Georgian Pantheon

Gods

• Adgilis Deda (ადგილის დედა) – A goddess of fertility and livestock worshiped by the people of the northeastern mountainous regions of the Georgia (like Khevsureti) as the patroness of certain places and travelers. She is described as a beautiful lady with silver jewelry. She later became associated with the Virgin Mary when the region was converted to Christianity. Her name means “Mother of the locality”.
• Ainina and Danina (აინინა და დანინა) – A pair of goddesses mentioned in The conversion of Kartli and the Georgian Medieval Chronicles.
• Apsat (აფსათი) – A male god of birds and animals in Svan mythology.
• Armazi (არმაზი) – Chief of the gods; central figure of the official religion of the Iberian (Caucasian) Peninsula (= Kartli) established by King Pharnavaz I of the Iberian Peninsula (4th century BC). According to life of Saint Nino, a huge statue of Armazi – along with images of other deities and the temple that housed them – was destroyed by a storm of giant hailstones raised by the prayers of Saint Nino. Armazi is also the name of an ancient fortress near Mtskheta which dates from the same period. Various complementary strands of research suggest that the origins of this deity lie in a syncretism between conceptions of the Zoroastrian supreme being Ahura Mazda ( Armenian : 'Aramazd') and a supreme lunar deity Georgian native – a regional variant of the moon god Hittite Arma.
• barbaric (ბარბალე) – The goddess of cattle and poultry fertility, the sun, female fertility and healing. Devotees honor him at the Barbalesadmi festival with solar symbols, which takes place on the winter solstice. Its name is similar to the Sumerian and Akkadian epithet "bibbiru", meaning "brilliant, splendor".
• Batonebi (ბატონები) – Spirits of illness. Their name means “the masters”. In modern usage, "Batonebi" is used as a term for a small set of infectious diseases, which are often prominent in children (measles, chickenpox and a few others). If someone is infected with the Batonebi, according to a tradition, their family will prepare special foods and sweets for themselves, and place gifts under the trees to appease the Batonebi (traditions vary, but the general motive is that the whole family soothes the sick child).
• Beri Bera (ბერი ბერა) – An agricultural god of fertility, crops, and animals who is worshiped in eastern Georgia. Its festival takes place at the end of the year.
• Bochi (ბოჩი) – Thought to be the patron saint of livestock. The first written documentation of this deity comes from Euthymius of Athos. According to historian Ivane Javakhishvili, the name "Bochi" is related to the words for "male goat".
• Dalí (დალი), Svanetian 'Dæl' – the goddess of the hunt. She was believed to have extraordinary beauty, with long golden hair and glowing white skin. She lives high in the mountains where she watches over and protects wild animals. She sometimes shares animals with hunters, as long as they follow her rules by not hunting more than their necessary quantities or targeting animals that are her manifestations. In some myths, she will enter into a sexual relationship with a hunter, while warning him not to reveal their affair under penalty of death by petrification with her dogs – the fate also of those who break the promises they have made to her. . Ochokochi (ოჭოკოჩი) is so in love with her, that he always tries to have sex with her, but the deadly hunters who visit his forests often thwart his attempts to catch her. She is the mother of the hero Amiran. In Samegrelo, she is named "Tkashi-Mapa", the queen of the forest.
• Gatsi and Gaim (გაცი და გაიმი) – Gods in the official Iberian pantheon according to medieval records.
• Ghmerti (ღმერთი) – The supreme deity and head of the pantheon of gods. He is the all-powerful Lord of the Universe and its Creator. He lives in the ninth heaven, where he reigns on a golden throne. His children include the moon (as his son), the sun (as his daughter), and the Ghvtis Shvilni that protect people from harm. He is also called Morige Ghmerti (მორიგე ღმერთი, "God the Director") and Dambadebeli (დამბადებელი, "The Creator"). His name is later used to refer to God the Father in Christian belief.
• Kamar (ყამარი) The daughter of the sky god. She is a symbol of divine fire. Her beautiful appearance caused Amiran to remove her from the sky.
• lamaria , also lamara (ლამარია) – goddess of fertility, livestock and the home
• mamber (მამბერი) – The lord of wolves, who was worshiped in Svaneti and other mountainous regions.
• Mishpa (მიჭპა) – The patron god of cattle and other domestic animals who was worshiped in Svaneti during the winter.
• Mindort Batoni (მინდორთ ბატონი) – The god of valleys, fields and wildflowers. Humans must ask his permission before exploring or attempting to cultivate the fertile lands that make up his domain. His daughter, Mindort-brdzanebeli, is the beautiful goddess of flowers.
• Mindort-brdzanebeli (მინდორთ ბრძანებელი) – The goddess of flowers. She is the daughter of the god Mindort-batoni. It floats on plants, feeding on their pollen.
• Ochopintre (ოჩოპინტრე) – A spirit of the forest and protector of wild animals. The first part of his name (ocho, ოჭო) is linked to the ancient pagan god Bochi, the second part (pintre, პინტრე) to the god Greek Bang. Born with the legs and horns of a goat, he assists the goddess Dali in raising animals. Hunters usually made sacrifices in his name because no one could hunt animals without his help. It was believed that the fate of a person entering his forest was entirely in his hands.
• Samdzimari (სამძიმარი) – demon-born goddess of fertility and oracles, seductress of men.
• Tamar (თამარი) – Goddess who enslaved the morning star and controlled weather conditions; was called "eye of the earth" and rode a serpent.
• Tetri Giorgi (თეთრიგიორგი, "White George"), form of Saint George worshiped in Kakheti, variously identified as a reflex of the ancient moon god, and as a reflex of the ancient storm/weather god (Kopala).
• Tevdore (თევდორე) – God of agriculture and horses. After Christianization, he became associated with Saint-Théodore. During feudal times, the special festival of Tedoroba was held to honor him and ensure a bountiful harvest.
• Tskarishdida (წკარიშდიდა) – A mermaid-like goddess of rivers, lakes, and fish, in Mingrelian folklore. She uses magical powers against humans.
• Zaden (ზადენი) – God of fertility in the official pantheon established by Pharnavaz I. He was believed to be as powerful as Armazi. He was added to the official pantheon by Parnajom in the second century BC, and had a statue of him erected in a fortress near Mt. Zedazeni, near Mtskheta. His statue was said to have been destroyed along with the statues of other gods by the prayers of Saint Nino. Worship of him declined after Christianization.

