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Home , 391 BC, Aba (mythology), Abellio, Abgal (god), Abundantia, Acala

The Routledge Dictionary of and , and

From classical Greek and to the gods of Eastern and ; from Nordic to Islamic and Egyptian monsters, this classic dictionary is packed with descriptions of the figures most worshipped and feared around the and across . Fully cross-referenced and with over 100 illustrations, it also features two handy appendices listing the functions and attributes shared by these and demons. Covering over 1800 of the most important gods and demons from around the world, this is the essential resource for anyone interested in comparative and the mythology of the ancient and contemporary .

Manfred Lurker was, from 1968 to 1980, editor of the Bibliography of Symbolism, Iconography and Mythology. He has published widely on symbolism and the of religion.

The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons

Manfred Lurker First published in in 1984 as Lexicon der Götter und Dämonen by Alfred Krämer Verlag, Stuttgart

This translation first published in 1987 by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd

This reissue published 2004 by Routledge 11 New Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

Routledge is imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.

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© Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1987

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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ISBN 0-203-64351-8 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-67189-9 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0–415–34018–7 (Print Edition) Contents

Preface vi Note on transcription and pronunciation viii

Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons 1

Appendix I: functions, aspects, spheres of competence 210 Appendix II: symbols, attributes, motifs 233 Bibliography 260 Preface

A basic element in all is the awareness, both intellectual and emotional, of man’s dependence on non-human powers: powers which we conceive as personal, and vis-à-vis which we normally stand in a reciprocal relationship. Gods and demons are the forms taken by these powers, their hypostatizations, as it were, in the shape of light and darkness, and moon, fire and , and . The divine can reveal itself in all the phenomena of nature, just as the demonic can. But it is not only from with- out that the numinous presents itself to man: it can arise spontaneously in as an ‘exponent of feeling’ (Wilamowitz-Moellendorf ), and it can be divined as ‘a dark abyss ... which is not accessible to our reason’ (Rudolf Otto). The images generated in the human mind are, then, representative of stages reached in man’s understanding and in his knowledge of himself; in a certain sense, indeed, every divine image has traits which identify it as a self-projection of mankind. As ideal beings, the gods are what man would like to be; but they are also what he, in his spatio- temporal imperfection, cannot be. Every religion has its own conventions and symbols which serve to express the functions, the aspects and the spheres of competence of the members of its . And this means that the conscious and unconscious nexus of conventions specific to any one religion is hardly, if at all, accessible to believers in another religion, or to those who believe in no religion at all. Thus, even for the ancient the animal gods of the Egyptians were shocking and revolting. And modern man, proud as he is of his reason and logic, fares no better when he is called upon to recognize an authentic view of in the often and – in the most literal sense – obscure rites and images of an alien religion. Above all, we must not fail to recognize that the concepts ‘god’ and ‘’ are by no means evenly weighted in the various religions. The innumerable deities of and carry about as much significance as or saints do in monotheistic religions. There are mortal gods, gods who die (like Balder and ) and demonic beings whom cannot touch (for example, the Devas). The border- line between gods and demons is fluid (see , or the ); and with the of a people, its erstwhile deities can be devalued to the status of devils (as in the case of or Dabog) or accepted into the corpus of Christian saints (for example, Brigit Köndös). From the largely anonymous mass of spirits, gods and demons are distinguished by being more sharply and individually characterized, as shown, for example in the bestowal of names upon them. The reference work offers a conspectus of all the more important supernat- ural beings who have acquired ‘personality’ in this sense, both in the pantheons of the Preface vii classical cultures and in the of today; and the religious systems of the so-called ‘primitive’ races are also given their due place. Any attempt at an exhaustive survey of all the names, functions, symbols and attributes in this field was excluded from the outset: the mass of material is such that even several volumes could hardly cope with it. Heroic figures in saga and legend have been included only where this is justified by their subsequent deification: thus, and Heraklés are included, while the Celtic King Arthur and the Germanic hero Siegfried are not. The same goes for founders of religions, and for saints: the reader find Buddha and Lao-zi in these pages, but neither nor Zarathustra. Mythological detail has been intention- ally cut to a minimum. There is no entry for Christ: for various reasons, adequate treat- ment of this figure lies outside the scope of the present work. The reader’s attention is directed particularly to the two appendices, in which the individual gods and demons are classified from various points of view. The illustrations serve only to lighten the text, and are not intended to be in any way a scientifically exact iconography. It should be borne in mind that in the case of certain cultures it is hardly possible to find suitable matter for illustrative purposes and that certain peoples and religions have a pronounced antipathy to images and representation of any sort.

Manfred Lurker Oberkirch, May 1984 Note on transcription and pronunciation

1 Greek and English forms in general currency are used instead of their Greek or Latin equivalents: thus, for Iup(p)iter, , Nymphs, etc. Apart from these special cases, Greek and Latin names are taken as in the original German text, with changes in spelling where necessary. Head-words in the origi- nal text carry stress-marks based on: H. Hunger, Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie, 6th edn, 1969. These are retained. 2 and Vedic Standard transcription is used for Sanskrit and Vedic names, based on Macdonell, Sanskrit-English Dictionary, OUP, 1924. The distinction between the dental series: t, d, n, s; the retroflex series: t, d, j, s; and the palatal series: c, j, ñ, f, has been retained. Here, s and f are both pronounced as sh; t, d, j are the same sounds as are heard in English t, d, n; t, d, n are their continental counterparts (as in Italian); ñ is the Spanish ñ. 3 The sh sound where it otherwise occurs – particularly in ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian names – is transcribed as s.ˇ This letter also represents sh in the two Baltic languages, Lithuanian and Latvian. In Yoruba, sh is represented by s. 4 Chinese For Chinese names the modern romanization has been used, though tone marks have been disregarded; x is something like the sh in ship, q is like the ch in cheese; p, t, k are heavily aspirated; b, d, g are not voiced. 5 Wherever it occurs, zˇ is pronounced as j in French ‘journal’. 6 In Aztec and Maya names, c before e and i ϭ s; before a, o, u ϭ k. A

Aatxe (Basque, ‘young bull’) Evil spirit in the shape of a bull which, the Basques believe, leaves its cave on stormy nights, and which may often assume human form. Under the name Etsai (i.e. ) it instructs its devotees in its .

Abaddon (Hebrew, ‘downfall’, ‘ruin’) In the Old Testament, the word refers to the , the place of destruc- tion (e.g. Job 26: 2; 28: 22). In the Apocalypse, it means the of , the of the plague of locusts ( 9: 7–11). Known in Greek as Apollyon, i.e. destroyer.

Abat(t) A mythical figure of the Mandaeans. At the last judgment it weighs and/or their deeds. The name derives from Persian and is construed as meaning ‘bearer of the scales’. (variants Abrasax, Abraxis) A Gallic local , known theonym used in Graeco-Oriental gnosti- from inscriptions in the Garonne valley. cism. In Greek values, the letters add up He has been interpreted as a god of apple- to 365, corresponding thus to the number trees. of days in the . The hebdomad of let- ters was associated with the seven plan- (Apkallu) Seven Sumerian spir- ets. Abraxas stones were used as → its deriving from the ( Apsu) and usually show the god with the and subject to . It is probable that torso and the arms of a man, the head of they reflect legendary antediluvian a cock and legs. In scientific liter- kings.Some of the Abgal are conceivedature he is also known as Angnipede ϭ as fish-men. ‘snake-feet’. Abhiyoga Generic name of the servile Abu Sumerian god of vegetation. gods in ; they help the supreme According to one tradition he was born gods (→ ) to create rain and from the skull of → Enki, an image of darkness. the emergence of plants from the ’s surface. Abora The supreme being worshipped by the Canary Islanders on the island of Roman personi- Palma. The god sat in and caused fying abundance (abundantia). She lived the to move. on in the Lady Habonde (Abundia) of 2

French popular , who visits people’s Adad houses by night bringing prosperity. Acala ‘The Immovable’, a in Indian Buddhism. As ‘Protector of the Teaching’ his image stands before tem- ples to ward off those hostile to the Buddhist . He has three eyes and six arms, and he grinds his teeth. His weapons include the sword, the thunder- bolt (), the and the noose. Acaviser → Lasas Achelóos Greek river-god bearing the same name as the river which runs into the Ionian Sea. The son of → Okeanos and of → . The tells how Achelóos fought the hero Heraklés for possession of the Deinaeira, taking the form first of a snake, then of a bull. He married the muse , and the → Sirens were supposed to be his daughters. Under the name Achlae, Achelóos is (in , ) Babylonian god of attested in from the sixth century weather and rain; the name is usually BC onwards, and is represented as heav- written with the cuneiform character for ily bearded and with the horns of a bull. ‘wind’. He was thought of as son of the supreme god → An. His Achilleus (Latin, ) Hero of ‘Dyke-warden of Heaven’ and ‘Lord of Greek legend. The young Achilleus had Abundance’ identify him as the beneficent → been dipped by his mother in giver. If he withholds the rains, drought the water of the to make him invul- and famine ensue. His symbolical animal nerable, but the water did not touch the was the bull, his sign was a cluster of heel by which she held him (hence flashes. An ancient hymn ‘Achilles’heel’). In the he was describes how heaven and earth rise slain by Paris. Achilleus was venerated as before the god, who is also called a hero throughout . In the Black Ramman (ϭ thunder). The illustration Sea area he had divine status, and was (a seal motif ) shows him in a robe adorned known from the era onwards by with astral signs and with a tall hat deco- ϭ the Pontarchos ruler of the sea. rated on top with feathers; in his hand he Acoran The supreme being, wor- holds the pincer-shaped bolts of lightning. shipped by the inhabitants of Gran Adam(m)as The parental godhead of Canaria in the Canary Islands. Temples to the Naassenes, a gnostic movement in him were erected in remote mountain ; conceived as a father-mother places difficult of access, and these affor- syzygy, the ‘parents of the aeons’. ded inviolable asylum. A daily of milk was made to the god by maidens Adam Kadmon According to the clad in white leather. Kabbala (a Jewish mystical movement) the Adraste 3 first man, an emanation of absolute perfec- and being. She is also a redeemer figure, tion. He is symbolized by the major axis of as she is supposed to free those who ten concentric circles, the Sephiroth or ten believe in her from sickness, need and the circles of creation. Thus, Adam Kadmon as stains of . primeval man symbolizes the universe. He A → is androgynous, and is seen in ancient dityas ‘Progeny of ’ ( Aditi) Jewish as partaking in, or blend- A Vedic grouping of seven or eight gods; → j ing with God. The Bahir book (twelfth at its head is Var u a, often in associ- → → century) mentions the ‘seven holy forms ation with and . of God’, all of which have correspon- Martanda, the eighth son of Aditi, is dences in the limbs of the human body. seen as the divine fore-father of the A Man thus exhibits the mystic structure of human race. Like Aditi, the dityas were the godhead. believed to offer salvation from all ills. Post-Vedic literature postulates twelve Adam Kasia (‘the hidden Adam’), also Adityas in the role of twelve sun-gods, known as Adam Qadmaia, ‘the first who are in turn connected with the twelve Adam’.A god-like form postulated bymonths of the year. the Mandaeans, which unites in itself microcosm and macrocosm. This form Originally a Phoenician-Syrian was regarded as, at one and the same god (the Semitic word ‘’ means ‘mas- time, the of the corporeal Adam and ter’). He embodies vegetation scorched as the soul of every man. Adam Kasia is by the heat of the summer sunshine, and a redeemer, and is himself redeemed. Cf. was worshipped in the mystic as in Jewish mysticism, → Adam Kadmon. a god who and is resurrected. According to Greek legend, he was born Adibuddha (‘primeval Buddha’) The from a myrrh tree, into which his mother concept is of a → Buddha who has had been changed. He was the beautiful existed from the beginning of time and lover of → Aphrodíte. When he was killed who has created, through contempla- by a boar while hunting, the goddess tive development of his Self, the five → caused the Adonis rose to spring up from Dhyani-Buddhas. These are the Buddhas his blood, and she was able to secure his of contemplation, which then bring release from the underworld for six forth the five → Dhyani-, months in the year. The seeds of the from which the universe arises in a so-called Adonis garden grow readily in series of self-superseding acts of creation. a bowl or a box, and their blossoming and Adibuddha is thus a kind of primeval or rapid withering were seen as symbolizing original creator. His epithet is Vajradhara the life and death of the god. Adonis was (‘bearer of the ’). taken over by the Etruscans under the name of → Atunis. Aditi Indian goddess; her dominion is over the divine ordering of the world, and Adraste (or ϭ she who is invin- she is the mother of the → Adityas. In cible) A goddess of war in ancient later tradition she appears as the personi- Britain, to whom Queen Boudicca (AD 61) fication of the earth; her bosom is its had captured Roman women sacrificed. navel. The name ‘Aditi’ really means A parallel is found in where the ‘infinity’, and the goddess is a form of the Vicontii had a goddess of war named Great Mother who embraces all living Andarta. 4 Adrásteia

Adrásteia (‘the inescapable’) Originally family was descended from the son of the a Trojan-Phrygian mountain divinity who gods, Aenéas. was also worshipped in and who Aesculápius The god of healing → appears in Greece from about 400 BC Asklepiós, introduced into during onwards as the guardian of righteousness a plague in 293 BC. In his capacity as all- and the goddess who avenges all wrongs; healer, he became one of the most popu- connected with → . Whether there lar gods of the early Empire. The emperor is any common Indo-Germanic connection had himself depicted with the Celtic-British → Adraste is not as Aesculápius, bearing a as clear. . In modern the caduceus Adro A god of the Lugbara people has become the symbol of the medical who live on the shores of Lake Albert in profession. East . He lives with his wives and Aeyma Daeva (aesma ϭ madness) children on earth, preferably in rivers, and The Parsee demon of lust and anger. His he makes himself known to humans in the wrath is directed mainly against the cow, shape of whirlwinds and grass fires. The which occupies the central place among celestial aspect of this earthly god is the creatures. Only by → Saomyant can he known as Adroa, a divinity in his own be finally overcome. right, who created mankind in days gone by, but who now lives at infinite removal Aetérnitas For the Romans the person- from us. ification of , both of the Empire and of the deified emperors. Symbolically rep- Aegir A north Germanic sea-giant, resented by the perpetually arising → husband of Ran. At a carousal for the from the ashes of its own burning, and the → Aesir ( As), he had shining gold snake biting its own tail (Uroboros): both of brought into the hall which was lit up as these illustrating a process which has no though by fire. It has been suggested that beginning and no end. the gold represents the shimmering of tranquil seas without wind. Afi God of rain and thunderstorms among the Abkhaz people who live in the Aenéas To begin with, a Greek hero western Caucasus. His name must not be (Greek: Aineias) in the Trojan War, the uttered by women, who call him simply → son of King Anchises and the goddess ‘the one who is above’. Aphrodíte, the mother of the gods from Mount . The saga of his flight from the Agay (Avestan ϭ ‘evil eye’) A demon ruins of became known to the of illness in : primarily Romans and the Etruscans in the sixth a demon of those sins which are commit- century BC; and soon thereafter he him- ted by means of the eye. self was honoured as a heros. For the Agathós Daímon A good or Romans he was the embodiment of the guardian spirit in mythol- old Roman of (piety, rever- ogy. It was often imagined as a winged ence for age and tradition) thanks to his serpent which hovers invisibly round having rescued his father (lamed by light- a man and brings good to his home. ning) and the holy images, and taken them with him on his wanderings. (Agditis) A hermaphrodite The emperor believed that his being in Phrygian mythology. It is 5 descended from → Papas, made drunk by gods’ were up in . In his address → Diónysos, and emasculates itself on to the men of Athens (Acts of the Apostles waking from its drunken stupor. An 17: 23) Paul uses the singular – ‘To the almond tree grows from its sexual organs, ’ – but this seems to be a and the fruit of this tree makes the daugh- monotheistic adaptation. As far as the his- ter of the river-god → Sangarios preg- tory of religion is concerned, there is no nant. She gives birth to → . Agdistis, doubt that ‘all gods’ (Pantheon) were now in its female aspect as a form of the invoked and worshipped – gods who are Great Mother (→ Kybéle), falls in love not named but who are not nameless. An with the beautiful youth Attis; when he is unknown or anonymous god is also unfaithful to her, she makes him lose his attested in pre-Islamic Arabia, and votive reason. inscriptions from (second and third centuries AD) are addressed to him Aglaia → ‘whose name is praised for ever and ever’. Aglibol The moon-god of Palmyra His epithets are ‘Lord of the world’ and (ancient Syria). He the sickle ‘the good one’. moon on his forehead – at a later date, on his shoulders. The name is sometimes Ah Bolom Tzacab In scholarly litera- explained as ‘bull of Bol’, which would ture known also as god K or as ‘the leaf- suggest that the sickle was originally nosed god’ because of the leaf-shaped bull’s horns. His spread via Greece ornament he wears in his nose. He was to Rome. the Mayan god of agriculture, and was supposed to control rain and thunder. (etymologically connected with Latin ignis ϭ fire) The Vedic god of Ahone The supreme deity of Indians fire. He carries the sacrificial burnt offer- who once lived in the Virginia area. He ing to the gods. There are two or three was so far removed from men, so remote, versions of his birth: on the one hand, he that they did little to honour him. In this, is said to be born from heaven, from the he differs from → Okeus. sun or from lightning, but then again he is Ahriman and modern born from an earthly source, from stone Farsi version of the Avestan name Angru or from water, in which extinguished fire Mainyu (‘evil spirit’), the name given by resides. As portrayed, he is reddish in hue, Zarathustra to → ’s adver- with a long beard and clothed in fire; in sary who counters every act of creation his hands he carries flames, a and with an act of anti-creation. Ahriman is a water-pot. He is said to be mounted on the embodiment of all evil; he inhabits an a ram or a male goat. In old texts Agni is underground realm of eternal darkness, described as the ‘bull of the ’, that from which he brings smoke and black- is to say, he makes the water pregnant: ness, sickness and death into the world. a symbolical reference to the cosmic His symbolical creature is the snake. At process, in which (male) fire enters into the end of time, he will subside power- (female) water. Agni is an intermediary less into darkness. In and between mankind and the gods, especially Zervanism Ahriman is venerated as a god; when he appears in the sacrificial fire. his include the of those Agnóstos Theós (Greek ϭ ‘the unknown animals which belong to the powers of god’) It seems that to ‘unknown evil. Cf. also → . 6 Ahura Mazda

Ahura Mazda

Later Ormazd (old Persian ϭ ‘Lord or appointed judge of the dead. He is first wisdom’). The name of the one true God mentioned by name in . preached by Zarathustra. Originally Aíolos (Latin: ) The son of → Ahura Mazda was conceived as ruling ; in , the pro- over the oppositional pair Spenta Mainyu genitor of the Aeolians, directed by → and Angru Mainyu (→ Ahriman), but to rule the winds. It was he who later he became conceptually identified gave a bag containing contrary with Spenta Mainyu. In the teaching of winds to speed the homeward journey. Zarathustra, light is made visible by Ahura Mazda and serves in his praise. Aión (Greek ϭ time) The word may Subsequently the paramount light, the refer to an age or epoch in the history of sun, appears as the form of the god, and the world, or to the god himself who per- in the Avesta the sun and the moon are sonifies such an age. He is depicted in described as his eyes. Over against the human form, entwined in serpents and world of truth and light which he has cre- with the head of a lion. He is often ated, stands the anti-world of deception winged and sometimes shown standing and darkness. By means of fire, Ahura in the . He figures in the mysteries Mazda can distinguish good from evil. On of Mithras, whose concept of is of Achaemenian seals the god is depicted in Persian origin (→ Zervan). The Lord of a winged ring (the sun or the moon); Time is also a primeval god (known as sometimes his body projects upwards out Aion to the Manichaeans), and he enters of the ring. This type of representation Greek thought in the shape of → Krónos, was taken over from (cf. illustra- which in the course of further philo- tion to → ). sophical speculation, coalesces with its → Ahurani ‘She who belongs to Ahura’, homonym . an Old Iranian water-goddess, to whom Airyaman Etymologically related to people prayed for growth, insight and the Modern Persian erman ϭ guest. The progeny. formed part of the Old Iranian god corresponding to the in her honour. Vedic → Aryaman. To begin with, he was Aiakós A Greek god of the under- a sort of deity whose duties world, the son of Zeus and of Aigina. included supervision of such social bonds Because of his love of he was and contracts as hospitality and marriage. Akerbeltz 7

He is the old Aryan god of marriage, but as attributes. In he is known as also appears in literature as a divinely Kokuzo, and is a of ordained priest and doctor. At the end of supreme knowledge of the absolute void time he will fish the souls of those tem- (funyata). porarily damned out of hell by means of a net. Eschatologically he may coincide Aképhalos This is not really a proper with → Sraoma. name, but rather the designation of a ‘headless’ being which was regarded as Ai Tojon The creator of light among a demon in antiquity. There were many of the Yakuts (in Siberia). He is conceived as these: originally beheaded for criminal a giant, double-headed eagle, which offences, they became ghosts or acolytes perches on the tip of the world-tree. in practices. In Hellenistic Egyptian papyri dealing with magic, Aitu In Samoa, a portmanteau word for spells and incantations, the akephalos is the lower order of gods who are called even addressed as God; here we may per- Atua in the Marquesas. Included here are, haps see the influence of the myth of the above all, the various tutelary gods of var- dismembered → Osiris. ious families and villages, who appear in the shape of plants or animals. One Aitu In ancient Egyptian texts his known as Fe’e (ϭ cuttlefish, squid) name is written with the determinant for started out as a god of war but gradually ‘Earth’, and the god himself is an embod- took over the role of ruler over the king- iment of the earth. He is represented as dom of the dead. The Aitu often display a narrow strip of land with either a human demonic rather than godly characteristics. or a lion’s head at the ends; later, this The word ‘aitu’ is also used in Maori, becomes two lions with their backs turned where it means not only ‘deity’ but also to each other, which the hieroglyph ‘sickness’ or ‘misery’. of the rising sun. One lion looks towards the west where the sun sets; the other A Lithuanian household spirit faces east where the sun rises again from which appears as a black cat or a black the realm of darkness. The two lions and cock. When he flies in the sky he looks hence the god they represent guard the like a wavy line. He is a creature of the entrance and the exit of the underworld. devil, which persuades the to sell his soul for a rich reward. Akerbeltz (‘black billy-goat’) In Aius Locútius (Latin ϭ the speaker) Basque popular belief, Akerbeltz is the → A Roman nonce-god who is supposed to representative of the god Mari. In have given a warning of the approach of accordance with his name he is depicted the (391 BC). as a black billy-goat. People who want their animals to do well turn to him for Akayagarbha (‘whose origin is the help. In earlier times, a black billy-goat ether’) In Indian Buddhism, a → was kept in the farm-steading to protect with the characteristics of the herd from plague and sickness. In the a celestial deity. He holds jewels in his sixteenth/seventeenth centuries he was hands, and his symbol is the sun. He venerated as a god by witches and wiz- appears in the Tibetan Books of the Dead ards; were made to him, and as Nam-mkhai snying-po, yellowish in dance formed part of the ritual in his colour and furnished with sword and bell honour. 8 Akongo

Akongo The supreme god of the Alardi In the popular belief of the Ngombe who live in the Congo area. As Ossetians in the Central Caucasus a spirit creator, he bears the epithet ‘he who who on the one hand causes smallpox forms’; that is, it is he who gave the world and, on the other, protects women. In its shape. folksong he is given the epithet ‘the winged one’. Aksobhya (‘the unshakable’) One of the five → Dhyani-Buddhas: probably an A local Celtic name for the hypostasis of the historical → Gautama god → Mercurius. In the Mannheim area, Buddha, with reference to his withstand- Mercurius was given the epithet Alannus; ing the (legendary) temptations of the near Salzburg, inscriptions have been satanic → . Iconographically, he is found giving the form ‘sacrum ... represented as a Buddha clothed in the Alounis’. habit of a , and seated on a sun. He is celestially orientated on the east, and in Albiorix (‘King of the World’) Epithet, Tantrism the eye of the Buddha, the ele- perhaps also a specific form of the Gallic → ment ether and the of winter are war-god Teutates. attributed to him. In Tantric iconography Alcis A divine pair of brothers in the he may be given six or eight arms; belief of the East Germanic tribe of the his main attribute is the vajra, the thun- Naharnavali (in Silesia?). According to derbolt, and he rides on a pair of ele- Tacitus they were worshipped in a sacred phants. Several emanate from grove, and they were never depicted. In s → → Ak obhya, including Heruka, the interpretatio romana they are identi- Jambhala, Yamari. fied with the heavenly twins → Castor Earth-goddess of the Ibo people in and Pollux. The etymology of the word East Nigeria. She represents the earth in Alcis is not clear. It may be connected its dual aspect – fecundity and death. with the word alces which Caesar notes as meaning ‘’, and this would make the Alako A god of the Norwegian gyp- Alcis brothers elk or stag gods. sies. His original name was Dundra, and he was sent down to earth in human shape Alisanos (attested also in the form by his father, the great God, to reveal their Alisanus) A local god in Gaul, men- secret law and lore to the gypsies. When tioned in inscriptions found in the Côte this was accomplished he returned to his d’Or. The place-name Alesia may well be own realm in the moon, and has ever connected with him. Attempts have been since been known as Alako. The name is made to identify him more closely as etymologically related to the Finnish a mountain- god, or god of trees. word alakuu ϭ waning moon. (, al-ilah ϭ the God) In The first among the heavenly the pre-Islamic period, the supreme kings according to the pantheon of the deity, creator of the earth and giver who lived in North Syria in the of water. Interpreted monotheistically by second millennium BC. For nine Muhammad as the one true God, to whom he occupied his divine throne before he it is incumbent upon men to submit was overthrown by , the first of ( ϭ submission). Allah is totally and the gods. Alalu was called Hypsistos (‘the essentially different from all that he has highest’) by the Greeks. created: hence the prohibition of any Alpan 9

symbolized by a cluster of lightning flashes and a weapon which looks like a slightly bent capital S. His symbolical animal is the bull, and in some texts he is referred to as ‘Lord of the horned goats’.

Aloádes In Greek mythology the giant sons of Aloeus (or of → Poseidon) named Otos and Ephialtes. In their fight against the gods they try to storm Olympus; and they bind the god of war → Arés fast and hold him captive for 13 months. When → Ártemis throws herself between them in the shape of a hind, they kill themselves in their blind lust to hunt down the quarry. attempt to portray him. The ‘beautiful It is possible that the Aloades were pre- names’ of God correspond to the epithets Hellenic gods, who were casualties in the which are used to paraphrase Allah in struggle surrounding the introduction of the Qur’an: 99 names are known (hence the new religion of Zeus. the 99 beads in the Islamic rosary) but the ‘greatest name’, the name which will (Alb) alfr. The original → complete the hundred, is known to no designation of the mythical Elben. In mortal. In Islamic mysticism () , the Albs were Allah is compared to a sun which sends unearthly beings, half god half : and forth its rays; his throne is a sign of his here we may recall Alberich, the king of omnipotence and of his remoteness from the dwarfs in the Nibelungensage, famed his creation. Since graphical representa- for his Tarnkappe which conferred invisi- tion of Allah is forbidden, it is only in cal- bility, and the magic belt that gave him ligraphy that he can be spiritually strength. In later years, the Albs came ‘presented’. to be known as demonic beings which caused sickness and nightmares. In popu- Allat (‘the goddess’) Venerated in lar the nightmare – a terrify- Central and North Arabia in pre-Islamic ing experience during sleep, followed by times. Herodotus records the Semitic an equally terrifying awakening – is name in the form Alilat. She was particu- explained as induced by a threatening larly revered in Ta’if where an idol to her, demon (→ , → ). In a white granite block, stood. She was sup- Bavaria and Austria, the evil female posed to be one of the three daughters of demons known as Druden take the place → Allah, and was associated with the of the Albs. . Certain texts also seem to point to a solar connection. Alpan (also Alpanu, Alpnu) An Etruscan goddess, variously portrayed as Allekto → winged or unwinged, belonging to the Moon-god and tutelary god female demons known as → Lasas. She of the South Arabian kingdom of Saba. is naked except for a cloak which Members of the tribe of Saba called them- hardly conceals her body, she is richly selves ‘the children of Almaqah’. He is bejewelled and wears light sandals. The 10 Amaethon evidence strongly suggests that she was Amenominakanushi (Japanese ϭ Lord a goddess of the of love, but she also of the bright centre of heaven) The possesses traits that mark her as a goddess supreme heavenly divinity in Shintoism. of the underworld. In contradistinction to → , he plays no part in myth, nor is there any Amaethon A Celtic god of agriculture record of a shrine or place of in in Wales, revered as the great ploughman. his honour. Nevertheless he occupies first He belongs to the Welsh family of gods of place in the list of gods: transcending all the Don. of them, he sits alone on a nine-fold layer Amáltheia (in Latin Amalthéa) A of clouds (a symbolical reference to the or, in other versions of the story, nine ). → a she-goat which nourished the infant Amentet Egyptian goddess of the west Zeus with her milk, and was rewarded by and of the lands lying in that direction. As being transferred to the heavens where the sun sets in the west (symbolizing the ϭ she figures as Capella (Latin, goat). entrance to the underworld) Amentet is A horn broken off from Amáltheia was also the goddess of the necropolis where transformed by Zeus into the , she receives the dead as they enter the the symbol of plenty. Beyond.

Amaterasu (Japanese ϭ ‘shining from (‘non-death’, ‘life’) In Old heaven’) The sun-goddess of Shintoism, Iranian religion, Ameretat belongs to the venerated in the shrine at Ise as the divine circle of Amemva Spentas, where she rep- progenitor of the Japanese imperial fam- resents . She is usually men- ily. Her epithet is Omikami: ‘great and tioned together with → , whose exalted divinity’. The myth tells how she dominion is over the waters, while arose together with the moon (god) Ameretat rules the plant world. In the when the god of heaven Izanagi washed Yasna the two goddesses figure as the his eyes on his return from the under- food and drink of heaven. For the faithful, world. Angered by the atrocities com- they represent the reward awaiting them mitted by the storm-god → Susanowo, after death. As abstract concepts they are withdrew to a cave, and all both feminine, but when personified each light faded from the earth; but the other can take on male . In the final sac- gods used a mirror to entice her back rifice Ameretat is united with her earthly again. symbol, the world of plants.

Amaunet One of the group of Ameya Spentas (‘the holy immortals’) Egyptian gods known as the Ogdoad. In the religion of the Parsees, a collective She was seen as the Divine Mother pre- title for the of abstract siding at the beginning of time, when concepts who serve → Ahura Mazda as she merged with → . In inscriptions his archangels. Five of the Amema Spentas she is named as ‘the mother who was the may well have arisen from elemental spir- father’; that is to say, she needed no its via a process of reinterpretation: Ama spouse. Within the Ogdoad, → is (Avestan ϭ truth) is symbolized by fire in allotted to her as partner. In the Ptolemaic the Gathas, Khmathra vairya (‘desired era she was seen as the embodiment of realm’) is the protector of metals, and the life-bringing north wind. is often represented as god of war; 11

→ Armaiti (‘compliance, compliant he had the status of a tutelary national thought/speech’) is closely connected god, and the people of Qataban called with the earth, while → Haurvatat (‘per- themselves ‘the children of Amm’. His fection’) is associated with water, and lunar character is indicated by his epithet: Ameretat (‘immortality’) with plants. To ‘he who waxes’. In addition, he acts as this original group of five, → Vohu Manah a , and in this capacity he is (‘sound views’) and → Sraoma (‘obedi- symbolized by a cluster of lightning ence’) were added as archangels after flashes. Zarathustra. On occasion, → Spenta Amma The divine creator in the reli- Mainyu and even Ahura Mazda himself gious system of the Dogon (in Mali). He are mentioned as ‘holy immortals’. created the universe in the form of Amida Japanese form of → a world-egg which was divided into two Amitabha, a dogmatic development of the placentas: from these, the bi-sexual world eleventh/twelfth centuries. Amida is also arose. According to a different and occult given the Sanskrit name Amitayuh tradition, the god raped the earth, whose (‘immeasurable life’), a reference to the sexual organ was an ant-hill. Buddha who possesses the properties of A mother-goddess of the o immeasurable light and life. In the J do Telugu, a Dravidian people who live in , teaching concerning Amida coa- east-central . According to the myth, o lesces with the belief in J do, the Pure she existed before the coming to being of Land. Thereafter, simple of the the four ages, that is, before the creation name of Amida Buddha is enough to of the world. From an egg which she laid ensure release, provided belief is deep in the Sea of Milk arose the three gods → and genuine. , Visju, and → Fiva. She rides on Amitabha (Sanskrit ϭ immeasurable a jackal. light; Chinese A-mi-t’o or O-mi-to) A female demon who plays The most popular of the five → Dhyani- a part in the Egyptian Day of Judgment. Buddhas. He is enthroned in heaven as She was feared as ‘devourer of the dead’, lord of the paradisical land of Sukhavati, and she had the head of a crocodile, the entry into which is vouchsafed to all who torso of a predatory cat and the buttocks believe in him. His celestial direction is of a hippopotamus. This monster lurked the west, his element is water and he is near the scales of justice waiting for the associated with the evening twilight. In verdict to be given, whereupon she iconography, he is represented as a red- devoured the sinner. coloured Buddha, both of his hands lie open in his lap in the pose of . Ammon The god of the West Egyptian His ceremonial vehicle is a pair of pea- oasis of Siwa, and of its site cocks, and he is symbolized by a lotus or (Ammonium) which was celebrated in an alms-bowl. The Amitabha cult reached antiquity. The god was represented as → from India in the fourth – sixth a ram. Ammon is the Greek form of centuries AD, and spread thence to Japan Amun. After visiting the Siwa oasis, (→ Amida). Alexander the Great regarded himself as a son of Zeus-Ammon, much as the Amm The moon-god in pre-Islamic were held to be sons of Amun- South Arabia. In the kingdom of Qataban Re. North African rock drawings showing 12 Amoghapaqa the ram bearing the disc of the sun are held Amun to be outliers of the Ammon (Amun) cult. Amoghapaqa (‘unfailing noose’) In Buddhism, a form of → Avalokitefvara. He is white in colour, has a face and eight arms, and stands with his feet close together on the moon. His main attribute is the noose (a hypostatization of compassion) with which he lassoes the faithful, much to their benefit. (‘flawless perfection’) In Buddhism, one of the five Dhyani- Buddhas; he is green in colour and assigned to the northerly quarter. His vehicle consists of a pair of (mythological eagle-like ), and his attribute is a double thunderbolt (vifvava- jra). He is associated with the bodily eye, the rainy season and the element of water. In Tantrism he may be represented with three faces and six arms. (‘the hidden one’) In the Ámor The Roman god of love, corre- he is already mentioned as a primeval sponding to the Greek → Éros. In Latin god, in association with his wife → poetry Amor is also called Cupido (- Amaunet. In Old Egyptian thought he was itas ϭ longing, lust, passion). In the the moving agent in the invisible breeze; Christian Middle Ages, a distinction was thus he was venerated as god of the wind made between Amor or Amor Dei (ϭ God) and ruler of the air. From the eleventh and Cupido (ϭ the devil). In classical art, dynasty onwards he is attested as god of Amor was represented as a puer alatus Thebes. Here, he coalesces with the sun- (winged youth); his attributes are a bow god (→ Re) to become Amun-Re, and, as and arrows and/or a torch. The story of Thebes increased in power, he became Amor and Psyche has been popular and tutelary god of the since the early . Here, empire. In his capacity as primeval god of Psyche, representing the caducity of creation he is venerated in the shape of human life on earth, is awakened by a goose; otherwise, the ram is his sacred Amor’s kiss to life eternal. animal, a reference to his function as god of fertility. After the fall of Thebes his Amphitríte A goddess of the sea, pos- cult prospered in and among the sibly pre-Hellenic. In Greek mythology, oasis dwellers (→ Ammon). she is the daughter of → , and the wife of → Poseidon. Accompanied by An (Anu) In Sumerian the name means and Tritons she moves over the ‘above’, ‘heaven’ and is written in the waters in a vessel made of mussels. It was cuneiform character with the same sign as only in association with Poseidon that she the word for ‘God’ (). His consort is was made an object of worship. variously given as (the earth) or the Ani 13 goddess Antum. An is the supreme god of universally present. On occasion she fuses the Sumerian pantheon, and the centre of with the figure of → Adrásteia. In her his cult was at . In the Babylonian capacity as ‘she who guides the worlds’, period his eminence as god of heaven is she is portrayed holding a spindle. still stressed, but his role in religious (h) observance is no longer an important one. To begin with, a Phoenician- In the main he is not favourably disposed Canaanite goddess whose name is inter- towards human beings to whom he sends, preted as meaning ‘providence’ or for example, the demon → Lamamtu and ‘precaution’. She is the maiden sister of → the goddess of death → . Among , but also on occasion his spouse. the Hurrians, Anu was regarded as the In the texts, she wreaks terrible → successor of → Alalu. revenge on the god of death , on behalf of her dead brother. She was taken Ana (or Anu) Celtic-Irish goddess of over by various peoples in Hither as the earth and of fertility. She was said to the goddess of nature and life, and con- be the mother of the gods. Two hills tributed something towards the make-up near Killarney in Munster are called after of → and of → Atargatis. From her Da Chich Anann: i.e. the two breasts the Ramessids onwards, Anat was also of Ana. venerated in as a goddess of war; in this capacity her attributes include shield, (‘the immaculate’) Originally, spear and axe, and also a high crown with → a Semitic goddess related to Anath, she two ostrich feathers. was received into the pantheon of the Parsees as a goddess of fertility and of A pre-Islamic god in south victory. She is pictured as a maiden in Arabia. His name may have been origi- a mantle of gleaming gold, with a diadem nally a regal plural and may be etymolog- and jewels. In iconography she wears ically connected with the name of the old a high crown, in her left hand she often Mesopotamian god → (‘the harbin- carries a water-pot (in her capacity as ger’). Anbay is an oracular god and ‘Lord goddess of water) and at her breast of justice’. In his capacity as ‘spokesman’ she carries a blossom. The (‘harbinger’) he acts for the moon-god dove and the peacock are sacred to (→ Amm) who ranks above him in the her.Temple prostitution formed part ofpantheon. her cult. In the Avestan , the tenth Anezti (Anedjti) God of the ninth day and the eighth month are dedicated of , from whom → to her. In Middle Persian tradition she is Osiris seems to have borrowed the crook called Ardvi Sur, and in Asia Minor she and scourge as symbols of overlordship. was assimilated to the Great Mother. . After the conquest of by the Angiras (ang ϭ to say, announce, related Persians some traits of → Imtar as goddess to Greek ϭ angel) ‘The seers of love and of the were transferred descended from the gods’ in the Veda and to Anahita. in Hinduism: ‘sons of heaven’ who by dint of sacrifice achieved immortality and Ananké Greek goddess of fate. As the the friendship of → Indra. personification of ineluctable necessity, of inevitability, she is even set above the gods. Ani Etruscan god. On the bronze liver In Orphic teaching she is incorporeal but he is located at the exact north, that is to 14 Anky-Kele say, in the highest heaven. The name Ani from the ground, thereby severing Antaios’ may be etymologically connected with dynamic contact with Mother Earth. that of the Roman god → . Whether two-visaged coins indicate an Etruscan Ianus is not certain: and equally doubtful is the claim that Ani comes from ianus (‘buttress’, ‘arched gate’) and is therefore connected with a sky-god (arch of heaven). Anky-Kele The god of the sea in the pantheon of the Chukchi people in north- east Siberia. As lord of the (sea)creatures, and hence of the food supply, he has power of life and death over the human race. Ánna Perénna An ancient Roman goddess. During the class war between the patricians and the plebeians she is supposed to have saved the latter from famine. She was worshipped in a grove lying to the north of Rome, and every Egyptian god of the dead, in the shape of year on 15 March there was a popular a dog or a jackal; occasionally in human open-air festival in her honour. It is possi- shape with a dog’s head. It is not certain ble that Ánna Perénna is a derivation of what the name means; the meaning ‘little the Earth Mother. dog’ has been suggested. At Assiut, Anyar and Kiyar According to the Anubis was known by the epithet ‘Lord of Babylonian creation epic Enuma Elim, the the cave mouth’, i.e. the entrance into third generation of gods and the parents the of the dead. As god of the dead he of the sky-god (→ An). The name Anmar is ‘Lord of the divine hall’ and hence is construed as meaning ‘totality of in charge of mummification, in which heaven’ or ‘horizon of heaven’; Kimar capacity he undertakes the ritual prepara- would then be ‘totality of earth’ or ‘earth tion of the corpse and its transfiguration. horizon’. Similarity in sound led to the With the rise of → Osiris, Anubis was Assyrian → Assur being demoted vis-à-vis the new Lord of the identified in the late Assyrian period with Dead and put in charge of weighing the Anmar, and promoted to a position of hearts at the last judgment. The Greeks supremacy over all the gods. gave the name Kynopolis to important centres of worship. In the interpretatio Antaíos (in Latin Antaeus) According graeca Anubis was identified with → → to Greek myth, the son of Poseidon and Hérmes. the goddess of the earth → . The Greek word antaíos means ‘he who meets’. (Greek form Anukis) Egyptian The giant Antaíos lived in ; and goddess of the Cataract area. Particularly everyone whom he met there he challenged venerated in Elephantine, she was also to a wrestling match and killed. Herakles known as ‘mistress of Nubia’. Her sacred finally overcame him by picking him up animal was the gazelle. Aphrodíte 15

Anunna (Sumerian ϭ ‘those who are of princely seed’) Collective title for the pantheon of a given locality: e.g. the Anunna of Lagam, or for the gods of heaven and earth. In Akkadian (the lan- guage spoken in Babylonia and Assyria) the loan-word Anunnaku denotes the lower gods in contra-distinction to the gods who dwell in heaven (→ ). Anyigba → Trowo Apam napat (‘Grandchild of the waters’) In Old Iranian belief a ‘god found in the water’. He is the giver of water to men, but he also acts in a military capacity. He is the hero who quells rebellious lands. His epithet is ‘owner of swift steeds’. Vedic India had a god → of the same name; according to the Venus. Attempts to derive her name ϭ he is golden in appearance and from the Greek word aphros foam, date he distributes water. It is possible that → back to antiquity. On this interpretation, Poseidon as he appears on Bactrian the goddess is ‘she who is born of the coins is a mutation of the Old Iranian foam’; or, as another of her names – water-god. Anadyomene – suggests ‘she who arises from the sea’. Her cult is pre-Greek and Aparajita (‘the unconquered’) Belongs probably oriental in origin; certain rites to the → Krodhadevatas of Indian associated with her, like the temple pros- Buddhism. He is white in colour, and dec- titution in Corinth, remind us of → orated with . He has three faces – Astarte. She was also known as Kypris white, black and red. In pre-Buddhist and as Kythereia after the main shrines in belief he seems to have figured as leader her honour on and Kythera. of the demons, and as such is trampled In coastal areas she was revered as underfoot by → Bhutadamara. Euploia – ‘she who confers a good voy- age’. Plato and others make a distinction Aparajita (‘the unconquered one’ between the ‘heavenly’ (female)) A female deity in Indian () and the goddess who ‘belongs to Buddhism; she is yellow in colour and has the whole people’ (Pandemos). According one head and two arms, and is bedecked to , Aphrodite was the daughter of with jewels. Her countenance arouses ter- → Zeus and , married to → ror, and she tramples → Gajefa under- Hephaistos but in love with → Arés, foot. She scatters all devilish beings (→ a liaison from which → Éros was born. Maras) and unruly gods like → Brahma She also loved the beautiful → Adonis. are obliged to hold her sunshade over Her attribute was the dove. Her cov- her head. ered fertility in the plant world, and she Aphrodíte Greek goddess of beauty was venerated in Athens as the goddess of and love, identified by the Romans with gardens. 16

Apis (in Egyptian ) Holy bull worshipped in Memphis. He was origi- nally a symbol of fertility, but in the course of time he acquired other charac- teristics; above all, he came to be identi- fied with the ‘glorious soul’ of → . After his death, Apis enters the god → Osiris, and the compound Osiris-Apis (in Grecianized form ) is used to denote the ensuing mixta persona. Apis became a god of the dead. From the New Kingdom onwards he wears the disc of the sun as a head-dress. Apis-bulls were regarded as holy and were interred in sub- terranean burial chambers in the so-called . Herodotus identifies Apis with → Epaphos.

