Beauty standards may have changed over the centuries. However, all humans are still subject to the biologically understandable urge to procreate. Consequently, love and sexual attraction are extremely important to humans, which eventually influenced every divine pantheon to include a god of love or a god of lust. This is not surprising, for our gods are a reflection of ourselves.
Aztec Mythology
The name of the goddess Xochiquetzal in Nahuatl meant “Precious Luminous Flower,” which is appropriate for a being in charge of love.
She had several incarnations. In one, she was a young girl who beckoned for pleasure. In another, she was a responsible and mature woman. In the third, she was the fierce Tlasolteotl. In her youthful hypostasis, she was the god of lust and the embodiment of pleasure and sensual joy. In one tribe, there was a tradition to make young men drunk once a year and encourage them to copulate.
Shochitsekal is surrounded by many lovers whom she feeds and pleasures as a girl. Flowers represent her virginity. There is a myth that Quetzalcoatl once released his seed on a rock, from which a bat was born. The creature flew away and returned with part of the goddess’ vagina, dropping it on the ground. Odorless flowers appeared.
Then the bat flew away again, came back with another piece, and fragrant flowers grew. The mature form of the goddess had different husbands. One was Tlaloc, another was Senteotl, and a third was Tonakatekutli. All of these gods were, in one way or another, associated with fertility, the earth, and harvest.
Chinese Mythology
Tu Er Sheng
A relatively small deity in the Chinese pantheon, Tu Er Sheng, also known as Hu Tianbao, was once a mortal and only later became a deity of homosexual love and marriage.
Born during the Qing dynasty, Tianbao fell in love with a local official and began spying on him through a hole in his bathroom wall. Eventually, he was discovered and beaten to death. However, the gods, full of sympathy for his unrequited love, took pity on him and resurrected him, making him a god of lust, a homosexual deity.
Rabbits in China are considered a symbol of homosexual eroticism – perhaps because “rabbits” are often referred to as homosexuals, and Tu Er Sheng is depicted as a rabbit on many shrines dedicated to him. But unfortunately, in many places where he is worshipped, homosexuality remains a criminal offense.
Yue Lao
Yue Lao, also known as “The Man Under the Moon,” is a popular figure in Chinese mythology because he is a matchmaker and witness to heterosexual marriages. As a result, Yue Lao is often seen as a benevolent deity and the master of the red threads of fate that connect the hearts of two people through marriage.
The most famous story involving Yue Lao is that of a man named Wei Gu, who was looking for a wife. After years of searching without success, Wei Gu stumbled upon Yue Lao while reading the Book of Marriage. Wei Gu made the god show him his future wife and saw an older woman with a small child living in poverty. Frightened that the little beggar would become his wife, Wei Gu ordered his servant to kill the infant.
Years later, Wei Gu found a suitable bride and noticed the scar on her forehead. She told him that someone had tried to kill her as a child, and Wei Gu was horrified to realize that he had almost killed her. However, he probably never told her about it-some secrets are better kept secret.
Egyptian Mythology
Amun
There are very strange figurines for sale in Egypt. They are figurines of a pharaoh without one leg, without one arm, but with a disproportionately huge penis… Usually, tourists think that this is a kind of humor of the Egyptians associated with their increased sexual preoccupation.
Buying such a strange statue as a memento of a trip to Egypt, tourists do not even suspect that it is the ancient Egyptian god of lust, fertility, love, and sex – Amun. In some periods of history, he is also called Amun. It is believed that the figure of this god brings prosperity, good luck, and many children into the home.
The main thing, of course, is lots of children. All the gods on the frescoes in the temples were depicted in profile with two legs and two arms (with the shoulders always turned in the whole face), and only this god stands on one leg. It is visible that he has only one arm and a phallus sticking out.
Legend has it that when Pharaoh Koptos went off to war, he took all the men with him, and only one disabled man without an arm remained in the city. When they returned from the campaign, all their wives were pregnant. An investigation began, and it was discovered that all the wives and unmarried girls had become pregnant by the same invalid man who had remained in the city.
