The gods would have reflected things and values that were important to the Calormenes. In the Chronicles Lewis said more than once that the Calormenes were not great seafarers, so therefore they might not have had a god of the sea. Unlike the Greeks, who had an advanced maritime culture, and whose god Poseidon was one of the most powerful.

So there might have been gods of Storytelling and Poetry, Wisdom, Merchants and Wealth, Obedience, and Pleasure.

I think Tash was the god of several areas: The leader of the other gods, the sky, storms, fire, power, and masculine vitality. The Tisroc was Tash's representation on Earth.

The Calormenes might have had a number of minor gods, demigods, or "saints" for aspects of their society like horses, slavery, sciroccos, ghouls, etc.

@cobalt-jade 

But weren't there Calormenes at the Lone Islands in Voyage of the Dawn Treader? The Lone Islands lost contact with Narnia during Telmarine rule, and slave trading became a habit. Wouldn't the citizens of the Lone Islands picked up slave trading from the Calormenes, whose culture involved slavery?

In talking about gods and goddesses, it might be safe to say that Tash and Azorath were the king and queen. Zardeenah was a goddess of the maidens, so she was probably very beautiful.

I wrote a post about possible Calormene gods and goddesses on my website here.

@cobalt-jade 

Interesting. Some would have never occurred to me. It would have never occurred to me that all of them, besides Tash, would have a town named after them (Tashbaan).

Why are you assuming Azaroth was female?

Posted by: @hermit

Why are you assuming Azaroth was female?

It sounds more like a female name. It might be equivalent to Astoreth, a goddess worshiped by the ancient Canaanites and Phoenicians, also known as "the Queen of Heaven." Azaroth was most likely a female.

Posted by: @jasmine_tarkheena

It sounds more like a female name. It might be equivalent to Astoreth, a goddess worshiped by the ancient Canaanites and Phoenicians, also known as "the Queen of Heaven." Azaroth was most likely a female.

I really don't think we can make that assumption either way — male or female, that is — since Lewis never gives us any details about Azaroth other than the name itself!

As far as I'm aware, the only mention of Azaroth is in The Horse and His Boy, in Aravis's words to Hwin: "In the name of Tash and Azaroth and Zardeenah Lady of the Night, I have a great wish to be in that country of Narnia." That really doesn't tell us anything. I know @cobalt-jade has also speculated that since Tash and Azaroth are mentioned together, perhaps Azaroth is Tash's wife, but although that's an intriguing idea, we have no actual evidence for it anywhere.

Lewis didn't go into much detail with anything to do with the Calormene religion, even during the one book that is set partly in Calormen. I'm pretty sure we don't learn until The Last Battle that Tash himself is a being with the head of a bird of prey and four arms! Azaroth is never mentioned along with Tash in any other context apart from that one remark from Aravis; we don't ever hear of Calormenes swearing oaths to the two of them, for example. And then in the final book, where Tash gets a far bigger role than he does in The Horse and His Boy — actually appearing in person, invoked by a Tarkaan who doesn't genuinely believe in him — there's no indication that he has a female consort at all.

There's also nothing inherent in the name "Azaroth" that makes it a female name, since we also don't know very much about Calormene linguistics. The one definite instance I can think of is that "Tarkheena" is obviously the feminine form of "Tarkaan", which suggests that "-heena" or "-eenah" — as in Zardeenah — is a feminine suffix, a similar-sounding one to some of the female names from various languages in our world (Christina, Martina, Katrina, and so on). "Azaroth", on the other hand, could be either a masculine or feminine word. We can say Azaroth may be female — it's a possibility and an interesting speculation — but we can't fairly say Azaroth is most likely female. There's simply not enough evidence in either direction. 

@courtenay 

That's true. It's hard to know whether Azaroth was a male or female, although we could speculate, somehow.

It's also hard to know when Tash actually came to life. I've always had the impression it was when Shift made the claim that Aslan and Tash were one and the same. It could also have been when Rishda and Ginger had a conversation about their secret plan after the midnight meeting, saying that "Aslan means nothing more than Tash" and "There's so such person as either." We're still not sure, either way.

