Hi'iaka is the Hawaiian Goddess of the islands and nature. She is the sister of Pele, Goddess of fire and volcanoes. Although Hi'iaka was conceived as an egg in Tahiti, Pele's original home, she was born in Hawaii after being carried there by Pele. She is therefore sometimes called Hi'iaka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele, which means "cradled in the bosom of Pele". Hi'iaka loved her sister Pele, despite her temper tantrums. Only one incident marred their relationship. Pele had seduced a young chief named Lohiau who lived in Kauai. After returning to her home at Kilauea, Pele wished to have the chief come live with her, and she asked Hi'iaka to go and bring him to her. She warned Hi'iaka not to fall in love with Lohi'au, and to return within 40 days. Hi'iaka asked Pele to watch over her gardens and her friend, Hopoe, who lived there. Hi'iaka's journey to Kauai was long and dangerous. When she finally arrived, she found that the young chief had died from heartache, thinking that Pele would not return for him. Hi'iaka used her magic to bring Lohi'au back to life, and returned with him to Pele. Unfortunately, she had been gone for more than 40 days, and Pele had grown jealous and angry. She burned down Hi'iaka's gardens, with Hopoe trapped inside. Hi'iaka was devastated by the loss of her friend and so mad at Pele that she turned to Lohi'au and kissed him. This made Pele even angrier, and she sent waves of lava to kill them. Hi'iaka was not harmed, but Lohi'au died, again. Hi'iaka, realizing that she loved him, went to the underworld and brought him back to life for the second time. The two then returned to Kauai, out of Pele's reach, and lived out their lives together.

Varima-te-Takere is the Polynesian Goddess of the beginning, mother of the Gods and humans. In her home in the lowest levels of Avaiki, the underworld, she pulled the sky God Vatea from her right side. From her left side she pulled the earth goddess Papa, and together Vatea and Papa created the world. Varima-te-Takere's name means "the woman of the very beginning", and is also seen as Varima or Vari.

Ungamilia is the Australian Aboriginal Goddess of the evening star. It is said that every night she descends into a white stone to the west of Alice Springs.

Hina-Ika is the Hawaiian Goddess of fish. There are many forms of the Great Goddess Hina, and this is one. Her name means "lady of the fish", and she is the patron Goddess of fishermen. Her hair was so strong that her brother, Maui, once used it to make a fishing net.

Here's another one for you, Bodhi!  Just make sure he doesn't have any access to breadfruit. Inemes is the Micronesian Goddess of love and sexuality. When a man or a woman wished to attract the attentions of a potential lover, they would approach an older woman in the community to assist them in preparing a love charm. The wise woman would prepare a charm to be carried or a potion to be slipped into the drink of the intended, and the suitor also invoked Inemes every morning to aid in their magic. If someone thought that they were the object of love magic and did not wish to be, they could negate the magic by rubbing water from preserved breadfruit over their body, since preserved breadfruit was offensive to Inemes. Inemes, whose name means "Mother Age-Worn", is still invoked in love magic today.

It's not hard to see why some of these Goddesses get cranky from time to time--this one is a victim of incest and date rape.  Men!! Hine-nui-te-po is the Maori Goddess of darkness and death, queen of the underworld. Her name translates as "Great Lady of the Night". Hine-nui-te-po was originally named Hine-titama, meaning "Lady of the dawn", and she was the daughter of Tane-matua, God of forests, and Hine-ahu-one, "woman created of earth", the first woman in Maori mythology. Hine-titama married Tane-matua, not aware that he was her father, and they had several children. One day, Hine-titama asked her husband if he knew who her father was, and he told her to ask the pillars of the house. She knew that her husband had built the house, and then realized that her husband was actually her father. Ashamed, she ran off to the underworld, where she was stopped by Te Ku-watawata, the guardian of the gate. He advised her to go back, to remain in the world of light and life, but she insisted on going forward. Just as she was about to descend into the darkness, Tane-matua caught up with her, but she turned him back, telling him that he was to go and look after their children in the world of light, as she would look after them in the world of darkness. It was at this point that she changed her name to Hine-nui-te-po, symbolic of her descent to the underworld. Hine-nui-te-po's descent also marked the beginning of the flow of mankind to the underworld. The great hero Maui attempted to regain man's immortality by crawling through Hine-nui-te-po's body while she slept. Maui had with him three birds as companions, and when he turned himself into a worm and crawled into Hine-nui-te-po's vagina, one of the birds laughed, awakening the Goddess. Feeling the worm crawling inside her, she crushed it to death. Maui thus became the first man to die, and man has been mortal ever since.

I think what I love most about doing this is discovering Goddesses I had never heard of before, and especially being able to share their stories.  This is one is the most imaginative reason for the sun traveling across the sky that I've ever heard. Gnowee is the sun Goddess of the aboriginal people of southeast Australia. Gnowee lived on the earth at a time when the sky was dark and people used torches to see their way. One day while she was gathering yams, her baby son wandered away. With a huge torch, Gnowee set off in search of her son, but she couldn't find him. She continues to search for him every day, lighting our skies with her torch.

The weather is turning cold here and we were starting to think about getting the fireplace ready, so here's a Goddess of fire to warm things up. Pele (pronounced pay-lay) is the Hawaiian Goddess of fire, lightning, and volcanoes. She is the personification of the female temper, and makes her home in Hawaii's Kilauea volcano, where her rages manifest as eruptions. Pele is a rather playful Goddess, often appearing to mortals, either as a tall, beautiful young woman or as a frail, ugly old woman. She is frequently accompanied by her white dog, Poki, whom she sends to warn mortals of upcoming eruptions. She likes to test mortals by asking for food or drink or for a ride to another part of the island. Those who are kind to her are rewarded, while those who are not are likely to have their homes destroyed by fire. Pele also punishes visitors who take lava rocks away with them. Although "Pele's curse" is said to be an urban legend started by a park ranger to preserve the volcano, others insist that it is true. Tourists who take away lava rock or volcanic sand often find bad luck awaiting them when they return home. Pele is very protective of her home and her children, and the only way to remove the curse is to ship the rock back to Hawaii and ask for her forgiveness. Every year, thousands of rocks are returned, and there are even companies that will assist these guilty tourists, leaving the rocks and an offering in hopes of appeasing the angry Goddess.