TOP 10 MYTHOLOGIES

(SPECIAL MENTION: COMPLETE EQUAL RITES RANKINGS)

 

She is the goddess and this is her mythology – but how do my mythology special mentions rack up against my top ten mythologies when ranking them for their goddesses?

Pretty well, as it turns out, with one special mention taking out the top spot above all other mythologies and five more taking out top ten goddess rankings – so six special mentions swap out for my top ten mythologies when it comes to goddess rankings. That leaves only four of my top ten mythologies in the top ten when ranked by goddesses. One more special mention scores higher than the top ten mythology with the lowest goddess ranking.

 

SCORE:

6 SPECIAL MENTIONS – TOP TEN GODDESS RANKINGS

(7 SPECIAL MENTIONS EQUAL TO OR GREATER THAN TOP 10 MYTHOLOGIES)

 

Anyway, here’s my complete goddess rankings for my top ten mythologies and special mention entries.

 

S-TIER (GODDESS TIER)

 

(1) PAGANISM – GODDESS

 

She is the goddess and this is her body – o yes!

In my equal rites rankings, paganism is its own goddess-tier of goddess-tier, combining as it does all the divine female figures or goddesses of all pagan mythologies in my top ten – classical, Norse, Celtic, Egyptian, and Middle Eastern. Indeed, arguably all but Biblical mythology – and there’s arguments for paganism even reclaiming goddess figures from Biblical mythology.

As such, it would outrank all other mythologies, particularly in its modern form or neopaganism, which adapts all divine female figures – arguably including those of the other mythologies in my top ten – into an uber-goddess or Goddess, a supreme female divine figure. Almost all versions of modern paganism propose at least equality between female and male divine figures, while some versions go all out for the supremacy or even exclusivity of a divine female figure or Goddess.

Indeed, modern paganism is distinct from the original forms of paganism and arguably unique among modern religion for its supreme divine female figure, with the exception of my next entry – which outranks modern paganism in number of followers but paganism wins out for me with the overarching quality of its goddess movement).

 

(2) HINDU – SHAKTI

 

My highest ranking top ten entry, up five places from seventh place in my general rankings, not surprisingly as the closest rival to modern paganism as goddess movement (and outranking it in number of followers)

 

(3) CLASSICAL – APHRODITE VENUS

 

(4) EGYPTIAN – ISIS

 

(5) MIDDLE EASTERN (BABYLO-SUMERIAN) – ISHTAR

 

Top ten entries, up or down only slightly from their general rankings – reflecting their iconic and influential divine female figures, particularly the ones nominated for their entries.

 

(6) TAROT – HIGH PRIESTESS & EMPRESS

 

I’m as surprised as you are by the Tarot’s goddess-tier ranking but the cards don’t lie. The Major Arcana – the 22 major cards of any Tarot deck – isn’t quite evenly balanced between its male and female figures but it comes close with ten of its cards as female figures and arguably they make up that slight deficit in quantity with better quality in positive aspects or meanings (and the female figure of the World card as the supreme or ultimate culmination of the Major Arcana).

The Minor Arcana are also balanced, with two of its suits traditionally seen as female – the suit of Cups (often identified with Hearts in modern decks and associated with the ‘female’ element of water) and the suit of Coins or Pentacles (often identified with Diamonds in modern decks and associated with the ‘female’ element of earth). The court cards are also balanced in some decks, with jacks or pages often converted to princesses or otherwise seen as female to add a second female court card to the queens.

 

(7) MAGIC – FATES

 

Magic ranks in goddess tier for equal rites because it gives opportunity or empowerment for just that – balancing the scales against male mythic figures, particularly those that rely on force, martial prowess, or physical strength. That can be seen by recurring goddesses of magic or other divine female sorceresses – with Hecate, Freya, and Isis particularly notable as goddesses of magic. Charms and enchantment – in the magic sense of those words – tend to have connotations with female magical figures. There’s also the recurring prevalence of female figures, particularly triple female figures, associated with fate or magic – Fates, Norns, and Weird Sisters among others.

 

(8) WITCHCRAFT – GODDESS

 

Where else could witchcraft rank but in goddess-tier?

I’d almost rank witchcraft higher because of its typical connotations as female magic, but those connotations are also typically negative or adverse – virtually by definition as it were. Good magic is male – high magic, ceremonial magic, ritual magic, theurgy and so on – while bad magic is female and witchcraft. And the latter can extend to almost anything by a woman if you so choose, particularly if it’s in rivalry to a male counterpart such as healing or herbalism.

Of course, witchcraft has also been associated with men – but the predominant association tends to be with women, particularly in Europe.

Modern witchcraft (or Wicca) and historians have sought to reclaim witchcraft as positive, female empowerment or even as a goddess religion – or Goddess religion, to rival the supreme divine female figure of modern paganism. Hence witchcraft also came close to a similar ranking as paganism.

 

(9) DISCORDIANISM – ERIS DISCORDIA

 

“How I found Goddess and what I did to Her when I found Her”

Hail Eris! Eris Discordia!

As per the subtitle of the Principia Discordia, Discordianism had to rank in goddess-tier and I might well have ranked it up with modern paganism as effectively a subset of the latter.

The reasons I didn’t were, firstly that Discordianism is very much a fringe religion within even the fringe religion of modern paganism, and secondly that it’s not clear how much the goddess is the punchline in a joke disguised as a religion – or a religion disguised as a joke.

