SLAVIC GOD VODEN
God of rivers, lakes and seas, in short – the deity of waters. Fishermen and sailors prayed to Voden (derived from ”voda”, i.e. water), the former for a good catch, and the latter for personal safety. Voden has the power to drown people as well as to save them from drowning or shipwreck, all depending on whether he was propitiated. One would say, however, that he would rather do the former, since his wife is none other than Morana – the Slavic goddess of death.
In addition, Voden’s function is also chthonic – leading souls to the underworld, i.e. Nav, which can be reached through water. This function of Voden as the Slavic Charon influenced him to be replaced by Saint Nicholas later, with the advent of Christianity. As it is known, Saint Nicholas is also an entity to whom sailors pray.
GREEK GOD POSEIDON
God of the sea and earthquakes, who lives in a palace at the bottom of the sea. Mythology always speaks of Poseidon as the ruler of the sea who carries a trident and rides through the waves on a chariot pulled by sea horses. Poseidon, albeit reluctantly, obeys his elder brother Zeus. He shakes the earth and has all power over the sea; with his trident he stirs up the waves, stirs up or calms storms, ensures good navigation or breaks ships on the high seas.
His wife is Amphitrite, the oldest of the fifty Nereids. Poseidon was also associated with horses and bulls. It was said that he created the first Scythian horse by striking a rock with a trident, or that the animal was created by the earth when Poseidon’s seed fell on it. His counterpart in Roman mythology is Neptune.
EGYPTIAN GODDESS TEFNUT
Tefnut is one of the oldest goddesses from the ancient Egyptian religion. She was the goddess of moist air, humidity, dewdrops and rain, associated with several other important deities. Being a goddess of water, she was present since the creation of the Earth. According to ancient texts, the goddess Tefnut is the daughter of Ammon and sister of Shu with whom she was lost in the waters of Nun as a child. Their father sent his eye, which found them and cried happy tears, and according to one version of the ancient Egyptians, people were born from those tears.
