Mania is the Roman Goddess of the dead. Not to be confused with the Greek Goddess of madness (also named Mania), she is called the mother of the Manes, the souls of the dead, who became her children when they descended to the Underworld. She was also later said to be the mother of the Lares, the household Gods. Mania rules over the Underworld along with Mantus, God of the dead. Her image was hung over doors to frighten away evil spirits. Mania’s name is also seen as Manea and Mania della Notte (”Mania of the night”).

Macha (pronounced MOCK-uh) is the Irish goddess of war. Along with her sisters Badb and Anu, she forms the triple Goddess known as the Morrigan. All three could take the form of crows or ravens, and would fly over battlefields, choosing who would die and who would live. They would then take the souls of the deceased in their black wings, flying them off to the Otherworld.

Macha, Badb, and Anu are the daughters of Ernmas, an Irish mother Goddess, and Delbaeth, High King of Ireland. They are also the sisters of another triplicity of Goddesses: Banba, Eriu, and Fodla, Goddesses of Irish sovereignty. Where the latter three Goddesses embodied the sovereignty of Ireland, the former three protected it, through war but also through life. There are actually three Irish mythological figures named Macha, and only one is warlike: Macha Mong Ruadh (Macha of the red hair), who fought to become queen after her father the king had died. Another Macha, the wife of Nemed, who led the Nemedians into Ireland, died shortly after their arrival, but not before prophesying the arrival of the third Macha. This third Macha appeared one day at the home of a widowed farmer and became his wife, and he soon became very prosperous. When he wanted to attend the Assembly of Ulster, Macha did not want him to go, but relented on the condition that he not mention her name. Unfortunately, the farmer boasted to the King of Ulster that his wife was faster than the king’s horses, and she was dragged to Ulster to race against the horses. Macha was heavily pregnant with twins at the time, but she still managed to beat the horses. After crossing the finish line, she went into labor, delivered the twins, and then died. As her dying words, she cursed the men of Ulster, saying that in the time of their greatest difficulty, they too would suffer the pains of labor and childbirth.

Macha’s name, which means “plain” (as in flat land), resounds throughout Irish mythology and history. The first Macha, wife of Nemed, was buried at Ard Macha (hill of Macha), now known as Armagh. The place where the third Macha gave birth became the capital of Ulster, Emain Macha (Macha’s twins). The hero Cuchulainn is given a horse by Anu named Liath Macha (gray of Macha).

Satene is the Seram Goddess of the Underworld. The Seram people of Indonesia say that she was born from an unripe banana. When another Goddess, Hainuwele, was killed as a witch, the man who found her body, Ameta, took her arms to Satene. She created a spiral gate on the dancing ground where Hainuwele had been killed and stood in the center of it. Satene told the people that she was leaving the world and they would have to pass through the gate to see her again. The gate became the doorway to the Underworld, and those who were able to pass through when they died were reborn as people. Those who were unable to pass through were instead reincarnated as animals or remained on earth as spirits. When people did pass through, Satene would hit them with Hainuwele’s arms, and those who passed to her left formed one tribe, and those who passed to her right formed another. Satene’s name, which means “judgment,” is also seen as Mulua Satene.

Loviatar (pronounced lo-VEE-at-ar) is the Finnish Goddess of plagues. She is the blind daughter of Tuonetar and Tuoni, Goddess and God of the Underworld. The Kalevala calls Loviatar “black in heart and soul and visage,” and tells of her impregnation by the east wind. When she went into labor, Loviatar went to Louhi, Goddess of sorcery, who helped her to give birth to nine sons. The first eight of these sons she named Pistos (consumption), Ähky (colic), Luuvalo (gout), Riisi (rickets), Paise (ulcer), Rupi (scab), Syöjä (cancer), and Rutto (plague). The ninth, who personified envy, was not named. Loviatar’s name is also seen as Louhiatar, Louhetar, Loveatar, Lovetar, and Lovehetar.

T’ou-shen Niang Niang is the Chinese Goddess of smallpox. She is one of several deities of the “Ministry of Medicine”; the Chinese organized their deities in parallel with their own government structures. T’ou-shen’s four sons were also part of the ministry: Pan Shen had rule over fatal smallpox, Chen Shen over measles, Sha Shen over scarlet fever and chicken pox, and Ma Shen over pockmarks. T’ou-shen herself was said to particularly enjoy causing smallpox in beautiful young children, and children wore paper masks to bed to trick her into ignoring them. T’ou-shen’s name is also seen as Doushen Niang Niang, Douizhen Niang Niang, and Tou-Shen Niang Niang.