Aplu An Etruscan god borrowed from the Greek pantheon (→ Apollon), latterly specified as god of thunder and lightning. being and . The laurel plant is He is pictured as naked except for a man- sacred to him. As god of the tle which covers part of his body; on his Apollon Musagetes he is often represented head is a wreath of laurel and he holds in with a , and singing and music are in his hands a staff which usually ends in his gift. Finally, from the sixth century a laurel twig. The god figures in various onwards he was demonstrably venerated as , but there is no trace of a cult a sun-god. His epithet Phoebus (‘the bright devoted to him. or pure one’) was originally understood in a purely cultic sense, but it soon acquired Apo Katawan ‘Master’ or ‘Father’ ethical connotations. The myth relates how Katawan: a god of the Hambal-Aeta, he slew the , only a few days a negrito tribe in the Philippines. Sacrifice after his birth. His parents were → Zeus is made to him, and people pray to him. and → , his twin sister was → , and his son was the god of heal- Apóllon A Greek god, probably of Asia ing → Asklepios. Apóllon was the first Minor origin. He fulfills several functions: Greek god to be introduced into as protector of cattle, he keeps wolves (Etruscan → Aplu). Augustus saw him as away (hence his name of Lykeios); as pro- his personal tutelary god. moter of agriculture he gets rid of field- mice (Smintheus); and as a stone pillar Apophis An Egyptian monster, reptil- standing in front of a house he protects ian in nature, which lives in darkness and both it and its inhabitants (Apollon which threatens the sun-god in his daily Agyieus). He is a god of healing (with journey across the heavens. Apophis is a snake as attribute) and a god of expiation, a rebel against divine and cosmic order. It whose arrows bring sickness and death. is told in the hymns to the sun how the Above all, however, he is the god of ora- snake-demon is sliced with knives or cles, his most celebrated oracular shrines pierced by a lance. In the late Egyptian Arés 17 period, Apophis came to be identified Greek pantheon he was identified with with → Seth. → Zeus. Vedic water-spirits. As heav- Arapacana A → Bodhisattva, one- enly beings they are coupled with the faced, red or white in colour and resplen- musicians of the world of the gods dent like the full moon. He sits in (→ ). They are fond of games meditative pose on a double lotus. In his of chance, and confer good fortune at right hand he wields a sword, in his left he the gaming table. According to the holds a book which he presses to his , they can cause madness. It breast. has been suggested that the name derives from Sanskrit ap ϭ water and sar ϭ to Aray (also ) Old Armenian god of stream. war, known as ‘the beautiful’. Probably of common Indo-Germanic origin along Apsu (Akkadian; the Sumerian form is with → (originally a Thracian god). Abzu) Personification of the sweet- However, Aray also has certain character- water ocean lying under the earth, which istics of a dying god who rises again, united with → at the beginning of which lends some support to the thesis time. According to Sumerian myth, Abzu that this Armenian god was identical with is the place where the goddess → the Hittite god of the countryside who formed the first men from clay. The bore the same name. It is possible that this Babylonian creation epic relates how god lives on in Aralo, the Georgian god of Apsu is slain by the magic weapons of agriculture. the goddess → Ea. It is in Apsu – that is to say, in the water – that is A local goddess in Gaul, finally born. named after the Ardennes. She was a god- dess of hunting, and interpreted by the Aralez The ancient Armenians believed Romans as equivalent to → . Her in the existence of these dog-like creatures sacred animal was the boar. gifted with powers. Their specific function was to lick the wounds Arebati Mythical sky-god of the of those killed or wounded in battle, Bambuti (Pigmy people on the Ituri in who then recovered or were resurrected to Congo). He is the ruler of the world, who new life. In the popular mind they were created the first man by kneading his beneficent dog-like spirits who lived in body from clay, covering it with a skin heaven; at an earlier date they may well and pouring blood into the vessel thus ϭ have been seen as god-like creatures of a formed. His epithet afa ( father) is to be menial order. understood in the same sense. Arés (accented in Latin on first syllable: Aralo → Aray Áres) Greek god of war. Etymologically, Aramazd (from Old Persian → Ahura his name is not entirely clear, but it proba- Mazda) The supreme deity of the bly means something like ‘destroyer’ or ancient Armenians, creator of heaven and ‘avenger’. He is accompanied by → earth. He has a son → Mihr, and a daugh- (dissension), (horror) and ter → . He was taken over by the (fear). His original homeland was Thrace, pre-Christian Georgians under the name and few temples were devoted to him of → Armaz. In the ascendancy of the in . He was not a popular god, and 18

has reached the goal of self-deliverance, by means of and meditation; in Mahayana Buddhism, the → Bodhisattva who shows others the way to salvation and sacrifices himself for them, is more highly venerated. Essentially, the is a human being, but he is endowed with the heavenly eye which he uses to perceive the ebb and flow of beings in the different worlds. In the pantheon of , the (called in Chinese lo-han) form a third class after the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas, thus still occupying a higher position than the gods. In Jainism, the Arhats are removed in their perfection from all earthly desires and actions, and they are revered as ‘supreme gods’.

Ariádne Originally a Minoan goddess; her Cretan name Aridela means ‘she accordingly he is not often portrayed who shines in splendour’. Her death as in Greek art. His parents were → Zeus described in Homer suggests a goddess of and → , and his mistress was → vegetation. In the myth, Ariádne is the Aphrodíte. The war-like were daughter of the Cretan king → and supposed to be his daughters. The of → Pasiphae. She uses a ball of wool to Romans identified Arés with their own help to find the way out of the god → . mazes of the . After her death, Arethusa → Kore-Arethusa Ariádne was led out of the underworld by her husband → Dionysos and taken up to Aretia In Armenian belief, the earth, Olympus. Her crown was fixed by → venerated as holy; spouse of Noah (prop- Zeus as a constellation in the heavens erly an Old Testament figure), and mother (Corona Borealis). of all living creatures. Arimanius (Areimanios) A variant → Argaulídes Kékrops name for the Persian → Ahriman, found Árgos In Greek mythology a many- in classical writers. According to eyed giant entrusted by → Hera to keep Herodotus, a god of the underworld, guard on → ; he was, however, lulled to ‘kakodaimon’ in contrast to the good sleep by → Hérmes and killed. His name spirit. says he is an embodiment has become proverbial for eyes which of and the darkness invoked by miss nothing. Persian magi. Later he came to be identi- fied with the Egyptian god → Serapis (as Arhat (Sanskrit, ‘he who is worthy of god of the dead) as well. reverence’) In a saint, one who has reached the highest Really the name of a Hittite stage of perfection possible on earth. In town, after which this goddess was called Buddhism, the ideal figure who ‘Sun of Arinna’. She was also known as Ártemis 19

Ariniddu, after her most important shrine. ‘the beautiful companion’. He is a Nubian She is ‘Queen of Heaven and Earth’, she god (‘Foremost of Nubia’) in the sense of protects the kingdom and assists in its the Egyptian → Mu; and he is also identi- wars. Her cult symbol is the sun disc. She fied with the Nubian regional god → is often identified with the Hurrian god- . He is often represented as a lion. dess of heaven → Lebat. Husband of both One of the most popular gods of is the weather-god. Palmyra (ancient North Arabia). He is Aristaíos An ancient Greek peasant twin brother of Azizu (→ ); god, protector of herds and the original together they represent the evening and bee-keeper. In Hellas he was ousted from the morning , and are pictured in favour by → Apóllon, as whose son he Palmyra as riding on camels or on horses. was subsequently regarded. In Kyrene Ártemis (Libya) he continued to be venerated as the son of the goddess of the town. Arma A Hittite moon-god, correspon- ding to the Hurrian → Kumuh. In hiero- glyphic Hittat his determinant is a sickle moon (Lunula). On reliefs he wears the sickle moon on his pointed and horned cap. On his back he has a pair of wings. Armaiti (also Aramati) Personification of ‘compliant speech’ (and thereby corre- sponding to the Vedic → Sarasvati) belonging to the → Amema Spentas. In the Gathas, Armaiti is closely associated with the earth and offers nourishment to the cow. She is goddess of the earth and hence of fertility, and also of the dead who have ‘gone into’ the earth. Ármány (Hungarian ármányos ϭ - ning, insidious) The gloomy prospect facing the world was personified under Greek goddess of the hunt, who can be this name in the Romantic movement in shown to share in the functions of several Hungary. First so used by Vörösmarty other divinities. She is Queen of the wild in 1825. beasts ( theron) in which capacity she can be traced back to the Minoan Armaz The supreme deity in pre- period. Graphically, she is represented as Christian Georgia; corresponds to the winged and accompanied by lions, deer Armenian → Aramazd. His cult represen- and birds. Mainly, however, she appears tation is described as clothed in golden as the virgin huntress roaming the woods armour, with a golden helmet and jewels. with her attendants, the → Nymphs. She In his hand he carries a gleaming sword. can use her arrows – like her brother → Arsnuphis (also Harensnuphis) Greek Apóllon – to send peaceful death or sud- form of Egyptian divine name meaning den destruction. In anger she is terrible. 20

Originally, was not the Aesir appear as deified ancestors unknown to her cult – we may recall the (Gothic ansis). The dividing line between story of Iphigenia who was replaced on the Aesir and the other race of Germanic the by a hind. She was also the god- gods, the → Vanir, is not fixed. dess of birth, and on Delos women sacri- Ay Egyptian god, described as ‘Lord of ficed their hair to her in token of their Libya’, dating from the very earliest devotion. She also appears as a goddess times. He is represented either anthropo- of vegetation and fertility (e.g. in the morphously or with a falcon’s head. Later, Peloponnese). In Asia Minor her cult he continued to be worshipped in oases in overlapped that of the Great Mother (the the Libyan desert, and took on some char- many-breasted Artemis of Ephesus). acteristics of → Seth. He is often shown Later, Artemis also came to be identified with the head of one of the animals sacred with the moon-goddess → Seléne. As to Seth. bearer of light (Phosphoros) she had a temple in the harbour of Athens. The In Sumerian mythology a demon myth makes her the daughter of → Zeus which dries up wells and covers the earth and of → Leto. with sores into which it squirts poison. Originally seen as the agent bringing ill- Artio A goddess of forests and hunting nesses. Its Akkadian name is Asakku. venerated in north-east Gaul and by the in Switzerland. Her attribute is Asalluhi (or Asariluchi) Sumerian god, a bear. assisting in the ritual of exorcism. The son of → Enki, to whom he reports the evil → m (1) Kamru epa deeds of the demons. Aruna (2) (‘reddish’) In Indian reli- Ayar Old Arabian equestrian god; gions the early dawn personified in the known from a few inscriptions from Purajas as the charioteer of the sun. He is Palmyra and some reliefs. counted among the → Adityas. Asasel () Hebrew proper name Aryaman Belongs to the Vedic group for a demon of the wilderness to whom of the → Adityas. He is the personifica- a scapegoat is sent on the Day of tion of hospitality and appears in the Atonement. (Leviticus 16: 8–10). In the Rigveda as founder of matrimony. The apocryphal book of Enoch, Asasel same god is found in under the name appears as the ringleader of the rebellious of → Airyaman. angels. As (pl. Aesir) In , the Ayera(t) Originally a goddess of the race of gods inhabiting Asgard were Semitic , similar in her functions called the Aesir. The name comes from as goddess of love and fertility to → Old Norse ass ϭ stake, beam, and this Astarte, possibly even identical with her. might suggest that the oldest representa- She is usually shown naked. In the Ras tions of these gods were carved stakes. At Shamra texts she is described as the the head of the Aesir was → , and spouse of the supreme god → , and they included → , → Tyr, → Balder, is designated as ‘Queen of the Sea’ → Heimdall, and the goddesses → , and ‘Mother of the gods’. Her cult pene- → , and → . In the History of the trated into Israelite territory (I Kings Goths written by the historian Jordanes, 15: 13) and the images – also called Assur 21 aˇsera – mentioned in I Kings 14: 23 may to be → Hygíeia. Doctors in antiquity have been these of her cult. called themselves asklepiades. According to the myth, Asklepios learnt the art of Ayertu A north-west Semitic goddess; healing from the wise Cheiron. the Hittite form of her name is Aserdus. He was particularly esteemed by the She is identical with the Syrian-Ugaritic Romans (→ Aesculapius); in Hellenistic- → Atirat. In a myth of Canaanite origin Roman Egypt his name was transferred to Amertu is unfaithful to her husband → . Elkunirma when she tries to seduce the weather-god. Asmodaios (in Latin , in the Talmud Ammedai) A demon (→ Aemma Aynan (in Sumerian Emmer) Old Daeva) taken from Old Iranian religion Mesopotamian goddess of wheat, daughter by the post-exile (Tobias 3: 8, 17). of → Enki. In rabbinic literature he becomes the Asklepiós chief of the evil spirits. In some ways, Asmodaios is reminiscent of the Assyrian → . Aqokakanta Sub-form of the Buddhist goddess → . She rides on a pig and is golden-yellowish in colour. Sometimes she is pictured as standing on the moon above a lotus. She is clothed in white and she herself is bedecked with jewels; with her right hand she makes the varada- gesture, indicating that certain wishes have been granted. Asopós Boeotian river-god (after the river of the same name in central Greece). Son of → Poseidon. When → Zeus abducted one of his daughters, Asopos himself was struck by lightning. (in Latin, the accent is on e: Asklépios) Greek god of healing. His oldest known Assur Originally the tutelary god of temple was at Trikka in . It was the town Assur; subsequently promoted to only from the fifth century BC onwards the rank of national god of Assyria. that his cult spread over the whole of Etymologically the name is obscure. Hellas, and he began to oust his father → From the thirteenth century BC onwards, Apóllon as a divine healer. Originally he he gains the ascendancy over → , may have been a snake-god; and when ousts him from the dominant role and new votive shrines were being dedicated takes over the epithets ‘Great Mountain’ to him, a snake was involved in the cere- and ‘Father of the Gods’. From the ninth mony as an incarnation of the god. He is century BC onwards he is equated with usually pictured as a bearded man with → Anmar. Among his functions are the his staff round which the sacred snake is judicial office, otherwise reserved to entwined. The main centre of his cult was the sun-god, and the conduct of war. at Epidauros. His daughter was supposed In Assyrian art he is shown as a god 22 Astabhuja-Kurukulla

standing in the winged disc of the sun and bow were her attributes. Among the holding or bending a bow. Greeks, Astarte was identified with → Aphrodíte as the heavenly goddess of sta a sta a ϭ A bhuj -Kurukulla (a bhuj the love. As in the case of other fertility god- eight-armed one) Special form taken desses, her sacred creature was the dove. by the Buddhist goddess Kurukulla. In the According to Philon of Byblos, she Sadhana texts she is described as having donned a bull’s head as a symbol of her one head and eight arms, and as red in ruling position, and there are other refer- colour. She sits in meditation on the sun ences to the horns assigned to her. above a red lotus with eight leaves. → Astar (Ethiopic ϭ sky, heavens) Often mentioned as god of heaven or sky-god in Asthoreth A goddess worshipped in inscriptions dating from the time of the the Palestine area, corresponding to the empire of Axum (Ethiopia, third to fifth Syrian → Astarte. She was principally centuries AD). The name is etymologi- a goddess of love and fertility, though cally related to the South Arabian → among the Philistines she was a goddess ’. of war. Solomon paid occasional homage to her, and even had a temple erected in m Astarte (A tarat) Semitic goddess, her honour near (I Kings 11: 5; associated mainly with Syria and II Kings 23: 13). The plural form of her Palestine. The Ugaritic form of her name name is Astharoth, and this is used in con- is Attart; she appears in the Old Testament junction with Baal as a collective name → → as Asthoreth, and in as for the female divinities of the Canaanites m I tar. Her cult was that of an oriental god- (Judges 2: 13; I Samuel 12: 10). The bib- dess of love and fertility, and was accord- lical place-name Astharoth-Karnaim, i.e. ingly marked by many excesses (temple ‘Astharoth with the two horns’, indicates prostitution). She is usually shown naked. that a horned goddess was visualized. When she was taken over by the Egyptians she began to figure more and Astlik (from astl ϭ star) An Armenian more as a goddess of war, and spear and goddess of astral nature, equivalent to the Athená 23

Old Mesopotamian → Imtar and to → associated with → . As sons of → Aphrodíte of the Hellenistic period: that , they are also called nasatyas. is to say, she is seen mainly in the role of Ataecina Old Hispanic goddess, ven- a goddess of love. With the coming erated in the region between the Tagus of Astlik’s status was reduced and the Guadalquivir. Interpreted by the to that of progenitrix of and Romans as equivalent to . nymphs. From inscriptions it is clear that she was Asto Vidatu (Avestan ast ϭ bone) The regarded as a goddess of the underworld: name may be roughly translated as ‘disin- one shows her holding a cypress tegrator of bodies’. Initially a minor branch. demon, later promoted to the status of a god of death, whom no mortal can Atargatis Syrian escape. From the moment of generation (Dea Syria) who was also venerated in on, all men should know that his noose is Asia Minor and in Greece during the already round their necks. For this reason, Hellenistic-Roman period. The centre of he has the epithet Marg ϭ death. In her cult was at Bambyke (Hierapolis) in Middle Persian texts he also appears as a Syria. The name Atargatis is a compound → → chief representative of the devil. of Astarte and Anat, whose func- tions she took over, particularly those Asura In Indian Buddhism a group of relating to fertility. The male partner demons who once upon a time lived in allotted to her was → Adad. Her throne heaven but who were cast by the gods into was flanked by lions; the ear (of wheat) the ocean. The story of the struggle and the coping stone were her attributes. between the gods and the Asura is In Askalon she was worshipped under the a favourite theme in the canon. In the name Derketo in form. Vedic religion, the Asura (Vedic, asu ϭ life, life-force) were a primeval group of Áte Greek goddess of disaster; the gods who were superseded by the up-and- embodiment of blind folly, benightedness, coming → Devas. In the Atharvaveda and which stupefies man, mind and soul, and thereafter, the name denotes only demons. lands one in disaster. She was supposed to be a daughter of → Zeus. Asurakumara (‘Demon-princes’) In Jainism, the first group of the → Atea The primeval god of Polynesian Bhavanavasin gods. They belong to the tradition: the space in light which was in uppermost regions of the underworld; the beginning sexless but which then they are black in colour and their clothing divided itself into the god → Rangi is red. Like the gods, they are able to gen- (heaven, sky) and the goddess Papa. erate rain and thunder. These two are the parents of all the gods. A Tahitian myth relates that Atea was Aqvin (afvin ϭ having horses) Indian created as an initially female divinity by twin gods equivalent to the → Dioskúroi. → Tangaroa. They appear driving their horses in the morning sky, and they are givers of honey. Athená (or Athéne) Virgin tutelary The fact that they are twins is attested in goddess of Athens and Greek goddess of the Rigveda. As divine healers they can wisdom. Originally a Cretan-Minoan cure the sick and rejuvenate the old. At palace goddess, perhaps identical with a a later period in Indian thought they are Cretan snake-goddess: the snake continued 24 Atirat

a goddess of . The Romans equated her with → . Atirat A West-Semitic goddess, described by the Babylonian king Hammurabi as ‘daughter-in-law of the king of heaven’ and ‘queen of lascivious- ness’. The name derives either from atir ϭ friend, or from an Arabic word mean- ing ‘brilliance, brightness’; if the latter derivation is correct, this would seem to point to a solar connection. In South Arabia, Atirat appears in association with the moon-god → Amm. Átlas (‘the bearer’) Son of the Titan → Iapetós and the Oceanid Klymene; sen- tenced to carry the vault of heaven because he took part in the campaign against the gods. The equation with the into later times to be associated with her mountain range in North Africa was (picture in the Parthenon). Her epithet known in antiquity; for example, it is to glaukopis (ϭ owl-eyed) hints at an ear- be found in Herodotus. lier version in the shape of a bird. In Homer, appears in two forms: as Atlaua Old Mexican water-god Promachos (‘champion’) she is goddess (Nahuatl atl ϭ water) who is also associ- of battle and bearer of the terrible aegis ated with the ‘arrow’ (atlatl). He is (the breastplate with the head of ); ‘Master of the waters’. When he takes and as Ergane (‘Craftsman’) she acts as his arrow in his hand, he will soar up like instructor in the handicrafts. In her capa- the Quetzal bird. city as a protective deity she bears the epi- Aton In , primarily the thet ; and the palladion, the icon designation of the visible disc of the sun, named after her, was supposed to protect which was regarded as a manifestation of the city and its houses from harm. → Re. In the New Kingdom, the sun-disc Regarding her birth, the myth tells how was personified and under King → she sprang from the head of her father Amenophis IV, who called himself Zeus. She forms no amorous attachment Echnaton (i.e. ‘he pleases Aton’), it was of any kind, and remains Parthenos – the declared to be the one true god. Portrayals virgin. The tale is told of how the gods from this period show the sun-disc, whose competed with each other to see which of rays are arms which end in hands bearing them could provide the most noble gift: the loop of life. The associ- Athená won the competition by giving ated with Aton was abandoned after the the olive-tree. But that was not all: death of Echnaton. she gave the peasant his plough, to women she gave the loom and she One of the deified bards, singers invented the flute. Thus, along with of sacred songs (→ Risis) in ancient her role as goddess of war she is also India. His name, ‘the devouring one’, was Avalokiteqvara 25 an epithet of fire. We are told in the the first substance to arise from primeval Rigveda that he discovered the sun which . He may take the form of the , had been swallowed by a demon, and put the snake or (later) the ichneumon. it back into the heavens. According to the begat the first divine couple → Mu Purajas he is the father of → Soma. (breath of wind) and → (humidity). In accordance with the solar of Átropos → Moires the Egyptians, Atum and → Re could be ’Attar A god worshipped in South equated. Arabia BC. In invocations of the divine Atunis The Etruscan name of → trinity he takes pride of place. The planet Adonis, taken over by the Etruscans from Venus is allotted to him (the morning the Greek pantheon in the fourth century star); and he is a god of war and of pro- BC. Represented only on mirrors, usually tection in war, with the epithet ‘he who is in association with → ; the two bold in battle’. In addition, he is the giver together corresponding to the Oriental- of water, vital for life, a function in which Mediterranean pair of the Great Mother his services overlap those of the moon- and her son. god. The antelope is sacred to him, and one of his symbols is the spear-point. Aufaniae , known from Outside South Arabia, ’Attar may assume votive inscriptions found in the Rhineland androgynous traits (as in Ugarit). and in Spain. They seem to be matron-like figures. Attis Phrygian god of vegetation, lover of the Great Mother (→ Kybéle). In an Auróra For the Romans, the morning older version of the myth he is a beautiful red and the goddess who raises it in the youth who is killed by a boar while hunt- sky; cf. → in Greece. ing. The later version is the better known: (Latvian ϭ morning star) A according to it, Attis loses his reason in Baltic stellar god, subordinate to the his desperate passion for Kybéle, and moon but often represented as serving the emasculates himself under a pine-tree. sun. When marriages are held in heaven Spring flowers and trees grow up from the he forms part of the bridal cortege, and he blood of the dying youth. Attis mystery is a willing helper in the heavenly bath- rites with sacramental partaking of food house. As a place associated with birth and taurobolium (baptism with bull’s and with curative properties, the bath- blood) were widespread throughout the house was particularly strongly endowed . At the end of March with vital forces. the feast of the dying and resurrected god (symbolized by a pine-tree) was Auxo → solemnized. Avalokiteqvara (also Avalokita or Atum Ancient Egyptian primeval god Lokefvara) In Buddhism, the most and creator of the world, venerated espe- popular of all the → Bodhisattvas. He is cially in Heliopolis. His name is construed regarded as an emanation of → Amitabha, as meaning ‘he who is not yet completed’, and as the so-called → Dhyani- or perhaps ‘the nonexistent’. Before Bodhisattva of the present age. The name heaven and earth became separated he was is variously interpreted, with little agree- the ‘one lord’. In the Pyramid texts he ment as to what it may mean: ‘the lord who appears as the primeval mountain, that is, descends’; ‘he who is enabled to reach the 26 Awonawilona highest understanding’; ‘master of light’ and the Singhalese, the protecting deity of (i.e., of the inner light, enlightenment). He the northern part of the island of Ceylon is an embodiment of compassion, a main (Sri ). According to one myth he virtue in Buddhism. Out of compassion he was born as a golden statue from the right descends to hell in order to redeem the hand of → Visju. The god is still invoked souls who suffer there. Iconographically he today to protect crops and when there is is depicted in many ways. Usually he has danger of plague. two arms, but in the Tantric tradition he has Ays Among the Armenians this word four or six arms. One of his most signifi- means not only ‘wind’ but also the evil cant attributes is the wreath of roses; spirit which rushes along in the wind: it another is the moon (→ Amoghapafa, → can penetrate into human beings and Khasarpana). In his plaited crown he bears drive them crazy. the portrait of Amitabha. When he is shown with ten or eleven faces, this is with Azi Dahaka (Avestan aˇzi ϭ snake, cf. reference to his universality. One of his Modern Farsi aˇzidaha ϭ dragon) A most popular representations is as mythical figure which reaches back into Cintamajicakra-Avalokitefvara: that is, he the very earliest Indo-Aryan times. It was bears as attributes a jewel (cintamaji) held a snake-like monster with three heads, before the breast, and a wheel (cakra). In initially preying on cattle and an enemy China he has been transformed into the of all good men. Subsequently it was female deity → Guan Yin. In Japan he is seen as the usurper of the Iranian king- known as K(w)annon and in Tibet as dom and the embodiment of falsehood. sPyan-ras-gzigs, as an incarnation of Temporarily conquered, he will present whom the Dalai is regarded. himself as a threat once more at the end of Awonawilona Creation god of the time as an accomplice of → Ahriman, but Zuñi (one of the Pueblo Indian tribes). He then he will be defeated once and for all. is the origin of all life; his epithet ‘He- Azizos and It is under these she’ shows that he is held to be hermaph- names that the morning star and the rodite. He created heaven/father and evening star were venerated in Syria; earth/mother by throwing balls of his skin they were depicted as two boys with an on the primeval waters. eagle. The Neo-Platonist Iamblichos iden- Ayiyanayaka (also Ayiyan) A kind- tified Azizos with → Arés. In Palmyra, hearted tutelary god of woodland and the place of Monimos was taken by the countryside venerated by the Dravidians god → Arsu. B

Ba (1) This Egyptian word means ‘the ram’, and it is the name of the ram-god of in the sixteenth name of Lower Egypt. As a philoprogenitive god he was the object of veneration from women who wanted offspring. Ba the ram-god gradu- ally turns into Ba (see next entry), a man- ifestation of → Re. In the Late Egyptian period, the god assumes the form of a billy-goat.

Ba (2) (pl: Baw) Ancient Egyptian des- ignation for a spiritual power which Horapollon identifies with Psyche. In the oldest religious texts, anonymous gods who make occasional appearances are written with the signs for Ba; and later the word becomes a synonym for the mani- fested form of a god. The Apis bull is the Ba of → Osiris, the star (Egyptian Sothis) is the Ba of → , and the and bull’s horns. Soon afterwards, Baal is seen as the ‘living soul’ of the was identified with → Seth. sun-god → Re. Baal-Addir (‘mighty Baal’) Initially Ba (3) Chinese goddess, a personifica- the god of the Phoenician town of Byblos, tion of drought. In some literary sources whence his cult spread to Punic she is referred to as the daughter of the (Carthaginian) Africa, whether as a god mythical Emperor → Huang-di. of fertility or of the underworld is a moot point. Among African troops in the Baal Storm-god and god of fecundity Roman army he was identified with of the West Semites, represented both in Jupiter . human shape and as a bull. The word ba’l means ‘owner, lord’ and can be a generic Baal-Biq’ah As ‘lord of the plain’ term for gods in general. Thus, it is (between the Lebanon and the Anti- applied to various local deities, as, for Lebanon) this was the deity after whom example, Baal-Sidon or Baal-Lebanon; the town of was named. Initially the Baal of Tyros was known as → a weather-god (like → BaalHadad) he . → Baal-Hadad occupied a cen- became in the Hellenistic period a sky- or tral position in Syria as a whole. Belief in sun-god, and was identified with Zeus. Baal came with the Hyksos to Egypt, Under the Romans he was regarded as where the god is specifically depicted as Jupiter Heliopolitanus (by then, Baalbek wearing a conical cap with a long band was called Heliopolis, sun-city). 28 Baal-Hadad

Baal-Hadad Old Syrian god of storms Baal-Marqod (‘Lord of the dance’) and weather; the name means ‘Lord of the Old Syrian god, who had a shrine devoted thunder’. The Babylonian counterpart of to him in the neighbourhood of the mod- Baal-Hadad was → Adad. As weather- ern city of Beirut. A curative well associ- god his epithet was ‘cloud-rider’, in his ated with him indicates that he was a god capacity as a warrior he was called of healing. In Greek guise he appears on ‘Prince Baal’ and in stories about his votive tablets as Balmarkos. In Roman death and resurrection he was given the parlance he was identified with → Júpiter. title ‘prince and lord of the earth’. His Baal-Qarnain (‘Lord of the two horns’) symbol was the bull, the emblem of fertil- A Punic god so called after two mountain ity. According to Ugaritic texts, Baal peaks close to the Gulf of Tunis. He was dwelt on the Sapan mountain and hence is represented as → Saturnus, and called also known as Baal Sapan. His chief ene- Saturnus Balcarnensis. It seems likely mies are → Jamm (sea) and → Mot that he was a local manifestation of → (death). A stele at Ras Shamra shows the Baal-Hammon. gods bearing in his hands a club and the symbol of lightning. Baal-Yamem (Baal-Sammin) The Phoenician name means ‘Lord of Baal-Hamon The earliest known ref- Heaven’, which would accordingly sug- erence to this god occurs in an inscription gest a celestial deity. His cult was wide- found at the Phoenician settlement of spread (ancient Syria, North Zindsirli. The name is taken to mean ‘lord Mesopotamia, Cyprus, Carthage). He is of the censer altars’. He is known chiefly represented on Seleucid coinage bearing as the supreme god of Carthage, whence a half-moon on his brow and carrying he was introduced to Malta, Sicily and in one hand a sun with seven rays. The Sardinia. In North Africa, he was revered Romans called him (sky). mainly as a god of fertility, a role attested Baal Sapon Canaanite god, so called in the epithet given him in Roman times – after Mount Sapon in Northern Palestine. Frugifer (‘fruit-bearer’). The sacrifice of In Ugarit he was called Baal Sapan, and children played a part in his cult obser- as the conqueror of the sea-god → Jamm vances, both in Sicily and in North Africa. he functions as the protector of mariners. Owing to the similarity between his name and that of the oasis god → Ammon, he Baba (1) (Bau) Sumerian tutelary god- m was also regarded as an oracular god. The dess of the city of Laga . Daughter of the → Greeks identified him with → Kronos, sky-god An, and spouse of the god of → the Romans with → Saturnus. fertility Ningirsu. Probably she was initially a Mother Goddess (‘Mother Baal-Karmelos (‘lord of Kamid’) A Baba’) and from Old Babylonian times Canaanite god revered on Mount Carmel. onwards she was known as a goddess of In I Kings: 18, 19 ff. it is related how the healing (‘female doctor of the black- → prophet challenged the priests of headed’), and is often equated with Baal to conjure up a burnt sacrifice with- Gula. King Gudea praised her as ‘mistress out fire. This mountain god was also of abundance’. known to speak in , and was still Baba (2) In Hungarian popular belief, being venerated in Roman times, e.g. by initially a being similar to a who grad- the Emperor Vespasian. ually took on the lineaments of a . Balarama 29

Baba-Yaga Witch in East European was implanted in Rome at a compara- folktales, also known as Jezi-Baba. tively early date. It was a secret cult, Sometimes she appears as a forest and its rites, die , were spirit, sometimes as the leader of a host marked not only by sexual excesses but of spirits, in which capacity she acquires by crimes of every description, so much demonic status. One White Russian tradi- so that from time to time the cult was tion describes her as travelling through prohibited. The most significant portrayal the air in an iron kettle with a fiery of Dionysiac mysteries is to be found in . . A demon of darkness mentioned (Bodb) Irish goddess of war. The in the Egyptian Books of the Dead. He is battle-field is called after her ‘land of probably represented in Greek incanta- Badb’. She was supposed often to take tional papyri by the name Bapho, a name the form of a crow. At the mythical battle used for → Seth. In Plutarch we find an of Mag Tured it was she who decided associate of Seth – or perhaps Seth him- the day. self – named Bebon. Baga Old Persian designation for God, Bacab The gods of the four heavenly etymologically connected with Sanskrit → directions in . Their names . → Ahura Mazda is baga vazraka, and their associated colours were: Kan ‘the great god’; while → Mithra is simply (yellow), → Chac (red), Zac (white) and called baga. In Parthian usage, the word Ek (black). baga could also signify a dynastic god. Bacax A deity revered by the ancient Bagvarti A goddess venerated by the Berbers; he was supposed to dwell in a Urartians, an ancient people who lived in cave at the entrance of which sacrificial what is now Armenia. She was the spouse offerings were to be made. of the Urartian tutelary god Laldi. Bácchus Bahram A Persian god, sometimes identified as the regent of the planet Mars, sometimes identical with → Verethragna as god of the wind. Baiame The supreme being in the reli- gion of the Wiradyuri and Kamilaroi peo- ples in Australia. The name means ‘creator’ or ‘the great one’, and women refer to him as ‘our father’. He created first himself and then all other things and beings. Baiame sits in heaven on a throne, he is invisible and is audible only in thunder. His son is → Daramulun. Balarama (‘the powerful ’) A god of agriculture whose cult reaches Roman god of fertility and of wine. The back to the very earliest times in India. Latin name is derived from the Greek His attribute is the plough, and he was Bákchos (→ Dionysos) whose cult regarded as the elder brother of → Krisja. 30 Balder

Balder (Old Icelandic: Baldr; Modern Barastir (Barastaer) The ruler of the Icelandic: Baldur) North German god; world of the dead among the Ossetians in the Edda he is described as handsome, (Caucasus). His function is to direct the brave and gentle, and of shining appear- dead souls, as they arrive, to their places ance. He is the son of → Odin and of → in paradise or in the underworld. Frigg, and the benevolent opponent of the evil → Loki, who induces the blind → (‘the white ones’) In Albanian Hödur to shoot a branch of mistletoe at popular belief, whitish nebulous figures him, thus killing him (mistletoe being the who dwell under the earth. They may be → only thing that could harm him). The ety- compared with the . To propitiate mology of his name is not clear, and there them, one strews cakes or sugar on the are accordingly several different interpre- ground. tations of his function; thus he is vari- Baryamin Old Armenian god, possibly ously seen as a god of light and as a god a sky-god. It seems likely that he was of vegetation – that is, as a god who dies taken over from the Syrian pantheon, and and is resurrected. Again, he has been is probably identical with → Baal-Mamen. seen as a hypostatis of the war-god Odin, an interpretation depending on equation Basajaun (‘Lord of the forest’) A of his name with the Old Norse adjective Basque spirit dwelling in the woods or in baldr ϭ courageous, bold. caves high up in the hills. He protects flocks and herds. In Basque tradition he Indian demon: in the second plays the part of a cultural initiator who world-age () he ruled over all three instructs mankind in the art of agricul- worlds but had to yield sovereignty over ture, and from whom they copy forging → sj earth and heaven to Vi u. Ever since, and working in wrought iron. he has been ruler of the underworld. According to the , Bali, Bayamum A god worshipped in enemy of the gods, lives in the shape of an ancient south Arabia. His name may come ass in a dilapidated hut. from Arabic baˇsam ϭ balsam bush. This suggests that he was a god of healing, a Baltis An Ancient Arabian goddess hypothesis strengthened by the fact that venerated at Carrhae in north-west one ancient text relates how he cured two Mesopotamia. She was identified with wild goats or ibexes. the planet Venus. An Egyptian goddess, inter- Bandara (more accurately, Bandara preted as a personification of ointment. At deviyo) Originally, the title of high an early period she was visualized in the officials in the Singhalese kingdom, shape of a lion, and this led to her coales- thereafter the designation of a group of cence with the leonine → Sachmet. In line gods superior to the → Ya k sas. Often with the syncretism typical of Egyptian chief local deities are called simply religion she was seen as the ‘eye of → Re’ Bandara. The group includes, among and coupled with → Tefnut. From the others, → Dadimunda. New Kingdom onwards, Bastet is increas- Bangputys Lithuanian god of the sea, ingly represented as having the head of whose name means ‘he who blows the a cat. Memphitic tradition makes her waves’. In a folksong he is called simply the mother of the god of embalming → ‘god of the waves’. Anubis. The centre of her cult was Behedti 31

Bubastis, and hence we find even classical partly legendary in nature. Their symbols authors calling her Bubastis. and attributes are in common use as lucky charms. Their names are: → Taurine god, tutelary deity of the Cao Guo-jiu, → Han Xiang-zi, → He seventeenth nome of Upper Egypt. He is Xian-gu, → Lan Cai-he, → Li Tie-guai → known from the New Kingdom legend of Lü Dong-bin, → Zhang Guo-lao, and → the two brothers. Zhong-li Quan. Baubo Bebellahamon North Arabian (Palmyran) god in whom scholars have seen a variant of the Punic → Baal- Hammon. Beelzebub (Beelzebul) The well- known derivation from ‘baal-zebub’, i.e. lord of the flies, is not proven; it is more probable that the name means ‘Baal the prince’, thus corresponding to the Phoenician concept of the god. He was a tutelary god in the land of the Philistines (II Kings 1: 2). Rabbinical texts inter- preted the name as meaning ‘Lord of the dunghill’; the word zabal ϭ to dung, is used in rabbinical literature as a synonym for . In the New Testament, Beelzebub is chief of the demons Initially, a personification, current in Asia (Matthew 12: 24–27). Minor, of female fecundity. According to Orphic (Greek) tradition she is an old Befana In popular belief in north Italy, woman, who makes the grieving → a female demon of midwinter. She brings laugh by showing her her presents – but she can also turn nasty and pudenda. The obscene gesture is to be may turn up as a ghost. In some ways she understood as a protective charm against reminds us of the → Bercht in German the powers of death. As a demon, Baubo popular belief. The name Sefana (or was visualized as headless or with her Befania) comes from Epiphany, the feast head placed between her legs. The name of the Magi (6 January). has been variously interpreted as meaning Beg-tse (Tibetan beg-ce ϭ hidden shirt ‘belly’, ‘hole’, ‘womb’. of mail) God of war in Lamaism. He is Ba Xian (‘The ’) In clad from head to foot in mail, and he car- Chinese popular belief there are many ries a garland of human heads and a men and women whose way of life sets crown in the shape of a skull. He often them far apart from others, so much appears under the name of ICam-srin. so that they can lead a happy life on Behanzin A fish-god venerated in earth which never ends: these are xian. Dahomey. A particularly well known group of xian is formed by the ‘Eight Immortals’ Behedti This god, who took the form who are partly historical personages, of a crouching falcon, was venerated in 32 Behemoth the Egyptian town of Behdet (). Very his cult extended into north Italy and early on he became a local form of the south Gaul. The root -probably means great falcon-god → . The proper ‘shine’, which would suggest that symbol of the is the disc of the was a god of light. In , sun, fitted with a pair of wings. Behedti the god was presented as → Apollon. also takes over the role of the king identi- Beletseri A Babylonian goddess who fied with Horus. From the Middle figures as ‘book-keeper’ and ‘clerk’ of the Kingdom onwards, the sun-disc became underworld. As the underworld is circum- a widespread symbol of protection. scribed as ‘steppe’, she is also known by Behemoth (Hebrew behema ϭ animal) the epithet ‘Queen of the steppe’. She is A designation of the hippopotamus the spouse of the nomad god → Martu. (Job 40). In Jewish it figures as Also Beliar (‘the unholy one’, an apocalyptic beast; and in the Christian ‘the worthless one’). Wicked men are → Middle Ages it was identified with specifically described in the Old Testament , and patristic authority was invoked as ‘men of Belial’ (2 Samuel 16: 7). In to prove it. Perhaps we may also see a relic Psalm 18: 5 the word is used in the phrase of Behemoth in the allegedly secret figure ‘floods of ungodly men’ (nachalei belial), of Baphomet, whose symbolic presence the usually rendered in Catholic transla- Knights Templar are said to have venerated tions as ‘streams of the devil’. Satan, the and kissed upon entry to the Order. If this is devil, is clearly intended in the reference in indeed so, then the name does service here 2 Corinthians 6: 15, and similarly in pas- as a cover-name for the true God. sages in the Qumran texts: Belial is the Beher Ethiopic sea-god, often named spirit (and the prince) of darkness. → in conjunction with Astar. Belili Old Mesopotamian goddess, Bel (1) This Akkadian word means probably a denizen of the underworld. She → ‘Master’ and is a component in more than was a sister of the god of vegetation one divine name. In later times, the word Dumuzi. Several attempts have been made → Bel came to be used for the god → to derive the Biblical figure of Belial Marduk, and this applies to the Biblical from her. passages involving his name as well (e.g. (1) Cappadocian goddess Jeremiah 46: 1; Daniel 14: 3). In a Greek (Asia Minor) who was given a role in version of the Babylonian the retinue of the Mother Goddess he is called Belos. (→ Kybéle). Bel (2) The supreme god of Palmyra, Bellóna (2) Roman goddess of war: whose name was originally Bol (from more precisely, a personification of war. Semitic Baal?); Bol seems to have turned Her name comes from the Latin bellum ϭ into Bel (→ Bel) under Babylonian influ- war. On occasion she figures as the ence. He was a sky-god and his attributes spouse of → Mars. included lightning flashes and an eagle. He Bendis Virgin, arms-bearing goddess formed a trinity along with the moon-god of the Thracians; equated by the Greeks (→ Aglibol) and the sun-god (→). with → Artemis, sometimes with → Belenus A Celtic god revered espe- Hekáte. Her cult was introduced into cially in the eastern Alpine area, though Athens in the time of Pericles. Beset 33

Beng A gipsy name for the devil. He some Alpine districts it is customary to often engages God in a trial of strength, place food for her on the roof on but is always beaten. He dwells in the Perchtentag (Epiphany). The → Perchten woods and prefers to go about his shady are called after her. business by night. Berekyndai In Phrygia, the divine Benten attendants of the Magna Mater (→ Kybéle).

