Goddesses of air are uncommon, perhaps because air is not visible, audible, or tangible until it forms itself into wind and thus is difficult to imagine as having personality, much less gender.
Only one goddess represents the invisible atmosphere that envelops and sustains us.
The name of Inuit Sila (see Circumpolar) has been translated as ‘‘air, and this goddess embodies the entire cosmos that sustains life.
She is also associated with the visions of shamans, who traveled through the air without touching ground.
More commonly, a goddess might be associated with the air that she breathes into inert matter, thus vivifying it.
Examples of such breath-creatrixes are Egyptian Hekt, Sibe rian Ajysyt (see Circumpolar), Greek Aphrodite, Lakota Whope (see North America), and South American Amaru.
Flying goddesses, whose domain can be interpreted as including air, are quite common.
Most, like Scandinavian Frigg and Russian Baba Yaga (see Slavic), rode in some kind of vehicle: a chariot drawn by cats in the first case, a mortar rowed with a pestle in the second.
Persian Anahitas vehicle was drawn by four majestic white horses, Babylonian Ishtars by lions (see Eastern Mediterranean for both).
Wild boars pulled Indian Marıcı.
In some cases, such high-flying goddesses were connected with dawn or with the sun, as with Indian Usas and Scandinavia Sol.
Celestial goddesses are often difficult to distinguish from air goddesses, as both travel through the atmosphere.
Goddesses connected to birds can arguably be called air divinities.
In some cases, as with Southeast Asian Kinnarı or Hindu Yoginı (see India for both), the goddess can be embodied as a bird, rather than as a human female.
The same was true of Samoan Tuli (see Pacific Islands), who created the world in the form of a bird flying across the pri meval sea.
Sometimes the bird becomes the goddesss vehicle, as in Russia, where the air goddess Berehinia rode the magnificent Firebird (see Slavic).
More obvious air goddesses are connected to wind.
Such goddesses are not always violent or stormy.
The Greek breeze goddesses, the Litae, carried prayers to the gods.
In Finland, the helpful goddess Ismo blew out fires that threatened to burn down houses; her sisters were healing divinities who healed by blowing on wounds.
But some air goddesses are clearly dangerous, as with the Caribbean Guabancex, who caused hurricanes.
It can be difficult to distinguish storm goddesses from goddesses of weather (see above), who like African Mujaji and O ya control both stormy winds and the accompanying thunder, lightning, and rain.
You can learn more about Goddess Symbolism here.