Demigods, heroes and personalities

• Amiran (ამირანი) – Mythical hero and titan, son of Dali. Equivalent to the Greek Prometheus.
• Yakhsar (იახსარი) – A mythical hero who aided Kopala in his adventures in slaying demons and monsters, and was deified and worshiped as a folk deity.
• Ghvtis Shvilni (ღვთის შვილნი, Children of God or Children of Gmerti) – A group of demigods who protected humans, ensured good harvests and milk yields, fought against devis and kudiani witches. Amiran, Giorgi, Iakhsar and Kopala were among them, and they fought alongside Iakhsar and Kopala to drive the devis from the land and to help Giorgi attack the impregnable fortress of the kajis to plunder their treasures, livestock and their wives.
• Kopala (კოპალა) – A mythical hero, a mighty warrior and a demon slayer – also a god of lightning. He and Iakhsar lead a campaign to drive underground the quote that persecutes humans in the Middle Realm. His weapons include a mace and an iron bow made for him by the blacksmith god Pirkusha (პირქუშა) (with whom to compare the divine blacksmith Ossetian Kurdalægon and Circassian Tlepsh). He alone has the power to defeat the most stubborn demons, believed to take hold of a person's soul and cause madness, and, by this means, he heals those who suffer from madness. Revered by the people of the mountainous regions of Khevsureti and Pshavi.
• Kviria (კვირია) – A hero and son of the gods who mediated between Ghmerti and humanity. He is invoked as protector of human society and instrument of divine justice. In some areas of Georgia he was also considered a fertility and harvest deity, while in the mountains of western Georgia he was worshiped as the supreme deity. The Kviratskholovba Festival (კვირაცხოვლობა) was celebrated to honor him, as well as (Marshall Lang surmises) were the erotic and orgiastic cults and festivals, such as the Berikoba and Murqvamoba , celebrated regularly until recent times among the Pshavs, Khevsurs, Svans and other Georgian mountain tribes. The curious ithyphallic figurines discovered by GD Filimonov in the settlement of Kazbek on the Georgian Military Road may also (Marshall Lang further speculates) relate to the erotic aspects of the cult of Kviria. Such figurines have been the subject of much debate among archaeologists and anthropologists and examples continue to emerge in various parts of Georgia, as far away as central Kakheti, in association with finds of bronze daggers of specific “Kakhetian type”, dating between the 13th and 8th centuries BCE Some of these ithyphallic figurines had been designed to be suspended from drinking horns.
• Natsiliani (ნაწილიანი) – Humans who received magical gifts or divine signs from the gods (Georgian: ნაწილი, translit.: Nats'ili ). Their signs are usually located on their shoulder blades and glow with magical light, empowering their bearers. These signs must be hidden, because their holders will lose their powers if they reveal them. Certain signs can only be given by their respective gods.