In Japan, the Buddhist goddess of elo- quence and music, patron saint of the geishas, and reckoned as one of the seven → Shichi-Fukujin, the gods of good luck. She is represented wearing a jewelled diadem and holding in her hands a stringed instrument. Her name is some- In ancient Egypt, a half-demonic half- times written as . divine figure which occurs also in the plu- ral. The Bes has a grotesque face and Bercht Perchta is an alternative form, a dwarfish body. To begin with, he carried and she is also called Frau Berta or a lion-skin on his back, of which only the Eisenberta. As a midwinter spirit she goes ears and the tail survived into later times. back to pre-Christian times in ; His most important attributes are the but with the coming of Christianity she Sanoose (a symbol of protection), knives became the personification of the night as defensive weapons and musical instru- preceding Epiphany (6 January) called ments whose sounds scare off evil spirits. perahtun naht in Old High German. She appears in various guises: as Butzenbercht, Beset A female → Bes, belief in the bringer of gifts, as ‘Spinnstubenfrau’ whom was particularly widespread in the (spinning-room woman) who visits houses time of the Ptolemies. The lion’s tail is by night, and then again as ‘stomach- missing from her attributes; instead, she slasher’, ‘bogey-woman’. Traces of the cult has a crown of feathers. Like Bes, her once surrounding her still survive: thus, in function is apotropaic. 34

Bestla In the Edda, the daughter of the fierce visage with protruding canine giant Bolthorn, and the mother of the god teeth; he is festooned with snakes, and he → Odin. Her name is interpreted as mean- carries a garland of skulls and a bowl full ing ‘giver of bast’, which would identify of blood. His sacred animal is the dog, her as a goddess of the yew tree; alterna- and he often rides on one. Bhairava is tively as ‘tree-bark’, a reading which regarded as a heavenly watchman, and it would made Odin a god born from a tree. is customary to offer him small figures of dogs made out of sugar. Bethel The word really means ‘the house of God’, but it is found as a divine Bhaisajyaguru (‘Master of medicine’) name in Canaan. There is an identical A → Buddha of the healer’s art, who place-name in the Old Testament (Genesis makes his appearance as early as the 31: 13) which has certainly nothing to do fourth century AD. He is probably a deifi- with the non-Biblical god. On the other cation of → in his hand, the reference in Jeremiah 48: 13 is capacity as medicine-man. His paradise probably to the god Bethel. lies in the east and is floored with lapis lazuli. In China he is called Yao-xi, in Bhaga (Sanskrit ‘dispenser’; Iranian Japan Yaku-shi. He is usually shown hold- baga ϭ god) In the Vedic religion, one ing in his right hand the bitter medicinal of the → Adityas. He is invoked as a giver fruit of die myrobalan. of good fortune and prosperity, and in addition he is the god of marriage, to Bhavanavasin One of the four main whom the month of spring is dedicated. categories of gods in Jainism; they dwell in the upper regions of the underworld, in (Bhagwan: Sanskrit ϭ the a place ‘gleaming with jewels’. exalted one, the sublime one) In the Indian Bhagavata a designation for Bhima (Sanskrit ϭ the terrible one) the supreme god, later identified with the Several aboriginal Indian tribes have god → Visju and with his incarnation → taken this name from to Krisja. Certain aboriginal tribes in India, designate a god who seems to be associ- like the Bhil, have taken over the Sanskrit ated with sky and weather. word → Bhagwan, as the name of their r highest god. Bh kuti A female deity in the Buddhist pantheon. She has one head and Bhagwan Supreme god of the Bhil four arms, she is yellow in colour and people (in north-west Central India). young. With her right hands she makes Bhagwan was originally alone, but then the gesture signifying that a wish has he created the other gods and made them been granted, and holds a garland of bearers of light. He is known by other roses; in her left hands she holds her names such as Parmesar (‘the highest’) attributes – the triple staff (the three and Andate (‘Giver of corn’). He is also staves bound together which a judge of the dead. could carry to show he had renounced the world) and a waterpot. She is located on Bhairava ϭ (Sanskrit the terrible one) the moon and bears on her head the like- This Indian god is regarded as an emana- ness of → Amitabha. tion of → Fiva having been born from the space between Fiva’s eyebrows. He is Bhutadamara (‘Lord of the demons’) endowed with four or six arms and a One of the grim and terrible gods in Bonchor 35

Buddhism. He has one head and four arms; figure finally coalesced with that of the he is of dire appearance, and his three eyes sun-god. are underlined in red. He is black in hue, Bodhisattva In Buddhism a being but that does not prevent him from shining (sattva) intent on achieving enlighten- like a thousand . Eight snakes adorn ment (bodhi). The Chinese term is Pu-sa, him, and his crown is decorated with five the Japanese -satsu. Bodhisattva is the skulls. It is his duty and function to hold all → Buddha to be, whose compassion for demons in check; and he even tramples on humanity is so great that at times he the god → Aparajita. renounces achievement of . Bhutas In India, a designation for Originally, this was taken to mean no demons who can assume the most var- more than the historical Buddha before ied assortment of shapes – horses, pigs, his enlightenment, but in die sequel the giants, etc. number of Bodhisattvas became infinite thanks to the concept of ‘ Buddhas’. A child of the queen of the Greek They are heavenly beings who bring sal- → underworld, Styx, and the constant vation (for example → Avalokitefvara, → ϭ companion of Zeus. His name (bia and → Mañjufri), who are worshipped in power, strength) suggests that he may be ceremonial ritual and who are invoked in no more than a hypostatization of the any and every case of need or distress. father of the gods. The eight ‘great Bodhisattvas’ are called Biegg-Olmai → Olmai Mahabodhisattvas. Iconographically the Bodhisattvas are shown robed as princes Bilwis (Middle High German pilwiz) and bearing a five-leaved crown. In the earliest references to him, in texts from Bavaria and Austria, he appears as a Boldogasszony (also known as Kis- nature spirit who uses a sort of missile to boldogasszony or Nagyboldogasszony) cure illnesses. At the end of the Middle Virgin goddess of the ancient Hungarians, Ages, however, there is a switch in mean- ‘the great and rich queen’ whose milk is ing, and the erstwhile demonic creature holy. She is the protector of mother and turns into a magician, or even a female child. With the coming of Christianity, witch. Bilwis is also known in east she was transformed into the figure of the Germany, where he appears as a man Virgin Mary as the ‘divine princess’, the endowed with demonic powers and with ‘queen’, the mother of the Hungarian sickles attached to his feet; at night he people. cuts narrow strips into corn-fields (hence Bolla A demonic snake-like being in ‘Bilmesschneider’, Bilmes-cutter), or Albanian popular belief; called Bullar in chooses some other way to rob the farmer South . It is only on St George’s of part of his crops. Today, in popular day that it opens its eyes, and if it should belief, he is little more than a bogeyman. then see a human being it will devour Binbeal → Bunjil him. After twelve years the Bulla turns into the fearsome → . Bisham → Shichi-Fukujin Bonchor A god once worshipped by Bochica Culture-hero of the the ancient Berbers in what is now north Indians in Colombia. He gave his people Tunisia. He may possibly have corre- laws and taught them handicrafts. His sponded to the Roman god → Jupiter. 36 Bor(r)

Bor(r) In Germanic myth the son of → This is properly the masculine form of the Bur, and father of the gods → Odin, → Sanskrit word brahman, and it designates Vili and Ve. No cult of any kind was the personification of → Brahman in attached to him. Indian religion. Originally, Brahma was regarded as the head of the → : Boréas In Greek mythology, the per- he was creator and director of the world, sonification of the harsh north wind. He and he was the supreme god of the surprises Oreithyia, the daughter of the Devadeva (the gods). He was pictured King of Athens, at play and abducts her to with four heads and in his four hands he his homeland in Thrace. When a Persian holds the four , the holy scriptures war fleet was decimated in a violent of ancient India. Among his other attrib- storm, Boréas achieved cult status in utes are a vessel containing water from Athens and was duly worshipped. the Ganges, and a garland of roses; he A Gallic god. The root of his rides on a Hamsa (i.e. a goose) which name (bor) is supposed to signify ‘boil’, becomes, by poetic licence, a swan. His → i ‘bubble’, and the god himself is associ- spouse is Sarasvat . In recent times, the a ated with curative mineral springs. figure of Brahm has lost much of its for- mer prestige. He is now god of wisdom Bragi (Old Icelandic bragr ϭ the most and progenitor of the Brahmins. An epi- distinguished) North German god of thet used frequently in connection with the art of poetry. He is first mentioned in him is Kamalasana – ‘he who sits on the late texts, and this has prompted the sus- lotus’. picion that he is in fact an historically Brahman (Sanskrit neuter noun) attested Skald of the same name, who was Originally this word designated the Vedic subsequently promoted to mythological magic incantation or sacred formula; then status. No cult seems to have been it came to mean the power inherent in the attached to his name; → Idun is men- utterance, the power which enables the tioned as his wife. gods to perform their mythic functions Brahma and which enables the Vedic priests () to undertake the sacred rites. Finally, in the Upanisads, this holy power becomes the omnipotent, indeed the cre- ative principle, the original cosmic ground, the world-soul. One text describes Brahman as the ‘wood’ from which heaven and earth are built. In the Fatapatha-Brahmaja, Brahman is con- strued as a personal and supernatural being. Bress Irish god of fertility. According to the myth, he is a son of the King of Fomore, but is adopted by the → Tuatha De Danann. In the sequel, Bress himself becomes king and oppresses the Tuatha De Danann, until the latter win in a final Buddha 37 decisive battle. Bress won freedom from ‘living image’ of the god → Month, the gods, thanks to his services in though he also figured as the herald of the instructing the people of Ireland in the art sun-god → Re. His brood-cows were of agriculture. regarded as holy in their capacity of ‘those who gave birth to Re’. The bull was Brhaspati j (also found as Brahma aspati characterized by a white body and a black ϭ Lord of ) Vedic god, who for- head. wards the of human beings to the gods. He is ‘born from the great light in Buddha the highest heaven’ and he drives dark- ness away with roars from his sevenfold mouth. In he appears as the protector of cows, and as the regent of the planet Jupiter; in this latter capacity he is pictured as golden-yellow and bear- ing a staff, a garland of prayers (a prayer- ring) and a water-pot. A goddess (of victory?) known from inscriptions found in Britain. Her name is derived from the Celtic word brig (ϭ hill, height), which is also the root of the name of the Brigantes, who lived in what is now Wales. The goddess may be connected with the Irish → Brigit, but this is not certain. Brigit (Irish brig ϭ power, authority) Daughter of the god → Dagda, and patroness of smiths, poets and doctors. (Sanskrit ‘the awakened one’, ‘the She was associated with the ritual fires of enlightened one’) The designation of purification, and the feast of , on one who has attained illumination or 1 February, was in her honour. Later, she enlightenment (bodhi), the highest aim in was taken over by Christian hagio-graphy Buddhism. The Buddha can be recog- and was venerated in Kildare as the nized by 32 cardinal and 80 secondary holy Brigit, who was supposed to tend the bodily characteristics: e.g. on the sole of holy fire along with 19 . each foot is a wheel with a thousand Britómartis A virgin goddess peculiar spokes. The most important Buddha is the → to , who later on merged with the historical one ( Gautama Buddha). figure of → Artemis. The pre-Greek Three or six Buddhas are supposed to name was interpreted in late classical have lived before him, and he will be fol- → times as meaning something like ‘sweet lowed by the fifth Buddha ( ). virgin’. No less than 54 Buddhas are mentioned in the ‘Lalitavistara’, and their number The holy bull venerated in the becomes infinite in later tradition. The ancient Egyptian town of Hermonthis, five → Dhyani-Buddhas form a special near Thebes. He was supposed to be the group. Once a Buddha has entered 38 Buddhakapala

Nirvana he ceases to have any sort of rela- who has created all things and all crea- tionship with the world and he can no tures. The word bulaing is also used to longer be reached even by prayer. In denote the mythical serpents. Hinduism, Buddha is reckoned to be the Buluga ninth Avatara of → Visju, he who intro- (also Puluga) The supreme duces the present age of decadence. The god of the Negritos on the Andaman Chinese name for Buddha is → Fo; the Islands. He is regarded as immortal, Japanese is Butsu. omniscient and invisible, he has created the world and mankind, and sees to it that Buddhakapala (‘Buddha-skull’) A his commandments are obeyed. His god in Tantrism, similar to → Heruka. He female counterpart, the supreme being of is of powerful build, bluish-black in female sex, lives in the northern part of colour, has one face and four arms, and is the archipelago; she is called Biliku. The festooned with bones. As attributes he wind is supposed to be Buluga’s breath, carries a knife, an -glass drum, a and his voice is heard in the thunder. cudgel and a cranium. His female partner – his prajña – is shown embracing him. Bumba Supreme being, creator and progenitor of the Boshongo, a Bantu tribe In India, the regent of the in Africa. In the beginning, he was alone; planet . He is regarded as the son there was then nothing except darkness → of the moon-god ( Soma); he wears yel- and water. Then Bumba was smitten by low garments and carries yellow garlands. agonizing stomach pains, and he spat out His attributes are the sword, the shield the sun, the moon and, finally, living and the club, and he rides on a lion. creatures. Mankind came last of all. Bukura e dheut (‘the beauty of the Bunjil ϭ earth’) Old fairy-like creature in (Bundjil falcon) The Albanian folklore and folk-tale. She is supreme being of the Australian Kulin. always ready to help, and so powerful that This being formed the first humans, and it she can undertake tasks that would nor- blew its breath into their mouths until mally be the province of God or of an they began to stir. It is not usual to refer to angel. Her castle is guarded by all sorts of this being by name; usually it is called weird and wonderful creatures. She often ‘our father’. Its son is Binbeal, the rain- develops a demonic dimension and is bow. In the Karnai tribe, only initiates then in touch with the underworld. know of Bunjil’s existence. Bukuri i qiellit (‘the beautiful one in Bur(i) A mythical primeval being in heaven’) A designation for God which the religious system of the Germanic is current in Christian circles in Albania. tribes. He was the first man and the pro- It goes back to ancient Illyrian times, genitor of the gods. He came forth from when three gods divided themselves into a salty block of ice when the primeval cow heaven, ocean and underworld. Audhumla licked it. His son is → Bor. Bulaing Female divinity of creation in Burijay A god of the who the religion of the Australian Karadjeri. attacked Babylonia in the sixteenth century She is an immortal being living in heaven, BC. He was called ‘Lord of lands’. C

God C A Maya god whose name is Camaxtli Tribal god of the Chichimec. unknown. He was connected with the first Originally an astral god, he became the day of creation (Chuen) and may well Aztec god of hunting and of fate; on his have been an astral deity (the Polar Star or body he bore the signs of the twenty days. Venus). In addition, he is the leader of warriors Cáca Roman goddess, sister of → slain in battle or offered in human sacri- Cácus. fice, whose souls become stars in the eastern sky. Cácus Originally a pre-Roman god of a a fire, whose cult at the Palatine was ousted C mund Hindu goddess, a manifes- → a by the Greek hero Euandros. Cacus was tation of the terrible Durg . Her name then seen as the son of → Vulcanus: seems to be derived from the names of a fire-spitting fiend who lived in a cave two demons Canda and Munda, whom on the and slew passers-by. she is supposed to have slain. She is por- trayed as black or red in colour, and she is Cagn Chief god of the Bushmen in often seated upon a demon. Her vehicle is South Africa. He was the first being, at an owl, and she prefers to frequent grave- whose command all things arose. He yards. created the animals to serve man. Candamius Old Hispanic god, whose Cai- The Chinese god of riches. name lives on in many place-names in He has been identified at different times central and north-west Spain. He was with various historical personalities. He is probably a mountain god who had celes- said to have been a hermit endowed with tial connections; he was claimed by the supernatural powers; thus he was able to Romans as a variant of Jupiter. ride on a black tiger. Cavwarosava (Candamaharosana ϭ the Cakravartin (‘he who turns the wheel’) angry and passionate one) One of the An appellation for a world ruler in Indian wild or unruly gods of Buddhism. He has Buddhism. His birth and his youthful one head and two arms, he squints, he has years are closely similar to those of a → a big mouth with bared tusks. He carries Buddha, and like a Buddha he has 32 car- a white snake as a sort of sacred cord, and dinal characteristics on his body. He is the he wears a tiger skin. His crown bears the lord of the wheel (cakra) which symbol- image of → Aksobhya. His right hand izes the Teaching. A Cakravartin can only holds a sword; his left hand is placed over be born when there is no Buddha his heart and bears a snake. He is occa- on the earth. According to Jainist teach- sionally equated with → Acala. ing, a Cakravartin has 14 ‘jewels’ (ratna): first and foremost a wheel, then a fell Candra (Sanskrit, candra ϭ the shining (pelt), a staff, a sunshade, a jewel, a conch, or lovely one) Indian moon-god. He is a woman, a sword, a general, a house- white in colour and wears white gar- father, a master-builder, a priest, a steed ments, and he drives a shining white char- and an elephant. iot, which is drawn by ten white horses or 40 Cao Dai by a white antelope. In later times, Candra the → Lokapalas of Hinduism. They are became merely another name for → enthroned on the invisible and holy Soma. world-mountain of Meru, whence they extend their protection to Buddhist Cao Dai (Chinese Gao-tai ϭ high ter- truth () in all parts of the world. race) The supreme being in , To begin with, they are regarded as a syncretic religion which made its benevolent beings, but with the rise of appearance in as late as 1919. Tantrism they turn into warlike and His symbol is an eye inscribed in a heart. menacing figures who inspire fear. The He is regarded as creator and redeemer, North is guarded by → Vaifravana, the and is identified both with and West by the red → Virupaksa, the South with → Yu-huang Shang-di, the supreme by → Virudhaka, and the East by → god of . Dhrtarastra. Cao Guo-jiu One of the ‘Eight Immortals’ (→ Ba Xian). Tradition has it Cautes and Cautopates Companions → that to him riches and honours were no of the god Mithra, particularly associ- more than dust. He is patron saint of ated with him in the ritual slaughter of a actors. His attributes are a pair of board- bull. One has a raised, the other a lowered like castanets. torch; and this has led scholars to see in them representatives of day and night, the Cariociecus Old Hispanic war-god, onset of spring and of autumn, life and identified by the Romans with → Mars. death. The etymology of the names is Caruincho → Pariacaca unclear. The Latin names Centaurs for → Kastor and Polydeukes. Castur and Pultuce The Etruscan version of the → Dioskúroi, the pair of heavenly twins whom the Etruscans took over from the Greeks (→ Kastor and Polydeukes). In the Etruscan setting, the Dioskúroi coalesced with an older pair of twin brothers, the Tindaridai (‘scions of → Tin’). Their representation follows the classical iconographic model. Cath (Cautha) Etruscan sun-god, known also under the name of (ϭ sun?). He is uniquely represented as rising from the sea, bearing on his head the flaming disc Fabulous creatures in Greek mythology; of the sun; in each hand he holds a ball wild and half-animal, they had a human of fire. torso and the body of a horse. They dwelt Caturmaharajas (Chinese wang) in thick forests and in the mountains, and In Buddhist cosmogony these are the four seem to have been nature demons of some great kings who guard and control the four kind. One of the best known Centaurs was quarters of the world; they correspond to → Cheiron. Cháron 41

Ceres Old Italic goddess of agricul- the underworld. In a few cases he is por- ture, in religious observance closely con- trayed with coins. may in fact nected with the → Tellus. be a pre-Celtic god (game preservation?). was supposed to be the daughter of Cghene Supreme being in the reli- → and of → . She causes liv- gious belief of the Isoko in south Nigeria. ing things to emerge from her bosom, into Cghene is regarded as the creator and which they are gathered again after death. father of all Isoko; he is utterly remote Like the Greek → Demeter, she was also and inaccessible, and has neither temple a goddess of fertility and of marriage: Her nor priests. There is however a mediator temple on the Aventine Hill was a central between him and mankind – a post or point for the plebs, the common people. stake, carved from a tree (Oyise). Her feast, the Cerealia, was celebrated on 19 April. Chac The rain-god of the Maya, corre- → Ceres Africana A North African god- sponding to the Aztec . In addi- dess of the harvest, mentioned by tion, he is one of the four gods who Tertullian. She is also known as Ceres represent the four cardinal points or heav- → . The Latin name hides an enly directions ( Bacab). His cult centres autochthonous fertility goddess. on the sacred well at Chichen Itza. Cernunnos Chalchihuitlicue ( ϭ she who has the green cloak of jewels) Aztec goddess of flowing waters, the spouse of the raingod → Tlaloc. She was also a goddess of vegetation, particularly concerned with causing the maize crops to flourish. Her attribute is a rattle on a stick; she has a watery-green shirt and coat which are adorned with water-lilies. Charítes (Greek charein ϭ to rejoice) In the beginning there was very probably only one Charis, the spouse of → Hephaistos. As a trinity, the Graces appear first in , where they are named: Aglaia (splendour), Euphrosine (cheerfulness) and Thaleia (blossom). In mythology and in art they appear in the retinue of → Aphrodíte or of → Apóllon, and bring beauty and pleasure to A Celtic god who sits in the so-called mankind. The → Horai are closely associ- Buddha attitude, his head adorned with ated with them. The → Gratiae corre- a set of antlers. He is thus portrayed on spond to the Charites in the Roman the Gundestrup cauldron. His name has pantheon. been taken to mean ‘the horned one’. He seems to have been mainly concerned Cháron In Greek mythology the ferry- with fertility and with wealth, though he man who rows the dead over the border also seems to have been associated with river (, Styx) to the underworld, 42 Charontes and delivers them at the entrance to local gods, tutelary deities who are Hades. He is paid by putting a coin responsible for a district and its inhabi- (obolos) in the mouth of the dead person. tants. The Cheng-huang are terrestrial Originally, was a demon of death gods in that they supervise districts, look in the shape of a dog. He persists in mod- after law and order and ward off danger. ern Greek folklore as Charos, only now Chensit Goddess of the twentieth he rides a black horse which sweeps the nome of Lower Egypt, who took the form dead along with it by means of its wooden of the snake and was then associ- saddle. ated with the tutelary deity → . She Charontes Male and female demons may be portrayed bearing either the crown of death in the ; they are of → or the feather of → , most frequently shown bearing hammers. or both. → The name is derived from . Chentechtai This is the Grecianized Charun A male demon in the under- form of the Egyptian appellation Chenti- world of the Etruscans. His attribute is cheti. To begin with, he was a crocodile a hammer which he carries on his shoul- god but soon took on the form of a falcon; der, or on which he supports himself. He he is also connected with → Kemwer, the has a nose like a vulture’s, pointed animal black bull of Athribis. Finally he con- ears and, often, snakes growing on his verges with → Osiris, so much so that he head instead of hair. Frequently he is is referred to as ‘Osiris who dwells in shown with wings. Charun escorts the Athribis’. dead, and watches over the portals of Chenti-irti (Machenti-irti) A falcon- graves. His name is connected with that god venerated in the Egyptian city of → of the Greek Charon. Letopolis, who was identified with → Chasca Coyllur In pre-Columbian Horus as far back as the Old Kingdom. Peru, the god of flowers and protector of His main characteristic is that, in corre- maidens. spondence with the myth of the lost lunar or solar eye, he is conceived as having no Cheíron (, Greek cheir ϭ hand) eyes. As a judge, he looks after law and Originally a Thessalian god of the art of order. healing. He owes his name to his skill Chepre (Chepri) The appellation given with his hands. In Greek mythology he is to the scarab, the dung-beetle worshipped the son of → Kronos, a wise → Centaur, in Heliopolis in its aspect as primeval well-disposed towards men, who instructs god. The scarab is then ‘he who arose → Asklepiós in the curative skills. In his from himself’, who came forth from the cave on Mount he reared many earth without any generative process. famous heroes (Achilles, for example) Very early on, he was taken as a manifes- until finally he was struck by a poisoned tation of → Atum, and finally equated arrow fired by → Herakles, and voluntar- with → Re. The sun-god arises as Chepre, ily renounced his immortality in favour of newly born from the underworld, and → . makes his appearance in the heavens. As Cheng-huang This Chinese designa- a primeval god, Chepre can assume the tion was originally applied to shape of a snake; in human shape he is gods and subsequently transferred to portrayed as bearing a scarab on his head. Chímaira 43

Cherti A ram-god often mentioned on Cherufe A gigantic fabulous creature early Egyptian , who was venerated which eats men in the folk-lore of the especially in the area of the town of Araucanian Indians who live in Chile and Letopolis. In the Pyramid texts he is allot- Argentina. It lives in volcanoes and feeds ted the specific function of ferryman in on young girls. the realm of the dead. Chia Appellation of the moon, and Cherubim (Kerubim, connected with the the name of the moon-goddess of the Assyrian word karibu) Hybrid crea- Muisca Indians who live in what is today tures, half-animal half-human, who appear Colombia; she is also their progenitor. in the Old Testament. They are presented The ruler of Muikita (known under the as guardians of the sacral points round name of Zipa) is regarded as the terres- which Jewish life and belief centre: the trial representative of the moon. , the Ark of the Covenant, the Chicome coatl (‘Seven snakes’) Aztec temple; and they indicate the presence of goddess of foodstuffs; in particular, the God. In the vision of Ezekiel they form the giver of maize. Among her attributes are living chariot of → Jahwe (Ezekiel 1: 5 f.) the maize cob and the ceremonial rattle In the book of they are (cf. → Chalchihuitlicue). described as ‘beasts’ and they stand around the throne of God (Revelation 4: 6 ff.) Chímaira (Greek ϭ goat) A fabulous They are ‘full of eyes before and behind’ monster in Greek mythology: it has a lion’s and this identifies them as cosmic beings, forequarters, the body is that of a goat the eyes symbolizing the stars. According (with a goat’s head) and the tail is replaced to a Christian interpretation which goes by a snake. Homer tells us that the back to Dionysius Areopagita, the Chimaira is native to the coast of Lycia, Cherubim are a particular class of angels. and it is possible that it was originally 44 Chinna-masta a demon symbolizing the Lycian ‘earth- aligned on each side. At Elephantine, fire’. According to Vergil it lives at the Chnum was regarded as guardian of the entrance to the underworld. The monster source of the Nile and hence was donator was slain by the hero . of the life-giving waters. His main func- tion is a creative one: he fashions the bod- a Chinna-mast (‘whose head is cut off’: ies of children on a potter’s wheel and then a occurs also in the form Chinnamastak ) introduces them into the mother’s womb. A terrifying goddess in Tantrism; she Hence his epithet: ‘the sculptor who gives holds her own head in one hand, and the life’. In the Hellenistic age, he played the head’s mouth opens to receive the blood part of a god of revelations, and he appears that spurts from the gaping neck. The in the literature of as Haruer- goddess is worshipped mainly in Bengal. Chnuph – i.e. as a variant of → Haroeris.

Chnubis In Roman times a god com- Chons Egyptian moon-god, son of → bining Greek and Egyptian characteris- Amun and of → , with whom he forms → tics. He appears as Agathós Daímon, the of Thebes. His name means ‘he → and as a gnostic Aión, and is portrayed who fares through (the heavens)’ – a refer- as a snake with a lion’s head which is usu- ence to his lunar character. As ‘Lord of ally surrounded by a halo of rays. Some time’he converges with → Thot, whose ibis → connection between Chnubis and head he sometimes adopts. He is usually Chnum is possible but not certain. represented as a young man in Chnum posture with his legs close together, and with the crescent moon and the full moon on his head. In Thebes, Chons was equated with → Mu, and was regarded as bearer of heaven. One of his epithets is ‘he who gives advice’ (Greek Chespisichis). As Chons-Re he was seen as a form of the youthful sun- god, to whom one turned for protection against wild animals.

Chontamenti (Chonti-amentiu) Egyptian god of the dead. His name means ‘he who is in the uttermost west’: it is in the west that the sun goes down, and there too is the kingdom of the dead. The god is represented as a crouching dog or jackal. In the Pyramid texts we find a king wish- ing to be changed into Chontamenti so that he may be able to rule over the dead.

Chors A god of the eastern , known from his being mentioned in the so-called Nestor along with (Chnumu) An Egyptian god in the other sources. He was probably a sun- shape of a ram; the name itself denotes god. The etymology of the name is not a ram. He is portrayed as a man with a clear. He seems to have been a sort of ram’s head, the horns being horizontally hybrid with a dog’s head and horns. Cyclops 45

Chronos Personification of time, often one of the Han Emperors made sacrifice coincident in the late classical period with to him for the first time at his grave, the figure of → Aión. His portrayal as which is still extant today. Not long after- a bearded old man with sickle and hour- wards, the first Confucian temple was glass was particularly popular in the erected. Finally, in a decree issued in the and the Baroque periods. closing years of the Chinese Empire (in 1906) was placed on the same (‘female snake’) An earth- footing as the supreme deities of heaven and mother-goddess venerated in the and earth. Tradition has it that at his birth town of Colhuacan, often shown with two hovered over the home of his a child in her arms. She it was who helped parents. → when the first man was being created. Sometimes she coincides (‘he who gathers in’) Roman with the figure of → Teteo. god of the safely gathered harvest. He had an underground altar in a circus to the Cinteotl (Centeotl) Aztec god of south of the Palatine Hill. By virtue of his maize, the most important plant in ancient chthonic character he was also connected Mexico. Cinteotl represents a specific with the dead. aspect of → Quetzalcoatl. Citipati (‘Lord of the graveyard’) Culsu A female demon of the Graveyard demons in Buddhism, espe- Etruscans, who stands at the portal of cially . They are repre- the underworld. Her attributes include sented as two dancing skeletons. a burning torch and a pair of scissors (for cutting the thread of life?). (‘she who wears a skirt of snakes’) Aztec goddess of earth and Cunda (also Candra or Cunti) A female fire; she also appears as mother of the deity in Buddhism, an emanation of the gods. Her statue in shows, Buddha → , whose image she apart from the skirt of snakes, a head with bears on her crown. She has one face, four two snakes and a necklace consisting of arms, and she is white like the moon in human hands and hearts: the latter in evi- autumn. One of her right hands is in dence of the need for human sacrifice if the mudra of donation, and one of her cosmic order is to be upheld. On her back left hands holds a lotus on which a book hang 13 leather cords decorated with lies. The other pair of hands are holding snails, symbolizing the mythical heaven. a bowl. The goddess was made pregnant by a ball Curche Old Prussian god of fertility; of down or an emerald, and gave birth to he was also known as ‘god of food and → Quetzalcoatl. drink’. Roman goddess, personifi- Cyclops (Greek Kyklopes ϭ ‘round cation of concord. When civil disputes eyes’) In Homer, man-eating giants were settled, shrines were dedicated to her. with one single eye in their foreheads. In She is portrayed – e.g. on coins – as bear- Hesiod, they are the sons of → Gaia, who ing a cornucopia and a sacrificial bowl. forge for → Zeus. Later, Confucius (Latin formation from they came to be regarded as helpmates of Chinese Kong-( fu)-zi, ‘Master Kong’) → Hephaistos, and denizens of volcanic Chinese philosopher. In the year 174 BC areas. D

God D No name is known for the Maya them as fallen angels or as demons. They god thus designated in specialist litera- are black in colour and are active enemies ture. He appears as ruler of the night and of the true religion; they eat corpses and the moon, and is portrayed as an old man torture souls in hell. with sunken cheeks. Sometimes he is Dagan shown carrying the shell of a sea-snail on his head – a symbol of birth and life. Dabog A south Slavonic sun-god. The root bog can mean both ‘riches’ and ‘god’. In the of the Serbians, Dabog appears as ruler over the earth. He is mentioned among the gods, statues to whom were erected in Kiev, and in the ‘Song of Igor’ we are told that the Russians are ‘Dabog’s grandchildren’. Under Christian influence, Dabog was reduced to playing the part of → Satan. The Poles have an equivalent in Dazbog. Dadimunda (or bandara) One of the most popular gods of the Singhalese (Sinhala) people. To begin with, he was a god who looked after tem- (Hebraized form: ) A west ples, then he became ‘treasurer’ (devata) Semitic god of corn. His name means of the god → Upulvan, and finally he ‘corn’ but was confused by the Israelites emerged as protector of Buddhism in with Hebrew dag ϭ fish – hence the pic- Ceylon. He rides on an elephant, and tures of the fish-tailed god. In Ugarit, there are many → Ya k sas in his retinue. Dagan was regarded as father of Baal, and Daena This goddess, the daughter of in the Old Testament he appears as the → Ahura Mazda and of → Armaiti, is the chief god of the Philistines (Judges 16: personification of religion in the Old 23ff.). The Canaanites brought his cult to Iranian pantheon. The word daena means Mesopotamia, where he acquired → Malas ‘that which has been revealed’. as consort; from certain texts we may deduce that he was also equated with → Daevas (Daiwa; Middle Persian Dev) Enlil. Dagan occupied a special position An appellation for the gods in the Indo- in the religion of the Amorites in Mari. Aryan period (cf. Sanskrit → , ). For Zarathustra, the daevas were, to begin Dagda An Old Irish god whose name with, simply the ancient gods, who were means ‘the good god’. He occupies a pre- of no consequence in comparison with → dominant position in the race of gods Ahura Mazda; but later he came to regard known as the → Tuatha De Danann. The Damgalnunna 47 epithet associated with him – Ollathir – young girls hideously disguised or with can be translated as ‘All-father’. He is the the head of a lion or a bird, and with the god of contracts, and is equipped with face of a horse or a dog. They are also three attributes: an enormous club which supposed to eat human beings. slays but which can also restore life; s a magic harp on which a melody for Dak a In Indian thought, a deity bound sleep, a melody for laughter and a melody up with the concept of the creative power. for woe can be played; and a cooking-pot He is regarded as the son of the world → a from which no one is turned away hungry. creator Praj pati, from whose right thumb he is said to have arisen. He is also Daho A Pyrenean deity in Roman invoked as progenitor of the human race. times; what we know of his functions According to one tradition, → is his makes him comparable with → Mars. daughter. Daikoku → Shichi-Fukujin Daktyloi (Greek daktylos ϭ finger) In Greek tradition, demonic beings who In the Greek pantheon, the discovered the art of working in metal. divine instance which allotted us our indi- They may originally have had phallic sig- vidual fate. In Homer, the Olympic gods nificance. They are indigenous to Asia are called daimones; but from Hesiod Minor and Crete, and form part of the ret- onwards they are understood as beings inue of the Magna Mater. A distinction is intermediate between gods and heroes, often made between right-hand daktyloi, who may have a beneficent or a malevo- who worked as smiths, and left-hand dak- lent influence on human . Popular tyloi, who were active as sorcerers and belief took them as personal guardian magicians. spirits. In Greek , daimonion came to mean the divine spark in man. Dala kadavara (also known as gara Under Roman, oriental and early yaka) In the beginning probably, an Christian influence, however, demons elephant goddess of the Singhalese: dala ended up as sinister and evil spirits. ϭ tusk. Later, after the introduction of Buddhism, it was believed that the now In Indian belief, demonic ene- demonized god was a bringer of illnesses mies of the gods. They are the sons of the and misfortune. One way of keeping him → → goddess Diti banned by Indra to off is to hold a ceremonial masked dance. dwell in the depths of the ocean because of her reluctance to perform sacrifice as Damballa A divine being venerated due. In later tradition, , who was on Haiti, whom all the other → Loa raised by → Visju to be king of the regard as their father. His sacred colour Daityas, exhibits the characteristics of is white, and his symbolical creature is a wise ascetic. the snake. Accordingly, St John the Evangelist, who is portrayed with a snake Wakini Supernatural beings in (because of the legend of the beaker of Buddhism, who fly in the air. They are poisoned wine), is regarded as a manifes- invested with specific magical powers, tation or variant of Damballa. they can initiate novices into the secret learning of the , and they can be of Damgalnunna (Damkina; in Greek assistance to a Yogin who wishes to fur- form, also Dauke) Old Mesopotamian ther his spiritual insight. They appear as goddess, wife of → Enki, and mother of 48

