Pagan Gods And Goddesses That Became Catholic Saints

Published February 14, 2023

Pagan Gods And Goddesses That Became Catholic Saints

Catholic virgin mary pagan fertility goddess worship

Introduction:

There is little if any difference between many pagan gods and Catholic saints. In fact, many Catholic saints are nothing more than renamed (rebranded) pagan gods and goddesses. Like their pagan counterparts, Catholic saints are associated with specific talents or responsibilities – a trade or craft, healing a certain disease, overseeing a particular city, etc. and are put under the authority of a leader god, with Zeus, Odin, and Shiva being some of the leader gods of pagan religions. Catholicism is not true biblical Christianity but rather a blending of elements of Christianity with many various pagan religious customs. This becomes evident when one studies the origins of many so-called Catholic “saints”.

Some examples of pagan gods that morphed into Catholic saints:

The most prominent example of a pagan goddess being transformed into a Catholic saint is of the various fertility goddesses such as Semiramis and Isis being transformed into the Catholic saint Mary a.k.a. virgin Mary

Similarly, several pagan “mother-child” pairs of deities including the pagan goddess Semiramis and her son Tammuz, were adopted by the Catholic Church to become their virgin Mary and baby Jesus.

The Greek goddess Demeter (a goddess of many festivals, the primary festival being Thesmophoria, which fell in late October) became the Catholic saint Demetrios, a masculine warrior saint, whose feast day is October 26.

The Greek goddess Aphrodite became the Catholic saint Aphrodite.

The Greek goddess Nike became the Catholic saint Nicholas, who was extremely popular wherever shipping was important.

The Roman god Mars (originally a god who guarded wheat fields) became the Catholic saint Martin. Although March is the month associated with Mars the major festival for him in Christian times now usually falls in February, called Mardi Gras.

The Roman god Quirinus became the Catholic saint Cyrinus, of which there are various “equestrian warrior saints” such as saint Cyr in France, and saint Quirina, mother of saint Lawrence.

The Roman gods known as the Lares became the Catholic saint Lawrence. The Lares were gods who protected the grain growing in fields. In Italian, he became saint Lorenzo beyond the Walls, meaning outside of the walls of the city, for which there is still a church in Rome, with many “daughter” churches which were spawned off of it.

The Roman goddess Venus became the Catholic saint Venera (with a feminized ending to her name because “us” looks like a masculine ending in Latin).

The Roman gods known as the Gemini, who were protectors of sailors in Roman pagan times, became the Catholic Sanctos Gemino.

The Proto-Indo-European god Yama became the Catholic saint James.

The Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda became the Catholic saint Ahura Mazda, in the early Syriac Christian church.

Catholic pagan mother child deity deities Jesus Mary Semiramis Tammuz

Not all Catholics saints are even based on pagan gods. Some are based on pagan holidays. For example the Roman festival of Caro Patri (“Dear Parents” a festival to remember one’s ancestors) became the festival of saint Peter’s Chair in the Roman Catholic Martyrology a.k.a. “saints calendar”.

Catholic popes mitre pagan priest of dagon fish head hat