Chuma is the Slavic Goddess of death. She is the daughter of Veles, God of cattle and the Underworld. Chuma is depicted as a pale woman with white hair, dressed in a white gown. She carries a pair of silver scissors and a birchwood staff. The scissors she uses to cut the thread of life, and she gives the staff to the dead to help them on their way to the Underworld. Although Chuma is a Goddess of death, she is generally seen as a benign presence, and is called on by those who are dying to bring them a peaceful end. Chuma’s name, which means “plague,” is also seen as Tshuma.

Nirrti is the Hindu Goddess of destruction and death. She dwells in desolate places, watching for people who are hungry or in mourning. She wears dark clothes and has messy hair. Offerings to Nirrti are often black, such as black grain and stones, or diseased and malformed animals, and were usually intended to keep her away from rituals rather than to invite her to join in. As time went on, Nirrti was given male attributes as well as female, and thus also became associated with “third sex” and transgender people. Nirrti’s name means “destruction.”

Ereshkigal (pronounced ay-RESH-kee-gal) is the Sumerian Goddess of death and Queen of the Underworld. She is the daughter of Nammu, Goddess of the primordial sea, and Anu, God of the sky, and twin sister of Enki, God of the waters. Shortly after her birth, she was carried off by the dragon Kur to the Underworld, where she became its ruler. She is also said to be the older sister of Inanna, Goddess of love, war, and fertility, and she is mostly known from the myth of Inanna’s descent to the Underworld. Ereshkigal’s husband Gugalanna, the Bull of Heaven, had been killed after Inanna sent him to punish Gilgamesh, and Inanna went to the Underworld to pay her respects to her sister. Ereshkigal feared that Inanna was actually coming to take over the Underworld, and had her servant remove an article of Inanna’s clothing at each of the seven gates that she had to pass through. When she finally arrives naked at the foot of Ereshkigal’s throne, Ereshkigal strikes her sister dead and hangs her body from a hook behind her throne.

Another myth of Ereshkigal tells of how she came to have a second husband, Nergal, God of war and plague. Nergal was first sent to the Underworld with a message from the other Gods to Ereshkigal. He was so impressed that he petitioned the Gods to let him visit a second time, and the great God Anu warned him not to eat or drink anything in the Underworld and not to get too close to Ereshkigal. However, Ereshkigal seduced Nergal and they stayed in bed for seven days. Nergal then left the Underworld and returned to the heavens. Heartbroken Ereshkigal threatened to raise the dead until they outnumbered the living if the other Gods would not send Nergal back, and he returned to the Underworld and married her.

Ereshkigal’s name, which means “lady of the great earth,” is seen as Erec-kigala, and she was also known as Irkalla, which is another name for the Sumerian Underworld.

Masaya is the Nicaraguan Goddess of volcanoes. She lives in the Underworld with Mictanteot, the God of the Underworld, and receives the souls of evil people when they die. Masaya is depicted as an old crone with black skin, drooping breasts, and white wispy hair, similar to the gases that rise from the volcano in Nicaragua that is named for her. The Chorotega people used to sacrifice virgins by throwing them into the volcano, hoping that the Goddess would provide divine oracles in return for the sacrifice. Masaya’s name means “burning mountain.”

Atai is the Efik Goddess of creation and death. The Efik of Nigeria say that Atai and her husband Abassi, God of creation and the sky, created the first man and woman. Abassi wanted to keep them in the sky with him so that he could better control them, fearing that they would become stronger or wiser than him. Atai convinced him to let them settle on the earth, under the conditions that they would not work or mate. Abassi agreed, and the man and woman went to live on the earth. Each day, they returned to the heavens to eat with Abassi so he could check up on them.

Eventually, the woman discovered that she could grow food for her and the man by herself, and began to work in the fields. After the man had joined her in the field, they also discovered sex and began to have children. When Abassi called them to come and eat, they would not come and Abassi turned on Atai and blamed her for convincing him to let them go. Atai told Abassi that she would resolve the situation, and she sent death and discord to the earth. The first man and woman died immediately, and their children were doomed to have discord walk among them for all their days, until they too died.