→ Marduk. In Sumerian myths she often A god often invoked in Thamudic turns into the figure of the Mother god- (old north Arabian) inscriptions. Neither dess → Ninwursanga. his name nor his function are clearly under- stood: it has been suggested that the name Damona Gallic goddess, often cou- might mean ‘he who seizes’, or that the pled with the god → Borvo. Her name root meaning is ‘fertility’, ‘abundance’. means ‘the big cow’. Debata Among the Toba-Batak in Damu Sumerian god, son of the god- Sumatra, this word is used to denote both → dess of prosperity Nin’insina. The cen- an individual god and divine power in tre of his cult was at Isin; one of his general. epithets was ‘great priest of exorcism’. Decuma → Dana (also found as Ana) In Ireland the mother of the gods (→ Tuatha De Dedun (Dewden) Egyptian god, lord Danann); in mythology she is hardly to be and giver of incense. To the monarch, distinguished from → Ana. Dedun brings the peoples and riches of southern lands. He was usually portrayed Danavas Half-divine half-demonic in human guise, but, like → Arsnuphis, he beings in Indian tradition. They were ban- could also assume the form of a lion. ished by → Indra to live in the ocean. The monster → Bali was one of their number. Deive Lithuanian appellation for divinity; certain stones which were the Dáphne (Greek ϭ laurel tree) Daughter object of veneration were called deyves. of the river-god → Peneios. She was With the coming of Christianity, the word a beautiful nymph, who fled from → came to mean a heathen deity or a fairy of Apóllon when he was making advances to some kind. her. When Apóllon persisted in pursuing her, she was changed at her own wish into Dema-deities A.E. Jensen has pro- a laurel tree. posed this lable for a category of mythical primeval beings who are revered in primi- Daramulum Son of the Australian tive planter-cultures as bringers of these god of creation → Baiame. He rates as a cultures. They occupy a midway position mediator between his father and human- between gods and men. It is to their death kind, whose progenitor he is. In addition that men owe the first cultivable plants. In he was raised to the status of a lunar being. this connection, the myth of the maiden His name means ‘onelegged’. Images of Hianuwele is particularly well-known. The this god fashioned from clay are only word dema is taken from the language of shown at initiation ceremonies. the Marindanim who live in New Guinea. Da-shi-zhi (‘the strongest’) In Chinese Demeter (abbreviated form Deo) Greek Buddhism, a female Bodhisattva (→ goddess of the earth and of fertility, daugh- Mahasthamaprata). Through the power ter of → Kronos and of → Rheia. While of love she was able to break out of the searching for her daughter → , rule of , thus opening a way for stolen from her by → Hades, she was all creatures to escape from the cycle of well received in Attika, and showed her . In art she is shown receiving thanks by teaching the king’s son souls in the shape of flowers in the heav- Triptolemos how to organise his fields and enly paradise. planting. Her attribute is the ear of corn. Devi 49

→ daevas. They were held to be immor- tal; they lived in ruins and appeared to man in various guises. The → ays formed a special category. With the coming of Christianity, the word dev came to mean the old pagan gods. Deva (Sanskrit ϭ heavenly, divine) The general Vedic appellation for what is divine. According to the Rigveda there are 33 devas. In Hinduism, the word is used for a certain category of traditional gods, whose significance falls far short of the national gods like → Fiva or → Visju. The Mahabharata speaks of 3333 gods. Among the devas are the → Adityas who rule the heavens, the → who con- trol the atmosphere and the → who are of the earth. In the original Vedic scheme of things the devas were immor- tals; in the post-Rigveda period they are ϭ Her epithet Melissa ( bee) indicates part of creation; and in Jainism and her maternal and nourishing function. Buddhism the gods are subject to the law According to Hesiod, her liasion with Iason of Karman like other creatures. In produced Plutos, the god of riches and the , the devas appear almost epitome of all the gifts of the earth. Her exclusively as disciples or servitors of → main feast was the , a fertil- Gautama Buddha. ity rite from which men were excluded; here, living piglets, snakes and pine-cones Devaputra (‘son of the gods’) In (as phallic symbols) were thrown into Buddhism, a designation for gods, other- Demeter’s cave so that the generative power wise unnamed, of lower rank. The term is of the earth might be enhanced. The mys- also sometimes used pejoratively for the teries enacted in honour of Demeter at gods of Hinduism. took place in a shrine which was Devel (or Del) This is what the gipsies accessible only to initiates, who were call their highest being. Contact with bound by solemn vows to secrecy. Christianity led to a distinction between Deng Divine progenitor of the Dinka baro (or phuro) devel, ‘great’ or ‘old’ god, people in the Sudan. With his club he gen- and tikno (or tarno) devel, ‘small’ or erates lightning, thus bringing rain and ‘young’ god: the latter being Christ. The fertility. It is in Deng that the universal word devel is cognate with Sanskrit deva ϭ spirit has revealed himself to humankind. god. Devi In , the designa- Dercetius A mountain-god venerated tion of female deities, which may be in ancient Hispania. incarnations of natural phenomena (e.g. Dev (pl. dev.k) In Armenian belief, → Usas) or hypostatizations (e.g. → spirit beings corresponding to the Iranian Vac). The spouse of → Fiva is designated 50 Dharana

Devi, though she is usually called → (‘bearer of the thunderbolt’), → Ratnapani or Mahadevi, i.e. ‘great goddess’. (‘bearer of the jewel’), → Avalokitefvara, and → Vifvapani (‘in whose hand all Dharana → Parfva things are’). Dharma (Dharman in the Rigveda) Dhyani-Buddhas The five ‘meditat- Originally, the appellation for the inner ing’ Buddhas who arose from the ‘law’ (dharma) which determines con- primeval Buddha (→ Adibuddha), and duct; subsequently, the personification of who are classified in terms of heavenly this law. Dharma then becomes a kind of quarters, colours, , magic formu- → Prajapati or world creator. As lae and phonological divisions of the Dharmaraja, blue-skinned and armed Devanagari script. Individually, they are with a club, he takes the place of →. named as → , → Aksobhya, → Dharmadhatuvagiqvara A form of , → Amitabha and the bodhisattva → Mañjufrí. He is white- → Amoghasiddhi. These heavenly skinned, with four faces and six arms, and Buddhas are, in a certain sense, the inef- he sits in a posture of blessed grace on the fable body of the dharma, while the five moon above a double lotus. In his specific ‘human’ Buddhas who appear on earth he is called → Mañjughosa. during our age form its manifest and material emanation. The term Dhyani- a Dharmap la (‘protector of the teaching’; Buddha is being gradually replaced by Chinese, Fa) In Buddhism, espe- ‘tathagata’ (‘the perfected one’, ‘(having) cially in Tibetan Buddhism, divine beings thus fared’). who are supposed to protect the faithful from evil demons. The → Caturmaharajas Diana Ancient Italian goddess of can also appear in this capacity. woods and forests; in Rome and , she was also held to be the protectress of Dhritarastra (in Pali, Dhatarattha; in virginity, and she was worshipped as the Chinese, Guo) One of the four moon-goddess. Her name is derived from Buddhist guardians of the world Diviana ϭ the shining one (female). As (→ Caturmaharajas). He is specifically goddess of the federal cult of the entrusted with the East. His allotted she had a temple on the Aventine Hill. colour is white; he holds a mandoline, Tales from Greek myth about the divine and is lord of the divine musicians huntress → Artemis were taken over by (→ Gandharvas). the Romans and applied to Diana. (‘the constant one’, ‘the fixed Dian-Cecht In ancient Ireland, a god one’) In Indian mythology the Pole of healing who could heal wounds mirac- Star, belonging to the group of gods ulously. When the god → Nuadu lost his known as the → Vasus. In Vedic times, the hand in battle, Dian-Cecht was able to fit Pole Star was invoked in the marriage him with a silver one. ceremony as a symbol of constancy. Dieva deli (‘sons of god’) In Latvian Dhyani-Bodhisattvas The five medi- myth, two, sometimes three heavenly tative and world-creating powers, the beings, sons of the sky-god → Dievs. spiritual sons of the five → Dhyani- They mow the heavenly meadows on Buddhas: → (‘rich in which the daughters of the sun (→ Saules blessings on all sides’), → Vajrapani meitas) then rake up the hay. In the Dipamkara 51 heavenly bath-house they pour water on (Latin → Bacchus) may be of Lydian the heated stones. origin. According to the myth, his mother → died when her lover → Zeus Dievini In Latvian belief, a body of revealed himself to her in all his divine minor gods who are entrusted with look- majesty as a bolt of lightning. Diónysos has ing after houses. several epithets; thus, Bromios (‘thun- Dievs Latvian sky-god, who appears in derer’) and Lyaios (‘the deliverer’ of men mythology as a sort of well-to-do farmer. from their cares). First and foremost, how- He wears a cap, and has a sword at his ever, he is the god who created the and side. Sometimes he is mounted on a fine caused milk and honey to flow from nature. horse, at other times he is shown riding in His cult was tumultuous, ecstatic and a wagon. There is a detailed description of orgiastic. Women ( or Bacchae) how he and his sons (→ Dieva deli) set distracted by his influence ran and danced free the sun and her daughters (→ Saule). through the woods waving torches and staves. The thyrsus staff entwined Dii Mauri The ‘Moorish gods’ men- with ivy and vine and with a pine cone at tioned in Latin inscriptions in North Africa, the tip was the main attribute of the god; who are almost never named; they were theriomorphically he was visualized as supposed to be ‘salutares’ (redemptory), a goat or a bull, both of them symbols of ‘immortales’ (immortal) and ‘augusti’ animal fertility. In dionysiac (exalted). a phallus was borne along. Dionysos was Díke (Greek ϭ usage, manner) seen as a god who dies and is resurrected; Personification of righteousness, belong- and his entry into Athens on a ship on ing to the → Horae. Aeschylos shows us wheels was construed as a return from the the prosperous sinner coming to grief on underworld. In the later cult of he → the rock of Díke. was equated with . ϭ Dimme Sumerian female demon of Dioskúroi (Greek ‘sons of Zeus’) puerperal fever and diseases of infants, The twin brothers Kastor and Polydeukes, often known as ‘daughter of → An’. She a pair with many parallels in the mythol- corresponds to the Akkadian → Lamamtu. ogy of other IndoGermanic peoples: e.g. in India, the Afvins, and among the Diomédes One of the most celebrated German tribes the → Alcis. They came to Greek heroes in the Trojan Wars: proba- live with men and helped them in battle bly in origin an ancient war-god in Argos. and when they were in peril on the sea. This would explain why he is presented in In their cosmic function as sons of heaven the as an opponent equal in birth, if they were thought of as theriomorphic; not superior to → Ares and → Aphrodíte. the Greeks called them leukippoi ϭ hav- He is regarded as the founder of several ing white steeds. Their cult has also an towns in southern Italy, where he was astral aspect, and they figure in the subsequently revered as a god. Zodiac as Gemini, the Twins. Diónysos Greek god of fertility, of Dipamkara (‘Lighter of lamps’) A wine and drunkenness. His name is taken Buddha who preceded → Gautama. In East to mean ‘son of Zeus’. His original home- Asia, the concept of a triad of Buddhas land seems to have been Thrace and/or Asia took root and became very popular: Minor; his alternative name, Bakchos Dipamkara for the past age, Sakyamuni 52 Discordia

(ϭ Gautama) for the present, and → Tian-long’s name contains the word for Maitreya for the future. The Chinese name ‘heaven’, tian while Di-ya is also referred for Dipamkara is Ran Deng Fo. to as Di-mu ϭ Earth-mother. Discordia → Eris Di-zang Chinese → Bodhisattva and ruler over hell, from which he seeks to Disir (Old Norse; Old High German idisi) rescue men. He is thus a kind of guide of Collective appellation for certain god- souls, who leads anyone who trusts in him desses of fertility and destiny in Germanic to the shore of wisdom. In origin, he may mythology. The disir sacrifice (disablot) well have been an earth divinity. performed in autumn, recalls the cults of vegetation gods and goddesses. These The Albanian name for the devil, goddesses were also supposed to be help- cognate with Latin diabolus. Another ful as midwives, and in this function → name for the devil in Albanian is dreqi, ϭ bears the name ‘dis of the Vanir’ from the Latin draco dragon, snake. (Vanadis). Among the West Germans, the Djata (also called Putir ϭ earth) A disir took over the role of goddesses of goddess of the Ngadju-Dayak in Borneo. destiny and fate, as well as that of god- Her original name was Tambon ϭ water- desses of battle (cf. the first Merseburg snake, and it is in this form that she Zauberspruch). In the Edda, → appears to men. She lives in the under- and → are described as disir. world, and crocodiles are her subjects. → Dis Páter Roman god of the under- Djata is the female counterpart to world, and giver of riches. In Rome, Mahatala; in ceremonial chants they both he was venerated along with Proserpina appear in tandem as ‘the water-snake (→ Persephóne). It was in his honour that which is also rhinoceros-bird’. the Tarentini were celebrated every Djebauti (Zebauti) Egyptian local god hundred years. Dis Pater corresponds to in the form of a heron perched on a pole. the Greek → Hades. He was later absorbed into the falcon-god → Diti Ancient Indian goddess: she who Horus. gives us what we wish for. In order to Dolichénus Syrian god of weather and avenge her sons (→ Daityas), killed or of war (like → Baal); thereafter, an epithet banished by Indra, she was to bear a son of → Zeus who was worshipped in the who would slay him: but Indra split the north Syrian town of Doliche. His own embryo into seven pieces which became cult was transferred to Jupiter, and Roman the → Maruts. troops spread it across Asia Minor into the Danube area. He was represented as Diwe Gigantic anthropophagous - a bearded man standing on the back of sters in Iranian folklore; they have animals’ a bull; his attributes were a double-headed faces and horns but they can assume many axe and a cluster of lightning flashes. other forms. The name is connected with the → Daevas. Donbittir The Ossetian god of waters and of fish: accordingly he is invoked by Di-ya and Tian-long A pair of Chinese fishermen. gods. On the one hand, they appear as servants of the god of literature, Wen Dong-yo Da-di (‘Great Emperor of the Chang; on the other hand, all creatures Eastern Peak’) In , are said to have risen from their union. the helper of the sky-god → Yu-di. He is Durga 53 a kind of cabinet minister in divine gov- a corpse. The corpse’s stomach fell within ernment, and within his competence falls the jurisdiction of the jackal-headed supervision of all areas of human life. It is . The east was the heavenly also in his department that the times for quarter allotted to him. birth and death of all creatures are laid bDud In the ancient Tibetan reli- down. gion, an appellation for heavenly spirits → Okeaninai who were later degraded by Lamaism to the status of devils. The bDud were black Druden (Truden; Gothic trudan, Old and lived in a black castle. Norse trotha ϭ tread, push) Drude (pl. Druden) is a term, particularly wide- Duillae Ancient Hispanic goddesses, spread in south Germany and Austria, for occurring in pairs. They were nature god- a female demon which harries you in desses who protected vegetation. They have sleep (in this, similar to the → Alp) or been compared with the Gallic → Matres, casts evil spells. The word means ‘ghost’ whose role seems to be very similar. in Middle High German, and it has Dumuzi (Sumerian ϭ true son) Usually become synonymous with Hexe ϭ witch. given the Hebrew/ form of his In folklore the (Drudenfusz in name – Tammuz. Old Mesopotamian god German) is regarded as a protective of vegetation, representative of the male charm against evil spirits. principle (as → Imtar was of the female). Drug In the form druh a designation One of his epithets is Ama’umumgal for a class of demons, dating back to (‘whose mother is a heavenly dragon’). Vedic times. In Iranian religion, inter- Dumuzi was supposed to be the lover and preted as ‘falsehood’ and assigned to → the spouse of → , who handed him Ahriman, whose hypostases they become. over to the demons of the underworld, They dwell in a dark cave. Drug may also where he then ruled as king. His descent to simply mean ‘demon of falsehood’. the underworld and his return therefrom symbolize the natural cycle of decay and (Greek drys ϭ oak-tree) reawakening in the vegetable world. The Female spirits of nature who live in trees cult of Tammuz spread beyond the confines (→ Nymphs) in Greek mythology. The of Mesopotamia (cf. Ezekiel 8: 14). fate of such a tree-nymph is closely con- nected with that of the tree she inhabits. Dumuziabzu (Sumerian ‘true child of Abzu’ → Apsu) Old Mesopotamian Dua Egyptian god, whose name is goddess who formed part of → Enki’s interpreted as meaning ‘the morning group in Old Babylonian mythology. Her one’, ‘the matutinal’. He is the god of toi- main function was that of tutelary god- letry, who washes the king’s face and dess of the town of Kinirma. gives him a shave. According to the Pyramid texts, he also plays a part in the Dur Kassite god corresponding to the so-called magical ‘mouth-opening’ cere- Babylonian god of the underworld → mony, by means of which the dead regain . the use of their organs. Durga (Sanskrit ϭ ‘she who is difficult of Duamutef (‘who praises his mother’) access’) Hindu goddess of the Great One of the four sons of → Horus, who Mother type, particularly revered by the were entrusted with the protection of broad masses in Bengal, Assam and the 54 Dusares

Dusares (Dum-Mara) The chief god of the Nabataeans. The name means ‘he (the god) of em-Mara’, this being the area between the and the Dead Sea. In the Hellenistic period the god was equated with the Greek → Dionysos, and represented with a vine. The sacred image of Dusares was originally a black stone in . The panther and the eagle were sacred to him.

Dvarapala (‘gate-keeper’) : in they guard the ‘gates’ or keep watch at the entrances to temples and monasteries. They are repre- sented as → Ya k sa-demons, or as mighty warriors in splendid armour. In China they are known as er jiang (‘the two com- manders’), named respectively Hong and Deccan. She is the spouse of → Fiva. In , though they form only one single her friendly aspect she is → Gauri; and as being representing the two halves of the Annapurja – represented with rice-bowl absolute: Ha represents the matrix world and spoon – she is a giver of food. In her of the elements, while Hong represents fearsome aspect she appears as Candi (‘the the diamond world of the spirit. cruel one’) or as → (‘she who is black’). Finally she is also (‘she who Dyaus (Dyaus pitar) Ancient Indian sets free’) and merges into the figure of → sky-god and father of the gods, usually . These names indicate that Durga mentioned in association with the earth is a composite figure incorporating various goddess → Prithivi. Together, Dyaus and goddesses, once independent, who gradu- Prithivi are thought of as bull and cow. ally merged with her cult. Her main feast The sun-god → Surya is regarded as the (Durgapuja) is celebrated in the autumn. son of Dyaus. E

Ea → Shichi-Fukujin (Greek ϭ snake) Demonic monster in Greek mythology, half- woman, half-snake. From her coupling with there arose → Kérberos and the → Chimaira. Nymph associated with springs and wells in Roman mythology, who gradually assumed the functions of a god- dess of birth. Legend has it that she was the counsellor of King to whom she came by night to reveal the will of the gods. Egres (Äkräs) God of vegetation and fertility venerated by the ancient , Babylonian god corresponding to the especially in Karelia. He was first and Sumerian → Enki. It has been suggested foremost the protector and the donator of that the name means ‘water-house’, but turnips. The twin fruit of the turnip was this is not generally accepted by scholars. his symbol and was known as ‘holy Ea’s realm was the sweet-water ocean äkräs’. under the earth, and his temple was in the house of → Apsu. He was the god of (Latin Ilithyia) Greek god- wisdom and of the magician’s art, the dess of birth, whose cult was particularly great artist whose hands formed man. widespread on Crete and in Lakonia. Her He was taken over by the under name probably means ‘she who comes the name of A’as, and was regarded by to help’. She was supposed to be the them as the keeper of the tablets of des- daughter of → Zeus and of → Hera. tiny and as ‘king of good counsel’. Later, → Artemis took over the functions of Eileithyia. Eacus Old Hispanic god venerated in the area of present-day Castile. He was (Latin Irene) Greek goddess of equated with → Jupiter Solutorius, a peace, one of the three → Horae, the Roman god by whom Eacus was finally daughter of Zeus and of → . In completely absorbed. Athens she was worshipped from the end of the fifth century BC onwards. At the Eate (also known as Egata) Basque feast of Synoikia bloodless sacrifice was god of fire and storms, whose voice may made to her. be heard in advance of a hail-storm or a destructive fire. Ek → Bacab Ebech A Canaanite mountain god who Ekajata (‘she who has but one shock of was overcome by → Inanna. hair’) One of the terrible deities in 56 Ekchuah

Buddhism, whose appearance strikes fear what the name means precisely: some opt into men. She is usually represented as for ‘the mighty one’, ‘the powerful one’, having one head and three eyes; she is blue others prefer ‘the first one’. In the in colour, her face is distorted with rage, mythology of Ugarit, El appears as father and she wears a tiger’s skin round her loins. of the gods and ‘creator of creatures’. He If she has two arms, her attributes are a ser- also has the epithets ‘creator of the earth’ rated knife and skulls; if she is shown with (Qone’ars) and ‘bull’, a reference to his four arms, she is holding in her right hands significance as a fertility symbol. The god sword and arrow, in her left hands bow and has his throne ‘at the source of the rivers’. skulls. She is also known as Ugra-Tara In Palmyra he was known by the name of (‘the terrible → Tara’). Those who worship Elqonera; and as ‘he who causes the her can look forward to being suitably springs to flow’ he was equated with → rewarded. A specific form of the goddess Poseidon. is → Vidyujjvalakarali. In Tibetan, Ekajata is called Ral-gCig-. Elagabal (Greek Heliogabalos or Elaiagabalos) The local god of the Ekchuah Syrian town of Emesa (the modern Homs). His cult centred round a black stone shaped like a bee-hive. The god’s name seems to be derived from Elah-gabal (‘lord of the mountain’). In the Hellenistic period he was also connected with the sun-god → Hélios. The fact that his sym- bolic creature is the eagle is further proof of a solar connection.

Elben (German plural form: also as Alben; Old Saxon alf (sing.); Old Norse álf, álfar) Nature spirits in Germanic mythology. In Snorri’s Edda, a distinction The Maya god of travelling merchants. is made between álfar who are light and In specialist literature he is known as god beautiful in colour, and álfar who are dark. M. He is represented as black in colour The álfar were the objects of a cult, and with a dangling lower lip and a long this distinguishes them from the dwarfs. scorpion’s tail. They were seen as spirits of fertility and as Ekhi (Eguzki) A Basque designation protective spirits; often again their behav- for the sun and for its personification, iour suggests souls of the dead. They may who is said to be a daughter of Mother suffer a transition into a demonic aspect, Earth (→ Lur). Sorcerers and evil spirits and then they are bringers of sickness and lose their potency when a ray of sunshine ill-fortune (→ Alp). The semantic field is falls upon them. widened through contamination with the word ‘Elfen’ (ϭ English ‘elves’) which El An appellation among the ancient makes its appearance in the eighteenth Syrians and Canaanites for a deity, known century in German literature. in south Arabia as Il. The name was also used to designate the supreme god. There is Elel Malevolent demonic being in the some disagreement among scholars as to beliefs of the Puelche Indians in Endouellicus 57

Argentina. He causes storms, illnesses means ‘my lord’, and the 1st person and death; he also plays a part in initiation singular marker hin may be replaced by ceremonies. the 1st person plural neneg; thus emeli- neneg ϭ our lord; similarly emeli n terna ϭ Eljon Old Syrian deity. The name is lord of power. derived from the root alaj (‘to go up, be up’). Philon of Byblos calls him Eliun; in Emma-o (or Emma-ten) In Japanese Greek form Hypsistos (‘the most lofty’). Buddhism, → Yama in his capacity as In the Old Testament, the name Eljon can King of Hell. He rides on a water-buffalo, be taken as identical with → Jahwe, as the and bears aloft a standard with a human latter is called el eljon (‘most high God’) head. He may also be depicted as a stern in Genesis 14: 22. judge holding a tablet or a book in which he enters the sins of those who Elkunirya The name of this Hittite god have been condemned to be reborn in pur- probably means ‘El (god) creator of the gatory (the eschatological state of purifi- earth’. In one myth, → Amertu is pre- cation) and determines the extent of their sented as his spouse. There is good evi- punishment. dence for the thesis that this god was taken over from a Canaanite cult. Empung Luminuut Female deity of the Minahasa tribe in North Celebes Ellel (also Ellilus) A Hittite god, taken (Sulawesi). She arose from the earth or over from the Babylonians (→ Enlil) and was sweated out of a stone. Impregnated very largely equated with the Hurrian by the west wind, she gave life to the sun- father of the gods (→ ). god Toar. Mother and son separate; and (Semitic → el) Common when they meet they fail to recognize each expression for ‘God’ in the Old other and marry. From their union are Testament. The word is plural in form, but born the race of gods and the human race. is also used in the singular: ‘god’ or A female monster in ancient ‘gods’. Pagan gods are thus designated, Greek popular belief. She could appear as as well as the God of Israel (→ Jahwe). a beautiful maiden, but then again as a Elohim is the omnipotent God, the hideous ghost with the feet of an ass. creator of heaven and earth. Usually, she forms part of → Hekáte’s Elves (cf. German Elben) The word retinue. was taken over from English and used in An Old Illyrian god whose name German literature in the form Elben, to lives on in the Albanian word for denote certain friendly female spirits. Thursday. With the coming of They are fond of music and dancing, and Christianity, En was demoted to demonic are in general well-disposed towards status. human beings. By analogy with the king of the dwarfs, Alberich, their ruler is Sumerian god of irrigation called king of the elves. The Danish form and agriculture. In Babylon he was is elverkonge, which went into celebrated regarded as the son of → Ea, and finally poems by Herder and Goethe as figured as one of the fifty names of → ‘Erlkönig’. Marduk. Emeli-hin A name for God used by the Endouellicus (Endouolicus) A god Tuareg in West-Central Sudan. The word venerated in Lusitania (present-day 58 Enki

Portugal), for the sick a source of oracles rules and regulations. In one very old list which could lead to their recovery. At of gods, Enmemarra actually takes prece- some of his shrines pigs are depicted, and dence over the sky-god → An. His func- it is possible that these animals were sac- tion makes him a god of the underworld. rificed to him: equally, however, they may Eos Greek goddess of the dawn, some- have purely chthonic significance, serv- times also known as (ϭ day). She ing to emphasize the god’s function as a is the ‘rosyfingered’, youthful and beauti- god of the underworld. On some of his ful, sister of the sun (→ Hélios) and the altars a palm tree is represented. moon (→ Seléne). Every morning she Enki (Sumerian ϭ ‘lord of the earth’ drives the team of horses which pull her or ‘lord of the nether-regions’) In chariot up from the depths of the ocean. Sumeria, the ruler of the sweet-water When she weeps for her son Memnon ocean which was believed to lie under the who fell at Troy, her tears fall on the earth → earth, and of the life-giving springs and as dew. Her Roman counterpart is wells. In addition, he is god of wisdom Auróra. and of magic. In myth he appears as the Epaphos Son of → Zeus in his taurine creator of vegetation and of human metamorphosis, and → Io (in the form of beings. On cylinder seals he is shown sit- a cow). A later Greek tradition makes ting enthroned in his temple surrounded Epaphos the progenitor of the Egyptians. by flowing waters; jets of water come → from his shoulders. The number specific Ephialtes Aloádes to him is forty. In Akkadian, → Ea (Celtic ϭ the big ) A corresponds to Enki. goddess worshipped in Gaul, usually shown riding a horse. Her attribute is a ϭ Enlil (Sumerian ‘lord (of the) wind’) cornucopia, sometimes also a dog. It is In Akkadian as Ellil, in Greek as Illinos. uncertain whether the horse and the dog The supreme god in the Sumerian pan- are to be interpreted as dead animals, theon. He is ‘King of lands’; because of and Epona herself as a goddess of the his strength he is called Rimu (‘wild ox’), underworld. The cornucopia also suggests and another of his epithets is kur-gal a fertility cult. (‘great mountain’). His weapon is the storm-flood. Enlil’s father is the sky-god Eranoranhan The protector or tute- → An, his spouse is → . As lord of lary god of men on the island of Hierro in the tablets of destiny he can determine the the Canaries; the goddess Moneiba course of the world. He is not always played the same part for women. The god well-disposed towards human beings; and lived on one rock, the goddess on another. to their misfortune he sends them the One of the nine → Muses. She is → Deluge and the monster Labbu. As a the muse of lyric poetry, especially of symbol of his power Enlil bears a head- love poetry, and she is usually portrayed dress decorated with horns (the so-called holding a stringed instrument in her horned crown). His specific number is hands. fifty. Ereykigal A Sumerian goddess of the Enmeyarra The name of this underworld; one of her epithets is ‘great Sumerian god means ‘lord of all the ’. earth’. She is the sister and underworld The word me seems to denote the divine counterpart of → Inanna/Imtar, who Erótes 59 dwells in the lofty regions of heaven. Erlik Among the Altaic peoples of Her spouse is → Nergal. southern Siberia, the adversary of God, he who led the first men to commit sin. Erge In Basque folklore – and attested His heaven is destroyed, and he himself is in myth – a spirit which takes men’s lives. banished to the underworld. Erinyes (Greek pl.; sing. Erinys) E´ros Avenging goddesses of the underworld in Greek mythology. They arose from the drops of blood soaked up by the earth (→ Gaia) when Kronos mutilated his father. The Greek tragedians call them ‘the daughters of the night’. They are three in number, and bear the names Allekto (‘she who is unremitting’), Teisiphone (‘she who avenges murder’) and Megaira (‘she who is envious’). With snake-bedecked heads and waving threat- ening torches they come from the under- world to pursue all sinners, especially those who have killed members of their own family or close relatives. They were later presented in more favourable guise as the Semnai (‘the venerable ones’) or the Eumenides (‘the well-disposed’). In Rome, they were known as the Furiae (‘the mad ones’), furies. Greek god of love, the son of → Aphrodíte and → Arés. Hesiod hymns his praises as Eris Greek goddess of dissension and the most beautiful of the gods. In popular strife, sister of the war-god → Ares. belief and in classical art he is shown as the Hesiod makes a distinction between the winged youth with his bow and arrows fearsome Eris, the instigator of enmity which he fires into the hearts of gods and and affliction, and the benevolent Eris men, thus awakening them to love. He also who stimulates men to engage in compe- fosters friendship between men and boys, tition. One of the best-known scenes in and this is why the Spartans paid homage Greek mythology shows us Eris throwing to him before battle. His cult in Thespiai in an apple (the apple of contention) on , was of very ancient standing: here which is written ‘for the fairest’, among he was worshipped in the form of a stone. the wedding guests, and thus provoking His power to arouse and move the world a quarrel among the goddesses present. led the Orphic cults to recognize him Roman writers took Eris over under as creator of the world. → Ámor is the the name of Discordia (ϭ dissension, corresponding figure among the Romans. discord). Erótes Boy-like gods of love in late Eriu (Eire) Name for Ireland; personi- Classical art; known in Latin as amoretti. fied as the goddess of the island. Her They were taken over in the Renaissance husband is → Mac Gréine. and remained popular through the 60 Erra

Baroque and Rococo periods in the guise Gallic god, whose name remains of putti or genii. unexplained (though not for want of sug- gestions). The classical writer, Lukianos, Erra (Irra) Babylonian god of plague. reports the god’s desire for human blood. Stung by the demonic → Sebettu, he Two altars have been found which show brings plague and other misfortunes to him using an axe against a tree: it is not mankind. His adviser, who succeeds in known exactly why. Equally mysterious is pacifying him, is → Imum. It is not certain the bull accompanied by three birds whether there is any connection between (cranes?) which seems to be associated the Akkadian word Erra and the Hittite → with him. Jarri. Es Sky-god of the Ket people who live Etemmu (‘dead man’s ghost’) The on the Yenisei in Siberia. He is invisible, Babylonians believed that the soul of a but is portrayed as an old man with a dead person who remained uninterred, long black beard. He is the creator of the wandered about as a ghost: it could turn world and he kneaded the first humans nasty and harm people. out of clay: whatever he threw with his Eunomía (‘heavenly order’) One of right hand towards the left became a man, the → Horae, who were entrusted with and what he threw with his left hand the job of looking after the gates of towards the right became a woman. heaven and of Olympus. Esenchebis The Greek name really Euphrosine → Charites means ‘Isis in Chembis’; and refers to the goddess → Isis, who was worshipped Euros Greek god of the wind which on the island of Chembis, as well as blows from the south-east. His epithet is elsewhere (e.g. at Bubastis). Argestes, i.e. ‘he who clears up’. Like the other wind-gods associated with y E Phoenician god of healing, different quarters of the heavens he is whose cult was widespread in Cyprus, a son of → Eos. Sardinia and North Africa (Carthage). He was thought of as a handsome youth, and, Eutérpe (‘she who brings joy’) One of as such, connected with → Melqart. the nine → Muses. She is portrayed play- ing a double flute, thus representing Estanatlehi A goddess of the Navajos. lyrical poetry accompanied by flutes. She used maize meal and the dust from her breasts to create the progenitors of the Evan A being belonging to the → Las Navajo people. Then she became ruler in in Etruscan religion. Usually thought of the land of the setting sun (the land of the as female, it is sometimes portrayed as dead) whence she dispenses whatever is masculine. It has been suggested that good to mankind. War and illness come it may be a mythic personification of from the east. personal immortality. F

Fafnir (‘gripper’, ‘clasper’) In progenitors of the human race. Faro also Germanic mythology, a demonic being gives mankind language and tools for who killed his father and then, in dragon fishing and agriculture. Faro’s sacred form, guarded the great golden treasure of colour is white. the Nibelungs, until slain by Sigurd Fatit (Albanian pl.; sing. fati) Female (Siegfried). beings associated with individual destiny, Pyrenean tree-god venerated in south Albanian popular belief. On the in Roman times. As the name suggests, the third day after a birth, three of them tree in question was the beech, worshipped approach the cradle and determine the as divine. child’s fate. They are also known as miren (from Greek → ). They are Fairy Fairies were thought of as nature visualized as riding on butterflies. spirits of a lower order – to some extent, of demonic character – who dwelt in Old Italic goddess of fields and springs, forests and caves. They were, in woods; she appears as either sister or wife general, well disposed towards human of . As she promotes fertility in the beings, though they were not slow to pun- fields and among livestock, thereby bless- ish those who failed to show gratitude. ing the farmer, she was revered as Bona Such beings were called elves among the Dea (‘good goddess’). Germanic tribes, while the Baltic peoples Faunus Old Italic god of nature, pro- knew them as → Laume. The word ‘fairy’ tector of shepherds and peasants. As comes via Old French feie, fée from Latin Innus (‘he who makes fruitful’) he fatua ϭ (female) seer, and fatum ϭ fate, increases the herds. He was supposed to destiny. In association with the Greek → be the son of → Picus, and grandson of → Moirai and the Roman → Parcae, three Satúrnus. If he was valued as an oracular fairies were thought to be the goddesses source, he was rather more feared because of fate. of his -like propensities. It was only Fama Roman personification of after his blending in the popular mind rumour. She plays no part at all in Roman with the Greek figure of → Pan, that he religion, and is purely a product of Latin was furnished with horns and goat-legs. literary . Vergil pictures her as a His temple was situated on the Tiber horrible creature with several tongues and island. At a very early date Faunus was babbling mouths. The Greek author identified with the wolf-god → . Hesiod, on the other hand, makes her a Favonius → Zéphyros goddess under the name of . Fe’e → Aitu Faro Sky and water god of the Bambara (in West Africa). Faro is an Fei Lian (also found as Feng Bo) androgynous being who is made pregnant Chinese god of the wind; he lets the by the oscillations of the universe and winds escape from a large sack. In thereupon gives birth to twins who are the mythical times he figures as an agitator 62 Fene and trouble-maker, but he is restrained by etymology of her name would suggest the ‘heavenly archer’ (→ Shen Yi). In var- that she is a mountain or forest goddess, ious myths, Fei Lian is described as a and she was probably revered as a god- winged dragon with a deer’s head and a dess of fertility. snake’s tail. Fjörgynn A god mentioned in Snorri’s Fene Hungarian demon, whose name Edda as being the father of → Frigg. still crops up in such expressions as ‘Fene Nothing further is known about him, but eat you!’ (egye meg a fene). The word it has been suggested that he may be a god also means a place where demonic beings of thunderstorms whose origins go back hang out. to pre-Germanic times. Fenrir (Fenrisulfr ϭ the wolf Fenrir) Flóra Lupine demon in Nordic mythology, the son of the god → Loki and the female giant Angrboda. His siblings are the → Midgard-snake and the Queen of the underworld → . When the Aesir (→ As) began to fear Fenrir they fettered him with the unbreakable cord Gleipnir; in the process, the god → Tyr lost a hand which he had put into the monster’s jaws in order to deceive it. When the world is being destroyed (Ragnarök) the wolf breaks free and kills → Odin. Fidi Mukullu God of creation among the Bena Lulua (Zaire). The sun is said to have come forth from his right cheek, the moon from his left. He taught men to use Roman goddess of growing corn and bow and arrow, and gave them iron and blossoming flowers, originally wor- foodstuffs. shipped by the Oscans and the . In Rome, her feast (Floralia) was celebrated Finn The hero of a very extensive from 28 April to the beginning of May. cycle of tales in Ireland (Leinster). The It was an uninhibited and somewhat saga centres round the red deer. Finn’s immoral popular revel; herself was progeny are called the Oisin, i.e. deer- known as meretrix ϭ whore, but the calves; one of his wives, Saar, is a hind, lasciviousness was probably intended to and he himself can appear as man, dog promote fecundity, and has also been or stag, according to how he turns his interpreted as a vernal counter-thrust hood. He can also appear as a manifesta- against the world of the dead. tion of King Mongan, who is a son of the Fo The Chinese name for → Buddha. sea-god → Manannan. Specially revered is Shi-jia-mu-ni, i.e. Fjörgyn A north Germanic goddess. Makyamuni (→ Gautama Buddha), the In the Völuspa she appears as the mother ‘great hero’ (da xiong). Iconographically of → Thor. Nothing is known of any cult he is shown seated, without any kind of that may have surrounded her. The decoration, in the diamond posture: the Freyja 63 right foot on the left knee, the left foot on the right knee. He wears the ancient Indian monk’s robe and in his left hand there is usually a begging-bowl. His particular characteristics are the usjisa (turban), the urja (a kind of divine eye) and extended ear-lobes. In art, a trinity of Buddhas is often represented – Shi-jia- mu-ni, Ran Deng Fo (→ Dipamkara) and → Mi-lo Fo. Fomore (Fomore) In Irish tradition, the demons who are the adversaries of the gods (→ Tuatha De Danann). Though the Fomore can count on having the upper hand for a time, they are to be finally defeated in the battle of Mag Tured, and will have to give his harp back to → Dagda. Forneus It is possible that the name is a personifies fortune, luck, which proves parodic version of → Fornjotr. Forneus effective in a given situation. In ’s appears in late medieval literature of magic time she was already being identified with → and necromancy as a demonic being, a the Greek Tyché. In art she is portrayed spirit from hell or as a sea-monster. with rudder, cornucopia and globe as attributes. In the Renaissance, Fornjotr A primeval giant in came back into popular favour as a motif in Germanic mythology, progenitor of the art – now, however, equipped with a wheel frost-giants. One tradition makes him to remind the viewer that luck may not last. father of the giants Hler, Logi and Kari, y who rule the sea, fire and the wind. Frava i (usually translated as ‘she who confesses’ or ‘she who is chosen’) In Forseti A Germanic god. It has been Old Iranian religion, the fravaˇsi denoted suggested that his name means ‘he who the spiritual preexistence of the believer, presides’, but the exact meaning is a mat- which watched over him as a protective ter of dispute. According to the Edda he is spirit. As a collective, the fravaˇsis helped a son of → Balder, he lives in the shining → Ahura Mazda to create the world; they hall called Glitnir, and he administers jus- foster plants and, as riders armed with tice to men and gods. It is likely that this spears, they defend heaven. In their Nordic Forseti corresponds to the Friesian capacity as warriors they resemble the god Fosite. Indian → Maruts. Fortúna (also Fors Fortuna) To begin Freyja (Old Norse ϭ mistress, lady) with, the old Roman goddess of women, North German goddess of love and whose cult was, in part at least, oracular. fertility; one of her functions is to assist First and foremost, however, Fortúna women in childbirth. Her attributes are the turned into the goddess of good fortune; necklace called Brisingamen (brisa ϭ to indeed, she herself, as her name indicates, shine, glitter; possibly a ), 64 a falcon cloak, and a chariot drawn by Etruscan god corresponding cats. She rides on the boar with golden to the Greek → Dionysos. The name may bristles, Hildeswin. As a daughter of → derive from an Indo-Germanic root Njörd she belongs to the race of the → meaning ‘to beget’ or ‘to swell, overflow’. Vanir; in due course, however, she joins On an altar in we find the cult the Aesir (→ As) and becomes the wife of name Pacha given to the god. Od (variant of → Odin). When she loses Fujin God of the wind in Shintoism. him she weeps golden tears for him. On He is shown carrying a sack full of winds occasion, she becomes indistinguishable on his shoulders. from → Frigg. Cf. also → . Fukuro kuju (Japanese ϭ luck, riches, Freyr (Old Norse ϭ Lord, master) long life) Japanese god of good luck, North Germanic god of thriving crops portrayed with an exaggeratedly high cra- and peaceful prosperity: the son of → nium. He is often accompanied by a crane Njörd, brother of → Freyja, and one of and a tortoise as symbols of longevity. the → Vanir. In a temple in Old Uppsala there was a statue of the god in his phallic (‘fullness’) Germanic goddess, aspect as god of fecundity. The Swedish attendant in retinue of → Frigg. The royal dynasty of the Ynglinge regarded second Merseburg charm makes her him as their progenitor. In myth he figures Frigg’s sister. as the owner of the miraculous ship Furies → Erinyes Skidbladnir and goldenbristled boar Gullinborsti. The esteem in which Freyr Fu Shen Chinese god of luck. He is was held is evident from his epithets such usually portrayed in the blue robes of an as ‘patron of the gods’ and ‘world-god’. official, with his son on his arm. Often he forms a triad along with → Shou Lao and Frigg (south German Frija, Lombard → Cai Shen. Frea) Germanic goddess, incorporating on the one hand gross sensuality (she is Fu-xi The first of the three Chinese accused of adultery) and, on the other cultural heroes; he instituted marriage, hand, the maternal principle. Her name is and we also have to thank him for teach- translated both as ‘she who is loved’ and ing us how to fish. He married his sister also as ‘spouse’. She protects life and par- → Nü-gua, thereby ensuring due balance takes in the wisdom of her husband → in the forces of . Nü-gua’s Odin. If she had a specific cult nothing is attribute is the compass while Fu-xi’s is known of it. The Latin dies veneris (‘day the protractor: together the two symbolize of Venus’) was taken over by the Germans the construction of the world – the round as ‘Frija’s day’ (Friday). The historian heaven and the square earth. Paulus Diaconus mentions the goddess as Fylgir (or Fylgjur; Old Norse ϭ female patroness of the Lombards. attendants) In Germanic belief, protec- Fudo Myoo Japanese god who wields tive spirits attached to individuals. If they the sword of knowledge in his fight choose to appear, it is in the form of a against the hate and the greed which are woman or an animal. They were not the characteristic of ignorance. object of any sort of cult. G

