Guide to the Gods

Guide to the Gods 

By Marjorie Leach
Call #: REF 291.2 LEACH
Publisher: Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO, c1992

What else can be said about Marjorie Leach’s Guide to the Gods that has not already been said?  Curious theologians and students of mythology alike will love this tome that covers deities from every culture and region of the world.  This essential volume contains all the gods you know and love, and many you have never even heard of, from a kung rum, “one of the four creators of female beings” to Zywie, a polish goddess of health and life and longevity. 

While exhaustive in its scope, the Guide to the Gods is not immediately intuitive to use.  Leach groups the world’s pantheon of deities into eight major categories: Cosmogonical Deities, Celestial Deities, Atmospheric Deities, Terrestrial Deities, Life/Death Cycle Deities, Economic Activities, Socio-cultural concepts, and Religion.  These major categories are generally sensible and have their own subcategories, but may not be immediately intuitive.  Hunting gods, for example, are found in the ‘Economic Activities’ category.  If you know the name of the god which you seek however, the index in the back will help you quickly find what you seek. 

Despite organizational foibles, Leach’s Guide to the Gods is the go-to reference book for all your god-identification needs, be they every day or esoteric.