18 NonBinary Deities from World Mythology
One function of myth is as a cultural teaching tool. It demonstrates moral behavior and outlines the rules and standards applied to different members of society. Religion has often been a tool to reinforce prescribed societal roles, and this includes gender divisions. You can usually infer which activities, behaviors, and physical traits were most strongly coded male or female by looking at the culture's deities, culture heroes, and other legendary figures.
But the gender division in mythology isn't always a firm binary. There are a slew of deities from around the world who are both genders, or neither, or known to switch back and forth on a whim. I'm intrigued by these figures and their roles in their respective pantheons, and thought other folks might find them interesting to learn about, too.
Africa
Ngai
Culture: Maasai
Role: Supreme creator
Also spelled Enkai or Engai, the supreme creator figure of the Maasai has both feminine and masculine attributes. They're seen as omnipotent and invisible, thought to rest on mountaintops to look over the land. While mostly a distant figure, they do occasionally bring blessings or punishments, often in the form of weather, and they're associated with rain, thunder, and lightning.
Ngai lives in the clouds, whose colors are thought to indicate the deity's mood. Black clouds full of rain mean Ngai is happy, while dry, red clouds with lightning mean they're angry. They're often referred to as Mwene-Nyaga (“possessor of brightness”)
Niteru-kop
Culture: Maasai
Role: Creator and ancestor
There are various interpretations of this figure among different groups. In some myths he's a male ancestor of the Maasai. Other times, they're a sexless god with neither male nor female traits, associated with creation, seen as the source of civilization. The name means “The Beginner of the Earth” and, along with being the source of all humanity, they're also the owner of all the world's cows. According to legend, the supreme creator Ngai (mentioned above) used to live on earth but a catastrophe sent them fleeing into the sky. Their cattle had nothing to eat up in the clouds, so they gave the herd to Niteru-kop.
Olokún
Culture: Yoruba and derivative faiths like Santeria
Role: Ruler of all bodies of water
Olokún may be viewed variously as male, female, or androgynous across representations in both Africa and diaspora religions. This tends to be regional—for instance, he's male in coastal areas of West Africa but female further inland. In her female version, Olokún was the senior wife of Emperor Oduduwa, and a rivalry with another wife led to her manifesting the Atlantic Ocean.
Olokún is an androgynous orisha in Santeria, where they're a patron of markets and great wealth, along with serving as the ruler of the oceans.
Roog
Culture: Serer
Role: Creator and supreme deity
Roog is the source of all life. Their name means sky or heavens, and may alternatively be written Koox, Kooh, or Rog. Similar to other supreme deities, Roog is seen as incporporeal, but rather than being beyond gender they're hermaphroditic, able to invoke male or female qualities as suit the situation. Those calling on Roog can choose to invoke their male or female side based on which pronouns they use to refer to the deity, and in the creation myth Roog is considered both grandmother and grandfather.
The Americas
Cautonuit
Culture: Narragansett (Northeast US)
Role: Creator
The name Cautonuit or Kautantowit translates to Great Spirit, and they may also be called Manto (the spirit). They're seen as intangible and never personified in human form or assigned human attributes, including gender. One of many instances in indigenous American myths where the primary creator figure is seen as being above or beyond gender.
Kisu'lk
Culture: Mi'Kmaq (Northeast US and Canada)
Role: Creator
The being responsible for all creation in Mi'Kmaq mythology, also sometimes referred to as Kji Niskam, or the Great Spirit. There is no explanation for how Kisu'lk came to be, only that they placed the earth on the path of the sun, Naku'set, and gave Naku'set the responsibility to look over the Mi'kmaq world. Then, Kisu'lk sent a lightning bolt that formed a human shape in the sand. A second bolt gave him life as the first human, Kluskap, then a third bolt freed him from the ground.
After creating Kluskap, Kisu'lk also taught him how to live in harmony with his environment, and actively guided him and answered his requests. For instance, at one point a marten sacrifices its life for Kluskap and his grandmother. Kluskap feels guilty and asks Kisu'lk to bring the marten back to life, which the god does.
Ometeotl
Culture: Aztec
Role: First divinity and creator
Ometeotl represents duality, and is often shown as a pair of deities, Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl. When in a single body they are both male and female. In some versions of the myth they split themselves into male and female halves in order to create the other gods and the rest of existence.
Ometeotl lives in Omeyocan, the highest level of heaven, whose name roughly translates to “place of duality.” It's not said how Ometeotl came to be, and they instead seem to be one of those deities that always existed.
Tabaldak
Culture: Abenaki and Algonquian (Northeast US)
Role: Creator
The name of this androgynous creator figure means “The Owner”, and they were said to have created all living things except one, the giant Odziozo who created himself and was said to have formed the landscape. Tabaldak first made people from stone but found their hearts too cold, so they broke the stones and scattered them over the landscape. The Abenaki were Tabaldak's second attempt, made out of wood.
The Abenaki cosmology is centered around Tabaldak, who is seen as the source of all life. They're a distant deity, not interfering directly in human affairs, seen as more of an abstract presence that permeates the world than an embodied figure. In a sense, their androgyny could be seen as Tabaldak being beyond gender.
Asia & Pacific
Apsam Kamuy
Culture: Ainu (Japan)
Role: Deity of thresholds and transitions
The kamuy are divine beings in Ainu mythology, similar to the Japanese kami but with a broader meaning that also includes animals, plants, or weather patterns seen as spiritual beings. Apsam Kamuy is sometimes shown as a male-female couple, but other times they're a dual entity that is of both genders. This dual nature was seen as enabling Apsam to better guard over people on both sides of a transition, and they were called on for protection whenever someone was going through a major change.