God G Maya god, so designated in spe- . From her are born heaven (→ cialist literature, who represents → Uranós) and sea (→ Pontos). Made preg- Kukulcan in his solar aspect: possibly the nant by Uranós, she gives birth to the → nocturnal stage of that aspect. and the → Cyclops. Her union with the underworld (Tartaros) results in (Gabieta, Gabeta) A spirit of the birth of the monster → Typhón. It was fire in , which in Attica alone that Gaia was of religious sometimes appears as a goddess. She was significance. In Homer, she is invoked in the mistress of the ‘holy fire’ to whom oaths along with the sun (→ Hélios). In homage was paid by throwing on the art, her beneficent fecundity is often sym- fire and saying, ‘Holy Gabija, be thou bolized by attributes such as a cornucopia satisfied!’ and the fruits of the earth. Gabjauja Lithuanian goddess of corn, Galla (Akkadian ) Sumerian to whom prayers were said for general demon of the underworld. It was by Galla- prosperity and riches. Demoted with the demons that the god of vegetation → coming of Christianity to the status of an Dumuzi was taken to the underworld. evil spirit. Gandarewa In the Avesta, a demon Gabriel (Hebrew ϭ ‘the strong one of living in the water who is constantly God’) In the Bible, an angel who trying to swallow the good works of appears as a messenger from God: first, creation; finally he is slain by the hero in Daniel 8: 16–27. In the New Testament, Keresaspa. it is he who brings Mary the tidings that God has chosen her to be the mother of Gandharvas A class of Indian his son (Luke 1: 26–28). In Jewish apoc- demigods, spirits of nature who inhabit → → alyptic literature he figures as an angel of the heaven of Indra, along with the retribution and death; in Christianity as an Apsaras. According to the Rigveda there archangel together with → Michael, → was in the very beginnings a Raphael and → Uriel. In Islamic tradition who united with an to give birth to → → he is called Gabra’il, and is at the apex of the first pair of humans ( Yama and the angelic host. Yima). At a later date, unspecified Gandharvas appear at Indra’s court as A designation for various benefi- musicians and singers. cent divinities in ancient north Arabia. Gaveqa j ϭ Gad is really a personification of (good) (or Ga apati lord of the host) luck, and corresponds to the Greek → Indian god of the art of writing and of → a i → Tyché. The name was also used by the wisdom: the son of P rvat and F Nabataeans for a specific god. iva, whose retinue he leads. He is por- trayed as having the head of an elephant, Gaia (Ge ϭ earth) Greek goddess; one tusk and a pot belly. He rides on a rat, together with Chaos and → Éros she and in his four hands he holds a thorn, a belongs to the first principles of the garland of roses, the broken-off second 66

animal was the ram which assisted him in the detection of injustice. Gapn Old Syrian god who appears as a messenger of → Baal. His name means ‘vine’. He is not mentioned in ritual texts. Garm (Old Icelandic Garmr) Mythical dog which howls and barks before its cave at the onset of Ragnarök, the destruction of the world, and which fights with the god → Tyr in the apocalyptic final battle. Garmangabi(s) Beneficent goddess of the Sueves (Suebi), a Germanic tribe who lived in the Neckar area. The second component of the name – gabi – is proba- tusk and a bowl with a rice-cake. On bly cognate with ‘give, gift’ (German, south Indian monuments he wears a ‘geben, Gabe’), and it figures also in the crown. In a form of Gajefa called name of a group of matronly goddesses Heramba appears, which has five ele- whose cult was once practised in the phant heads; while in Thailand the god is Rhineland: Alagabiae, i.e. those who give often depicted with four heads and two richly. Cf. also → Gefjon. arms. Gajapati was also taken over by w Buddhism. Garu a Ganga The masculine form – Ganges – derives from Greek. Indian river-goddess; she is depicted with two or four arms. In her right hand she holds a water-pot, in her left a lotus. The Gakga is supposed to emerge from one of → Visju’s feet and to flow into the moon and the starry firmament. Ganymédes Originally perhaps a demonic guardian of the well of life. In Greek saga he appears as a beautiful youth. → Zeus falls in love with him, and sends his eagle to abduct the youth and bring him to Olympus. There, he becomes the cup-bearer of the gods, who gives them their daily life-giving draught. In the late Hellenistic and Roman periods ϭ was transferred to the heavens (Sanskrit garut wing) The prince in the shape of Aquarius the Waterbearer. of birds in Indian mythology, the enemy of snakes and the most fervent devotee of Gao Yao (Also known as Ting-jian) Visju, who rides on his back. His anthro- -Chinese god of judgment; his pomorphic body is golden in colour and 67 has the head, the wings and the claws poetically he is also called Makyamuni – ‘the of an eagle. has been interpreted wise man of Makya race’. He was able as a sun symbol. In Buddhism, the Garudas to withstand all the temptations put in his are divine bird-like creatures, and → way by his adversary → Mara. Gautama Gautama is said to have been a Garuda- became the Buddha (‘the enlightened king in a former existence. one’) who upon entry into severs all connection between him and the world Gatumdu(g) Sumerian goddess, and who is then inaccessible even to daughter of the sky-god → An. She was prayer. In the course of time, however, he the local mother goddess of Lagam. was deified and became the → Buddha Gaueko In Basque popular belief and prototype, the exemplar for all Buddhas, mythology the lord of darkness, a spirit of both past and future. The → Bodhisattvas the night. He may on occasion prove and the → Dhyani-Buddhas are hypostases friendly and helpful; but he can also appear of him. His most important symbols are as a devil. He often manifests himself in closely connected with his life on earth: the shape of a cow or as a gust of wind. the footprints (his presence on earth), the Bodhi-tree (enlightenment), the wheel (the Gauri In Indian religion, a good- teaching of the way), and the (entry hearted and sympathetic variant of the into Nirvana). Images of Buddha are char- Great Mother. She is, as her name sug- acterized by the usjisa, the raised portion gests, the ‘white one’, contrasting thereby of the cranium, and the urja, a radiant with the black → Kali. point (originally a lock of hair) between Gautama Buddha the eyebrows, signifying enlightment. Gayomard (Gayo Marta) The first human being in Iranian mythology; his name means ‘mortal life’. According to one tradition, it was from his body that the parts of the cosmos were fashioned. According to another version, his seed impregnated the earth from which there then emerged the first man and the first woman. From Gayomard’s decomposing body there arose the seven metals. As the first mortal being, this primeval human will be resurrected. Geb (earlier incorrect reading: Seb) Egyptian earth-god. The name is probably an old word for ‘earth’, which later fell into disuse; in the Pyramid texts we are told that the dead enter ‘geb’. One myth relates how the earth-god copulated with the sky-goddess (→ ) to beget the sun, thus becoming ‘father of the His real name was Siddharta of the gods’. The kings of Egypt designated Gautama family (Pali form Gotama); themselves as ‘heirs of Geb’. When the 68 Gebeleizis god is represented anthropomorphically male and female winged figures; and, in he is usually wearing the crown of Lower the art of the ancient east, to hybrid Egypt on his head. Exceptionally he may beings with the heads of birds who appear also be shown with a goose decorating his in a posture of greeting or who are fertil- head (in the script, the goose is his deter- izing the sacred tree, e.g. on Assyrian minative sign). tablets and, similarly, on Cretan cameos (see illustration). Today, the term Gebeleizis Herodotus mentions this denotes ghostly beings endowed with god of thunderstorms venerated by the supernatural powers. Thracians who lived in the ; he has been identified with → , but Genius Roman deity, a personification this is a moot point. of the creative powers invested in man: the female counterpart of Genius is → Gefjon Germanic goddess belonging Júno. Every man was accredited with his to the Aesir (→ As). Her name seems to own genius, representing his male vigour be connected with the root meaning ‘to and strength; and under Greek influence give’ (German geben), and she herself this came later to correspond to → lives up to her name by functioning as a Daimon. In the domestic chapels belong- goddess of good fortune and prosperity. ing to distinguished Roman families in In Denmark, she herself handles the Pompeii, the genius of the pater familias plough. Among the south Germanic tribes is depicted as a snake. The belief that her counterpart may well have been → every place has its tutelary spirit, its Garmangabis. And behind both of these genius loci, is a product of the Roman goddesses we may well discern the figure Empire. → Genii. of the goddess of fertility → Freyja, who indeed bears the epithet ‘Gefjon’. Geytinanna (Sumerian ϭ vine of heaven) Old Mesopotamian goddess, Genii sister of the vegetation-god → Dumuzi, and wife of → Ningimzida. The fact that she was equated with the ‘book-keeper’ of the Babylonian underworld → Beletseri, suggests that she too was connected in some way with the nether regions. Geuy Tayan (‘fashioner of cattle’) In old Iranian religion the divine creator of cattle, often equated with → Ahura Mazda. Geuy Urvan (also as Gomurvan, Gomurun) In Old Iranian religion, the heavenly guardian of cattle. In poetry, he himself appears as a cow. The name means ‘soul (pl. of genius) Protective spirits who of the cow’. guide human beings. In Etruscan and Ghul → they were represented as naked winged youths. Since the seven- Gibil Sumerian god of fire; in teeth century the term has been applied to Akkadian (Babylonian) he is called Girra 69 or Girru. He was regarded as the bringer Gluskap (Kluskave) Cultural hero of light – but also as a fire-raiser. In among the north-east Algonquin of incantations he was invoked to combat Canada. Born of a virgin, he fights his spells. Even → Marduk once visited the evil twin brother, and, after the great fire-god in order to get his insignia of flood, he creates a new earth out of a office cleaned when they had been soiled. piece of mud. Occasionally he is con- ceived in the form of a hare. After his Giants (Gigantes) In Greek mythol- withdrawal from the world, he lives in the ogy, a savage race of giants born from the northland and continues to work for the earth (ge genis), implacable adversaries welfare of the world. of the Olympian gods. They arose from the drops of blood spilt on the earth (→ Glykon Gnostic-Mithraic demon with Gaia) by the emasculated → Uranós. It is a human head and the body of a snake. possible that the gigantes were originally The snake Glykon was often regarded as embodiments of natural earth forces, such a of → Asklepiós. as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. In their struggle with the gigantes (gigan- Gnomes In popular belief a group of tomachia) the gods can only win with the demonic figures who inhabit woods, help of a mortal (→ Heraklés). mountains and water. The word may be derived from Greek genomoi ϭ earth- Gilgamey Early historical king of the dwellers, or from Greek ϭ under- Sumerian town of Uruk. In his mythologi- standing. cal aspect he is shown fighting the heav- enly bull and → Luwawa, the demonic Goibniu In ancient Ireland the god of ruler of the . He engages in a the blacksmith’s craft, whose magic pow- fruitless search for eternal life. After his ers enabled him to turn out weapons deification he was counted among the which could not fail. The name is derived gods of the underworld. The Hittites knew from goban ϭ smith. Grievously woun- the hero under the names of Gim.gim.mam, ded in a battle with the → Fomore, he was the Hurrians as Galgamim. In texts from restored to health in a fountain of youth. Asia Minor the name is always written Goibniu possessed the mead that gave with the determinative sign for a god. eternal life. In the Welsh tradition the god is called Govannon; farmers need his help Giltine Lithuanian goddess of death. to clean the ploughshare. Her name derives from the verb gelti ϭ to sting, harm. Clad in white, she approaches Gong Gong Chinese devil who lets the house in which the sick person lies; loose the great flood and who is the adver- then she strangles or suffocates him. sary of the ruling god. He is embodied in a black dragon and he is attended by the Glaúkos (Greek ϭ bluish-green) A nine-headed, snake-bodied Xiang Yao, sea-god known for his gift of whose excretions generate evil-smelling who was very popular among sailors and springs and swamps. fishermen in the ancient world. The legend is that he was once a fisherman himself Gorgons In Greek mythology, the who became a god when he ate of a magic three daughters of the sea-god → herb and jumped into the sea. On occasion, Phorkys, named , and he shares with other sea-gods the name Medusa. They were winged creatures, halios geron (‘the old man of the sea’). with snakes for hair and prominent 70 Gou Mang and Ru Shou

wishes. A rock or stone, unadorned save for red colouring, marks the seat of the grama-devata. Gallic god of healing. The city of Aquae Granni () was a cen- tre of his cult. The name may come from a Celtic root ghrena, meaning ‘hot, warm’, which would connect the god with hot springs. Grannus is one of the gods whom Caesar designated as → (n). Gratiae, Graces (Latin gratia ϭ grace, charm) In Roman belief, divine figures incorporating youthful grace and joie de vivre; they correspond to the Greek → tongues. The gorgonaion, a representation Charites. They symbolize the arts of of the horrifying head of the gorgo, was and poetry. They are mostly used in temples and at graves to ward off portrayed as naked, often garlanded and evil powers. Alone among the three sisters with flowers. Medusa was mortal, and when → Guan Di Chinese god of war, patron of struck off her head, the goddess → literature and protector of trade and mer- Athéne fixed it to her shield. Reference to chants. In the Manchu dynasty he was ‘the ’ in the singular is always to particularly venerated because of his war- Medusa. like functions; but in other periods of Gou Mang and Ru Shou The messen- Chinese history he was regarded as the of the Chinese sky-god: the former guardian of righteousness which protects promises good luck and long life, while men from strife and evil. In origin, Guan the second punishment and disas- Di was an ordinary man called Guan ter. They share the attribute of the double Zhong done to death by his adversary, but dragon. Gou Mang is associated with the later deified on account of his many and spring and the east; Ru Shou with autumn signal . and the west. Guan Yin A female → Bodhisattva ven- → Govannon Celtic god of the Welsh, erated in China, who developed from f corresponding to the Irish → Goibniu. Avalokite vara. She is enthroned on a mountain or an island in the Eastern Sea. Graii (Greek ϭ old women) The Guan Yin bestows the blessing of chil- daughters of the sea-god → Phorkys, who dren, helps all beings to attain to the guard the way to the Gorgons. They have enlightenment which brings deliverance, one eye and one tooth among the three and is in general the ‘goddess of compas- of them. sion’. She is often depicted meditating by Grama-devata (‘village deity’) A the seashore; sometimes she has a child local tutelary god in India. Such gods in her arms. In Japan she is known as look after the fields and the village Kwannon. boundaries, guard the villagers against Guhyasamaja (‘secret union’) epidemics and try to meet their personal Buddhist protective deity (→ Istadevata). Gwydyon 71

In Tantrism, a mystical god of initiation Gul-yey (also as Gul-amem) Hittite god- ceremonies, with three heads and six arms. desses who always appear in the plural. A possible but not universally accepted Gui Xian (Gui) In China, a designation translation of their name is ‘scribes’ for certain demonic beings. The gui com- or ‘determiners (female) of fate’. In the ponent means ‘devil’. The gui xian were Hurrian pantheon they were called the souls of people who had been Wutena. They are the goddesses of fate drowned or who had committed suicide, who dispense good and evil, life and death. and who could therefore not be reincar- In this function, they are comparable with nated. They are doomed to wander about the Greek → moirai. as evil spirits. One of the gui xian was deified (→ Zhong-Kui). Gurzil A god in the shape of a bull, venerated in ancient Tripolitania. One Gula (Sumerian ‘the great one’) Old tradition relates that he was begot by → Mesopotamian goddess of healing, wife Ammon on a cow. of → . In the old Babylonian period she was equated with → Nin’insina, and Guta In Hungarian folklore a demonic the dog was the symbolical animal of both. being, a representative of the seamy side of things. He strikes down his victims. A sorceress belonging to the → Vanir race of gods in Old Norse Gwydyon A god venerated in ancient mythology, though with pronounced Wales who was born in a mysterious way. demonic traits. It was through Gullveig He was concerned with war and with that the lust for gold entered the world: a poetry. He also shows characteristics of lust, to which even the Aesir (→ As) suc- an underworld god: thus, in later folklore cumbed. The latter made three unsuccess- the – seen as the way taken by ful attempts to burn Gullveig. the dead – was named Caer Gwydyon. H

Ha The old Egyptian god of the west- Hah Egyptian god, personification of ern desert: hence his epithet ‘Lord of the infinity and eternity. He was regarded as Libyans’. As god of the west, he plays a the bearer of heaven, and is accordingly part in the cult of the dead; and on sar- depicted with arms outstretched, often cophagi of the Herakleopolites period he supporting the sky. His image provides is shown seated at the right hand of the the hieroglyph of the word for ‘million’. defunct person, i.e. at the west side. He is As an ornamental symbol the figure of depicted in purely human form, and in the Hah carries a palm-frond (a year-sign) script he bears the determinative of the on his head or in his hands. He is often desert on his head. associated with the god of the atmosphere → Mu. In origin, a Japanese emperor (named Ojin) who was subse- Hainuwele A → dema-deity in the quently venerated as a god of war. His mythology of the Wemale people on the sacred creature is the dove. island of Ceram in the Moluccas. She is a divine maiden who arose from a coconut Hades (Aidoneus, from Greek aides ϭ and who was slain by men in the primeval the invisible one) Greek god of the period. From her dismembered and underworld, son of → Kronos and of → buried body there arose the first fruits of Rheia, husband of → Persephóne. His the earth. With the death of Hainuwele name is no doubt connected with the man too became mortal. magic cap conferring invisibility which H Hades possessed. As Pylartes (‘closer ala A Kassite goddess of healing, → of gates’) the god watches over the corresponding to the Babylonian Gula. entrance to his realm, to ensure that no du-l Halasa A pre-Islamic god in one who enters can turn and go back. His southwest Arabia, subsequently demoted cult seems to have been confined to to the rank of idol. His cult symbol seems Pylos. As the interior of the earth has to have been a white stone. treasure hidden in it, he was also called H Plutos ( plutos ϭ riches) and coupled with aldi Tutelary god of the kingdom of → Plutos. His Roman counterpart is → Urartu (ninth – seventh century BC in . Armenia). Halki Hittite god of corn; his name Hadúr (Hungarian had ϭ army, úr ϭ means ‘barley’. On occasion, he appears master) In the first half of the nine- also as the tutelary deity of wine. teenth century, this designation was used in Hungary for the War Lord of the Hammon The god of the setting sun spreading light, in contrast to → Ármány. worshipped by the ancient Lybians. He This is a poetic recapitulation of older tra- was depicted with the horns of a ram and ditions, according to which the supreme may coincide conceptually with the oasis god of the Hungarians was comparable god Ammon. There is no connection with with the Roman god of war → Mars. the Punic god → Baal-Hammon. Harachte 73

Hananim Old Korean god of the sky, original locus was the royal city of Zalpa and supreme god: he moves the stars, on the Black Sea. From her the king rewards good and punishes evil. received his mandate. Hannahanna Hittite goddess of birth, Han Xiang-zi One of the ‘eight and mother goddess. The word lanna immortals’ in Chinese popular belief means ‘grandmother’. In the cuneiform (→ Ba Xian). He can make flowers grow script, taken over by the Babylonians, she and bloom at will. His attribute is a flute is called Dingirmah (ϭ exalted deity) or or a basket of flowers. Nintu (ϭ mistress of birth). The bee In Old Iranian religion, a dei- serves her. In myth she plays a part in the fied plant from whose sap an intoxicating search for a vanished god. drink was extracted, which was used in sacrificial ceremonies (cf. → Soma in India). Haoma is lord of all curative plants, and confers immortality. Hapi (1) One of the four sons of → Horus; corpses – especially the entrails – were placed under their protection, and Hapi, who was portrayed as an ape, was in charge of the lungs. The north is the heavenly quarter allotted to him. Hapi (2) Egyptian god, a personifica- tion of the Nile, represented as a well- nourished man. Although he was described as ‘father of the gods’, no specific cen- tres were devoted to his cult. He is usu- ally depicted as one making sacrifice (i.e. bringing gifts) to gods and kings. Harachte (also Hanumat ϭ he who has strong jaws) In India, an ape venerated as a god. Indra hurled a thunderbolt at him and smashed his left jaw, because he tried to grab the sun (believing it was something to eat). Hanuman was regarded as the patron saint of learning. In the he fig- ures as the minister of the apeking , and the loyal companion of → Rama in the war against the island of Lanka; pictures of Hanuman show him trampling the overthrown goddess of Lanka under his left foot. Hanwayuit Tutelary goddess of the Hittite throne. It is probable that her 74 Harendotes

Egyptian god of the morning sun. The of heaven. The two eyes are sun and name means ‘Horus of the horizon’, i.e. moon. A triumphant hero, he does battle of the place where the sun (→ Horus) with → Apophis. rises. Harachte was represented as a Haroeris (in Plutarch Harueris) The falcon, and he tended to coalesce with Egyptian form of the name, Her-ur, the sun-god → Re in the figure of means ‘the elder Horus’. The designation Re-Harachte (occurs also in the form serves to distinguish the old falcon-god Re-Hor-achti) who was especially vener- → Horus from the Horus of the Osiris ated at Heliopolis. In one temple founded myth: that is to say, the god is a theologi- by Ramses III he is invoked as ‘mighty cal device. Haroeris is a sky-god, and in god, lord of heaven’. the tradition of Kom Ombo he is the son Harendotes (‘Horus, who protects his of the sun-god → Re. In the sequel, he father’) in Egyptian texts, a special form becomes indistinguishable from → Mu. of → Horus who ensures the continued sur- Because he fights to regain the lost eye of vival of his father → Osiris in the under- the sun, he became the tutelary god of world. Thus Harendotes became one of the oculists. protective gods who surround the dead (Greek harpyiai ϭ the snatchers) person on the walls of the sarcophagus. Female malevolent demons in Greek A designation for → Visju mythology. They are variously named – (Hari) and → Fiva (Hara) as a twin divin- Aello, Aellopus, Podarge, Okypete, ity: in Campuchea his image has two Kelaino – but all the names suggest the heads. When the two gods are represented stormy wind. They are described as in one single figure, the right side, with hideous hybrids, part woman, part bird. F right hand holding a trident, is iva, the Harpokrates (Egyptian Hor-pe-chrod ϭ left side, with a wheel in the hand, is Horus the child) Veneration of → sj Vi u. Horus as a child was very widespread, (Japanese Karitei-; Chinese especially in the late period, and in the He-li Di) This female demon used to Graeco-Roman era he was one of the eat children but through the influence of most popular deities. A favourite method the Buddha she turned into a protector of of representation shows him as a solar children and a goddess who blessed cou- child sitting in the lotus flower. The for- ples with the gift of children. Her attribute mations Hor-Amun and Harpokranum is the pomegranate – a symbol of fertility. (or Harkpokrammon) point to a coales- cence with → Amun. In the late Egyptian Harmachis The Greek form of an period the god was regarded as a giver Egyptian name which means ‘Horus on of fertility, especially of pulses, and the horizon’. It was applied to the was accordingly depicted with a bowl, of Gizeh (originally the image of King which became a cornucopia in the Greek Khafre) which was later taken to repre- period. sent the matutinal appearance of the sun- Harpre god → Horus. (‘Horus the sun’) Egyptian god, the child of → Month and of → Harmerti (‘Horus of the two eyes’) Rat-taui, worshipped in Hermonthis. Egyptian tutelary god of Seden (in the His function was to protect the king from delta) who denotes → Horus as the falcon illness and misfortune. Haubas 75

Harsaphes (‘he who is upon his lake’) Greek form of the Egyptian Herisef, the ram-god of Herakleopolis. Originally, the primeval creator, who emerges from the primeval deluge (lake); accord- ing to the myth, the lake arises from the blood of the god. In the Middle Kingdom, Harsaphes is often taken as a manifesta- tion of Osiris. Later, he is equated with the sun-god → Re. Harsiesis (Harsiese ϭ Horus, son of Isis) Egyptian god, a specific form of → Horus, received by → Isis from the dead → Osiris, whom she protects from all dangers during his childhood. In necro- mantic texts Harsiesis appears as a sort of protective god. Harun and Haruna Water-spirits in Morocco; they can assume the form of snakes. To placate them, people throw Hathor – she is ‘queen of the date-palm’ pieces of bread or cous-cous into the and ‘queen of the sycamore’ – and she river. dispenses food and drink to the dead. Hayam(m)eli The Hittite god of black- (‘first of the fishes’) smiths and the art of wrought iron. A Egyptian goddess, the centre of whose certain tree was sacred to him, but exactly cult was at Mendes. She is portrayed in which tree is not known. anthropomorphic form, and she bears a fish (dolphin?) on her head. Hathor Egyptian sky-goddess. Her name means ‘house of Horus’, where Hatuibwari Hybrid being, half divine, ‘house’ may be taken to denote both the half demonic snake, on the island of San cosmic house (heaven) and the womb. At Cristoval in Melanesia. She has a human an early period, Hathor was regarded as torso, four eyes and four breasts, in order the mother of the sun-god → Horus, until to suckle all created creatures. On her replaced in this function by → Isis. back she has two wings. It is widely Thanks to the conception, prevalent in the believed that the winged snake fertilizes Nile delta, of the sky as an enormous cow, the mothers of priests. This snake-like the goddess herself was portrayed in the being can also appear under the name of form of a cow. Mostly, however, she is Agunua, and it is from him that the depicted anthropomorphically, in which human race derives. case she bears the cow’s horns on her head with the solar disc between them. She is Haubas (Hobas) A pre-Islamic god also the goddess of dancing, of music and frequently mentioned in Sabaean (south love; and in this capacity her main attrib- Arabian) inscriptions. It has been sug- ute is the , a kind of rattle. An gested that he may represent a particular ancient tree cult is also connected with form of → ’Attar. 76 Haukim

Haukim Old South Arabian deity. The threw himself into the river, thus achiev- name comes from the root HKM ϭ ‘to be ing immortality. Until the end of the Zhou wise’ or ‘to pronounce judicially’. Dynasty (256 BC) a maiden was sacri- ficed to him every year by being thrown Haurvatat (‘health’) A personifica- into the river as his bride. tion belonging to the → Amema Spentas. Haurvatat is also associated with life after Hedammu Snake demon of the death. Hurrians. He lives in the sea and is insa- tiably voracious. (‘Horse’s neck’) One of the Buddhist → Krodhadevatas. He is of dwar- Hedetet The scorpion-goddess in the fish stature, with a pot belly and a horse’s Egyptian . As ‘daughter → head. In Indian literature he is regarded as of Re’ she merges into the figure of an of → Visju, in Buddhism as an Isis. → a → emanation of Amit bha or of Heimdall (Old Icelandic Heimdallr) s Ak obhya. In Tibet, he belongs to the pro- Germanic god who acts as watchman of tective deities who see to it that demons heaven. His dwelling is called Himinbjörg are kept at bay. (‘heavenly mountain’). He is the son of nine giant maidens (held to be daughters Hazzi Mountain god of the Hittites and of the Aesir (→ As)). The etymological the Hurrians. He forms part of the retinue derivation of the name is uncertain; at of the god of weather, and he was invoked one time the meaning ‘the brightly shin- in Hittite state treaties as god of oaths. As ing one’ was proposed which would a mountain – geographically, Mount make Heimdall a god of light or a sun- Sapon near Ugarit – Lazzi is the seat of god. Another proposal was based on com- the gods. parison with a poetical word for ‘ram’ – Hebat (Hepat, Hapatu) The chief god- heimdali: Heimdall would then figure as dess of the Hurrians, ‘Queen of heaven’ the focal point for a primitive agrarian and wife of the weather-god → Txsub. cult. Yet another suggestion – that he was She was also taken into the Hittite pan- the progenitor of the human race – is theon and then frequently equated with based on a passage in the Völuspa. As the sun-goddess → Arinna. She is por- ‘watchman of the gods’, Heimdall stands trayed as standing on a lion or a panther; at the bridge Bifröst (the Milky Way?) sometimes she is shown sitting on a whence he announces the onset of throne, wearing the pointed regal cap. Ragnarök by blowing the gjallarhorn. This juxtaposition of horn and world-tree ϭ Hébe (Greek ‘freshness of youth’) has led to yet another interpretation of → → Daughter of Zeus and of Hera, Heimdall – as a personification of the Greek goddess of youth. She is active as axis mundi. the cup-bearer of the gods, and she is the wife of the deified → Heraklés. Her Heitsi-Eibib National hero of the Roman counterpart was → Juvéntas. Hottentot people in South Africa. He is invoked as ‘grandfather’ and he grants the He Bo (also known as Bing-yi) In hunter luck in the chase. More than one China, the divine ruler over all rivers; also place is cited as the scene of his death, called ‘River Duke’. It is said that he and at all of these sites – each of them weighed himself down with stones and seen as his grave – a heap of stones is Hemsut 77 erected in his honour. In terms of the daughter of → Loki and the giantess he is probably best Angrboda; and as the sister of → Fenrir classified as a kind of bush-spirit. and of the → Midgard-snake, she has demonic character. Hel is entitled to claim Hekáte dominion over all those who die in the land except those who fall in battle. Even the gods must tread the ‘way of Hel’ – like → Balder after his early death. Heléne Daughter of → Zeus and of → Leda, sister of the → Dioskuroi. In origin, a goddess of vegetation, and honoured in some places as a tree divinity (Dendritis): in , the plane tree was sacred to her. The myth tells how she was abducted by the Trojan prince Paris, an act which led to the outbreak of the Trojan war. Heliades → Phaéton Hélios Greek sun-god, the son of A goddess in Greek mythology who origi- the → Titan → and the female nally hailed from Asia Minor (Caria). She Titan ; brother of the moon-god → does not appear in Homer. She is a chthonic Seléne. Hélios is he who sees all and deity, the mistress of all sorts of nocturnal hears all, and who is invoked as witness to nastiness, including necromancy. Her an oath sworn. As god of light he can ghostly aspect is indicated in her epithet make the blind see – but equally he can Antaia (‘she who encounters you’): on her strike sinners blind. He played little part nocturnal hunt she could spell disaster for in Greek religious observance, though those who met her. She has snakes in her he was worshipped on Rhodes and, to hair, she carries a torch, and is attended by some extent, in the Peloponnese. In art, howling dogs. In spite of all this, she was Hélios was often represented driving a a popular goddess, and in Athens there was chariot drawn by four (often winged) a small altar to her in front of every house. horses, his head surrounded by a halo of Hekáte was also seen as the goddess of rays. In late classical times he was cross-roads. In this capacity she was called equated with → Apóllon. His Roman or Trioditis, and was then depicted counterpart was → . as three-headed or with three bodies. A falcon-god venerated in the Heket Egyptian goddess in the form of Egyptian city of Hesfun (Asphynis). a frog (a symbol of life and fertility). She Thought to be identical with → Haroeris. ranked as a primeval goddess and tutelary goddess of childbirth. In the town of Kus Hemera → she was revered as the mother of → Hemsut (Hemuset) Egyptian god- Haroeris. desses of fate, female counterparts of → Hel (Old Norse ϭ hell) In Old Ka, who were also seen as protective Germanic mythology, the name of the spirits. They were supposed to take a realm of the dead and of its queen. Hel is new-born child into their arms. Their 78 Hendursanga head-dress comprises a shield with two she also figured as goddess of childbirth. arrows transfixing it; the arrows represent In Athens and on the island of Samos her the force which is transmitted by the union with Zeus was celebrated as ‘holy Hemsut. wedlock’ (). She was a par- ticular object of veneration for women, Hendursanga A Sumerian god, con- and her epithet was teleia, i.e. ‘she who cerned inter alia with the proper func- brings fulfilment’. The main centre of her tioning of the judicial system and the cult was in Argos, and hence she was also nation’s laws. King Gudea named him known as Argeia. Her sacred animal was ‘herald of the land of ’. He corre- the cow, and among her attributes were the sponds to the Akkadian god → Imum. peacock and the insignia of her status as Heng E (Change-e) Chinese goddess of queen of the gods, the diadem and sceptre. the moon, a younger sister of the river god Her Roman counterpart was → . → He Bo. After stealing the pill of immor- Heraklés tality from her husband, the sun-god → Shen Yi, she fled to the moon, where she has lived ever since as a toad. She is rep- resented in art wearing regal garments; in her right hand she carries the disc of the moon. Heng E is a symbolical figure for the cold, dark female principle ( yin). Hephaistos (Latin ) Greek god of fire, of smiths and craftsmen. The son of → Zeus and of → Hera. As he was lame when he came into the world, his mother threw him out of Olympus. In his underworld smithy he fashions pre- cious weapons and implements, e.g. the sceptre of Zeus, the chariot of → Hélios and the aegis of → Athená. In his work, he is helped by the → Cyclops. In origin, Hephaistos was a god of Asia Minor; and on the island of Lemnos he was revered as the embodiment of the fire which breaks out of the earth. At the end of the sixth (Greek ϭ ‘made famous by (the land of ) century BC his cult reached Athens. The Hera’) Son of → Zeus, the father of the Romans identified him with → Vulcanus. gods, and the mortal Alkmene. Jealous as Hera (Here) Greek goddess, daughter usual, the god’s wife → Hera dispatched of → Kronos and of → Rheia, sister and two snakes to finish the infant Herakles wife of → Zeus, the king of the gods. She off, but he strangled them in his cradle. is the mother of → Arés, → Hephaistos, The twelve labours (dodekathlos) in the → Eileithyia and of → Hébe. She keeps a service of King Eurystheus, ending with jealous eye on her divine husband, whose his conquest of → Kérberos, the hound of amorous liaisons infuriate her. Hera was hell, and his voluntary death on the pyre invoked as the guardian of wedlock and on Mount Oite, mark his from Hérmes 79 hero to immortal; finally he is received antecedents) reached Athens by way of into Olympus and → Hébe is given to Cyprus. him as his wife. In his aspect as Hérmes kallinikos, the radiant victor in all forms of contest, he became the national hero of the Greeks. Among the ordinary people he was very popular as someone one could turn to in need, and a protector against all sorts of unpleasantness (alexikalos). Young people especially saw in him their protector, and they called him Herakles Enagonios. The cult of this demi-god was also widespread in Italy (→ Hércules). Among his attributes is the skin of the Nemean lion. Hércules The Latin name of the Greek → Heraklés. The demi-god had himself travelled far and wide, and it was fitting that he should become god of trade and traffic in goods and patron of traders. In Rome’s imperial age, as the invincible conqueror of all difficulties (Hércules invictus) and the benefactor of mankind, he was magnified into the epitome of all One of the most popular of all Greek gods; the imperious and imperial virtues. the son of → Zeus and the mountain Herensugue Among the Basques, a nymph → Maía. Sacred to him were the devilish spirit who appears in the shape of piles of stones erected in to a snake, though one tradition gives him guide travellers – hence, presumably, his seven heads and the ability to fly. name (Greek hermaion ϭ pile of stones). In front of Greek houses stone pillars used Hermanubis In the cult of Isis, the to stand (hermen) in which Hérmes was Egyptian god of the dead → Anubis was supposed to reside in order to protect the united in one figure with the Greek god dwelling from harm. In this capacity, the who guided the souls of the dead → god was known as Pylaios or Propylaios. Hérmes. The priests of Hermanubis, the Hérmes is the messenger of the gods, resultant amalgam, wore the dog’s head of equipped with herald’s staff (kerykeion), Anubis, and carried the herald’s staff (the winged shoes and hat; he is protector of kerykeion) of Hérmes. tradesmen and travellers – but also of Hermaphróditos Son of Hérmes and thieves. The myth relates how Hérmes of → Aphrodíte. He was passionately while still a small boy, stole a herd of cat- loved by the spring-nymph Salmakis, so tle belonging to his brother → Apóllon. In much so that their bodies merged and his aspect of psychopompos he leads the united forever, thus giving rise to an souls of the dead into the beyond. He is androgynous being. The cult of this twin also ‘the good shepherd’ and is often por- divinity (which may have ancient oriental trayed carrying a ram under his arm or 80 Trismegistos over his shoulder (kriophoros ϭ ram- (→ Istadevatas). As normally represented, bearer). As god of herds and flocks he has he is three-eyed, shows his teeth and has the epithet Nomios. He has in addition a tousled hair; he has a severed human head happy relationship with music, and is said and he is smeared with ashes, and he sits to have invented the lyre. His Roman coun- or dances on a corpse. In some represen- terpart was → Mercurius. tations he appears with his female partner (→ Prajna) in the Yab-yum posture: ϭ Hermes Trismegistos (Greek Hermes in this case he bears the name Hevajra the thrice great) The Greek name for (ϭ Oh Vajra!). A particular form he may → Thot, the Egyptian god of writing and adopt is that of Saptaksara. Inter alia, learning. As the putative founder of phi- Heruka confers Buddhahood and protects losophy and mysticism he was also the world from the forces of evil. known as Hermes Logios. In late antiq- uity he was regarded as the harbinger of Hesat (‘the grim one’, ‘the wrathful one’) the one true God and creator of the world. Divine white cow: she was supposed to be His role in hermetic literature is that of ‘the first of the cows’ and was later asso- a sage and legislator. ciated with → Isis. In the Egyptian texts she appears as the mother of → Anubis Hermod(u)r A deified hero in the and of → Imiut, and she provides the new- → north Germanic myth of Balder. After born king with his lactic nourishment. the murder of Balder, he rides to → Hel as a messenger of the gods, to ascertain Greek nymphs who guard whether there is any possibility of the tree with the golden apples in the gar- Balder’s return from the underworld. den of the gods, along with the dragon → Hermod and the Danish king Heremod in . They were supposed to be daugh- the Beowulf saga are probably one and ters of the night (→ Nyx) or of the giant the same. → . Heron A god who appears on Egyptian (Greek ϭ hearth) Greek goddess monuments of the Ptolemaic and Roman of the heart and its fire: daughter of → periods; he is shown as a rider who is Kronos and of → Rheia. The hearth was bringing a libation to a rampant snake. the sacred focus of the household, the This is very probably the horseman god central point which vouch-safed protec- → Heros, who was worshipped in Thrace tion: and here a small sacrifice was and Asia Minor and who was brought by made to the goddess before meals. the troops of Alexander the Great and the The corresponding figure in the Roman Diadochoi to Egypt. pantheon was → Vésta. Heros A Thracian god represented as a Hetepet An Egyptian cult centre in horseman who makes his appearance as the north of Heliopolis. In the of the conqueror of a monster. He was also a Heliopolis the goddess ‘Queen of god of the dead, and as such his image was Hetepet’ is identified with the ‘divine used on funerary steles. His name is cog- hand’ of Iuesae. From the eighteenth dyn- nate with the Greek word heros ϭ hero. asty onwards, she merges into the figure of → Hathor. Heruka Buddhist god, an emanation of → Aksobhya. In Tibet, he is reck- He Xian-gu The only female in the oned as one of the protective deities group of the ‘eight immortals’ (→ Ba Hlodyn 81