For this, Pharaoh ordered his leg to be cut off so that this man could not walk or commit adultery. Only one invalid male remained in the city the next time Pharaoh went on a campaign. When the army returned, all the women were pregnant, even those who could not get pregnant before. It became clear who had “helped” them all. Pharaoh’s anger was boundless, and his wives were also pregnant.
But the cripple was nowhere to be found. This is very strange, for there was a desert around the city and nowhere to hide. They searched for a long time for the cripple, but they could not find him. And then everyone realized that only god could do such a thing and disappear. He came to earth as a cripple and helped the local men multiply while they were on the march.
All the children born of him were placed in a different city. And the cripple has been depicted on frescoes as the size of a pharaoh with an erect penis. Ordinary people in Egyptian frescoes are shown as small, the wives of pharaohs are larger, and the pharaohs and gods are several times larger. At this size, the god of lust, fertility, and love began to be carved.
In Egypt, you can buy figurines of this god in various sizes. Their height varies from a few centimeters to half a meter. Egyptian men seem very fond of the god of lust, Amun, and try in every way to repeat his exploits.
Hathor
Hathor is one of the most revered and ancient Egyptian goddesses. The first mentions her appearance as early as the second dynasty of the pharaohs (about 2890-2686 BC) or even earlier.
This goddess was particularly revered in ancient times. The goddess of love in Egypt was initially depicted as a cow giving birth to the sun. Gradually the representation changed, and the deity looked like a beautiful woman with long horns, which later reincarnated into a crown with the sun in the center. It was believed that the goddess could take the form of any living creature.
Found in the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, the story of the “destruction of humanity” recounts the time when Hathor, at Ra’s insistence, turned into the goddess of war, Sekhmet, to punish people for their sins. When the bloodthirsty goddess got out of hand, Ra tried to stop his daughter, but to no avail. Fortunately, Ra managed to get her drunk on wine before she killed the last man on earth.
She woke up as Hathor, utterly oblivious of what she had done, and returned to everyday life. In another story, perhaps equally disturbing, she danced a striptease for her father to cheer him up.
Greek Mythology
The gods in ancient Greece were responsible for many different areas of life. There was not a single god who did not have a patron. Sometimes there were entire groups of gods with similar functions. The sphere of pleasures, and enjoyment, including sensual and intimate ones, was not ignored.
There was more than one god of lust in Greek mythology. The gods of pleasure were Aphrodite and other deities of love, as well as patrons of different kinds of pleasure, simply from life or, for example, from sleep. Their legends tell of human passions and desires, as well as of attempts to satisfy them.
Hedon
The goddess Hedon was directly responsible for pleasure. She was the embodiment and personification of pleasure and fun and the god of lust (the latter was especially relevant in Rome). Hedon was considered the daughter of Eros (god of love) and Psyche (personification of the soul). This is a little-known goddess who rarely appears in legend.
The name Hedon comes from a word in the Greek language meaning “enjoyment” and “pleasure”. From it arose the term “hedonism,” a doctrine that presents pleasure as the highest good. Pleasure is the only value. Therefore, all life should be devoted to its attainment.
Aphrodite
Perhaps the most famous goddess of pleasure is Aphrodite, the most beautiful goddess. Aphrodite was considered the patroness of love, beauty, eternal youth, and spring. She was one of the 12 Olympian gods, the supreme deities especially revered by the Greeks. These gods represented the most important things in people’s lives. They patronized the vital spheres.
Aphrodite was considered not only the goddess of love but also the goddess of fertility and childbearing. After all, it was love that gave birth to live.
The goddess was born of the sea foam after Cronus had decapitated Uranus. The severed part of her body fell into the sea, creating foam. Aphrodite emerged from the sea on the island of Cyprus.