Balumain
Culture: Kalash
Role: Fertility deity
The myths of the deity would pique an Ancient Aliens theorist's interest. Balumain was said to visit from Tsyam, the mythical homeworld of the Kalash people. They bestowed blessings and taught the Kalash skills like sowing wheat and how to make sacred fire. Then they left, and has since not been visible to people but only felt as a presence.
Balumain was said to be androgynous and able to change genders at will. They're a deity of prosperity and fertility, and are associated with the yearly Chaumos festival that celebrates the winter solstice.
Bildjiwuaroju
Culture: Wallamba
Role: Creator
Bildjiwuaroju is one of three children of the sun in Wallamba creation myths. They and one sibling, Miralaldu, were hermaphrodites, while the third sibling, Djanggawul, was only male. All three came down from heaven in a canoe then made their way through the world, thinking all the plants and animals into being.
The end of this one takes a bit of an on-the-nose turn. One night, while Miralaldu and Bildjiwuaroju slept by the fire, Djanggawul cut off their penises, leaving them with only vaginas. From that point on, they followed their brother and produced children only when he said, though they remained eternally pregnant.
Dirawong
Culture: Bundjalung (Australia)
Role: Creator, protector, and ancestor
According to the myths of the Bundjalung, the Evans River and the islands in it were created in a fight between Dirawong and the Rainbow Serpent during the Dreaming, a mythical time before the current reality when the current world was formed. Along with protecting humans, Dirawong was said to have taught people things like astronomy, medicine, art, rituals, and how to work with stone, making them a culture hero as well as a creator figure.
Dirawong's gender is ambiguous. They are depicted as a goanna, which is a type of large, predatory lizard. They're also associated with rain, and there's a cave on Goanna Headland where Bundjalung elders would hold ceremonies to Dirawong. The legends say this area is either where Dirawong lives, or that Dirawong transformed into the landscape when they died.
Kamimusubi
Culture: Japan
Role: Creator
Kamimusubi is an ancestral god, old enough even the other gods call them Mi-Oya, an honorific used for ancestors. They were one of the first three kami to come into existence, part of a group known as hitorigami, Shinto deities who came into being alone. They are said to be genderless when introduced in the Kojiki, an early Japanese chronicle of myths and legends. In later myths, they evolve into a mother goddess and the ancestor of the Tochi-gami, a group of land goddesses.
Makapatang-Malaon
Culture: Waray (Philippines)
Role: Supreme deity
The top spot of the pre-colonial Waray pantheon is occupied by the dual deity Makapatang-Malaon, who is both male and female simultaneously. Their male aspect, Makapatag, is destructive, known as “the leveler” as a dispenser of divine justice who makes everything equal. Their female aspect is Malaon, which is a gentle protector who oversees the harvest and protects against natural disasters. Interestingly, it's the female aspect, not the destructive male side, that's associated with the active volcano Mount Kanlaon.
Ungud
Culture: Wunambal (Australia)
Role: Fertility deity and creator
Ungud is a primordial snake deity, said to have lived underground as a giant python when the world was only sky and earth. Together with sky deity Wallanganda, Ungud created living beings through their dreams. They're seen as connected to the earth and water, and are credited as the source of rain, which leads to natural associations with rainbows and fertility. Ungud is sometimes male, sometimes female, and sometimes neither. I haven't yet found a source that clarifies whether the entity Ungud is seen as changing genders or if depictions of them vary.
Europe and the Middle East
Agdistis
Culture: Greek
Role: Healing deity
A lot of figures in Greek mythology started off in other cultures and were adopted into the Greek pantheon fully formed, with a few tweaks. In the case of Agdistis, they likely came from the Phrygian deity, and may be an evolution of an androgynous deity dating back as far as the kingdom of Kizzuwatna (16th century BC). Evidence of Agdistis' cult is dated as early as the 4th century BC.
In Greek times, Agdistis was said to be a child of Gaia, either by Zeus or after Gaia slept on the rock Agdo. Agdistis was born a hermaphrodite. The gods feared this double-gendered being and castrated them, after which Agdistis became the goddess Cybele. The meaning of the deity seems to have shifted after their assimilation into Greek culture. In some places they were a wholly benevolent deity, called on for healing, and the castration was not an element of their myth.
Hermaphroditus
Culture: Greek
Role: God of marriage
The name of this deity is a merging of its parents', which feels a bit lazy, if descriptive. Hermaphroditus was born the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, and unsurprisingly given that parentage, was incredibly good-looking. The naiad Salmacis fell so in love with him that she prayed they could be united forever, and they were merged into the world's first hermaphrodite.
Hermaphroditus was associated with weddings because they embodied both the masculine and the feminine. They were also associated with sexuality and fertility.
Leinth
Culture: Etruscan (Italy)
Role: Death deity
Etruscan deities often didn't have clearly defined genders or other traits like those in other pantheons. Leinth is one of the deities who may be portrayed as male or female—though, to be fair, almost nothing is known about them. They're thought to be a death deity mostly because of their name, which is associated with lein (Etruscan for “die”) and a scene depicted on a bronze mirror found at Perugia that shows Leinth in the underworld. The only other extant depiction of Leinth shows them naked leaning on a spear and holding a baby, so it's hard to make any kind of big-picture assumptions about their role in the Etruscan mythology.
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