Xian). She is usually shown holding a harm them. When → Tane forced his way lotus blossom; often also with a peach into her body, she squashed him with her (symbol of immortality) or a ladle – this sexual organ – and thus death entered the last in token of her function as patron world. goddess of housewives. Hinkon God of hunting and lord of the Hez-ur Egyptian baboon-god; ‘the animals among the Tungus tribes who live great white one’. Even in the Old on the Yenisei river in Siberia. Kingdom, he was taken to be a particular Hinokagutsuchi The Japanese fire- form of → Thot. god. When he was born from the goddess Karelian (east Finnish) forest- → , she went up in flames – a god, later demoted to the status of forest- metamorphosis which is linked with spirit or . The word ‘hiisi’ is now used the death of the old year and the birth of to mean ‘devil’ in a diluted sense. the new. Hike (another reading is Heka) In Hintubuhet (Hin, Hina ϭ woman) ancient Egypt, the personification of the The supreme being venerated on the magical properties which are inherent in island of New Ireland in Melanesia. In the gods. Theological speculation made spite of her name she is an androgynous Hike the eldest son of the primeval god → being, as both parties to a marriage Atum, with whose creative organs (heart invoke her as progenitor in terms of their and tongue) Hike was further identified. own sex: in one aspect she is equated with Hike even had his own shrines in On and the male sun and the male butterfly near Memphis. It is noteworthy that doc- Talmago, in the other aspect she is tors liked to call themselves ‘priests of equated with the female moon and the Hike’: in other words they wanted to female butterfly Heba. invoke his magic powers in the treatment Hiravyagarbha (Sanskrit ϭ womb of of their patients. gold) In the Rigveda, the unnamed god Hilal (Hillaliy) The name means ‘new of creation, who subsequently appears as → a moon’, and denoted the moon-god, espe- Praj pati. In later Sanskrit literature → cially in his aspect as new moon, in the name is used to denote Brahman. ancient Arabia. Hiravyakasipu → Narasiy ha Himavat (Sanskrit himavan ϭ bearing Hirguan → Orahan snow) Personification of the Himalaya mountains. This mountain god is the Hittavainen (Hittauanin) The god of father of → Parvati and of the → Ganga. the hare-hunters of the Karelian (east Finnish) people, mentioned in an ancient Hina In Polynesia, a woman of semi- list of gods. The etymology of the word is divine status who appears in the moon; uncertain; it may be connected with sometimes she is elevated to the rank of Finnish hitto ϭ devil, or it may be derived moon-goddess. She appears as the mother from the name of the patron saint of or the wife of the culture-hero → Maui. hunters, Hubertus, who was introduced into these parts along with Christianity. Hine-nui-te-po The Maori goddess of the underworld who rules the spirits and Hlodyn (Hlödin) Old Icelandic goddess sees to it that the dread → Whiro does not of the earth and of fertility: one tradition 82 Hludana makes her the mother of → Thor, a role renown. He is shown as a young man with allotted in other traditions to → Fjörgyn. a lance and a cornucopia. There is probably a connection here, Horae (Greek horai) The Greek god- both etymological and semantic, with the desses of the three seasons: Spring, name of the west German goddess Summer and Winter. Originally they Hludana; and the latter has been seen represented the seasonal forces of growth. as the matrix for the figure of Frau → The Athenians called them Thallo Holle. (goddess of blossom), Auxo (goddess of Hludana → Hlodyn growth) and Karpo (goddess of ripened fruit). According to Hesiod they are the Höd(u)r North Germanic god, son of daughters of → Themis, and have ethical → Odin. His name means ‘battle, strug- significance: their names in this version gle’ but nothing about him suggests a are → Eunomía (law and order), → Díke war-like character. In the myth, Hödur is (justice) and → Eirene (peace). blind; and he judges people not by their outward appearance but by their inner Horagalles A god venerated by the worth. Incited by the malicious → Loki, Lapps: ‘the old man’, usually portrayed he unwittingly slays his brother → carrying two hammers. Reindeer used to Balder. be sacrificed to him. He is actually Thor, the god of thunder, borrowed from the Holle Like → Bercht, originally the . leader of a more or less demonic band of spirits (named as Hollen or Hulden), who Hor-Hekenu (‘Horus of ointments’) A are popularly believed to be sometimes specific form of → Horus worshipped in friendly but at other times punitive. Holle Bubastis; the burning heat surrounding lets the newly born emerge from her him drives the powers of evil away. As underworld realm, where she also receives ‘lord of protection’ he personifies the pro- the souls of the dead. When she shakes her tective ointment and the supernatural pow- cushions, it snows. Burchard of ers attributed to it. He is usually portrayed Worms (c. 1000) knew about , in human form with the head of a falcon. and translated her name as → Diana, after Horus Egyptian god, whose name – the Roman goddess. It is possible that meaning ‘he who is above’, ‘he who is Frau Holle is connected with the old afar’ – would seem to indicate a sky-god. Germanic goddess Hludana (→ Hlodyn). He was depicted as a falcon, with the sun Hong and Ha → and the moon as his eyes. At the very beginning of the historical period, the king Hönir North Germanic god who had a was equated with this divine falcon; and hand in the origin of the human race, every Pharaoh’s name had the ‘Horus along with → Odin and → Lodur (Loki ?): name’ as one of its elements. In line with Odin gave the first men life, Lodur gave the dualism characteristic of Egyptian them language, sight and hearing, while thought, the mythological clash with → Hönir gave them understanding and feel- Seth (who deprives Horus of one of his ings. Hönir was reputed to be the fastest eyes) leads to a division of their sphere of runner and the best of hunters. power: Horus is lord of Lower Egypt, Seth (Latin ϭ honour) A Roman of Upper Egypt. As the bearer of the solar god, the personification of military eye, Horus is closely connected with the 83

Huang-di (‘the Yellow Emperor’) Mythological Chinese Emperor and culture-hero. Among many other achieve- ments he invented the wheel, thus enabling men to build carts. In his fight against the rebel Chi-yu he was assisted by the winged dragon. The goddess → Ba sometimes figures as his daughter. Huang Fei-hu (‘yellow flying tiger’) Known also, in abbreviated form, as Fei. A Chinese god, lord of the sacred moun- tain of Tai Shan, in eastern China. Originally a chthonic deity in the form of a one-eyed bull with a snake’s tail, he sub- sequently became the judge of the dead, whose souls call at the sacred mountain. Pre-Islamic god venerated in central Arabia. His anthropomorphic image in red carnelian still stands in the sun-god → Re (cf. also → Harachte). Ka’ in Mecca; and it is possible that A special significance attached to Horus the black stone of the Ka’aba is connected as a child (→ Harpokrates, → Harsiesis). with him in some way. The god was In Edfu, the god of light was conceived famous for his oracle (performed with in the form of the (→ Behedti). seven arrows). Horus is the adversary of the Typhonic powers, incorporated for the Egyptians Huh and Hauhet → Ogdoad in the hippopotamus and the crocodile; and he exercises the specific function of Huiracocha (Viracocha) The supreme a protective deity in the form of → Hor- god of the . Traditionally he q Hekenu. The offspring of Horus included was connected with Ti huanaco, whose → Duamutef, → Hapi, → and → importance as a cult site extends back into Kebechsenef. pre-Inca times. According to the myth he was born of a virgin, and he often Hotei One of the Japanese gods of displays solar characteristics. His epithet good fortune (→ Shichi-Fukujin). He is Pachamac designates him as ‘creator of seen as the friend of the weak and of chil- the world’. Those who fail to do fitting dren. Typically, his fat paunch is bare – a homage to the god are destroyed by fire or symbol of friendly good cheer. flood. Hu and The constant companions Huitzilopochtli (‘humming-bird of the of the Egyptian sun-god → Re. Hu is the south’) Tribal god of the ; also personification of the word or ‘utterance’ a solar god. His animal manifestation which the creator spoke to bring all things (nahualli) is the humming-bird, which is to life. Sia is the personification of the also a symbol of the sun; his weapon is knowledge and understanding which the ‘turquoise snake’, the symbol of make the work of creation possible. earthly and heavenly fires. The myth tells 84

Hunhau (also known as Ahpuch) The Maya god of death; he rules over Mitlan, the underworld, and corresponds to the Aztec → Mictlantecutli. Sometimes he is depicted as a man with the head of an owl, and then again he is associated with the dog, the symbol of death and entry into the beyond. Specialists in Central American studies refer to him as ‘god A’. Hun-Hunapu Among the Quiché Indians, the father of the → Hunapu and Ixbalanque. In the book of Popol Vuh it is related how the god lost his head (here, a solar symbol) while playing with a ball in the underworld: the head was hung up in a calabash tree how he arose from the body of the earth- which had previously never borne fruit, goddess → Coatlicue. He is the adversary and as a result the tree became fruitful. of the moon and the stars. Huitzilopochtli embodies the morning sun, the day-time Huracan High god and creator god of sky, the summer and the south, all of the Quiché Indians who live in Central which makes him the luminous adversary America. He is the ‘heart of heaven’. He of the dark → . created the first land by calling out the word ‘earth’; and he formed the human Humban (Luban) A god venerated in race from maize-dough. He dwells at one . He can be equated with the and the same time in heaven, on earth and Mesopotamian → Enlil. in the underworld. Hunab Ku Supreme god and creator in Hurri → Meri the Maya pantheon: he is ‘the god set over Huwawa (Mod. Assyrian ) the gods’, invisible and incomprehensi- Demonic guardian of the ‘land of the cedar ble, corresponding to the Aztec → mountain’ (Lebanon), appointed to the role Omoteotl. He had to yield in significance by → Enlil, but destroyed by → Gilgamem. to his son → Itzamna. Hvar This Iranian word denotes not Hunapu (Hunahpu) A god of the only the sun but also the sun-god, though Quiché Indians in Guatemala: the son of the role the latter plays is inferior to that → Hun-Hunapu and a virgin. Together of → Mithra. One of his epithets is ‘he with his twin brother Ixbalanque he over- who possesses swift horses’. Through his comes the evil adversary → Vucub- worship one can withstand the powers of Caquix. Like his father, Hunapu too lost darkness and the demonic → Daevas. his head – this time in the ‘house of the bats’. After their victory over the forces of Hyákinthos (Latin Hyacínthus) Pre- death and the underworld (Xibalba), the Hellenic god of vegetation whose death twins are promoted to the heavens as the symbolizes the decay and rebirth of sun and the moon; and they then proceed nature. In Greek myth he was a favourite to create the first human beings. of → Apóllon. He was killed by an Hbpnos 85 unlucky throw of the discus, and from the as a winged youth carrying a wedding blood of the beautiful youth there grew torch and a garland. the flower known after him as the hyacinth. In Amyklai in Sparta he was Hymir A Nordic giant living at the accounted a hero, whose grave was sup- edge of heaven; he possesses a large beer posed to be under the throne of Apóllon. vat. His female companion is the mother of the god → Tyr. Tyr and → Thor visit Hygíeia Greek goddess of good him to borrow the vat. health, daughter of the god of healing → Asklepiós. The creature sacred to her is Hyperion Old Greek god of light, → the snake, and she is depicted giving it Titan and husband of → Theia; their water in a bowl or a drinking vessel. children were the sun-god → Hélios and the moon-goddess → Seléne. Hymén (also as Hyménaios) Greek god of weddings, who was solemnly Hbpnos Greek god of sleep, the son of invoked as part of every marriage cele- night (→ Nyx), and brother of death bration. He was supposed to be the son of (→ ). In art, he is usually → Dionysius and of → Aphrodíte, though depicted as a winged youth with a poppy- sometimes → Apóllon and a muse are stalk and a small horn in his hands. said to be his parents. He was represented The Romans called him . I

Iakchos A youthful demon, perhaps a the art of healing. Ifa is often equated god, in the . He is in with → Orunmila. fact the personification of the shout of Igigi Akkadian designation for the ‘Iakche!’ – a triumphant cry in honour of great gods of heaven in contrast to the the Eleusinian goddesses, uttered by the underworldly Anunnaka (→ Anunna). faithful during the ceremonial . In Greek myth, Iakchos is the son of → Ihi (Ehi) Young son of the Egyptian Demeter or of → Persephóne, and he is goddess → Hathor; he is the lord of the seen as the reborn → Zagreus. sistrum, the musical instrument which drives away evil powers. Accordingly, the → Iapetós In Greek myth, a Titan sistrum is his attribute. opposed to the gods; the father of → Atlas and → Prometheus. Ikenga (Arabic form of the Greek diabolos) The Islamic designation for the devil. As he refused to fall down before Adam and worship him, he was expelled from heaven. Ida (‘libation’) In Hinduism, the cere- monial sacrifice of milk and butter; mythologically the daughter of → Manu, and the wife of the planetgod → Budha. She is the goddess of prayer and devotion. Ida was originally a man who was turned into a woman when he inadvertently entered the enclosure where → Fiva was sojourning in female form. Idun (Old Icelandic idunn; (id ) ‘she who renews, makes young’) Germanic god- dess, she who holds the life-giving fruit and the gift of everlasting youth. When the giant Thiassi abducts the goddess, the Aesir (→ As) begin to age in the absence The function of this god, worshipped by of the golden apples. The gods send → the Ibo in Nigeria, was to guide men’s Loki to retrieve the goddess, and are reju- hands or arms correctly – hence his name venated when she is safely returned. which means ‘right upper-arm’. He is rep- resented wearing two enormous horns Ifa A demi-god of the Yoruba people in (symbolizing his power) with a sword and Nigeria; he is connected with the art of a severed human head in his hands. The soothsaying. He set up an oracular shrine two horns may be doubled; that is, there in the holy city of Ife, and taught mankind may be four of them. The images of Inanna 87

Ikenga set up in households are supposed to ensure prosperity and good fortune, and their advice is often sought by the inmates. Ilazki (also occurs as Illargui or Iretargui) The moon is regarded as female by the Basques and this is one of the names given to it; it is also known as ‘grand- mother’ or ‘holy grandmother’. In some places in the Basque regions, they tell Imhotep Celebrated Egyptian - children that the moon is the face of God. tect and doctor at the time of King Djoser The name Illargui means ‘light of the (c. 2600 BC). Later, he was revered as dead’, the nocturnal light that shines for god of healing and was said to be the son the souls of the dead. of → Ptah. Illapa (Ilyapa, also as Katoylla) The Imiut (‘he who is in the mummy-cloth’) god of lightning, thunder and rainstorms Egyptian god who was venerated in the in the pre-Columbian Inca empire. form of a headless skin hung up on a pole. Illujanka Hittite snake demon, which In the earliest period, Imiut was set up was slain by the weather-god. The myth as a protective emblem at the royal was taken up by the Canaanites in the throne. As a protective deity he is associ- → form of the mythical struggle of → Baal ated with the god of the necropolis Sapon against → , and reached Anubis. the Greeks as the story of → Typhón. Imra The supreme god in Kafiristan in The tale of the weather-god’s battle the Hindu-Kush. He is the creator who against Illujanka was recited at the feast breathed life into the other gods. Among of the New Year ( purulli); a new era the Kati, he is said to have created begins with the destruction of the mon- mankind by means of a sort of butter- strous snake. making process in a golden goat’s udder; (ilma ϭ air, weather) In among the Prasun, he is known as Mara. Finnish myth, the ruler over wind and Imset (Amset) One of the four sons weather; he is also the protective deity of of → Horus, who watch over the viscera travellers. He is also the divine smith who in the canopic jars. Imset, who is repre- studs the sky with stars, and who has cre- sented in anthropomorphic form, is ated not only the vault of heaven but also specifically charged with the care of the the (probably the axis mundi). It is liver, and the south is his allotted heav- he, as a culture-hero, who first educates enly quarter. mankind in the use of iron. Inanna (Inini) Sumerian goddess of Imdugud Half-demonic, half-divine love and war. As Ninanna, she is the being in old Mesopotamian mythology; it ‘Queen of heaven’ and as Ninsianna she appears as an eagle with a lion’s head. As is the goddess of Venus. Her symbol a sinister power it threatens domestic ani- is the reed-bundle, and this is also her mals; in its other aspect it figures as an determinant in the cuneiform script. emblem of the god → Ningirsu. She is described as the daughter of the 88 Inar sky-god → An, or of the moon-god → of , incubus is also a designa- Nanna. Iconographically, Inanna belongs tion for the devil as paramour. to the class of naked goddesses, though Indra (the original meaning is ‘strong’, often she is shown with bright rays stream- ‘mighty’) The supreme god in the ing out from her back. Her Akkadian Vedic pantheon. He brings rain, and is the counterpart is → Imtar. heavenly representative of warriors; his Inar (Inara) This goddess was wor- weapon is the thunderbolt, which may shipped in Asia Minor; she was supposed have four or a hundred edges (vajra). He to be the daughter of the Hattic weather- is red or gold in colour, and he is mounted god → Taru. In the → Illujanka myth she on horseback or sits in a chariot drawn by helps the weather-god to overcome the horses. As Vrtrahan, Indra is the great snake demon. dragon-slayer, who frees the streams obstructed by → . In Hinduism, Inari Indra is white in colour, clad in red, and he rides on the elephant which was generated by churning the ocean of milk. He is ruler of the easterly quarter. Indraji or Fací (ϭ power) are named as his wives, and he is constantly accompa- nied by the → Maruts. In Jainism, the word denotes the highest rank in divine hierarchies: that is to say, each class of gods has its specific Indra. Ing Divine progenitor of the Germanic Ingwaeones who lived on the Baltic coast. The meaning of the word is not clear: ‘lance’, ‘yew’ or even ‘man’ have all been suggested. According to an Anglo-Saxon runic poem, the god Ing seems to be con- The god of foodstuffs in Shintoism, rep- nected with the eastern Danes, and corre- resented as a bearded man carrying two sponds to the Yngoi of the Scandinavian bundles of rice. His messenger is the fox, tradition. It is possible that the Vandals and this is why there are always stone or brought the cult of Ing from their home- wooden foxes sitting in front of Inari land in Sweden. shrines. In popular belief, the god and the fox could merge together to form one Inguma A Basque spirit, something being. In Japanese myth there was also a like an → Alp. He creeps into people’s goddess of rice called Inara, who could houses by night and throttles them. assume the form of a fox. Inmar Sky-god of the Finno-Ugric Incubus (Latin ϭ he who lies on top) Votyak (Udmurt) people. The in part of Among the ancient Romans, and even the name means ‘sky’. The name is today in Italy, the name of an → Alp. applied to other divine beings in their Since the Middle Ages, a designation for mythology, and after the coming of male demons who force sleeping women Christianity it was transferred to the to have sexual intercourse. In the literature Mother of God (‘Inmar-mother’). Iyara 89

Inmutef (Iunmutef ) Egyptian god; the Christian influence: thus, Kiho is ‘the name means ‘pillar of his mother’. eternal one’, ‘the omniscient’, ‘the god of Accordingly, he was the bearer of the love’ and he who has created all things heavens (conceived as female) and fig- through ‘the word’. Only the priests and ured in a joint cult with → Hathor. Later, the high nobility knew anything about he was associated with the king and his him, and his name might only be whis- sacrificial service. pered in lonely places. On the Polynesian island of Mangaia, the word Io means Inó In Greek myth, the daughter of something like ‘marrow’, ‘kernel’, and King Kadmos of . Fleeing from can also denote ‘god’. her husband Athamas, she throws herself into the sea, where she is sympathetically Ipet (Ipi in the Pyramid texts) received by the → Nereids, and elevated Egyptian hippopotamus goddess who to the rank of a sea-goddess, under the soon merged with a similarly named local name of Leukothea. goddess of Luxor to form a goddess of the Great Mother type. As the consort of ϭ Inti (Quechua sun) The Inca sun- the tutelary god Amun she figures as the god, the object of particular veneration ‘Queen of the two lands’ – that is, of → along with the creator-god Upper and Lower Egypt. Huiracocha. Inti was seen by the Inca rulers as their progenitor. He was repre- (Greek ϭ rainbow) A sister of the → sented by a gold disc with a human face. Harpies, a virgin goddess who hastens down from Olympus as messenger of the god, invoked to pro- gods bearing the commandments of → tect herds; later, equated with → Faunus. Zeus and → Hera. She is usually shown as winged and bearing the herald’s staff. Io (1) In Greek mythology, the daughter of Inachos, the King of Argos. She was a Irmin Old Germanic god, whom we priestess serving the morally strict → can probably equate with the war-god Hera, who was outraged to find → Zeus Tiwaz (→ Tyr). Originally, the name making love to her. There are differing ver- seems to have meant ‘divine’, ‘holy’, but sions of what happened next: one tradition it came to mean ‘strong’, or ‘mighty’. The says that Zeus turned Io into a cow to hide name of the Irmin-pillar in Saxony prob- her identity; another agrees about the cow ably refers to this god. The Irmingot but asserts that Hera did this to punish her. (‘great god’) found in the Hildebrandslied In any case, Io was handed over to the is perhaps a late of this old hundred-eyed watchman → Árgos for Germanic god, though the poem itself safe-keeping. Zeus organized her escape, shows Christian influence. and she wandered restlessly over the earth Iyara (older form: Emara) Ancient until she reached Egypt where her human Mesopotamian goddess: ‘Queen of the form was restored to her, and she gave birth judgment seat and of the sacrificial dis- to → Epaphos. The Greeks resident in the play’, and guarantor of oaths. Her Nile delta equated her with → Isis, who emblem is the scorpion. In Ugarit, her was usually represented with cow’s horns. epithet was Hulmittu ϭ snake, lizard. She Io (2) (or Kiho) The chief god of the was deeply venerated by the Hittites as Maori people in New Zealand. Some of ‘Queen of the mountains’. In Syria, it was the statements made about him suggest her sexual potency that was emphasized. 90 Isdes

Isdes This god makes his appearance whom she received the child → Horus; in Egypt from the Middle Kingdom she buried him and mourned him together onwards. He was regarded as ‘lord of the with her sister → . When, later, west’ and as a judge of the dead. Later, he every dead person came to be identified merged into the figure of → Thot, or of → with Osiris, she became protector of the Anubis. dead. As ‘she who is rich in spells’ (Urthekau) she was accepted into the Iyduytaya and Papaya Proto-Hattic world of magic and necromancy. From goddesses of fate worshipped in ancient the Middle Kingdom onwards, her solar Asia Minor. They use spindle and mirror aspect is displayed in her epithet ‘eye to determine human destiny. It is a moot of → Re’. In addition, she was Queen of → point whether they belonged to the Sirius, and Greek authors (e.g. Plutarch) m m Gul- e . interpreted her as a moongoddess. In the Isinu Janus-headed god in ancient Hellenistic period, Isis became patron of Mesopotamia; his Akkadian name was sea-farers, and was given a rudder as Usmu or Usumu. He was regarded as attribute. She was, with very few excep- messenger of → Enki (or of → Ea). tions, portrayed in human form; the cow’s horns and the sun disc she bears on her Isis head she owes to her coalescence with the figure of → Hathor. Iykur Hittite weather-god, comparable with the Hurrian → Temub. His sacred number is 10 and his sacred animal the bull; his attributes are a club and shafts of lightning. He sits on two mountain-gods or rides in a chariot drawn by bulls. Imkur manifests himself in thunderstorms and rain; he is ‘king of heaven’ and helps the earthly king in time of war. Israfil In Islam, the angel who sounds the trump of doom at the Last Judgment. Istadevata (‘desired deities’) Buddhist protective deities (especially in Tibet) which are chosen by the neo- phyte himself as he prepares to undergo Tantric initiation: as a rule, after being blindfolded, he throws a flower on to a mandala. (Ese, in cuneiform Emu) Egyptian god- dess. In origin she was perhaps the per- Iytanu Hittite sun-god; the Hattic form sonification of the throne, conceived as a is Emtan (ϭ ‘sun’, ‘day’). For the written (female) deity; and she bears on her head form of his name the Sumerian cuneiform the determinant of the seat of authority. determinant for → was used. In The myth tells how she sought out her iconography, one of his main attributes is dead brother and husband → Osiris from a winged sun as part of his head-dress; in Iya 91 his right hand he bears the lituus, i.e. a Iqvara (‘lord’, ‘ruler’) Sanskrit desig- staff whose lower tip is crooked. As the nation for the supreme world ruler, espe- sun-god sees all things, he is judge over cially for → Fiva. In certain , the men and animals. name is used to denote the supreme divin- ity. In Hinduism, ¯Ifvara becomes synony- Iytar (original form: Emtar) Babylonian mous with a supreme personal god who is (Akkadian) goddess of love and sexuality. capable of releasing those who believe in One myth tells of her descent to the under- him for the cycle of reincarnation. It hap- world, where her sister → Eremkigal ruled. pens also that other major gods are In Imtar’s absence, all procreation ceases on increasingly identified with various man- earth. Although she is hailed as ‘virgin’ she ifestations of¯ Ifvara. has many lovers, notably Tammuz (→ Dumuzi). Like → Inanna, her Sumerian Itzamna Son of the Maya god → counterpart, she has, alongside her erotic Hunab Ku. He it was who introduced such aspect, both war-like and astral functions. foods as maize and cocoa to mankind, and She is the goddess of Venus as morning who instructed them in the art of writing. star, and on Middle and late Babylonian As the bringer of culture to his people, border markers she is represented as an Itzamna became the national god of the eightpointed star. Her brother is → Mamam. Maya. When identified with the sun-god, Her importance was such that her name he is also lord of the east and the west. He could be used as a general appellation for is also called Yaxkokahmut, ‘lord of ‘goddess’; and iˇstarata are ‘the goddesses’. knowledge’. Isten (1) (Isden) Egyptian god, attested Itzpapalotl (‘obsidian butterfly’) A from the Middle Kingdom onwards; he is local fire-goddess of the Aztecs, in the related to → Thot, in the latter’s aspect as form of a butterfly. As an astral being, she cynocephalus hamadryas. It is doubtful could also take the shape of a deer. whether there is any connection with → Isdes. Iwaldi In Germanic mythology, a dwarf skilled in forging and casting; Isten (2) Supreme god of the ancient father of the goddess → Idun. He and his Hungarians, sometimes conceived in sons built Freyr’s ship Skidbladnir and monotheistic terms. He was seen as the forged Odin’s spear Gungnir. creator of all things. Among his attributes were the arrow, the tree, the horse and the Ixbalanque → Hunapu phallus. He sent his eagles to guide his Moon-goddess of the Maya, people – the Hungarians – into their new who was also regarded as the protective ϭ homeland. His epithets include úr ( patron of women in childbirth and of ] ϭ lord, master) and el ( the living one). weavers. → Itzamna is often mentioned With the coming of Christianity, Isten as her spouse. merged into the figure of . A Maya goddess, the guardian of Iyum Akkadian god, brother of the suicides, who enter her paradise. sun-god → Mamam, and herald of the gods. It is true that he serves the god of Iya Among the Sioux Indians, the plague → Erra, but he is well-disposed embodiment of evil, a demonic monster towards humanity. It is not certain that the which swallows men and animals, or name is connected with iˇsˇatum ϭ fire. harms them in other ways. His foul breath 92 Izanagi spreads sickness, and he manifests himself are the sun-goddess → Amaterasu, and sometimes in the shape of the hurricane. the moon-god → Tsukiyomi. Izanagi (Isanagi; Japanese ϭ ‘the lord Izanami (Isanami; Japanese ϭ ‘she who who invites you to enter’) Forms, invites you to enter’) Primeval goddess together with → Izanami, the primeval in Shintoism, the embodiment of the pair of divinities of Shintoism. As the two earthly and the gloomy. She is the Earth of them were crossing the bridge of Mother. When giving birth to her heaven, Izanagi hurled a spear into the youngest son, the god of fire, she died, water which thereupon gave birth to an and went then to rule over the under- island. Izanagi is the embodiment of all world. Her husband was the sky-god → that is bright and heavenly; his children Izanagi. J

Jabru An Elamite god, who was spurious form → Jehovah. In origin, equated with the old Mesopotamian god Jahwe was very probably a mountain- of the sky → An. god (Sinai). For the Israelites he was jahwe zebaoth, ‘the lord of hosts’. In Jagannatha (‘Lord of the world’) In I Samuel 17: 45, the word zebaoth refers some parts of India, especially in Puri, to earthly hosts, but elsewhere the this is the usual name for Visju in his hosts may be of angels (I Kings 22: 19) or manifestation as → Krisja. It is in his of stars (Deuteronomy 4: 19). In honour that the feast of rathayatra is held, Old Testament times, the Ark of the when the image of the god is wheeled Covenant was the visible token of the along in a chariot and differences of caste divine presence. The god himself could are ignored. not be represented in any form. In Jagaubis Lithuanian fire-god, who Christian art, the – the was gradually ousted in popular belief four Hebrew letters – symbolizes the and tradition by Gabija. almighty God.

Jahwe Jambhala Buddhist god of riches, in origin a → Ya k sa. He has a pot-belly; in his right hand he holds a lemon, and in his left a mongoose, which is spitting jewels (the mongoose pelt as purse). It is said that several Buddhist teachers received gold or food from Jambhala.

Jamm Phoenician-Canaanite god of water, especially of the sea; one of his epithets makes him ‘Ruler river’. He pre- sumed to claim a ruling position vis-à-vis (Jahve) The name of the god of Israel. the other gods, but was overcome by → The Third Commandment states, ‘Thou Baal. According to one tradition, his shalt not take the name of the Lord consolation prize was the goddess Attart thy God in vain,’ and this was taken to (→ Astarte) who became his bride. heart so seriously that while the four consonants of the name could be written – Janguli (‘the poisonous one’) Also J H W H – the name itself was pronoun- known as ; the Buddhist god- ced with the vowels of ‘Adonai’ (ϭ Lord). dess who offers protection against Exactly what the name means is a snakebite and poison. She may be por- disputed point: ‘he who exists’, ‘the trayed as single-headed with four arms, breather’, ‘he who summons to existence’ bearing a musical instrument (a vina) and are some of the suggestions, all of a white snake, but she also appears them questionable. Exodus 3: 14 glosses with three faces and six arms, and yellow the word as ‘’. Cf. also the in colour. 94 Janus

Janus Jehovah From the thirteenth century onwards, this form is used as an appella- tion for → Jahwe. It results from adding the vowels of the Hebrew word adonai ϭ lord, master, to the consonants of the tetragrammaton J H W H. This demon- strably spurious form was adopted by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Jetaita An earth-spirit much feared by the Yamana, a tribe living in Tierra del Fuego. He is supposed to be present at initiation ceremonies in the cult-house, where he is represented by a man painted red and white. Jian Lao (Chinese ϭ the stable one) A (Ianus) Roman god of gateways, of Buddhist goddess of the earth and of per- entrances and exits. Metaphorically the manence, revered in China. She is repre- double-headed god also stands for begin- sented with her hands placed together, or ning and end, the threshold point at which with an ear of grain (a symbol of fertility). the old year becomes the new, and accord- Jinn This appellation for a class of ingly January is named after him. Among demonic beings goes back to pre-Islamic his attributes are keys and a janitor’s staff. times. The jinn were originally nature- His temple was a double door which was spirits, who were also believed to cause kept locked in peacetime and opened in madness. A specific sub-class of jinn times of war. Important matters of any were the ghouls, female spirits of the kind were commended to his care, thus, wilderness who appeared in animal form. for example, sowing and harvest. In Roman mythology, it is Janus mankind Jizo has to thank for agriculture and law. Jarih (Erah) Canaanite moon-god. Jarovit (Latinized as Gerovitus) West Slavonic god, venerated in Pomerania. The jar component in his name means ‘violent’, ‘fiery’. At the time of the con- version of the West Slavs, Jarovit was compared by one writer to → Mars; that is to say, he was accredited with the func- tions of a war-god. Jarri Hittite god of plague and pesti- lence, who had to be placated when there was an outbreak. He had the epithet ‘lord of the bow’, and he could also figure as a god who helped the monarch in battle. Júno 95

In Japan the → Buddha of great compas- the Mari people (Cheremis) who live sion. The protector of pregnant women, of between the middle Volga and the Vjatka. children and of travellers, he is also His customary epithet is ‘the great one’. invoked as a god of healing. In art, he is The word juma is, however, also applied shown bald-headed like a monk, with a to the spirits of the earth, the water, the pilgrim’s staff in his right hand. wind and the household. Joh () The Egyptian word for the The Finnish appellation for moon and for the moon-god. Originally ‘god’, ‘holy one’; originally the name of a much venerated especially in Thebes, he sky-divinity, transferred subsequently to was gradually absorbed by → Thot. the Christian God the Father. Jörd (Old Icelandic ϭ earth) North Jumis Latvian god of fertility, symbol- Germanic goddess. In the Edda, Snorri ized by two fruits joined in growth – ears describes her as at once the daughter and of rye, nuts or flax stalks. In order to feed the wife of → Odin. Like → Fjörgyn, she the strength of Jumi back into the ground, is supposed to be the mother of → Thor. ripened ears are bent over to the earth and Jötun (Jöten) Germanic appellation held there by stones. for gigantic demonic beings possessed of Junit An Egyptian goddess of local enormous strength. According to the significance in Tuphium (the modern El Völuspa, they are the ‘early-born’, those Tod), and therefore connected with → who were already present when the world Month. It seems likely that in origin she came into being. As primeval beings they was the personification of a sacred pillar. are wise – but they are also hostile to the gods. The giants live in Jötunheimr or Júno ‘giant-land’. One of the best-known of them is → Mimir. The dividing line between the Jötun and the → Thursen is not clear. Juesaes (Jusas, Iusas) Egyptian god- dess: a theological fiction, a personifica- tion of the ‘hand of god’ with which → Atum masturbated to create the world from his own seed. According to another tradition, Juescaea was born from the skull of the earth-god → Geb. Julunggul The creator god, venerated by Australian aboriginals in Arnhem Land as the bringer of culture. He is identified with the rainbow-snake. In initiation rites boys are supposed to swallow him and then bring him up again, in symbolic (Iuno) The Roman goddess after whom token of the transition from child to man. the month of is named. To begin Juma (Finno-Ugrian root juma(la) ϭ with, she symbolized the youthful powers god, the heavenly one) The sky-god of of women, forming thereby a counterpart 96 Júno Caeléstis to male → Genius. First and foremost, Latin name (more correctly, Iuppiter) of she is the goddess of marriage and pro- the Indo-Germanic sky-god and god of tector of married women; under the name light. The name comes from an original of Pronuba she gives away the bride, and diu-pater meaning something like ‘father as she is goddess of birth, i.e. she of light’ (dies ϭ day, from a root deieu ϭ helps the newly-born into the world. As shining). The Ides, the days when there Juno Regina, she protects the whole was a full moon, were sacred to him. His Roman Empire. Yet another epithet of shrines were to be found on mountain hers was Moneta, signifying ‘recollec- tops. On the Capitol, Jupiter was revered tion’; this epithet came to mean ‘coin’ as best and greatest of gods: Iuppiter because a mint was set up close to the Optimus Maximus was the supreme tute- temple of Moneta. Juno was originally an lary god of Rome, forming a trinity with Etruscan goddess who was especially → Júno and → Minerva. As Fulgur he venerated in Vei. In Rome she was hon- loosed lightning, as Tonans he made the oured by women in the feast of the thunder boom. As the Roman Empire Matronalia, held on 1 March. The Latin expanded, his warlike functions were poets made her out to be both sister and more and more extolled: as Iuppiter Stator spouse of → Jupiter, and she came to he helped the legions to hold their ground, acquire the significance of the Greek → and as Iuppiter Victor he gave them vic- Hera, whose peacock she also took over tory. The Roman god merged to a large as attribute. extent with provincial gods in far-flung parts of the Roman Empire, thus, for Júno Caeléstis (Iuno Caelestis) example with the Syrian → Dolichénus. Tutelary goddess of Roman Carthage, In myth, → Zeus and Júpiter are equated. who took over the functions of the Punic u a → Tinnit. In Libya she was called simply J ras m te ‘Sea-mother’, a goddess Caelestis. The Phoenicians called her of water in Latvian folklore. She plays Astroarche and regarded her as the moon- some part in spells and charms designed goddess. to heal or cure. Jurojin Japanese god of longevity. He Júpiter rides on a deer, and is often accompanied by cranes and tortoises as symbols of long life and a happy old age. Jutúrna (Iuturna) Roman goddess of springs and wells who was often invoked in time of need especially when there was a shortage of water. Juvéntas (Iuventas) Roman goddess of youth, corresponding to the Greek → Hébe. Sacrifice was made to her when boys first donned the toga worn by men. Jw (Ja’u, Jawi) The existence of the ancient Syrian god has been deduced from a study of personal names. Nothing certain is known about him; but he may be Jyotiska 97 identical with the harvest-god Ao men- Jyotiska Stellar gods in Jainism. Five tioned by the Latin writer . There classes are distinguished: suns, moons is no evidence to support an equation with (both in the plural), planets, stations of → Jahve, the god of the Israelites. the moon (naksatra) and fixed stars. K

