The sky often has important
religious significance; many religions,
both polytheistic & monotheistic,
have deities associated with the sky;

The day-lit sky deities are typically
distinct from the night-time sky or
"heaven of the stars" deities. Stith
Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-
Literature reflects this by separating
the category of "Sky-god" from that
of "Star-god";

Daytime-gods & Nighttime-gods
may also be deities of an "upper"
or "celestial world", opposed to a
"netherworld" or "chthonic realm"
ruled by other gods; for example,
Sky-gods Zeus and Hera rule the
celestial realm in ancient Greece,
while the chthonic realm is ruled by
Hades and Persephone, or of an
upper and netherworld respectively;

   Any masculine sky god
is often also king
of the gods,            taking the position of patriarch
within a pantheon; such king gods are collectively
categorized as "Sky fathers"        with the polarity
               between sky and earth often expressed by
                           pairing a "Sky father"          with
an "Earth mother" goddess;   pairing a Sky mother
with an Earth father less frequent;
The         main sky goddess
is the ["queen"] "of heaven"

Gods may rule the sky
as a couple; as ancient
[supreme] god El & the
sky goddess Asherah;