Rishda could have been easily acting like he was praying to Tash though doesn't believe in him. That could have caused Tash to come to life. But still, we're not even sure.

Farsight mentions that Rishda has been calling on gods he doesn't believe in. Could he have been referring to the other Calormene gods and goddesses besides Tash?

Lewis doesn't tell us any more about the Calormen gods, because he doesn't want readers to be thinking about them! 

He wants us to be thinking about Aslan, and who he is a picture of. 

It is never healthy to give undue attention to evil spiritual beings. 

Posted by: @coracle

Lewis doesn't tell us any more about the Calormen gods, because he doesn't want readers to be thinking about them! 

He wants us to be thinking about Aslan, and who he is a picture of. 

It is never healthy to give undue attention evil spiritual beings. 

Right now we're doing The Last Battle in Sunday School. We've actually covered where Shift made the claim that Tash and Aslan were one and the same. However, Tirian knew the truth, and was about to ask a profound question-

"How can the terrible god Tash who fed on the blood of his people could possibly be the same as the good lion by whose blood all Narnia was saved?"

In a way, it helps to learn discernment.

@jasmine_tarkheena it's just that there is a line between knowing something is evil and studying it or thinking a lot about it. That becomes 'worship'. The devil, I'm told, thrives on attention. 

@coracle 

That's actually the point I'm making. Shift wanted Narnians to think that Aslan was angry with them and that Aslan and Tash were one and the same.

"Get that into your heads, you stupid brutes. Tash is Aslan! Aslan is Tash!"

Now I think there's a message there with a line like that. Tirian wasn't going to let something like that get into his head, because he knew that Aslan and Tash were *not* the same. And should we not follow his examples of discerning of what is true and what is deception?

"See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ." Colossians 2:8

Poggin even mentions later on when Tash came to Narnia-

"People shouldn't call for demons unless they really mean what they say!"

I think what C.S Lewis was getting at there how meddling around with the occult is dangerous business. Christians have no need to fear the devil and his demons, but should be aware of their existence and activities. But unbelievers, much like Rishda who summoned Tash unintentionally, even though he doesn't believe in Tash, actually don't know who they're really dealing with!

Posted by: @coracle

It is never healthy to give undue attention evil spiritual beings. 

True — even (mercifully) fictional ones!!  

I think that's what it boils down to, really. If Lewis had spent any amount of time elaborating on the Calormene religion, and who all their gods and goddesses were and what they stood for and how they were worshipped and so on, it would have detracted from the real point behind his Narnia stories. He DOES want to keep pointing us back to Aslan — "the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there," as the Lion Himself says to Lucy in Dawn Treader, but speaking pretty obviously for what Lewis hoped these books would do for his readers as well. And if he went into detail about the Calormene deities and made them seem as real to us as Aslan — maybe even more appealing than Aslan — well, that would defeat his whole purpose and risk turning his readers away from the One he wants them to get to know. (And while naturally not all readers feel that way about the Chronicles, I can only say they definitely had that intended effect on me, as a child — and still do. )

And who can forget Emeth's devotion to Tash, only to discover later that it was *really* to Aslan? It was most likely true devotion and not an occult. Aslan tells Emeth-

"I take to me the services which thou hast done to him. For I and he are of such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him. Therefore if any man swear by Tash and keep his oath for the oath’s sake, it is by me that he has truly sworn, though he know it not, and it is I who reward him. And if any man do a cruelty in my name, then, though he says the name Aslan, it is Tash whom he serves and by Tash his deed is accepted."

It may be that Aslan would never sell Narnians into slavery or allow trees to be cut down. Yet Shift have been saying, "This is the will of Aslan." Emeth was devoted to Tash, but was really to Aslan. It could have been he was sympathetic towards Narnians and had shock and horror that his own captain, Rishda, didn't believe in Tash, at all.