Gods and Goddesses of Night/Darkness

[Wooden Star]

I'm just starting to learn about Gods and Goddesses and I have a question, are night/dark ones thought of as bad? I really like the dark, night, etc but I'm wondering if they are bad to worship or try to connect with?

Thanks

[Asch]

I'm just starting to learn about Gods and Goddesses and I have a question, are night/dark ones thought of as bad? I really like the dark, night, etc but I'm wondering if they are bad to worship or try to connect with?

Thanks

 
No, not as such. Your best bet is to simply research a deity prior to contact, find out about their history and mythology, the cultures that worshipped them etc. AFAIK aside from the Christian's Satan there are few, if any inherently 'evil' deities.

[SatAset]

I'm just starting to learn about Gods and Goddesses and I have a question, are night/dark ones thought of as bad? I really like the dark, night, etc but I'm wondering if they are bad to worship or try to connect with?

Thanks

From the Egyptian Pantheon, Nut is the goddess of the night sky.  She is the Mother of the Dead and the Mother of the Sun God as well as five other gods and goddesses from the pantheon.  She's not evil.  

There is a group here called the Doors of the Sky dedicated to Nut or other forms of the Goddess of the Night Sky and Stars (Nut, Aset-Nut, Hetharu-Nut, the Star Goddess etc).

[Valentine]

I'm just starting to learn about Gods and Goddesses and I have a question, are night/dark ones thought of as bad? I really like the dark, night, etc but I'm wondering if they are bad to worship or try to connect with?

Thanks

 
There is nothing inherently bad or dangerous about the night, the dark, or deities associated with same.  Some deities associated with night or darkness are benevolent, heroic, kind, or nurturing; some are malevolent, aloof, devouring, or antagonistic, same as many other things there might be a God of.  Humans have often been frightened of the dark or the night-time, and have placed those fears with the deities associated with those things, but that doesn't mean there aren't positive aspects, too.

Generally, Gods and Goddesses associated with darkness or the night might share any of a broad spectrum of traits night and darkness themselves have: concealment, hiding, holding, enveloping, swallowing/devouring, dangerous, protective, of the night sky/heavens, of the underground/underworld, of the insides of things, of the outer void, fullness, emptiness, coldness, warmth, isolating, encompassing, violent, peaceful, chaotic, orderly, connected to death, connected to sleep, connected to birth, all manner of things.  Different people and cultures see different things in the dark.  Some cultures see Mysteries as a darkness to enter, and some as enlightenment or illumination.  Some cultures associate shadows primarily with brightness and daytime, and others with midnight.  

What I'm saying is:  there is a huge variety of deities associated with night and darkness, with a huge variety of personalities and qualities, and some are "bad," and most are not.  It's worth looking into.  I personally pray to a Goddess who is strongly associated with the night, and the first thing I ever felt I truly belonged to was the night, myself, and that has gone well for me.  I can't speak for anyone else on the matter.

[Wooden Star]

There is nothing inherently bad or dangerous about the night, the dark, or deities associated with same.  Some deities associated with night or darkness are benevolent, heroic, kind, or nurturing; some are malevolent, aloof, devouring, or antagonistic, same as many other things there might be a God of.  Humans have often been frightened of the dark or the night-time, and have placed those fears with the deities associated with those things, but that doesn't mean there aren't positive aspects, too.

Generally, Gods and Goddesses associated with darkness or the night might share any of a broad spectrum of traits night and darkness themselves have: concealment, hiding, holding, enveloping, swallowing/devouring, dangerous, protective, of the night sky/heavens, of the underground/underworld, of the insides of things, of the outer void, fullness, emptiness, coldness, warmth, isolating, encompassing, violent, peaceful, chaotic, orderly, connected to death, connected to sleep, connected to birth, all manner of things.  Different people and cultures see different things in the dark.  Some cultures see Mysteries as a darkness to enter, and some as enlightenment or illumination.  Some cultures associate shadows primarily with brightness and daytime, and others with midnight.  

What I'm saying is:  there is a huge variety of deities associated with night and darkness, with a huge variety of personalities and qualities, and some are "bad," and most are not.  It's worth looking into.  I personally pray to a Goddess who is strongly associated with the night, and the first thing I ever felt I truly belonged to was the night, myself, and that has gone well for me.  I can't speak for anyone else on the matter.

Alright, thank you. I was reading short articles on a few night Gods because I personally love the night, but I wasn't sure on the whole subject as I'm new to Paganism in general.

Thanks to everyone else as well, I will research certain Deities more in depth.

[NibbleKat]

Alright, thank you. I was reading short articles on a few night Gods because I personally love the night, but I wasn't sure on the whole subject as I'm new to Paganism in general.

Thanks to everyone else as well, I will research certain Deities more in depth.

I worship a Celtic star goddess, Sirona.  She's mainly a river/hot springs goddess, but her name means "Star", and she's definitely a celestial one.  For me, personally, she's distant, hard to reach emotionally and through ritual, but she's not "bad"  to worship.  In fact, I have referred to her as the "light in the darkness."  To me, night doesn't=bad, negative, etc.  It's like the OP said up there about there being more mystery, hidden things, the beauty of the heavens that she means to me; especially of creation and immortality. So.  Yeah.  

If you are interested in deities associated with night, go for it, I say, but definitely do your research! They're not ALL the same, and while I don't know of any off the top of my head, some might be less warm and fuzzy than others.

[Wooden Star]

I worship a Celtic star goddess, Sirona.  She's mainly a river/hot springs goddess, but her name means "Star", and she's definitely a celestial one.  For me, personally, she's distant, hard to reach emotionally and through ritual, but she's not "bad"  to worship.  In fact, I have referred to her as the "light in the darkness."  To me, night doesn't=bad, negative, etc.  It's like the OP said up there about there being more mystery, hidden things, the beauty of the heavens that she means to me; especially of creation and immortality. So.  Yeah.  

If you are interested in deities associated with night, go for it, I say, but definitely do your research! They're not ALL the same, and while I don't know of any off the top of my head, some might be less warm and fuzzy than others.

Thanks! I was actually looking at Sirona and am very drawn to her

[NibbleKat]

Thanks! I was actually looking at Sirona and am very drawn to her

 
Let me PM you something I wrote for someone who ... well. Took the info I took the time to write up for her and just ran without saying anything about it. (Feeding school research paper, anyone?)

[Wooden Star]

Let me PM you something I wrote for someone who ... well. Took the info I took the time to write up for her and just ran without saying anything about it. (Feeding school research paper, anyone?)

Aw! I would love to read it.

[NibbleKat]

Aw! I would love to read it.

 Sent it!

[Wooden Star]

Sent it!

 
Thanks! I will read it tonight when things are settled in the house (aka quiet).

[Maps]

I'm just starting to learn about Gods and Goddesses and I have a question, are night/dark ones thought of as bad? I really like the dark, night, etc but I'm wondering if they are bad to worship or try to connect with?

Thanks

 
I don't think many of us here subscribe to the idea of "bad" and "good" deities. Their personalities and their areas of duty are generally neutral things that can have good or bad consequences for you in a given context or whatever, like running into a storm while you're on a cruise. That same storm, if you hadn't been on that cruise, would be a neutral event from your perspective, and if that same storm happened in a parched region desperate for water, you might see that force as good. So it's all relative, really.