Pantheon

A **Pantheon** is a group of all gods and/or divine figures from a particular religion or mythology, often associated with a culture that currently or formerly worshiped them.

## Summary

A Pantheon is a group of all gods from a mythology or religion. It can essentially be thought of as different factions or nations of divine beings, each with its own corresponding culture that either currently or formerly worshiped them.

While it’s a common belief that by being in the same pantheon, the gods would share a similar personality or have similar characteristics, it isn’t always the case. At most, they are like-minded in terms of beliefs, ideologies, and virtues. The gods also often engage in familial relationships with one another, creating mythical narratives of sky-fathers and earth-mothers with hundreds of godly children, such as Zeus of the Theoi or Odin of the Aesir.

Once a pantheon forms, it orders the world around itself in a cosmology. Reality is divided into different realms for the gods to colonize and reorder, unmoored from the world and taken to the Overworld and the Underworld alike. These realms aren’t always created by the gods, however, as realms are sometimes born from stories that worshipers told about the gods and reality would reshape the gods’ own homes to take those forms around them. This isn’t a common occurrence, but a strange and unusual phenomenon; a subconscious process, altered by worship and by belief to suit the needs of the pantheon.

In the ancient past, many pantheons chose to live in the shadows of the world, dwelling in Terrae Incognitae that were located in the cracks of reality. The gods could build a home for themselves in a tree or a hearth or a statue, and all of them were every bit as fantastical and opulent as the great palaces of emperors and high-kings. Even when the gods left, these Terrae Incognitae continued to be inhabited by supernatural beings and the gods’ mortal descendants to this day.

Despite all of this, the forming of a pantheon could be a dangerous matter… not to the immortal gods, but to the mortals to worship them. Wherever the gods go, conflict follows. Every story needs a conflict, and the gods cannot escape the fact that they sow the seeds of their own dramas. They cannot help but stir up trouble in the form of mortal entanglements, cultural indiscretions, and spats with each other.

In addition, by becoming a part of a collective, the gods of a pantheon risk being Fatebound together through the actions of a certain few, being locked into certain roles and stereotypes that they have no choice but to perform while manifesting in the mortal realms.

## Known Pantheons

### African Pantheons

#### South Africa

* Bantu Pantheon – The Miung
* Zulu Pantheon – The Onkulunkulu

#### West Africa

* Ashanti Pantheon – The Abosom
* Igbo Pantheon – The Arusi
* Yoruba Pantheon – The Òrìshàs

### Asian Pantheons

#### East Asia

* Ainu Pantheon – The Kamuy
* Chinese Pantheon – The Shén
* Mongolian Pantheon – The Tengri
* Japanese Pantheon – The Kami
* Korean Pantheon – The Janggunsin
* Manchu Pantheon – The Enduri
* Vietnamese Pantheon – The Thần

#### South Asia

* Buddhist Pantheon – The Pālas
* Hindu Pantheon – The Devás

#### Southeast Asia

* Balinese Pantheon – The Hyangs
* Myanmar Pantheon – The Nat
* Philippine Pantheon – The Anitos
* Tai Pantheon – The Phi

#### West Asia

* Abrahamic Pantheon – The Tzevaot
* Arabian Pantheon – The Āliha
* Canaanite Pantheon – The Ilhm
* Hittite Pantheon – The Šiuneš
* Mesopotamian Pantheon – The Anunnaki
* Persian Pantheon – The Yazatas

### American Pantheons

#### Central America

* Aztec Pantheon – The Tēteoh
* Mayan Pantheon – The K'uh

#### North America

* Algonquian Pantheon – The Manitous
* Choctaw Pantheon – The Na Shilombish
* Haida Pantheon – The Sga'na Qeda
* Hopi Pantheon – The Katsinim
* Inuit Pantheon – The Inua
* Iroquois Pantheon – The Orenda
* Lakotan Pantheon – The Wakanpi
* Navajo Pantheon – The Yeii
* Taíno Pantheon – The Zemí
* Vodoun Pantheon – The Loas

#### South America

* Guarani Pantheon – The Anga
* Incan Pantheon – The Apu

### European Pantheons

* Baltic Pantheon – The Dievas
* Basque Pantheon – The Jainkoak
* Circassian Pantheon – The Narts
* Etruscan Pantheon – The Aisar
* Finnish Pantheon – The Jumalten
* Irish Pantheon – The Tuatha Dé Danann
* Gaulish Pantheon – The Nemetondevos
* Greco-Roman Pantheon – The Theoi
* Latin Pantheon – The Dei
* Norse Pantheon – The Aesir
* Slavic Pantheon – The Bogovi
* Welsh Pantheon – The Plant Dôn

### Oceanian Pantheons

* Australian Aboriginal Pantheon – The Tjukurpa
* Fijian Pantheon – The Kalou
* Polynesian Pantheon – The Atua

## Trivia and Notes

### Trivia

* Just as not all gods are daimons, not all pantheons are daimonic in nature, though daimons (or at least, half-daimons) are present in almost every pantheon. Even the Tzevaot, the Heavenly Hosts of the Abrahamic faiths, make extensive use of daimons as tutelar protectors of hallowed grounds, spiritual guardians of the faithful, or soldiers in their war against the infernal forces.
* Some pantheons are considered sub-pantheons of (not always necessarily) older and more powerful pantheons. These sub-pantheons can be a faction of younger gods who splintered away from the main pantheon due to new and/or conflicting doctrines, or foreign gods assimilated into the pantheon of their conquerors and are allowed to remain partially in power in exchange for a portion of their worship.
* While exceptionally rare, solitary gods do exist. Often, they are gods who were banished from their original pantheon or survivors of extinct pantheons and cultures. Almost all of them are vastly weaker than those from long-standing pantheons and require annual blood sacrifices from their cults in order to maintain their powers and immortality, though this came at the cost of attracting unwanted attention from potential predators.

### Notes

* The word "Pantheon" derives from Greek πάνθεον (*pantheon*), literally "(a temple) of all gods", "of or common to all gods". Sufficient to say, not all pantheons are particularly fond of relying on Theoi nomenclature.