the Fields of Asphodel, and the spirits drink from it to forget their human lives.