God K Identification tag adopted by Kadey Canaanite goddess of love and specialists in pre-Columbian American sexuality. She is shown standing naked on studies to designate a god who sometimes a lion, holding a snake in her hands. At appears as a form of → Kukulcan, and the time of the New Kingdom, she was who at other times seems similar to → taken over by the Egyptians. Itzamna. But cf. information given under a a → Ah Bolom Tzacab. K hil( n) A god often invoked in pre- Islamic inscriptions in Arabic. The name Ka The ancient Egyptian designation probably means ‘the mighty one’. for the generating and sustaining vital forces, especially of men: then extended Kaia Demonic figures believed in by to denote the spiritual life-force in gen- tribes on the Gazelle Peninsula of New eral. The Ka-sign, made by raising the Britain (Melanesia). In their underground open hands with palms facing outwards, realm (especially below volcanoes) they served to protect one, and the hieroglyph prefer to take on human form, but they for Ka had the same effect. Like the appear to the natives above as snakes, female → Hemsut, the Ka are a class possibly as eels or wild pigs, or in some of protective spirits, who are still active other form. In the beginning, the Kaia and effective even after the death of the were the creators of all things, but now person associated with them. they are evil and bent on doing harm. (‘Barrel’) The chief demon Kaiamunu (Kaiemunu) A demon in in the Indian epic, the Ramayana; he the folk belief of the Papuans in the Purari looks like a barrel because → Indra Delta of New Guinea. He plays a big part squashed his head and his lower limbs in the initiation ceremonies for boys, into his body, making him into an enor- whom he is supposed to swallow and then mous torso with an all-devouring mouth regurgitate to new life. The Kaiamunu is in its breast. represented as a kind of wickerwork image, and the long houses belonging to Kabiroi (Greek kabiroi) In origin, ori- the men of the tribe seem to reflect his ental vegetation-deities in Asia Minor, shape. whose cult reached Greece via the Aegean, especially the islands of Kala In Indian thought, the personifi- and Lemnos, where it was transformed cation of time as a cosmogonic force; first under the influence of Orphic ideas. The mentioned in the Atharvaveda. Kala was Kabiroi were now seen as the sons of → his own father, and hence his own son. Hephaistos; they were invoked as ‘great From the fifth century BC onwards, we gods’ and had their own mysteries. They find the god of death → Yama occasion- were usually conceived of as twins, and ally referred to as Kala. often equated with the → Dioskúroi as Kalevanpojat (‘sons of ’) In protectors of sea farers. Finnish folk tradition, gigantic demonic Kabrakan → Zipakna beings who turn fertile land into heaps of Kama 99 stones and wasteland, and forests into Kalunga The supreme being of the marshy meadows. Ndonga in Angola. Kalunga, it is believed, gave himself this name; and he looks like Kali (‘she who is black’) An Indian a man, though it is true that he never goddess of the Great Mother type. She is allows himself to be seen as a whole. the menacing and fearful aspect of → He is characterized by wisdom and com- Durga. She is usually shown standing on passion, he sees and hears all, and he is a her husband → Fiva, or placing her left just and righteous judge. His son is → foot on him. She has black hair, her tongue Musisi. hangs out, and she wears a string of human skulls round her neck. As Kalypso A Greek nymph who rescues (‘black night’) she is the mythic embodi- the castaway Odysseus and keeps him ment of a natural force which veils every- with her for seven years. Her name comes thing at the time of the creation (or of the from the Greek verb kalypto ϭ to cover, destruction) of the world. conceal; and this has prompted the sug- gestion that she is really a goddess of (Kalkin) The tenth and final death. avatara of → Visju. When our present age a (Kaliyuga) draws to a close, and our K ma social and spiritual life has reached its nadir, Visju will appear on earth to initi- ate the end of the world. He will appear in human form with a horse’s head, or he will ride on a white horse, holding a shin- ing sword in his raised hand. Kalliópe (‘she of the beautiful voice’) One of the → Muses, specifically the one concerned with heroic epic and elegy. Kallistó (‘she who is most beautiful’) In origin perhaps an old Arcadian (south Greek) bear goddess, later ousted by → Artemis. The myth tells how she was loved by → Zeus, turned into a bear and, finally, raised to the constellations (the Great Bear). Kaltey A goddess venerated by the Ugric peoples in west Siberia. She is sup- posed to be the sister, wife or daughter of (‘desire’) Indian god of love; his con- the sky-god (→ Num). She has various sort is (ϭ voluptuousness). To begin functions including supervision of child- with, he was the demonic spirit which birth, and determining people’s . animated → Prajapati. When → Brahma At certain festivals she is represented began to be seen as the creator god, Kama by the birch-tree. Her sacred creatures was said to have sprung from his heart. are the goose and the hare, and she may Kama is represented as an ageless and manifest herself in their shapes. unageing youth, riding on a parrot. Both 100 Kamaksi the bow and the arrows he bears as his the myth of → Telipinu she proves unable attributes are tipped and strung with flow- to placate the angry god of vegetation. ers. He is symbolized by a piscine mon- Kamui Sky-god of the on ster (), often shown in a red . the Japanese island of Hokkaido; he is banner. His epithet ananga (ϭ bodiless) also called Tuntu, i.e. ‘support, pillar’ of is connected with a myth according to the world. which he was burned to ashes by Fiva who had lost his temper with him. Kamulla A Kassite god in the sense of the Babylonian → Ea. Kamaksi (‘she who ogles’) A benign goddess who is particularly venerated in Kan → Bacab f . She ranks as para akti, ‘the Japanese water-spirits who → F highest akti’ and is represented as feed on cucumbers and blood and get up four-armed and seated on a lotus. She is to all sorts of mischief but who are very F also worshipped in the image of the ri knowing and can therefore prove helpful Cakra (Diskus). to people. Kaménae () Italic goddesses Karei (or Kari) The supreme being of of springs and wells; at their shrine in the Semang people in Malaya. The name Rome, the vestal virgins drew water every of the good is synonymous with the word day. Later, as the goddesses of Italic for ‘thunder’. It is believed that when it poetic creation, they were equated with thunders, Karei is angry and is letting → the Greek Muses. his voice be heard. To placate the god a Divinities of Shintoism. The few drops of blood are offered to him in word kami means, basically, ‘above’: the sacrifice. gods are those who are above. Apart from Karpo → Horae the gods, spirits are also known as kami; indeed, the word can be applied to single Karta A goddess of fate and destiny trees, animals and mountains (e.g. mentioned in Latvian folksong and → Fujiyama) which are feared and revered reminiscent of . because of their unusual or supernatural Karuileyyiuney (‘the earlier gods’) In properties. At a later period, the designation origin, old Syrian divinities who were arami-kami ϭ visible god was officially subsequently taken over by the Hittites as applied to the Emperor. gods of oaths. In groups of seven or nine Kamoy Chief god of (in present- they figure as gods of judgment, and are day Jordan), equated in a list of gods with hence connected thereafter with the the Old Mesopotamian god → Nergal. underworld. Kamom had his devotees even among the Kayku Proto-Hattic name of the moon- Israelites, and Solomon built ‘an high god, who was accepted into the Hittite place’ for him (I Kings 11: 7, 33). When pantheon, and who corresponds to the the Greeks took Kamom over, they Hurrian → Kumuh. stressed his warlike functions and equated him with → Arés. Kastor and Polydeukes The names of the → Dioskúroi, who distinguished them- Kamruyepa Hittite goddess of heal- selves by many heroic deeds, especially ing, the mother of the sea-god Aruna. In as tamers of wild horses; Polydeukes was Kematef 101 also outstanding as a boxer. When the mor- Kauket → Kuk tal Kastor fell in battle, the immortal K’daai A fire-demon of the Yakuts in Polydeukes persuaded Zeus to let them Siberia. He is supposed to be the origina- spend ever afterwards one day together tor of work in wrought iron. in the world and one in the underworld. There was an ancient shrine to both in An Egyptian goddess, a Sparta, and Kastor had a temple on the personification of the purifying libation Forum in Rome. of water, deeply significant in the cult of Kaqyapa (‘tortoise’) In India, Kafyapa the dead as a means of revitalization. She → belongs to the divine minstrels (→ Risis) was supposed to be the daughter of and is venerated as a creative force. With Anubis, the god of the dead, and was his wife → Aditi he begot the sun-gods depicted in snake form. (→ Adityas), but he is also seen as the Kebechsenef (Kebehsenuf ϭ ‘he who father of the demonic → Daityas. refreshes his brothers and sisters’) → Kataragama One of the four great Falcon-headed son of Horus. He gods in the island of Ceylon (). watches over the lower part of the body of He is equated with the Hindu god → a dead person, and to him is allotted the and has developed into a national westerly quarter. god in modern times. In Old Tamil, Kekri An ancient Finnish feast of e o ϭ Kataragama was called C y n ‘the god fertility connected with the sacrifice of with the red-coloured body.’ a sheep. This was misunderstood by var- Katavi A demonic being in the popular ious writers – for example, we find belief of the Nyamwezi (in Tanzania); he the mistake in a sixteenth-century list of is said to be chief of the water-spirits, but gods – and as a result Kekri came to be he also haunts barren lands and deserts. regarded as a god concerned with the rearing of cattle. Katavul (Kadavul) The Tamil name for the supreme personal being who is con- Kékrops In Greek tradition, the stantly present and who is the source of primeval autochthonous man born from all that exists. The name means ‘He, who the earth, with legs like snakes; also, the is’. Katavul is the final and absolute first king of the Athenians. In a dispute arbiter, who rewards or punishes people between → Poseidon and → Athená, he according to their deeds. acted as arbiter. His three daughters, known as the Argaulides (‘field-girls’) Ka Tyeleo Supreme god of the Senufo had divine status, and were so revered. in the Ivory Coast in West Africa. On the fifth day of creation he created the animals, Ke’lets A demon of death in the popular and on the seventh the fruit-bearing trees. belief of the Chukchi people in north-east Siberia. He hunts men down, accompanied Kaukas A spirit-like being in by dogs. Lithuanian popular belief: usually taken to be a sort of goblin who brings good Kematef In the late Egyptian period, luck, though it is also bound up with the the name given to the primeval god → notion of a dragon guarding a treasure. In Amun who emerged from → in the both Finnish and Estonian, kauko, kauki shape of a snake. The name means ‘he means ‘spirit’ and ‘devil’. who has fulfilled his time’. was 102 Kemwer the name given to this divine primeval dog: they tracked down the demonic snake by Greek writers. being and killed it – and all the people it had swallowed came out of its inside. Kemwer (Kemur) The black bull ven- erated in the Egyptian city of Athribis. Khyung-gai mGo-can Old Tibetan It was variously identified with → god with the head of the mythical Khyung Chentechtai, also worshipped in Athribis, bird (corresponding to the Indian → and with → Osiris. It was also interpreted Garuda). Like the bird, the god too may as referring to the left eye (of the moon). have been connected with the sun. → Kentaures → Centaurs Ki An A demon mentioned in the Kephissos → Narkissos Akkadian creation epic Enuma Elim; the Kérberos (Latin form ) The son of → Tiamat, who wanted to promote Greek hound of hell, with three heads cov- him to be chief of the gods. But → ered with snakes. The son of → Typhón Marduk overcame the forces of the under- and → Echidna. It greets new arrivals in world, and → Ea created men from the hell by wagging its tail obsequiously, but blood of Kingu. woe betide those who try to get out. Only Kinich Kakmó (Kinich Ahau) The → Heraklés was able to overcome it. sungod of the Maya, the fire-bird corre- Kéres Malevolent demons in Greek sponding to the solar aspect of the Aztec popular belief. The root ker- means ‘bane, → Quetzalcoatl. evil, death’. Keto → Phorkys Kettu → Mamam Keyeme Lord of animals among the Taulipang in the north of South America. He is a man who can change himself into a water-snake by donning a multi- coloured skin. Khasarpana (‘he who glides through the air’) Also known as Khasarpana- Lokefvara, a form of the Bodhisattva → Avalokitefvara, known in India. White in colour, he sits on the moon above a dou- ble lotus. There is a smile on his face, his right hand forms the ‘wish granted’ ges- ture, and in his left hand he holds a lotus. Kholomodumo A mythical monster which, say the Sotho in south-east Africa, lived at the beginning of time and ate up the whole of humanity save for one A group of spirit-beings belonging to the old woman. She bore twins who went → Gandharvas in Indian mythology. They forth as forest hunters along with a mangy are supposed to look like birds with human K’op’ala 103 heads. They bear a red lotus and belong to Supreme god of the Algonkin Indians the retinue of → . In Burma they living in eastern Canada and the north- are called Keinnara, and they also figure in eastern United States. He was the first the art of Thailand and . existent being, eternal and omnipresent; his name means ‘good creator’. Since he Kinyras A god revered in Cyprus is invisible and embraces the whole → though he originally hails from Syria ( world, he is represented as a circle or oval: Kotar). He was supposed to be a master in in the middle is a point marking the cos- the art of iron-smelting, and also the orig- mic centre, and round the periphery are inator of magic and music. His name is four pointers indicating the heavenly probably of Canaanite origin, and may be quarters. derived from kinnor ϭ lyre, harp. Klio (Greek kleió ϭ ‘she who praises’; in Kiriyya → Latin ) The muse usually associated with the study of history; her attribute is a Kirke (Latin form ) The daughter parchment scroll. of the Greek sun-god → Hélios; a highly skilled magician, who turned the compan- Klotho → Moires ions of Odysseus into pigs. A domestic spirit in Central Kis An Egyptian god venerated in the European popular belief; he teases, and town of Kusae. He is represented as a man he enjoys his victim’s discomfiture – but who is gripping two creatures (giraffes or he may also bring prosperity. The name is snakes) by their long necks and quelling a compound of an old word for ‘house’, them: hence, probably, his name which ‘building’ (cf. English ‘cove’) and the means ‘the tamer’. root old ϭ to rule: so the kobold is ‘he who rules in the house’. They are also y → m Ki ar An ar imagined as mountain dwarfs, who take Kiskil-lilla A Sumerian night-demon silver and give the (once worthless) cobalt (female) dwelling in the Laluppu-tree of in exchange. There is no clear dividing → Inanna, which is later felled by → line between them and nature-demons. Gilgamem. The lil component in the name Kolanthes A youthful god venerated was construed as lilu ϭ night by a process during the Graeco-Roman period in the of folk etymology. Egyptian city of Panoplis and called ‘son of Isis and Osiris’. Kitanitowit Köndös Finnish god of sowing and young crops; possibly, a personification of wheat. With the coming of Christianity the figure of Köndös merged with that of St Urban, the patron saint of wine in southern lands and of wheat in the Baltic area. K’op’ala A protective god of the hea- then mountaineers in eastern Georgia. His weapon is a club into which he sometimes transforms himself. 104 Kore-Arethusa

Kore-Arethusa A Greek goddess por- present – world should emerge. The name trayed on coins from Syracuse and means ‘prairie wolf’. Koyote taught man Carthage; interpreted by the Carthaginians how to use seeds. Among the Miwok peo- as a form of → Astarte-Tinnit. Her charac- ple in California he is creator and teristic symbol is a woman’s head adorned supreme being; while the Maidu tribe in with ears of corn – a reference to Kore central California sees him as the divine (→ Persephóne) who took over the life- antagonist. giving aspect of Arethusa, the ancient sv Greek goddess of wells and springs. Kri a (Sanskrit, dark, the dark one) Deified hero of Indian legend, the eighth Korrawi The Tamil goddess of battle avatara of → Visju, son of Vasudeva (of and victory. Her temples were scattered the lunar ) and of . The about in the forests and were guarded by Purajas tell how he grew up among corpse-demons and spirits. As Katukilal herdsmen in order to escape the persecu- she is a goddess of the woods, ‘the lady of tion of his uncle. He is the charioteer of the jungle’. Her son is → Murukan. the Prince , and the spokesman of the Bhagavadgita, in which he desig- Demonic companions of nates himself as supreme god. In Indian the ancient Phrygian mother of the gods art, scenes from the childhood and early (→ Kybéle) in Asia Minor, and then of the life of Krisja are very popular – for Greek → Rheia. They indulge in orgiastic example, his victorious battle against the dances accompanied by raucous music on snake-king , his flute-playing and percussion and wind instruments. his amorous dalliance with the cow-girls According to the myth, they are the prog- (→ ). Krisja died when a hunter eny of → Zeus, who impregnated the inadvertently shot an arrow into his only earth by falling on it as rain. vulnerable spot – his right heel. Kotar (Kautar, later pronounced as Krodhadevatas (‘angry deities’) Kumor) Old Syrian god of the black- Terror-inspiring gods in Buddhism. They smith’s craft, and lord of magic spells and are bluish-black or red in colour, they incantations. In the Ugaritic myths he have a third eye and they are adorned with appears as master of all arts: he erects skulls and eight snakes. They serve to a palace for the god → Baal, and forges ward off enemies of Buddhist teaching. → the weapons for the fight against the sea- Acala and → Sumbharaja are examples god → Jamm. Other names for this god of Krodha (ϭ anger) gods. are Chusor, and, on the island of Cyprus, → Kinyras. Krónos In origin, a pre-Greek fertility Kótys (also as Kotytto) A Thracian god who underlies the harvest feast of the goddess, whose cult spread over Greece kronia (cf. the Roman ). In and Italy. Greek mythology, Kronos is a Titan, the son of the sky-god → Uranós and the Koyote (Coyote) Among the Apache earth-goddess → Gaia. He attacked his and the Navajo tribes in North America, father, castrated him and took over world the name of the culture-hero who had dominion. To protect himself from a sim- to get rid of the children of the water- ilar fate, he swallowed all his children monster Tieholtsodi, in order that the except → Zeus, in place of whom his wife flood should recede and the fifth – i.e. the → Rheia handed him a stone wrapped in Kukulcan 105

torso has three legs. His earliest attributes were a sack and a drinking-bowl; later he acquired a cudgel and a purse. He lives in the Himalayas and is guardian of the northerly quarter of heaven. Kucumatz (Kukumatz) Supreme god of the Quiché Indians as recorded in their sacred scriptures. He corresponds to the → Kukulcan of the Maya, and the → Quetzalcoatl of the Aztec. He was imag- ined as androgynous: both father and mother, begetter and matrix. He is the ‘heart of heaven’ who, together with his three hypostases (described as cakulha ϭ napkins. Zeus grew up in hiding and was lightning) ‘excogitated’ the earth, the finally able to dethrone his father and hurl plants and the animals. him into Tartaros. Kud In Old Korean religion, the embod- Ksitigarbha (‘whose origin is the earth’) iment of the dark and evil principle in → One of the eight great → Bodhisattvas; in the world, the baneful adversary of Central and East Asia he developed into Palk. a god of the dead and judge in the under- Kujaku Myoo (‘Peacock King of world (→ Di-zang). In Japan he is known Wisdom’) In Japanese esoteric Buddhism, as → Jizo: he protects travellers and leads he who protects mankind from evil pow- people to paradise. ers; he eradicates the evil passions and thoughts which stain men’s minds. His (also Kupapa) An ancient cult was wide-spread as part of the teach- goddess of Asia Minor, worshipped in ing of the sect in Japan. In art, Upper Mesopotamia under the name of he is shown surrounded by the large Gubaba. The most important centre of her fan-shaped peacock wheel. cult was Carchemish. Subsequently she acquired the traits of a mother goddess. Kuk and Kauket A pair of Egyptian A mirror and a pomegranate were among primeval gods belonging to the Ogdoad. her attributes. In many ways she is equiv- They represent the darkness that reigned alent to the Hurrian goddess of love → before the creation of the heavenly bodies. Maumka. Transition to the Phrygian- Lydian → Kybéle if not demonstrable is Kukulcan Originally a god of the highly probable. Toltecs, taken over by the Maya. Both in his name (which means ‘feathered Kubera (Kuvera) Indian god of riches; snake’) and in his function he corre- in Vedic times, the leader of the spirits (→ sponds to → Quetzalcoatl of the Aztecs. Ya k sas) who dwell in the dark abyss. The Students in this field refer to him as demon-king → Ravaja is his half-brother. God B. He can figure as god of earth, According to one tradition he achieved water or fire, and his symbols are corre- immortality through severe mortification spondingly the sprouting maize, the fish of the flesh. His dwarfish, pot-bellied and, for fire, the lizard or a torch. First 106 Kukuth and foremost, he is a god of resurrection Kurdalaegon The god of blacksmiths and reincarnation. among the Ossetian people (in the Caucasus). His epithet is ‘the heavenly Kukuth (Kukudhi) In Albanian popu- one’. He shoes the dead man’s horse, thus lar belief a female demon of sickness who helping him on his journey to the other brings pestilence to the land. The unhappy side: the obsequies reflect this. soul of a miser which roams about uneasily and does nothing but ill, is also Kurétes Cretan demons closely con- described as ‘Kukudhi’. nected with vegetation, whose antecedents go back to pre-Greek times. They were Kulshedra (Kuçedrë) A demonic often equated with the → Korybantes. In being in Albanian folklore which appears Greek myth they perform noisy and war- either as an enormous with pendulous like dances to protect the infant → Zeus breasts, or as a dragon-like monster from → Krónos. spitting fire. It uses its own urine as a weapon. The kulshedra can cause a water (Sanskrit ϭ tortoise) In shortage, and can only be placated by Vedism, the tortoise was associated with means of human sacrifice. The name → Prajapati as an embodiment of cosmic comes from the Latin chersydrus which power; in the Ramayana and in the means something like ‘the snake that lives Purajas it was identified with → Visju. in the water and on the earth’. The male Visju himself came down to earth in the form, known as Kulshedër, acts as a devil. form of a tortoise (usually taken to be the second avatara), thus providing a funda- Kumarbi This was the name for the ment for the churning of the milk ocean. ‘father of the gods’ among the ancient Hurrians in Asia Minor. He had to abdi- Kurukulla One of the most popular cate in the face of pressure from younger Buddhist goddesses; she can cast spells on gods. One myth – the poem – men and women to inveigle them into tells how Kumarbi begets a son (→ serving her. In Tibet she has become a god- Ullikummi) by means of a rock, counting dess of riches. Her main attributes are a red on his help in the fight to retrieve his lotus and a bow and arrow – this latter sug- heavenly kingdom. gesting the role of a goddess of love. When she is shown in the lotus posture, the god Kunapipi A sort of Magna Mater of love → Kama, together with his partner, among the Alawa people in Arnhem Land may be shown thereunder. in Australia. She slew young men and dined off them until an eagle killed her. Kuyuh The moon-god of the Hurrians Her secret name can still be heard in the in ancient Asia Minor, corresponding to whirring of the ceremonial bull-roarer. the Hattic moon-god → Kamku. His Men enter her womb (a channel in the sacred number is 30, corresponding to the ritual initiation site) to be reborn anew. lunar month of thirty days. In one myth, the moon-god is pursued by the weather- Kun-tu-bzan-po The chief god in the god, but the goddess of healing → Tibetan Bon pantheon; he is the ‘all- Kamrumepa comes to his aid. bountiful god’ who has created the world from a lump of mud and living beings Kutkinnáku Beneficent spirit revered from an egg. He corresponds to the Indian by the Koryak people in eastern Siberia. He → Samantabhadra. taught mankind to hunt and catch fish, and Kybéle 107 gave them the fire-stick and the shaman probably a mountain goddess with dwarfs drum. In myth he appears as a raven. as servants. From she received her epithet of Mater, and in myth Kvasir In Nordic mythology, a being she also appears as → Agdistis. Her cult possessed of divine wisdom, the personi- spread far and wide across the Aegean, fication of a fermented drink. Kvasir is and she herself was aligned with the said to have originated from the spittle of mother goddesses of the Greeks, → → → the Aesir ( As) and the Vanir, when Demeter and → Rheia. In the year they stopped fighting each other. After he 205/204 BC the black stone sacred to her was murdered, his blood was mixed with was brought from in Phrygia to honey and became the mead of the skalds: Rome. In art, she is shown in a chariot whoever drinks of it becomes a poet. drawn by lions and panthers. Her attrib- Kwoth In Nuer (a Nilotic language) utes are a mirror and a pomegranate, the word for ‘god’ really means ‘spirit’. often also a key. As protective deity of God is then kwoth a nial ϭ spirit of towns, she is also entitled to wear a castel- heaven: and he is like the wind, creator lated crown. She is accompanied by and mover of all things. He can be a demonic retinue of ecstatically dancing → approached through prayer and sacrifice. Korybantes. Kybéle was venerated as A poetic epithet for him is Tutgar, i.e. an queen of nature and of fertility; her priests ox with widespread horns, in token of his were the castrated Galloi. Her own cult → strength and majesty. was bound up with that of her lover Attis. The faithful believed that through Kybéle (also Kybebe; Latin ) her mysteries they would achieve rebirth The Phrygian Magna Mater; in origin, to a new life. L

Labbu A monster mentioned in an secondary rank in the Polynesian Akkadian (ancient Mesopotamian) myth, pantheon, she was the object of a very possibly in the form of a snake, and asso- special cult among the islanders, devoted ciated with the Milky Way. The god → as they are to the pleasures of the flesh. Timpak is given the job of slaying it. Laksmi → Moirai Lactans Roman god of agriculture, who caused the crops to ‘yield milk’, i.e. to do well. Ladon In Greek mythology, a demonic reptilian dragon which guards over the tree with the golden apples in the garden of the → Hesperides. Lacama In Sumerian mythology, the water-demons who belong to → Enki. In the Babylonian pantheon, Lawmu and Lawamu were the children of → Apsu and → Tiamat, and the parents of the primeval gods → Anmar and Kimar. A Sumerian goddess represent- ing the mother sheep; she taught mankind how to breed and rear cattle. Lahurati An Elamite god correspon- ding to the Sumerian → Ninurta. Hindu goddess of good fortune and beauty, also known as Fri. In the Vedas, Laima Latvian goddess of fate and good she was the consort of → Var uja or → fortune, who also takes a sympathetic inter- Surya, in Hinduism she is the → Fakti of est in women in childbirth. She is the cre- → Visju. In all the incarnations of Visju ator of men, and takes a hand in their birth, she figures as his female counterpart. their marriages and their deaths. No house- When he was incarnated as the dwarf hold can hope for things to go well unless , she sat on a lotus flower and was Laima is resident there. In , we therefore called Padma. For Visju as find, apart from Laima, a trinity of Laimos – Rama she was the faithful → ; for → three sisters who correspond to the Krisja, she was first the cow-girl → (conceived as women) of other Indo- Radha, and then his bride Rukmiji. (→ Moirai, → Norns). Laksmi is usually portrayed as a golden- Laka The goddess of song and dance hued goddess standing or sitting on a in Hawaii. Although she occupies a rather lotus flower. The goddess was taken over 109 by Buddhism: in Japan she is known as one tradition makes him a hermaphrodite. Kichijo-ten, in China as Gong De Tian. He holds a basket of flowers or a flute as attribute. Lalita Tripurasundari A Tantric god- dess, the symbol of cosmic energy and Lao-zi secret ruler of the world. She is the → Fakti, the female and – in India – dynamic force, from whose union with the male- static principle of → Fiva, the transitory world of deception (maya) is generated. Lama (1) (Akkadian ) In Sumerian myth, a benevolent and protec- tive demon, conceived as female. In the later Assyrian period, the female Lamassu and the male → Medu were installed at the entrances to palaces to act as guardians; in this capacity they were realized as winged hybrid creatures, half-man, half-bull. Lama (2) As a Hittite-Luvian protec- tive god, also known under the name of Innara. His cult was already known in (‘old master’) The founding father of Kanis. One myth tells how Lama seized Taoism, who rose to one of the highest power in heaven but was ousted by → Ea positions in the Chinese pantheon. His on account of his arrogance. mother is supposed to have borne him from her armpit under a plumtree; he was Lamaria The goddess of the hearth born with white hair and could already and tutelary goddess of women and cows speak. According to the legend he rides to among the Svan people in the western the west on a water-buffalo, and is reborn Caucasus. Her name shows Christian there as Buddha. In popular Taoism he is influence (Maria). regarded as the tutelary patron of occult Lamaytu Akkadian demon of puer- science and alchemy. In his deified form peral fever and diseases of infants; corre- he bears the name Lao Jun. → sponds to the Sumerian Dimme. In art, Etruscan war-god, usually por- she is portrayed with bare breasts with trayed as a naked youth with a cape which she is suckling a dog and a pig; in (chlamys), a lance and a helmet. The basic her hands she holds a comb and a whorl. meaning of the name may be something (‘she who swallows up’) This like ‘strong’, ‘mighty’. -like spirit which abducts little Lares Roman tutelary gods protecting children and sucks people’s blood figured the household and the family. The Lar in popular belief in ancient Greece and familiaris was venerated at the hearth, continues to do so in modern Greece. It is and his image was set up in a small shrine similar to the Roman → . (lararium). In the Empire period, the lares Lan Cai-he One of the ‘eight immor- were imagined in the dual rather than the tals’ (→ Ba Xian). He is depicted some- plural, as pairs of dancing youths, each of times as a boy, sometimes as a girl, and whom held up a wreath or a horn. The 110 lares compitales were the tutelary gods of Laumé A typical → fairy in cross-roads, while the lares viales Lithuanian popular belief. She usually ensured a safe return for travellers. appears naked, likes to bathe and is keen on spinning and . She helps the Larunda A Sabine (old Italic) god- poor and protects orphans. In the course dess, often imagined as the mother of the of time she acquired demonic traits, and → Lares; more probably, she is a form of in folk tradition she sometimes merges the earth-goddess. Her name is explained into the form of → Laima, the goddess of as a verbal form meaning ‘may she cause fate. The Latvians know Laumé under the (the earth) to turn green’. name of , and they also call her Lasas God-like female beings in the ‘the white lady’. Etruscan pantheon; they are depicted as Old Italic goddess, who may winged or unwinged, they carry wreaths have been queen of the underworld, as and mirrors as attributes, and are often to her were poured out with the richly adorned with jewellery. They are left hand as was customary in cults of the often to be found in the retinue of the underworld. goddess of love → Turan; this is particu- larly true in the case of the lasa known as Leda In Greek myth, the mother of Acaviser (or Achvistr). A few other lasas → Kastor and Polydeukes; also of → are known by name, e.g. → Alpan and → Heléne, after Zeus had mated with her in Evan. Like the → genii the lasas are to be the form of a swan. It is possible that approached as supernatural, personal Leda developed from an ancient earth and beings, who are not invested with the mother goddess in Asia Minor; there was powers given to the true (higher) gods. a Lycian word meaning ‘woman’. Laskowice (Leschia, derived from Old Legba A celestial trickster in Dahomey Slavonic word for ‘forest’) -like (West Africa) to whom mankind owes the forest spirits in the mythology of the east art of prognostication and the interpreta- and south Slavonic peoples. They protect tion of oracles. His sacred animal is the wild animals, and have a particularly dog, which he uses as a messenger. close relationship with the wolf. Lei-zi Chinese goddess of thunder and Lature Danö For the inhabitants of the originator of silk-worm breeding. She → Indonesian island of Nias, this is the was the wife of Huang-di. divine counterpart of their supreme god Lelwani A Hittite deity of the under- → Lowalangi. Lature Danö causes sick- world, originally thought of as male and ness and death, not to speak of bad designated as ‘king’. Subsequently, weather. He is the lord of the underworld, however, under the influence of the black and red in colour, and darkness, the old Mesopotamian Eremkigal, Lelwani snake and the moon are aspects of his became a female deity. She dwelt ‘in the allotted realm. dark earth’. Those threatened by death had surrogate images sacrificed to the Lauka mate Latvian goddess of fields goddess. Her shrines were connected with and fertility, known as ‘mother of the charnel-houses and mausolea. plough-land’. The peasants prayed to her and made sacrifice so that the fields Lemures (Larvae) In Roman belief, might bear plentifully. the evil spirits of the dead who wander Lilith 111 about as nocturnal bogeymen. Their feast, in flames. She is regarded as a protective the , was held on 9 November deity (→ ) who lends her and 13 May: on these occasions the aid to those who earnestly and devoutly householder went out of doors at mid- seek it. night and threw black beans to them as Li In Chinese popular belief the divine a peace offering, making sure to keep his lord of fire; under the name of Zhu Rong face turned away. he is regent of the southerly quarter of Leto (Latin Latona) In Greek mythol- heaven. The myth tells how Li helped to ogy, the daughter of the → Titan Kois and divide heaven and earth from each other. of Phoibe. Impregnated by → Zeus, she In art, the god is shown riding on a tiger. went to the island of Delos where she Old Italic god of animal and → bore the heavenly twins Apóllon and vegetable fertility; after equation with → → Artemis. The name Leto is connected Dionysos, he figured on his own as noth- by philologists with the Lycian word ing more than a god of wine. On the day ϭ lada woman, wife; it may possibly of his feast (17 March) youths donned the reflect an earlier deity once worshipped in toga virilis for the first time, in token of Asia Minor. their reaching man’s estate. Leviathan (Livjatan) A monster in Libera Old Italic goddess, daugther of Phoenician mythology, known in Ugarit → Ceres and sister of the fertility god → by the name of (?). In the Old Liber. As a chthonic triad the three Testament, it is the monstrous dragon of formed a counterpart to the divine trinity chaos which is overcome by Jahwe on the Capitol: → Júpiter, → Júno and → (Psalm 74: 14). In Isaiah 27: 1 it is Minerva. Libera was equated with the referred to as ‘the crooked serpent’. In Greek → Persephóne. general, it is regarded as a denizen of the sea, and hence is equated with the croco- Roman goddess, personifica- dile and the whale. In apocalyptic litera- tion of freedom. She had a temple of her ture and in Christianity, Leviathan figures own on the Aventine Hill. Her attributes as one of the forms in which the devil were the ‘freedom hat’, the pilleus (the manifests himself. felt cap which slaves put on when they were freed), and a sceptre or lance. Leza Chief god of south-east African Bantu tribes in northern Zimbabwe. He is Roman goddess of interment; conceived as bodyless and sexless. He is her temple and formed the creator of all things; one myth makes him centre of funerary arrangements in Rome. ‘mother of the animals’. All that Leza In poetic language Libitina is a metaphor does is good: above all, he sends rain. for death. Lilith This female demon in Jewish Lha In the ancient Bon religion of popular belief is already mentioned in the Tibet, the designation for ‘gods’, trans- Old Testament (Isaiah 34: 14). She has her lated in Sanskrit as ‘deva’. origins in the → Lilitu of Babylonian Lhamo The Tibetan word means , but popular etymology has simply ‘goddess’; this particular one is taken her name to mean ‘she of the night’. portrayed with flowing locks, fiercely Lilith (the plural form is lilin) was imag- protruding eyes, ten arms and enveloped ined as a blood-sucking nocturnal ghost. 112 Lilitu

In Talmudic lore she was regarded as a found in Haiti. The antecedents of the Loa devilish being, and as Adam’s first wife. go back to roots in Africa, and they have The owl was sacred to her. From Palestine, acquired many traits of Catholic saints. the cult of Lilith spread to Greece where Cf. → Damballa. she merged with → Hekáte. Locana (‘eye’) A Buddhist goddess, Lilitu (or Ardat-lili) A Babylonian noc- assigned as partner (prajña) to → turnal demon, corresponding to the Vairocana or to → Aksobhya. She is Sumerian → Kiskillilla and continuing to white in colour, thus expressing the spirit lead a ghostly existence in the Jewish → of peace. Her attribute is the wheel. Lilith. Lodur(r) A god mentioned in the Liluri Ancient Syrian mountain- Germanic creation myth. Together with goddess, forming a pair with the weather- → Hönir and → Odin, he played a part in god . Bulls were sacrificed to both. the creation of man. Etymologically, the name has been explained as meaning ‘the Lir (The name is connected with the Irish blazing one’, and he has been coupled word for ‘sea’ – ler) Sea-god in the with → Loki (‘Lohe’). Irish tradition, the bravest man of the → Tuatha De Danann. In Irish poetry, ‘the (Greek ϭ word, reason) The plain of lir’ is a kenning for the waves of ‘world principle’ in , the most the sea. In Wales, the god was called Llyr. powerful philosophical movement in the Hellenistic age. As logos spermatikos it is Lisa The name given to the (male) sun the power that all things and worshipped by the Fong in Dahomey brings all things about. It is the divine (West Africa); from its union with the spirit, indeed God himself, from which (female) moon → , there arose the other, mythological gods have arisen. seven divine pairs of twins. One of these With Philo of Alexandria, the Logos takes pairs – ‘the iron twins’ – gave mankind on personal and anthropomorphic charac- the first tools and weapons. teristics. In the New Testament, the Logos Li Tie-guai (‘Li with the iron crutch’) is used as a designation of the person of One of the ‘eight immortals’ (→ Ba as the son of God. Xian), a species of genii. He was said to Lokapalas (‘world-guardians’) This have been a pupil of → Lao-zi. He pos- designation appears, from the time of the sessed magic powers, and his attributes Upanisads on, with reference to the gods were the iron crutch, the (a symbol of who guard the four heavenly quarters; good luck) and the bottle-gourd, which they are also known as dikpalas, i.e., supposedly contained an arcanum which ‘guardians of the heavenly quarters’. could resurrect the dead. These are, individually: → Indra in the east, → Var uja in the west, → Yama in A female demon in Albanian the south and → Kubera in the north. At folk belief. She dwells in a wonderful a later date, the following gods were vegetable garden, and can cause the added: → Surya for the south-west, waters to dry up unless a virgin is sacri- → Soma (north-east), → Agni (south- ficed to her. east) and → (north-west). In Loa Divine beings revered in Voodoo, Tantrism, → Brahman is added for the the set of occult beliefs and practices zenith, and → Visju for the nadir. Lug 113

Loki the creator of mankind. His name figures in prayers of supplication and in solemn oaths. His sacred creatures are the cock, the rhino-bird and the eagle. He partakes in the sun and in light. Men are the property (the pigs) of Lowalangi, and just as people take good care of their pigs, so does Lowalangi look after his people. (Latin ϭ bringer of light) A name used in Christianity for the devil. It goes back to Isaiah 14: 12, where the casting into hell of the King of Babylon is likened to the fall of the resplendent morning star (Hebrew helal). The name was applied by the church fathers to → Satan, on the basis of Luke 10: 18, where Satan is said to fall as lightning from heaven. Certain Gnostic sects regarded Lucifer as a divine power in his own right, or as the ‘first-born son of God’. The artful dodger in the Germanic pan- Lucina Old Italic goddess of birth, theon, and the sire of several agencies whose grove was on Cispius. She was hostile to the gods – the wolf → Fenrir, → absorbed by → Juno, in her capacity as Hel and the → Midgard-snake. In one of goddess of women. his manifestations, as a mare, Loki is said to have given birth to the stallion Lü Dong-bin (also known as Lü Yan) Sleipnir. He can, in fact, take on almost One of the ‘Eight Immortals’ (→ Ba any shape he wishes. Popular etymology Xian). Many tales are told of his won- has connected his name with the word drous deeds. He is the tutelary god of log (German Lohe ϭ fierce flames). barbers; his attribute is a sword with Wherever Loki appears along with Odin, which he slays demons. he acts as the factotum of the gods, never Lug () A Celtic god, after whom at a loss for sharp practice. Otherwise, the ancient capital of Galliens Lugdunum however, he is their adversary: he causes (the modern Lyon) was named. His func- the death of → Balder, and brings about tions identify him as a god of war and of the destruction of the world (Ragnarök). the magic arts, but poets benefit from him His consort is → . as well as warriors and magicians. The Lowalangi (Lowalani) The inhabitants raven is particularly associated with him. of the island of Nias in believe In the Irish sagas, Lug is also called in Lowalangi as the god of the world Lamfada ϭ he of the long hand, and some above, the source of all that is good; his students have seen in this a reference to elder brother and adversary is → Lature the sun’s rays, just as his spear has been Danö. Lowalangi is lord of life and interpreted as indicating lightning. His death; he is omnipresent and omnisicient, Irish epithet Samildanach (‘he who can 114 do everything’) presents him as a master Lupercus (Latin ϭ ‘wolf-repeller’ or craftsman and artist. Lug had a particular ‘wolf-being’) Roman god with whom relationship with the earth-goddess → the ancient Roman feast of the Tailtu. (on 15 February) was associated. Whether the equation with → Faunus, current Lugalbanda Deified king of the already in antiquity, is justified is a moot Sumerian city of Uruk. In the Gilgamem point. epic, Lugalbanda and the goddess → are mentioned as the parents of → Lur Basque word meaning ‘earth’, and Gilgamem. the name of the earth-goddess; she was supposed to be the mother of the sun (→ ¯ (Latin ϭ moon) Roman goddess Ekhi) and the moon (→ Ilazki). In Roman of the moon, whose chief temple was times, there was a Pyrenean goddess on the Aventine Hill. She was equated called Lurgorr (Basque ϭ red earth). with the Greek → Seléne, and, like the latter, she took on traits of → Hekáte. Lykurgos The Greek name of a god Like → Sol, the sun-god, she was sup- revered in north Arabia: possibly a Syrian posed to be the protector of charioteers in god in origin, whose function was to pro- the circus ring. mote the cultivation of fruit-bearing trees. M

Ma A Cappadocian earth and mother goddess in ancient Asia Minor, a personi- fication of fertile nature, intermittently blending into the figure of → Kybéle. She had a war-like function too, and was equated by Roman troops with their goddess → Bellona. Maahiset (‘earth-dwellers’) In Finnish popular belief, dwarf-like beings dwelling under the earth. They are also called maanalaiset (‘the subterranean ones’), and play the part of earth-spirits, widely respected and revered as they incorporate the beneficent – but also on occasion threatening – powers of the earth. she is in charge of castigation, and is Maat Ancient Egyptian personifica- often shown together with apparatus for tion of the world-order, incorporating the execution. concepts of justice, truth and legality. She In Persian, the word means both → was supposed to be the daughter of Re, ‘moon’ and ‘moon-god’. He is the source the creator of the world. The Pharaoh of the cow, the most important animal in was the ‘beloved of Maat, he who lives in Iranian . On her through his laws’. A favourite venue Kushan coins we see the moon-god in for judicial hearings was at the shrines of cloak, doublet and trousers, with the tips the goddess, and the judges were regarded of the sickle moon sticking out of his as her priests. In art, Maat is shown with shoulders. an ostrich feather on her head. Mahadeo (Sanskrit mahadeva ϭ great Mac Gréine (Ceathur mac Gréine) An god) This word, taken over from Irish god who is invested with the kingly Vedism/Hinduism, is used to designate function, and who forms a triad with Mac the supreme god by certain primitive Cuill the warrior, and Mac Cecht the ‘son tribes in central India, e.g. the Gonds and of the ploughshare’. The name Mac the Baiga. Gréine means ‘son of the sun’; his wife is → Eriu. (‘the great black one’) A Buddhist god who reminds us, on the one (s) In old Irish religion, a group hand, of → Fiva (e.g. in his possession of of three goddesses who discharge various the trident and bowl made from a skull), functions in the fields of motherliness, and who on the other hand is a god of agriculture and war. riches. In the main, he appears as two- Ancient Egyptian goddess in armed and three-eyed, with a tiger-skin the form of a feline predator (a cheetah?); and the sacred noose or cord made from 116 Mahaprabhu eight snakes. As a severe and wrathful midsummer, and has the epithet ‘Lord of god, his function is to destroy the enemies slaughter’. In Greek writers he appears of the Buddhist teaching (the dharma). under the name of Miysis or Mios. Mahaprabhu (Sanskrit mahaprabhu ϭ Mahr (Polish mora, Bulgarian morava) great master) The chief god of the A word shared by Slavs and Germans for Bondo people who live in Orissa. a demonic being similar to the → Alp. Mahasthamaprata (‘he who has attai- One of the earliest references to it is in the ned to great power’) A → Bodhisattva, Old Icelandic historical work, the who has made no headway at all among Heimskringla, where we are told of a king the Indian population, but who has who was crushed to death by a mara become very popular in China where he while he was asleep. The Czechs and the appears, in female form, under the name Jugoslavs believe that the mahr is the soul of → Da-shi-zhi. of a living person, which leaves the body during the night in the form of a moth and Mahatala (or Mahataral) The god of sucks the blood of other people; resem- the Ngadju on the island of bling in this the → vampire. Mahre may Kalimantan (Borneo). He has created also appear as hair or wisps of straw. heaven and earth, and is exalted as ‘Prince of the sun and king of the moon’. Mahrem The chief god of the Axumite He dwells in the higher world, above 43 (Old Ethiopic) empire, whose kings cloud layers, and he appears to people in called themselves ‘sons of Mahrem’ the form of a rhino-bird. The name has before the coming of Christianity. The been taken over by the Christian mission- god had a warlike function and perhaps aries as the accepted designation for the lunar significance as well. Christian God. Together with Djata, Mahuike Polynesian god of fire and Mahatala forms a single (androgynous) earthquake; sometimes male, sometimes deity which is, at one and the same time, female. the world-tree whence children enter the world. Maía (1) (Greek ϭ little mother) Mahavira (Sanskrit ϭ ‘the great hero’) Originally perhaps an earth-goddess Honorific for Vardhamana: he is the last known already in pre-Greek times. The → Tirthaykara of the present world myth makes her a mountain nymph who → cycle. After twelve painful years he is one of the Pleiades. Her marriage to → attained to supreme knowledge and Zeus takes place on the Arcadian → became a prophet or harbinger of salva- mountain Kyllene, and Hérmes is born tion. Even the gods pay homage to him. of their union. ϭ His second honorific name is Jina ( (2) Old Roman goddess of conqueror) and it is from this word that growth, whose cult is associated with that the religion which he founded got its of → Vulcanus. It is a moot point whether name – Jainism. His symbol is the lion. the name of the fifth month derives from Mahes (‘glaring lion’) A god in the her or from Jupiter Maius. form of a lion who was worshipped as Maidere → Ülgän a sun-god in ancient Egypt, especially in the Nile delta. He represents the con- Maitreya (‘the kind one’) The name of suming powers of the scorching heat of the future → Buddha, that is, the fifth, Manabozo 117 who will once again show us the way to of the characteristics of a youthful vegeta- Nirvana, and who at present lives as a → tion god. He was symbolized by the eagle. Bodhisattva in the tusita heaven. was often portrayed together Iconographically, he is identified by a with the moon-god → Aglibol, and also white blossom (a reference to the bodhi with the goddess → Allat. tree), and a small stupa in his head-dress. A very popular grouping shows him Malik (Malka) A pre-Islamic god in together with two other Buddhas – → north Arabia. The name means something Dipamkara and → Gautama. In China, like ‘king’ and is found among other the coming Buddha is called → Mi-lo Fo: Semitic peoples as a designation for god. in Tibet, he is byams-pa, and in Japan mi- Mama (also as ) In origin, a roku. In Mongolia, the highest dignitary child’s name for its mother: subsequently, with the title of Maidari Hutuktu is the name of a Mesopotamian godddess, regarded as an incarnation of Maitreya. who played a definitive part in the cre- Majas gars A domestic spirit in ation of man from clay and blood. In Latvia. Until well into the nineteenth cen- Akkadian she had the epithet ‘midwife’. tury the peasants believed that they could Mamitu (Mammitu, Mammetu) gain his sympathy by means of prayer and Originally an Akkadian (old small sacrifices, thereby ensuring the Mesopotamian) goddess of oaths; subse- continuing prosperity of the household. quently, a female judge in the underworld → Maju A divine spirit of the Basques, and the spouse of Nergal. In one vision the husband of → Mari: when the two of the underworld she is described as meet, there is a frightful thunderstorm. goat-headed. Maju tends to appear in the form of a Mammon (Aramaic mamon ϭ property, snake. means) In the New Testament, riches Makemake The most important god seen as unjust profit (Luke 16: 9; 16: 13): on Easter Island in Polynesia. He is a god ‘Ye cannot serve God and mammon.’ of the sea, and his sacred creature is the Mammon is the personification of riches, sea-swallow. Above all, he is regarded as the idol of gold. In medieval scholasti- the creator of the first humans, and as cism and in the writings of Agrippa of giver of fertility to animals and plants. Nettesheim he is classified among the The celebrated stone figures on Easter devils. Island form part of his cult. Manabozo (Manibozo, also known as Mal An old Dravidian pastoral god. Nena-bu-) A kind of redeemer in His name means ‘the dark one’ or ‘the the mythology of the Menomeni Indians great one’. His body was dark blue, and in North America and related tribes. In his weapons consisted of mussel, discus, these myths, which take many forms, he club, bow and sword. In the plant world, also appears as a trickster. His name the banyan tree was sacred to him. At a means ‘Big Rabbit’. He is said to have later date, Mal (also called Tirumal) was invented the ball game, and he fought equated with → Krisja. against the evil Anamaqkius. Manabozo is the grandson – sometimes the son – of Malakbel A sun-god venerated in the Earth Mother, and he came into the Palmyra in north Arabia, who had some world under a bowl. 118 Manannan

