Sky deity

A sky deity (also known as welkin deity, celestial deity, empyrean deity, and ether deity) is a god that represents an aspect or an object associated with the sky itself, such as the sun, the moon or other celestial bodies or natural phenomena like storms.

The sky often has important religious significance. Many religions, both polytheistic and monotheistic, have deities associated with the sky.

The day lit sky deities are typically distinct from the night time sky deities. Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature reflects this by separating the category of "Sky-god" (A210) from that of "Star-god" (A250). In mythology, night time gods are usually known as night deities and gods of stars simply as star gods. Both of these categories are included here since they relate to the sky. Luminary deities are included as well since the sun and moon are located in the sky. Some religions may also have a deity or personification of the day, distinct from the god of the day lit sky, to complement the deity or personification of the night.

Day time gods and night time gods are frequently deities of an "upper world" or "celestial world" opposed to the "netherworld" and earth ruled by other gods (underworld and earth gods are collectively known as chthonic deities). For example, sky gods Zeus and Hera rule the celestial realm in ancient Greece while the chthonic realm is ruled by Hades and Persephone. The tripartite division of the world into sky/heaven/upper, earth/middle, and under/nether/lower seems to be a universal feature of all human religions. Sea gods may be included with chthonic deities or form a separate, third category. Water, both fresh and salt, is often associated with the earth/underworld, giving rise to an alternate tripartite division of sky, land, and sea, where sea seemingly takes the place of the underworld.

Any masculine sky god is often also king of the gods, taking the position of patriarch within a pantheon. Such king gods are collectively categorized as "sky father" deities, with a polarity between sky and earth often being expressed by pairing a "sky father" god with an "earth mother" goddess (pairings of a sky mother with an earth father are less frequent). A main sky goddess is often the queen of the gods and may be an air/sky goddess in her own right, though she usually has other functions as well with "sky" not being her main. In antiquity, several sky goddesses in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Near East were called Queen of Heaven. Neopagans often apply it with impunity to sky goddesses from other regions who were never associated with the term historically.

Gods may rule the sky as a pair (for example, ancient Semitic supreme god El and the fertility goddess Asherah whom he was most likely paired with). The following is a list of sky deities in various polytheistic traditions arranged mostly by language family, which is typically a better indicator of relatedness than geography.

Proto-Indo-European

 * *Dyḗus Ph2tḗr, the chief sky father of the Proto-Indo-European religion
 * *h₂éusōs, dawn goddess and daughter of Dyḗus
 * Menot, moon god
 * Seul, sun goddess
 * Werunos; God of sky, oceans, and creation

Albanian

 * Perendi, god of the light, sky and heaven

Baltic

 * Auštaras, the god of the northeast wind
 * Dievs, the god of the day-lit sky and the chief god in Latvian mythology
 * Vejopatis, the god of the wind who guards the divine realm of Dausos

Celtic

 * Latobius, sky and mountain god equated with the Greek gods Zeus and Ares
 * Nuada, god of the sky, wind, and war
 * Sulis, goddess of the hot springs at Bath; probably originally the pan-Celtic sun goddess

Germanic

 * Dagr, personification of day
 * Ēostre, spring and fertility goddess; originally the Germanic dawn goddess
 * Mēnô, the moon
 * Nótt, personification of night
 * Sōwilō, the sun
 * Teiwaz, early Germanic sky god, also the god of law, justice, and the thing

Greek

 * Aether, primeval god of the upper air and ether
 * Apollon, god of the sun
 * Astraios, dusk god
 * Eos, dawn goddess
 * Helios, personification of the sun
 * Hemera, primordial goddess of day
 * Hera, goddess of the air, marriage, women, women's fertility, childbirth, heirs, kings, and empires
 * Iris, goddess of the rainbow and messenger of Hera
 * Nephele, cloud nymph in Hera's likeness
 * Nyx, primordial goddess of night
 * Selene, personification of the moon
 * Ouranós : Primordial deity of the sky itself
 * Zeus: God of the sky, thunder, lightning, weather, law, order and justice, king of the gods, and ruler of Mount Olympus.

Hindu

 * Aditi, celestial mother of the gods
 * Chandra, god of the moon
 * Dyaus Pita, sky father
 * Indra, king of the gods, associated with weather
 * Ratri, goddess of night
 * Saranyu, goddess of clouds
 * Surya, god of the sun
 * Ushas, goddess of dawn

Iranian

 * Ohrmazd, sky father, the Great God
 * Mithra, god of the sun
 * Uṣás, goddess of dawn

Norse

 * Dagr, the day god
 * Dellingr, the dawn god
 * Frigg, the cloud goddess
 * Hjúki and Bil, companions of Máni
 * Máni, the moon god
 * Nótt, the night goddess
 * Óðinn, the Allfather of the gods
 * Sól, the sun goddess
 * Þórr, the god of thunder

Roman

 * Aurora, dawn goddess
 * Ether; Primordial god of upper air and ether
 * Caelus, personification of the sky
 * Juno, goddess of the sky, queen of the gods, and Jupiter's wife
 * Jupiter, king of heaven and god of the sky and weather
 * Luna, moon goddess
 * Nox, night goddess and mother of Discordia
 * Sol, sun god
 * Summanus, god of nocturnal thunder/lightning

Slavic

 * Stribog, god of the winds, sky, and air
 * Triglav, a triple god whose three heads represent sky, earth, and underworld

Thracian and Phrygian

 * Sabazios, sky father

Sky

 * Dyaus, the sky father
 * Indra, sky/storm god
 * Varuna, sky god, also god of the oceans

Celestial Bodies

 * Chandra, moon god
 * Surya, sun god
 * Budha, Mercury
 * Shukra, Venus
 * Mangala, Mars
 * Brihaspati, Jupiter
 * Shani, Saturn
 * Rahu, north lunar node
 * Ketu, south luner node

Phenomena

 * Saranyu, goddess of dusk
 * Parjanya, rain god
 * Rudra, storm god, sometimes an aspect of Shiva
 * Shiva, god of destruction, aspects include storm god
 * Ushas, dawn goddess
 * Ratri, goddess of night
 * Vayu, wind god

African
Berbero-Egyptian mythology

Sky

 * Amun, primeval sky/wind god

Celestial Bodies

 * Ra, sun god
 * Khonsu, moon god
 * Thoth, minor moon god

Phenomena

 * Horus, sun/sky god
 * Nut, night goddess
 * Shu, god of air
 * Tefnut, goddess of moisture