 

(10) TANTRA – SHAKTI KUNDALINI

 

I might well have ranked tantra up there with Hinduism, as I understand that it effectively overlaps to a large degree with Shaktism, but I just felt it didn’t have the same weight and rounded out goddess-tier of goddess rankings with it instead.

 

 

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

 

(11) NORSE – FREYA

 

(12) CELTIC (ARTHURIAN) – LADY OF THE LAKE & MORGAN LE FAY

 

Even though they still rank in top tier, these two mythologies are outscored by special mention entries for goddess rankings – which sees them drop out of the top ten goddess rankings (all of which are S-tier or goddess tier)

 

(13) FAIRIES – FAIRY QUEEN

 

“O what can ail thee, knight at arms…La Belle Dame Sans Merci hath thee in thrall!”

Once again, fairy folklore ranks close to the Celtic mythology or Arthurian legend it overlaps, particularly when it comes to fairy female figures, foremost among them the Fairy Queen.

 

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

(14) NATIVE AMERICAN (LAKOTA)

 

(15) AFRO-AMERICAN (VOODOO)

 

(16) MESO-AMERICAN (AZTEC)

 

While they have their goddesses, these top ten mythologies take a big hit from other entries to rank below the top ten goddess rankings.

 

X-TIER (WILD TIER)

 

(17) BIBLICAL

 

Biblical mythology takes out the top spot, but of wild tier rankings as opposed to THE top spot as in my general rankings, sacred space rankings or apocalyptic rankings! I mean, it could only have ranked in wild tier given its masculine monotheism (or Trinity) but its surprisingly prolific and iconic female figures earn it top spot of wild tier – even if they aren’t divine as such, unless you look under the (God)hood…

 

(18) GHOSTS

 

Wait – what? Ghosts rank just under Biblical mythology in wild tier?

Well, yes, because it’s surprising how large female figures loom in ghost lore – from White Ladies to the terrifying female figures of Japanese ghost lore.

 

(19) VAMPIRES

 

Not surprisingly, vampires rank close to ghosts for female figures – arguably they might even have ranked close to witches given the overlap between the two. It is also arguable whether they might outrank ghosts in terms of the prevalence of female figures as vampires, although I believe that prevalence may be more so in vampire fiction from Dracula (and Carmilla) onwards rather than in vampire folklore. There was of course the vampire hunting technique of locating their grave through a (naked) female virgin on horseback – which featured much to my delight in the 2025 Nosferatu film directed by Eggers.

 

 

(20) LEGENDARY CREATURES

 

It’s the mermaids.

They pretty much drag up legendary creatures to a ranking close to ghosts and vampires all on their own.

 

(21) SHAMANISM

 

Shamanism isn’t particularly associated with female figures but they’re not absent from it either – it is hard to generalize for equal rites in shamanism but some variants of it, particularly modern ones or neo-shamanism, have female practitioners (labelled as shamanka by Wikipedia) or at least divine female figures as guidance for shamans.

 

(22) ZEN

 

Although zen would seem to tend towards equal rites in principle, it has tended towards male figures in practice, albeit it has had some notable female practitioners.

 

(23) DRAGONS

 

Dragon folklore might not seem to have any distinctive association with female figures, except perhaps for female dragons, but there is indeed at least one such recurring distinctive association – and that is the sacrificial maidens that recur throughout dragon folklore, so much so that they have their own Wikipedia article as “Princess and Dragon”. Andromeda from classical mythology is the archetypal example.

 

(24) GIANTS

 

“Rest well, and dream of large women”

I rank giants similiarly to dragons for distinctive association with female figures. On the one hand, there is not the recurring sacrificial maiden or princess trope as there is with dragons. On the other hand, however, female giants are more distinctive, as in Norse mythology.

 

(25) LYCANTHROPES

 

There are female werewolves, right?

Well, yes – there are, enough for their own Wikipedia article (as werewomen). It’s not so surprising, given the overlap between werewolves and witches.

I suppose seal and swan maidens might also count but they’re more fairy folklore.

 

(26) UFO

 

I mean, there are female aliens, right? Or at least abductees? Science fiction – or pulp science fiction – seems to feature both, particularly s€xy ones.

Yeah, we’re starting to scrape the bottom now.

 

(27) URBAN LEGENDS

 

Well yes, there are female figures in urban legends – some of which even have some prominence in or are the central figures of the legend, such as the Vanishing Hitchhiker (when female) or Bloody Mary.

 

(28) CONSPIRACY THEORIES

 

Similar to urban legends, there are female figures in conspiracy theories – some of which again have some prominence in or are the central figures of the conspiracy theory, such as the conspiracy theories around the deaths of Marilyn Monroe or Princess Diana.

 

(29) ATLANTIS & BERMUDA TRIANGLE

 

If I recall correctly, the gods – and goddesses – that feature in Plato’s legend of Atlantis are the Greek ones, so you could argue Atlantis should rank up there with classical mythology but I just don’t think the Greek deities in Plato’s legend get it that far.

You could also argue for topless Atlantean priestesses in similar style to those in the Minoan civilization which is usually seen as the historical inspiration for Plato’s legend.

But again that only gets it so far in equal rites rankings, indeed only one entry short of last place. Well, that and whatever bikini girls the Bermuda Triangle snatches up…

 

(30) CRYPTIDS

 

I got nothing – we’ve hit bedrock for divine or really any sort of female figures, so it comes last. I suppose some of the cryptids must be female for the ongoing survival of the species – female Bigfoot swiping right on Bigfoot Tinder – but that’s about it.