Manannan As a son of the Irish god → protective deities. The collective designa- Lir, Manannan took over the office of tion mandah can be associated with the a sea-god, charged among other things name of an individual god; thus, for with forecasting good or bad weather. He example, in the case of → ’Attar. also rules over the land of the blessed (Tir (Merulis) A Nubian god, an Tairngire). The god appears in the Welsh offshoot of whose cult was to be found in pantheon too, under the name of Philae in Egypt. He was still being vener- Manawyddan, but here his maritime ated as a sky-god and sun-god in Roman aspect has been much eroded, and he fig- times. ures as a thriving husbandman and a skilled cobbler. (Latin di manes ϭ the good gods) The Romans believed that the souls of the An Indian snake goddess; her dead reigned in the underworld as di cult is, in some respects, that of a fertility manes, ‘good gods’, and it was in their goddess. She is particularly venerated in honour that the feast of the parentalia was Bengal where she is invoked for protec- celebrated. In the Empire period, the tion against snakebite. Her Buddhist name of the dead person on a grave-stone → ak i counterpart is J gul . was often preceded by the formula Dis Old Arabian goddess, one of manibus (abbreviation DM); that is to say, the three so-called ‘daughters of Allah’. he was dedicated to the manes. Her chief image was set up in the area An Indian stellar deity, ruler between Mecca and Medina. The name and representative of the planet Mars. means ‘fate’, and in the areas where Hellenistic culture was in contact with Mani In north Germanic tradition the Arabian, she was accordingly understood moon or the moon-god; the son of as → Tyché or → Nemesis. Mundilferi (in whom we may perhaps rec- ognize the old moon), and brother of the Manda In India, the divine regent of sun (→ Sol). It is Mani who guides the the planet Saturn: he is also known as moon-vehicle through the heavens. When Fani. He is supposed to be old, ugly and the world is being destroyed (Ragnarök), lame, and he travels in a cart drawn by the moon is swallowed by a wolf. eight dappled horses or rides on a black- bird, a vulture or a raven. Manitu (or Manito) A name given by the Algonkin Indians of North America to Manda d-Hiia (‘the knowledge of life’) an impersonal force which informs all A god of the Mandaeans. As his name things. In certain tribes, e.g. the Lenape, it suggests, he personifies the Mandaean is also the designation for the supreme teaching – the teaching (manda) of life being, the , the chief of all the (hiia). He it is who has revealed this gods, who are his appointed representa- teaching; and as the teaching is mainly tives (manitowuk). concerned with redemption, he also fig- s ures as the saviour or redeemer. Mañjugho a (‘beautiful voice’) A form of the → Bodhisattva → Mañjufri, Mandah (Mundih) Designation of a particularly revered in Nepal and Bengal. pre-Islamic category of gods, who were He has one head and two arms, and is primarily concerned with irrigation, but golden-yellow or saffron in colour. He who also show the characteristics of rides upon a lion or sits on a lion-throne. Marduk 119

Mañjuqri (‘charming prince’) One of described. Subsequently, certain aspects the most popular → Bodhisattvas, patron of Mara are personified: thus, for exam- of wisdom, who bestows knowledge and ple, -Mara represents spiritual eloquence on his disciples. His main attrib- ‘defilement’. utes are the sword of knowledge and the Marama Moon-goddess of the Maori book of prajña paramita. Inconograph- people in New Zealand. Periodically her ically, he can be portrayed in fourteen dif- body wastes away but it is restored to new ferent ways: see for example, Arapacana, splendour when she bathes it in the water Mañjughosa and Dharmadhatuvagifvara. of life. Chinese Buddhists believed the Emperor to be an incarnation of Mañjufri Marchocias In medieval demonology, (in Chinese, Wen Shu). In the Tibetan a prince of the hellish realm, with the Books of the Dead, Mañjufri (in Tibetan, wings of a griffin and the tail of a snake. ‘Jam-dpal-dbyangs’) is saffron-yellow in Before the fall of his master → Satan, he colour, and in his hands he holds the blue belonged to the hierarchy of the angels. Utpala blossom. In Japan he is given the Marduk name of Monju. Manu In Indian, Iranian and Germanic tradition, the progenitor of the human race. In Old Indian thought, he is the son of → Vivasvat, or of → Surya, and was rescued by a fish during the flood. In grat- itude he made a sacrifice of milk and melted butter: after a year, this offering turned into a beautiful woman, who con- fided to him that she was his daughter → Ida. Together, they begot the human race. Apart from Manu, another thirteen Manus will appear as demigods, creators and sustainers of the creatures belonging to a given period of time. Manuzi → Liluri Manzayiri The Kalmyks, a west Mongolian people, give this name to their primeval being from whose body the world was formed: the sun and the moon from his eyes, water from his blood and (in Sumerian, Amar-utuk ϭ calf of the fire from the warmth of his internal sun-god: Hebrew, Merodach) Originally organs. The name is very likely a corrup- the tutelary deity of the city of Babylon; tion of → Mañjufri. from the rise of King Hammurabi Mara (Sanskrit ϭ death, destruction) onwards, promoted to the office of tutelary In Buddhism, the evil principle, the insid- god of the Babylonian Empire. His pre- ious adversary of → Gautama Buddha. dominance was underpinned by the didac- Overtly, he appears as a king and is so tic poem Enuma Elim, which relates the tale 120 Mari of Marduk’s victory over → Tiamat. iconographic representations of Marici: Thanks to his equation with → Asalluli, as Afokakanta she has two arms, is he became the god of exorcism, of the art golden-yellow in colour, she rides on a of healing and of wisdom. In addition, pig and in her left hand she holds a branch Marduk displayed the characteristics of a of the Afoka tree. Most frequent is the god of judgment and of a bringer of light type known as Sayksipta-Marici, which (god of the spring sunshine); he was has three faces (the left one being that of indeed regarded as ‘lord of the gods’. His a pig) and eight arms. wife was → Sarpanitu, and his son was the Mars god of writing and literature → Nabu. Symbolically, Marduk is represented by the reptilian dragon (Musussu); other attributes of his are the pick-axe (marru) or the sickle. His stellar body is the planet Jupiter.

Mari (1) A mother-goddess of the Dravidian peoples in southern India. On the one hand, she is the frightful goddess of smallpox; on the other hand, she is a goddess of rain. She is one of the most popular village deities.

Mari (2) The supreme deity in . The name means simply ‘queen’. She appears as a richly bejew- elled lady; often she flies through the air, exhaling fire, at other times she rides on a ram. She can also traverse the heavens in a chariot drawn by four horses. Finally, she can appear as a white cloud or as a rainbow. Her habitation is inside the (Marspiter, Mamers, Marmar; often earth; her husband is → Maju. Since the called Mavors by Latin poets) Roman adoption of Christianity by the Basques, god of war and protector of the fields and both Mari and Maju have sunk to the rank what grows in them. The third month is of spirits. But the belief that you can ward called after him. The Romans called off lightning by placing a sickle (the sym- themselves ‘sons of Mars’, as they bol of Mari) in front of the house is still regarded him as the father of widespread. and Remus. The holy shield of Mars (ancile) which was supposed to have Marici (‘beam of light’; in China, Mo li fallen from heaven, was kept in the office ji) A Buddhist goddess with solar of the on the Forum, traits. She is described in the Buddhist and was regarded as the pledge or guaran- texts as surrounded by a garland of daz- tee for the continued existence of the zling rays, and she travels in a vehicle Roman Empire. The lance was also a drawn by seven boars. She is particularly symbol of the god, and his sacred crea- invoked at sunrise. There are various tures were the woodpecker (→ Picus), the 121 wolf and the bull. Every five years, the Maruts A group of Indian storm-spirits, state performed a solemn sacrifice (dei the sons of Rudra and the cow Prifni. suovetaurilia) in his honour. Because of They are the constant companions of → the dance they performed during his rites, Indra. According to the description in the the priests of Mars were called – ‘the Rigveda they wore golden helmets and jumpers’. Augustus consecrated a temple breastplates, and used their battleaxes to to Mars Ultor (‘the avenger’). From the split the cloud-cliff so that the rain could third century BC onwards, Mars was fall to earth. equated with the Greek → Arés. Mataras (or, Ambikas ϭ (little) mothers) Mars, Gallic The Romans gave this In India, a group of from seven to nine name to a god who was worshipped in goddesses, who are usually shown in the Gaul under various names: as Camulos company of → Fiva or of → Gajefa, and (also in Britain), as (especially in whose functions are not very clearly southern Gaul) and as . The god defined. They are usually taken to play whom the Romans called can the part of → Faktis. also display Martian characteristics and, a when the club became equated with the M te This is the Latvian word for lightning-hammer, finally passed into the ‘mother’ and it forms part of the names of → figure of → . The Gallic Mars is several deities. There are ‘sea-mother’ ( u a not merely a wargod: in many acts of con- J ras m te) and ‘fire-mother’ (Uguns a a secration he appears as a god of healing m te), ‘berry-mother’ (Ogu m te) and a and of fertility, thus similar to → Teutates. ‘plague-mother’ (Mera m te). There is even ‘devil’s-mother’(Joda mate). Marsbas The name of a demon vener- ated in Phrygia, regarded as a Máter Matúta Old Italic goddess of after the Greek invasion. The story goes the dawn and the morning light. that he found a flute cast aside by → Gradually she developed into a goddess Athená, and mastered it to such an extent of women and childbirth, and later, in her → that he challenged → Apóllon to a musi- equation with Inó, into a patron god- cal competition. Apóllon won and, to pun- dess of seafarers. ish Mars[as for his arrogance, had him Matres In , in Britain and bound to a tree and flayed alive. in the Rhineland, a group of maternal Martanda → Adityas deities, usually thought of as a trinity, though sometimes there seem to be only Martu Old Mesopotamian god of the two of them. They are usually shown steppe or waste places, supposed to be the seated beside each other with baskets of son of the sky-god → An; → Beletseri fruit in their laps, or perhaps a cornu- figures as his consort. On occasion Martu copia. Often, the woman in the middle has also appears as a storm-god who destroys a babe-in-arms. It is likely that veneration settlements. of the matres was limited to members of the household. Marunogere Mythical culture-hero of the Kiwai-Papua in New Guinea. He Matsya In Indian mythology the taught his people how to build their com- piscine avatara in which → Visju munal long-houses, and he created rescued → Manu from the waters of the woman’s sexual parts. deluge. 122 Maui

Maui A sort of roguish demigod in Polynesian belief: on the one hand, he helped the gods to raise the vault of heaven and to order the course of the stars therein, on the other hand, he caught the sun in his net and stole fire in order to give it to man. Many inventions are due to Maui, for example the fish-trap and the cat’s cradle. His epithet is Tikitiki, which suggests some connection with the first man (→ Tiki). Maui was never the object of any religious cult.

Mawu The sky-god of the Ewe people in Togo. He created the spirits (mawuviwo the goddess was torn to pieces by the ϭ children of god), in order to provide a demons of darkness he caused the first link between himself and human beings. plants to arise from her bones. He is the giver of all things, and he loves Mayin The supreme god of the Tungus the colour white – even the food he par- people along the Yenisei river in Siberia; takes of is white. Mawu is often equated the name means ‘giver of life’. He sends with the deity known as Sodza (→ So). souls into the bodies of new-born chil- Among the Fong people in Dahomey, dren, and receives into his heaven the Mawu is female and identified with the souls of those who have died after leading moon; yet another version of the myth a good life. makes the god androgynous. Mawu is the sister of the sun (→ Lisa). Ma-zu A goddess worshipped on the southeast coast of China. Her epithet is a a M y (‘miraculous power’; later meaning tian-hou, ‘Queen of heaven’ and she is ‘deception’) In Vedic times a designa- particularly helpful to fishermen in dis- tion for the power of the gods, a power tress on the seas. In popular belief, the → sj created by Vi u as a female primeval figure of Ma-zu merges into that of the principle, from which the world is gener- compassionate → Guan Yin. ated. In the Upanisads, the world, engen- dered as it is by the forces of magic, Mazzikin Evil spirits mentioned in the → M appears as a kind of illusion which will be Talmud along with the edim. Both do wiped away when the sole and universal what they can to make life difficult for of → Brahman is understood. human beings. Maya was finally personified and appears Mbotumbo The god of the Baule in Buddhism as the mother of → negritos in the Ivory Coast. He has the Gautama Buddha. head of an ape and is particularly inter- ested in the welfare of his own priests, (Mayauel) Old Mexican though he is also regarded as a protective goddess of pulque (an intoxicating drink). god by the ordinary people. She is portrayed sitting on a tortoise in front of a blossoming agave plant. According to Medeia (Latin ) In Greek myth, one version of the myth, she was abducted the daughter, skilled in magic, of King by → Quetzalcoatl from heaven, and when Aietes of Colchis, and the grand-daughter Men Shen 123 of the sun-god → Hélios. When Melqart (more precisely, milk-quart ϭ arrives with the , she helps him city king) The chief god of Tyrus in to steal the . When Jason Phoenicia, also venerated in the daughter- proves unfaithful to her, after their mar- city of Carthage. He is connected with the riage, she punishes him by slaying her sea and sea-faring and on coins he is own children. It is likely that Medeia is a shown riding on a sea-horse. At a later later version of an ancient Thessalian date, he was also seen as a sun-god, which goddess reminiscent of → Hekáte. may have had something to do with his → Medeine (Mejdejn, from Lithuanian equation with Heraklés. medis ϭ tree) A Lithuanian goddess of Men A moon-god, particularly vener- the woods, known from references to her ated in Phrygia in Asia Minor, and in medieval . believed to rule not only over the heavens Meditrina Ancient Roman goddess of but over the underworld as well. When the healing art, who was ousted by the plants and animals flourished and pros- cult of → Aesculápius. pered, this was ascribed to his heavenly influence. His epithet was tyrannos ϭ Medr (‘earth’) Old Ethiopic earth master, a word which the Greeks took spirit, whether male or female is not clear. from the Lydian language. → Medusa Gorgons Meness Old Latvian moon-god, hus- → Mefitis A Roman goddess who was band of the sun-goddess ( Saule) and venerated in connection with sulphur tutelary god of travellers. He was invoked springs; the intoxicating sulphur fumes before setting out on a military campaign were also known as mefitis. and at the consecration of a standard: that is to say, he had a military function as → Megaira Erinyes well. He also played a part in exorcism Meghamalin → Parfva and incantation. Mehet-uret (‘great flood’) An ancient (Menchit) An ancient Egyptian goddess in the form of a cow, an Egyptian goddess in the form of a lion; embodiment of the primeval waters from her cult was especially associated with which the sun-god arises. In Plutarch, her Latopolis (Esneh). Her name means ‘she name appears as Methyer and is applied who slaughters’, and this identifies her as to → Isis. a goddess of battle. Her husband was → Chnum, her son → Hike. (Mechit) An ancient Egyptian lion-goddess worshipped in the neigh- (Menerva) An Etruscan god- bourhood of Thinis. She was supposed dess, corresponding iconographically to to be the wife of → Onuris. the Greek → Athená, her attributes being helmet, lance and shield. The myth of Melpoméne (Greek melpein ϭ to sing) Athená’s birth was also transferred to One of the nine → Muses, usually the one Menrva, who was said to have sprung associated with singing and . She from the head of → Tin(ia). can be identified by her cothurni (the high shoes, bound with cords, worn by Men Shen Two Chinese gods whose actors) and her mask; often she carries function is to look after gateways and a garland of vineleaves as well. doors. Armed with halberd, bow and 124 Menulis arrow and magic symbols, they guard the → . Whether this Gallic god entrances of houses and palaces. shares certain individual traits with → images of them were stuck on to doors Teutates or is identical with him, is a during the New Year celebrations in order moot point. to protect the inhabitants from evil Meresger (Meretseger ϭ she who loves demons. silence) Snake-goddess and protective Menulis The moon-god in the belief of deity of the Theban necropolis in ancient the ancient Lithuanians. Mythologically Egypt. Her epithet was ‘queen of the the husband of the sun, but living apart west’. from her, as he is in love with the morn- (Mert) Ancient Egyptian god- ing star. The moon was also called dess of song and rejoicing. As ‘Queen of dangaus karalaitis ϭ heavenly prince. the treasury’ she is often depicted stand- Mephistopheles (Mephisto) The ing on the hieroglyph for ‘gold’. She name of the devil in the literature of necro- appears also in double form as Meret of mancy and magic in the late Middle Ages, Upper and of Lower Egypt. and in the Faust story. The name seems to Mesaru → Mamam be derived from Hebrew mephir ϭ destroyer and tophel ϭ liar. Mesenet In ancient Egypt, the person- ification of the ‘birth-tile’ on which the Mercurius (Mercury) The Roman god mother giving birth crouched. The double of trade and industry, whose shrine in spiral on the head of the goddess has been Rome was on the Circus Maximus. tentatively identified as a cow’s uterus. Originally he was one of the ancient gods of riches and profit (dei lucri) and it was Meslamta’ea A Sumerian god repre- not until he was equated with the Greek → senting the war-like aspect of → Nergal, Hérmes that he became the god of trades- the god of the underworld. men and merchants. His name used to be Metatron A benevolent demon men- derived from mercari ϭ to carry on a busi- tioned in the Kabbala, angel of the coun- ness, but it now seems that an Etruscan tenance and custodian of strength. He origin is possible. His opposite number in receives prayers from human beings and the Etruscan pantheon is → . plaits them into crowns to be set on the Mercurius, Gallic Celtic names are head of God. extant for the god the Romans called The Greek goddess of wisdom, Mercurius: thus, the Picts called him daughter of → Okeanos and of → Tethys. Adsmerius, while the and the She was the first wife of → Zeus, who Mediomatrici knew him as Clavariatis. swallowed her because he feared she He was especially venerated on mountain- might give birth to a son mightier than he. tops: hence such names as Mont-Mercure Her child → Athená sprang from the head in the Vendée, and Merkur near Baden- of Zeus. Baden. Like the Roman model, this god too has the caduceus as attribute, and Meza mate Among the Latvians, an in his hand he holds a purse. His sacred inferior nature deity; the name means animals are the cock, the tortoise and ‘mother of the forest’. It is told in folk- the ram. In the area round the Mosel and song how she protects all wild life – but the Rhine he was depicted along with she is also called the ‘patron of hunters’. Mimir 125

Michael (Hebrew ϭ Who is like God?) in vain to fish it out of the water. At In the Bible, the prince of the angels who Ragnarök, the destruction of the world, fights for Israel (Daniel 10: 13–21; 12: 1), Thor and the great snake kill each other. and who hurls the apostate angels led by Midir An Irish god, lord of the won- → Satan out of heaven (Revelation 12: drous land of Mag Mor, the tutor of the → 7–9). In Christianity, he is revered like god → Oengus. Struck by a stake cut Gabriel as an archangel. His attributes, as from a hazel-tree, he loses an eye which is God’s champion, are the sword and the replaced for him by the god of healing → banner, and in pictures of the Last Dian-Cecht. Judgment he is shown holding a pair of scales (the weighing of the souls). In Mihr (also as Mehr, Meher) Armenian Islam he is called Mikal and is regarded sungod, semantically related to the as lord of natural forces. Persian → Mithra. He was taken to be the son of → Aramazd. On earth, he mani- Mictlantecutli fested himself in the form of fire. He is accompanied by a black raven and he lives in a cave – symbols in sharp contra- diction with his solar nature. Mikal A Phoenician god revered on Cyprus, in function perhaps a god of plague and pestilence. Milkom The chief god of the Ammonites who live in east Jordan. The name probably derives from the Semitic word for ‘king’ (milk, melek, cf. also → Malik). Milkom is mentioned several times in the Old Testament, and Solomon seems to have worshipped him for a time (1 Kings 11: 33). Mi-lo Fo (also called Pu-Sa) The Chinese name of the Bodhisattva → Maitreya, who is to make his appearance at the end of time. He is represented as a (‘Lord of the realm of the dead’) Aztec plump monk, with a happy laughing face, god of the underworld (Mictlan) where in a crouching posture; in his hands he icy cold reigns and where poisonous holds a wreath of roses and a purse. snakes are the only food. The god of death Mimir In Norse mythology, the gigantic is usually depicted with protruding teeth demon of a well, whose waters confer ulti- as in a skull. mate wisdom on those who drink of them. Midgard-snake In Germanic mythol- The god → Odin pawned one of his eyes in ogy, an enormous demonic being, the order to be allowed to drink at the spring. progeny of → Loki. It lies in the world- A later version of the myth tells us that ocean which surrounds the disc-shaped Mimir falls victim to the struggle between earth. Its arch-enemy is → Thor who tries the Aesir (→ As) and the → Vanir; but 126

Odin has the head of the decapitated Minerva An Italic goddess who may monster preserved so that he can ask its have reached the Roman pantheon via the advice from time to time. Etruscan (→ Menrva). She is the protec- tive deity of craftsmen and teachers, Min and her chief feast – the so-called Quinquatrus (19–23 March) – was solem- nized mainly by artists and craftsmen. As Minerva Medica she was the tutelary god- dess of doctors and had a shrine on the Esquiline. As tutelary goddess of Rome she had her main temple on the Aventine. She was later equated with the Greek goddess → Athená. Minerva, Gallic Caesar mentions this goddess of handicrafts (operum) and arts (artificiorum). Her Celtic name is unknown. Many inscriptions have been found dedicated to her, and in these she is often given the epithet (Celtic bel ϭ shining, resplendent). As a rule, she is portrayed as armed. She also appeared as medica, i.e. as a physician, and in this capacity her cult was connected with medicinal springs. Her counterpart Old Egyptian god of fertility: worshipped among the ancient Irish was → Brigit. in prehistoric times in the form of a fetish, Minos In Greek myth, the son of → thereafter in human form with erect phal- Zeus and the Phoenician princess . lus. Among his attributes is a plot with let- Because of his exemplary rule as king tuce plants (as an aphrodisiac!). As the over Crete he was translated after death to local deity of Koptos he became tutelary the underworld, there to judge the dead god of the desert roads. One of his epithets (cf. → Aiakós). Minos displays traits of a was Kamutef, i.e. ‘bull of his mother’ in bull revered as a god. token of his auto-generation. His main feast was the so-called ‘feast of the steps’; Minotauros In Greek myth a fabulous seated on his ‘step’ (threshing floor?) the being with a human body and a bull’s god received the first sheaf of the harvest, head. It was kept captive in the labyrinth cut by the king himself. The Greeks iden- by the Cretan king → Minos, and finally tified Min with → Pan or with → Priapos. slain by the Athenian hero → Theseus. Minaksi (Minaci) Hindu goddess, a Mirsa The celestial lord of light and manifestation of → Parvati. She arose fire in the popular belief of the Georgians from the sacrificial fire of a childless and the Mingrelians in the Caucasus. king, in the shape of a girl with three It is possible that the name is a corruption breasts. Her husband is → Fiva. She is of the Persian → Mithra. People turn venerated above all by fisher-folk, and to him for protection against diseases of she is portrayed riding on a fish. the eye. Moires 127

Mithra intensified until he appeared as the figure Iranian god of light and protector of of , the ‘invincible sun’. In late pledges and contracts, similar to the antiquity, the universal appeal of this god Indian → Mitra. In the course of shows itself in a number of symbioses with Zarathustra’s reforms he was ousted by → other gods (Mercurius, Zeus, Serapis). Ahura Mazda from his hitherto predomi- Mitra The Vedic god of friendship and nant position; but in the fourth century BC of contracts. While → Var uja ruled the he made a vigorous come-back as a cult night and received dark sacrifices, Mitra figure, though Zoroastrian circles contin- ruled the day and received white sacri- ued to ignore him. The Avesta tells us that fices. He is one of the → Adityas, and Mithra has 10,000 ears and eyes; he rides in figures generally in the late Vedic period a chariot drawn by white horses. He causes as a friendly god. In Iran, he is paralleled the rain to fall and the plants to grow. In the by → Mithra. post-Alexandrine period in Asia Minor Mithra took on traits of → Apóllon and (‘cloud-snake’) A manifesta- → of → Hélios, thereby tending more and tion of the Aztec god Tezcatlipoca, the more to the sun-god type. Cf. Mithras. form he adopted when he made the first fire: as boringstick he used the rotating fir- Mithras mament held in place by its two poles. Mixcoatl himself is the god of the pole-star. Mnemosbne The Greek goddess of memory: the mother – by → Zeus – of the nine Muses. (Egyptian Mnewer) The sacred ‘bull of Heliopolis’, which was, like Apis, an agent of fertility. He was also described as the ‘herald’ of the sun- god → Re. Mog Ruith An Irish god, who rides in a chariot of bright bronze, or flies through The Graeco-Latin name of the Iranian → the air like a bird. The ruith component in Mithra, whose cult and mysteries were the name may be connected with the word spread by troops and seafarers over the roth ϭ wheel, thus indicating a solar trait whole of the Roman Empire in the first in the god. One tradition makes him out to and second centuries AD. As the god of have lost an eye. loyalty, truth and the fight against evil, Mithras became the favourite god of sol- Moires (Moirai; Greek moira ϭ portion, diers. The cult excluded women, and its rit- share) Originally, man’s allotted ‘por- uals were held by night in underground tions’ in life, his share of fate; thereafter, rooms (mithraea sing. ). The the three goddesses of fate, Klotho (the central act was the slaughter of a bull – spinner) who spins the thread of life, originally, it was believed, by the god him- Lachesis, who sustains it through all con- self – an act which engendered the world tingencies, and (‘the inevitable’) and/or its vegetation. Mithra’s original who cuts it through and thereby brings identity as a god of light was gradually death. In Hesiod they are the daughters 128 Mokoy of → Zeus and of → Themis. In ancient Month (the Egyptian form of the name is art they are depicted with spindle, scroll ) Originally a falcon-headed god or scales. The Romans equated them with worshipped in Hermonthis. His function the Parcae. In popular belief in modern was warlike: he overthrows the adver- Greece they are called mires. saries of the sun-god, and gives the Pharaoh victory. In Thebes, he was first Mokoy East Slav goddess of fertility, regarded as tutelary god of the monarch mentioned in the Nestor Chronicle. She until he had to relinquish this office to → figured as the protector of women in Amun. The sacred animal of Month was a process of delivery. Her functions were white bull with a black face which came later transferred, with the coming of to be known in later days as → Buchis. Christianity, to the Virgin Mary. A ghost and bogeyman in This is a Greek transcription Greek popular belief. of the Hebrew Molek – the name of a Canaanite god, to whom human sacrifice Morpheus (from Greek morphe ϭ form, (of children) was originally made. Many shape) The Greek god of dreams, the Israelites consecrated their children to son of → H[pnos. He plays no part what- Moloch by throwing them into the flames ever in Greek religion. (2 Kings 23: 10). Lately, the name Moloch has been compared with the Morrigan (Morrigu) Irish goddess of Punic root MLK ϭ offering, sacrifice; if war, whose name is interpreted as mean- a connection can be established, this ing ‘queen of the ghosts’. She rages about would suggest that Moloch was not a god as a sort of fury in battle, usually in the but rather a particular form of sacrifice. form of a bird, and also switches to the role of a goddess of the underworld. Moma The Uitoto Indians in South → America believe in Moma as their creator Parcae and primeval father. When he was slain, Mot (Semitic mawt, mot ϭ death) death entered the world. Since then, Phoenician god of drought, of infertility Moma has ruled the underworld, which is and death. He is lord of the underworld, the in keeping with the lunar characteristics ‘charnel-house of earth’. Mot is adversary also ascribed to him. of → Baal, whom he slays. The goddess → Momos In Greek religion the personi- Anat thereupon travels to the underworld, fication of blame, censure. Hesiod and cuts Mot to pieces with a sword, which describes Momos as one of the sons of leads to the resurrection of Baal. It is night (→ Nyx). probable that Philon of Byblos had Mot in mind when he writes of a god ‘Muth’ Mon In the religious system of the whom the Phoenicians call ‘death’. Kafirs in eastern Afghanistan, the first divine creation of → Imra. He was repre- dMu (also written as rMu) In the Bon sented as a man with a golden quiver, or religion of ancient Tibet, equivalent to → as a zebu grazing in golden mountain Lha. The dMu are spirits which dwell in grass. First and foremost, Mon is the vic- heaven; the sky-god is named dMu-bdud torious slayer of demons. Among the kam-po sa-zan. Prasun he is called Mandu. Mugasa (or Mugu) Mythical sky-god Monimos → Azizos of the Bambuti (tribe of pygmies in central Mut 129

Africa). At first, it is related, he dwelt with the first men, who were his children, in a paradise-like land. He lived in a hut and did not wish to be seen by men, and when they disobeyed this command he took him- self away. Since then, man is mortal. Apart from occasional invocation of Mugasa, no sort of cult attaches to his name. Mu Gong In Chinese Taoist literature, the god of the immortals, lord of the east and embodiment of the Yang principle. He is the husband of → Xi-Wang-mu who lives in the west. Djadi The creator god of the Toba-Batak in Sumatra. He lives in the loftiest of the , and two swallows serve him as messengers. Mula Djadi is the creator of all things. (often as Mungu) The supreme god of various East African tribes, Muses (Musae) The daughters of the e.g. the Kamba. His epithet is mumbi, i.e. Greek father of the gods → Zeus and of → ‘creator’. Etymologically, the name Mnemos[ne. They dwell on Olympus and Mulungu is connected with Bantu words regale the gods with their song, led by → meaning ‘ancestral domain’ or ‘ancestral Apóllon. Later, each Muse was given a soul’. It is probable that in origin Mulungu specific field of art and science: thus, to figured as ancestral chief or progenitor. → Erato was allotted love poetry, → Eutérpe playing the flute and lyric poetry, The adviser of the old → Kalliópe epic poetry and philosophy, → → Mesopotamian primeval god Apsu. Klio history, → Melpoméne tragedy, → → Both were overcome by Ea, who , song accompanied by musi- stripped Mummu of his radiance, thereby cal instruments, → dance, → appropriating his being for himself. comedy and → Urania astronomy. Mundilferi → Mani Here and there the Muses were revered as nymphs of wells and springs, and the a Muruk n Ancient Dravidian deity, Kastalia spring on Mount Parnassus was whose name means ‘the youthful one’. He particularly sacred to them. is also known as Ceyon (‘the red one’). He is the divine hunter and warrior, and Musisi A god of the Ndonga people in therefore identified with the Hindu → Angola; the only son of → Kalunga. Skanda. He rides on an elephant or a pea- Musisi acts as an interceder for mankind: cock. His banner is adorned with a cock, a proverb says, ‘What Musisi asks on and as attribute he carries a spear along your behalf, Kalunga will give you.’ with a garland of red flowers of the Katampu tree. Murukan’s own epithet Mut An ancient Egyptian goddess. The was katampan ϭ god of the katampu tree. consonantal writing of her name is Mw.t; 130 Mutu the etymology of this is not clear. It has Mutu In Modern Assyrian verse the been linked with the word for ‘mother’, but god of the underworld and the personifica- it could also mean ‘vulture’, in which form tion of death. He can be recognized by his the goddess was originally revered. Later, head which is that of a reptilian dragon. she is anthropomorphized and retains only the vulture’s crest. In Thebes, she was Mutunus Tutunus A Roman god, rep- regarded as the spouse of → Amun and resented as ithyphallic or as a phallus. mother of → Chons. Mut was equated both Women brought their offerings to him in with the sky-goddess → Hathor and with the hope that they would thereby be the snake-goddess → Uto. blessed with children. N

Nabu (Ancient Babylonian Nabium; in manifested itself as a humming-bird or an the Old Testament Nebo) Babylonian eagle, and → Quetzalcoatl’s was the green god of writing and of wisdom, the son of feather-snake. → Marduk and of → Sarpanitu. His Nahhundi (Nachunte) The sun-god of attribute is the writing stylus. As scribe of Elam which lies north-east of the point at the tablets of destiny, he occupied a high which the -Euphrates debouches rank in the Babylonian pantheon. The city into the Persian Gulf. of Borsippa was the centre of his cult, as of that of his wife → Tammetu. Nahi A Thamudic (ancient north Arabian) god, whose function was in Naga (snake) In Indian belief, general helpful and protective. demonic beings, some of whom, however, achieved immortality. They are in the (Naiades) → Nymphs who form of snakes and have usually five or dwell in springs, pools and rivers. seven heads. In art, they are often shown in human form as far as the navel, snake- Nainuema A mythical primeval being like below it. The snake Ananta is the in the belief of the Uitoto in South symbol of eternity; under the name of America. He attached the world (that Fesa it bears the world. Another Naga, which is) to an empty delusion; then he , served as a rope at the churning descended on to this dreamed-up earth of the milk-ocean, and is then used by → and tramped it flat and firm. Finally he Fiva as a girdle, which can scare off spat on it so that the forest should grow. demons. In Indian popular belief, the Namita (Namite) Certain Papuan Nagas are venerated as fertility bearers tribes in New Guinea believe in this (stone plinths decorated with snakes). In primeval female deity who impregnated Buddhism, they play a part in the life- herself with her own big toe and bore story of → Gautama. twins, whom she initiated in the arts and crafts useful to man. One tribe regards the Nagakumara (‘snake-prince’) In cassowary as her representative bird. Put Jainism, a sub-divison of the → to death at her own behest, her blood Bhavanavasin gods. They can generate engenders the first men. rain and thunder, and were originally deities associated with water. Nammu A Sumerian goddess: the primeval mother who ‘has given birth to Nagual (Aztec naualli, nahualli ϭ mask, heaven and earth’. She also appears as the disguise) In Central America, a personal creator of mankind. tutelary spirit, which may take the form of an animal or, sometimes, of a plant. The Sumerian name means A man and his nagual are bound together ‘that which is cut off’, and it designates by a mystical sharing of destiny. The the personification of fate in Sumerian Mexicans believed that even the gods had thought. It is the divine (perhaps their nagual: that of → Huitzilopochtli demonic) messenger of the underworld 132 Nana goddess → Eremkigal, charged with bring- Nanye The local goddess of Lagam in ing death to mortals. Sumeria. As the daughter of the god of wisdom → Enki she is the goddess of Nana An Armenian goddess, daughter soothsaying and interpretation of dreams, → of Aramazd, and taken by the Greeks and the divine will is promulgated as equivalent to Athená. The etymology through her as harbinger. of the name is not certain: one plausible line of argument connects it with an Indo- A Gallic goddess. She is Germanic word for ‘mother’, attested in linked with → Sucellos, which seems to Sanskrit. It has also been suggested that suggest a goddess of the dead; while her Nana is the Armenian form of the attribute – a cornucopia – points rather Phrygian → Kybéle. In the Parthian in the direction of a goddess who provides period her cult reached Palmyra and the the good things of life. In the country of east Iranian Kushan Empire. Another the Mediomatrici she is portrayed with divine Nana is also known to us – the a small, round house in her hand, from daughter of the river-god → Sangarios in which we may infer a domestic trait in Asia Minor. her make-up – perhaps she was a kind of protective deity. Nanaja Ancient Mesopotamian god- dess of sex, who, like → Imtar, had a war- The moon-god of Elam, like function into the bargain. At a later Babylon’s Iranian neighbour state. period she was equated with → Tammetu. Narasimha (‘man-lion’) The fourth In the Hellenistic period her cult spread to incarnation of the Indian god → Visju: in Syria and Iran. this avatara he liberates the world from Nandin (‘he who pleases’) A white its tribulations under the demon king bull in the retinue of the Hindu god → Hiranyakasipu. F iva, whose virility and fecundity it Narayana (‘son of the primeval man’) aj incorporates. In the Pur as, Nandin is In India, this name is associated with the invoked as a divinity. concept of a supreme being, understood → → Nang Lha A Tibetan house-god, to as a manifestation of Brahma or of sj whom beverages are ceremonially Vi u. According to one tradition he offered. He is usually depicted in human drifted on a banana leaf and sucked his form, but with a pig’s head. toe (a symbol of eternity) until he had shaped the universe out of his own cre- Nanna (1) Sumerian moon-god, whose ative energy. A well-known iconographic cult had its main centre at Ur. He was representation shows Visju-Narayana regarded as ‘lord of destiny’ and his epi- during the universal night, mounted on thet was aˇsimbabbar, i.e. ‘whose ascent is the snake Ananta; from his navel there radiant’. Nanna corresponds to the grows a lotus bearing the god → Akkadian → Sin. Brahman. Nanna (2) The wife of the Germanic Nareau The creator-god of the inhabi- god → Balder, the mother of → Forseti. tants of the Gilbert Islands in Melanesia. When Balder is slain, she dies of grief. In He formed heaven and earth from a mus- Old Norse, the word is used as a poetic sel. Then he caused sand and water to designation for a young woman. mate, and from the union came forth Nechmetawaj 133

Nareau the Younger. The latter conquered Naunet figures as an underworld comple- darkness by forming the sun and the ment to heaven (→ Nut), thus becoming moon from his father’s eyes; from the a kind of counter-heaven which the sun flesh he created rocks and stones, and traverses during the night. from the backbone the ‘tree of the fore- Ndjambi Sky-god of the Herero peo- fathers’, from which came the ancestors ple in south-west Africa, the source of all of the human race. good deeds. Whoever dies a natural death Nari Among the Slavs, demonic beings is borne aloft by him. It is not permissible who seem to have been in origin the souls to utter his name except on certain very of dead children. The imagine special occasions. them in the shape of birds. In the Ukraine Nebtuu (Nebetu ϭ ‘queen of the fields’) they are reckoned as belonging to the A local goddess venerated together with domestic . → