Guardians of love
- POSTED ON: 11 Feb, 2022
- TOTAL VIEWS: 219 Views
- POSTED BY: Bhavya Venkatesh | Article by Madhuvanti S. Krishnan
- ARTICLE POINTS: 150 Points
Mythology abounds in gods who were symbolic of love. Get to know some of them.
Freya
She is represented as the enchantingly beautiful woman who travels in a chariot drawn by two cats. She is Freya, also spelled as Freyja, Freyia or Frea. The goddess of love, beauty and youth, she is believed to have unparalleled knowledge and power. She practises a type of magic called seiyr. Whenever warriors are slain in battle, she chooses half of them to dwell in Fólkvangr, over which she presides. Legend goes that, whenever her husband was away on travel, she would weep tears of gold due to her longing for him.
Hathor
An immensely influential goddess, Hathor is often depicted as a cow or a woman with cow’s horns. She is the patron goddess of love, joy, celebration, and is often associated with women’s physical and mental health. She is often depicted as the personification of kindness and love. As the goddess of motherhood, she was the protector of women, though many men worshipped her as well.
Cupid
A cute little infant with wings, a bow and a quiver full of arrows … he is the quintessential Valentine’s Day symbol, Cupid. According to legend, he is the son of Venus, herself the goddess of love. Mischievous and playful, he is known to shoot his arrows at people to make them fall in love. Did you know that some legends say that he also had a second arrow to make people fall out of love?
Yue Lao
Worshippers of this deity often wear a thin red string around the wrists. It is believed that the god of love and marriage uses this thread to bind potential couples together. Often depicted as an old man with a long white beard, his name translates to ‘the old man under the moon’. Legend goes that couples connected by Yue Lao’s thread are destined to be together even if separated by a thousand miles.
Kamadeva
He wields a sugarcane bow and his arrows are decorated with flowers. His companions are the parrot or the cuckoo. Kama is best known for shooting his arrow of love at Shiva and being burnt when the god opens his third eye. He is later reborn as Pradyumna the son of Krishna and Rukmini.
Benzaiten
She is the goddess of music, water, words and eloquence and also of love. She is often shown holding a lute. She is said to have created Enoshima Island to imprison a five-headed sea dragon that was wreaking havoc in the Sagami Bay. It is considered a romantic place, and couples visit the island to ring a love bell together.
Now that you have learnt a little about these gods and goddesses, try your hand at a game to see if you match them to their origin countires.