Spirits, creatures and other beings

• Ali (ალი) – A type of demon similar to Lilith that afflicts pregnant women, the elderly, and infants who stumble into distant woods, caves, and ruins. Alis can be male or female (females being called alkali ); Male alis generally appear monstrous, while female alis can switch between tempting beauty and witch-like ugliness. Their name may be related to the word for "flame" (ალი). This supernatural being occurs not only in Caucasian folklore, but also in popular beliefs of the Iran , Central Asia and Mongolia and conceptions of its appearance may derive from popular relic hominin memory.
• Devi (დევი) – multi-headed ogre whose head can regenerate if one of them is severed. These malevolent giants live in the underworld or in remote mountains, where they hoard treasures and keep their captives. In the mythology Georgian, they live in a family, generally consisting of nine brothers. Bakbak-Devi (ბაყბაყ-დევი) was the strongest and most powerful in the quote. To defeat them, the heroes outplayed them using various tricks and games. Their name (borrowing from the Georgian Kartvelian language (language family) of Indo-European) is linked to that of the daevas of Zoroastrian mythology and Persian, derived in turn from the Proto-Indo-European god deiu̯ó.
• Dobilni (translation: “those who became sisters”; დობილნი) – disease-spreading spirits, usually appearing in the form of women, children or animals. Dobilni Towers (Georgian: დობილთკოშკი, translit.: Dobilt k'oshk'i ) were built in Khevsurian shrines to keep them at bay. Some Dobilni are benevolent, like the legend of Princess Samdzimar (სამძიმარი) of Khevsureti, invoked for easy childbirth, the birth of healthy children and women's health in general. Benevolent Dobilni were also invoked at certain shrines in order to bless livestock and also for the protection of travelers.
• Gveleshapi (გველეშაპი, in ancient sources გველ-ვეშაპი – Serpent) – Evil serpent that ruled and lived in lakes, rivers and water sources. In folklore, they were associated with water-related disasters and heroes fought against them.
• Kaji (ქაჯი) – A race of spirits who are often described as demonic metalworkers who wield magic. They lived in Kajeti (ქაჯეთი) and had magical powers which they used against humans. Land kajis were malicious, while river and lake kajis were friendly to humans. The female kajis were beautiful and they either seduced the heroes or aided them in their quests. They appear prominently in Shota Rustaveli's Vepkhistkaosani (ვეფხისტყაოსანი), in which the Kajis abduct Princess Nestan-Darejan and fight the heroes at the Kajeti fortress, although Rustaveli euhemerizes them, presenting them, not as a race of supernatural beings, but a tribe of human wizards (albeit wizards of impressive power). Kajis also feature in The Snake-eater by another famous Georgian poet, Vazha-Pshavela, in which they appear as the preparers of a snake meat stew which bestows occult wisdom on the hero, Mindia. Their name is linked to the storm armenian and to the spirits of the wind, the kaj (Armenian: քաջ, k'aǰ; plural: քաջք k'aǰk').
• Kudiani (კუდიანი) – A type of hideous hunchbacked witch, having large teeth and a tail, from which its name is derived (kudi, კუდი, “tail”). Kudianis can disguise themselves as humans in order to bewitch them. The leader of the kudianis, Rokap (როკაპი), often calls them to a special mountain where they hold a festival similar to the European Walpurgis Night.
• matzil (მაცილი) – Evil spirits from the underworld that torment travelers and hunters. Folk tales refer to Kopala's efforts to defeat them.
• Ocho Kochi (ოჩოკოჩი) – A forest of Mingrelian folklore that comes into conflict with hunters. Instead of hair on his chest, he has a protrusion in the form of a sharp bone or a stone axe, which he uses to kill passers-by by kissing them. He often hunts Tkashi-Mapa, the beautiful queen of the forest, out of lust, but his crude advances are just as often thwarted by mortal hunters (with the more worthy of whom she prefers, on occasion, to mate).
• Paskunji (ფასკუნჯი) – A phoenix-like being who helps heroes and humans. He lives in the underworld and fights snakes there. Heroes summoned him by burning one of his feathers, and he could transport them to other places and heal wounds and illnesses. In some other myths, however, paskunjis are described as hostile to humans and for having persecuted them.
• Q’ursha (ყურშა) – A legendary hunting dog associated with various mythological figures including Dali and Amirani.
• Rashi (რაში) – A magical winged horse. There are three types of rashis: earth rashis are well disposed to heroes and humans and could perceive the future; sea rashis are more hostile, but can take humans to the bottom of the sea, while their milk was believed to cure many illnesses; and celestial rashis have wings and can breathe fire, and are difficult to master but loyal to their owners. Kourkik Challaly, a magical, fiery and similar winged horse plays a big role (as the wise and faithful horse of successive generations of heroes) in the Armenian epic poem of Sassoun. Like sea rashis, Kourkik Challaly is first encountered underwater – in this case at the bottom of an enchanted lake.
• Rocap (როკაპი) – An evil spirit, leader of the Kudiani (witches). Ghmerti punished him by chaining him to a column underground, where he devours human hearts brought by the Kudiani. Every year he tries to free himself, but he always fails.