The term “god of lust” does not quite apply to Aphrodite. She is known primarily as the goddess of love, but her cult covers many more areas of human life. First, it is love, but love in its various variations. It is also passion, voluptuousness, and pleasure, so she becomes the goddess of sensual pleasures. But it is also love for procreation, life, and bearing children. This is why Aphrodite patronized not only sensual pleasures but also marriage and procreation.
Dionysus
Dionysus, or Bacchus, is the youngest of the Olympic gods. Dionysus is known as the patron of merriment, festivals, and very riotous festivities and the god of wine-making. During bacchanalia, celebrations in his honor, wine poured like a river, and people were plunged into an ecstatic state. This god of pleasures in Greece gave inspiration that came to man in an altered state of consciousness.
This god of lust and pleasure in Greece experienced perhaps one of the most unusual births. The mother of Dionysus was Semele, daughter of Cadmus, founder of Thebes, and the father was Zeus the thundered himself. Zeus’ wife, Hera, learned of Semele’s pregnancy.
She also knew that Zeus the thundered had promised to fulfill the girl’s every wish. So she came to the princess in the guise of a nurse or traveler and advised Semele to ask Zeus to appear in his proper form. Then, according to Hera, Semele could find out what it was like to share a bed with a deity.
Zeus, who swore by the waters of the River Styx, could not refuse his beloved. However, of his actual appearance, Semele was burned because mortals were not allowed to see him. According to one version, she was pierced by lightning. However, the child in her womb remained alive, and Zeus sewed it into his thigh, eventually giving birth to a child from it. He then gave the child to the nymphs to raise.
Eros
The god of lust and pleasure in mythology, who also cannot be omitted, is Eros or Cupid. He is traditionally considered the companion of Aphrodite, her son. The primary role of Eros is to awaken people the love, attraction, and pleasure, which leads to the continuation of the race.
And initially, he played a vital role in mythology, as can be seen in the texts of various authors. Eros is not merely the god of lust and love. With his power, he ensures the universe’s existence, which is based on the unity of male and female principles.
Most depictions of this deity are of a handsome young man or a young man with wings. However, his constant attributes are a bow with arrows bearing the torment of love. Eros also often held a torch in his hand. In earlier times, it was a flower and a lyre.
Indian Mythology
Kama
The unique and subtle element of love has had its patron in every nation. Since ancient times, people have needed someone to help them with their heart problems and to teach them wisdom in expressing their feelings. The ancient Indian art of love became legendary, and the deity of this beautiful feeling was the Kama, whose reverence continues in our time.
The famous Indian Sutra of Kama is a treatise on the art of love, which is transformed into divine energy. It is believed that the Kama himself, the god of lust, who knows all about the intricacies of the human senses as well as the pleasure they can bring, helped in the creation of this sacred text.
Kama differs considerably from the deities of love of other peoples, for he not only possesses the ability to give this high feeling to humanity, but he also knows the peculiarities of pleasure in love. This does not mean that the Kama is a libertine or a voluptuary.
From an Indian perspective, physical harmony between partners is no less important than spiritual harmony. This is what a happy marriage is based on. Kama helps people achieve perfection in everything and, most importantly, in the art of love.
Rati
Every religion has a place for beauty represented by the feminine. Rati is the goddess of passion in Hinduism, the daughter of the chief deity Brahma. She embodies the forces of the creation of the universe. Although she has many names, Rati means “pleasure”.
Various depictions of her often feature flowers, jewelry, rich robes, children, animals, and more. The only thing that remains constant in each of them is her appeal and beauty, embodied in a slender body and lush forms. Also, for many, Rati represents the power of female beauty, sexual desire, the manifestation of female energy, and lust for men.
Together with her husband, Kama, they form a unified whole, harmoniously intertwined by ties of passion and love. In contrast to many goddesses of other peoples, Rati was always faithful to her husband. He was also considered the most beautiful Indian deity.
There is a very interesting legend connected with this. With her beauty, Rati fell in love with one of the gods so much that he couldn’t go on living and committed suicide when he couldn’t get the goddess he wanted. Then Rati did the same. But all ended well: as befits the gods, they resurrected and returned to their affairs.
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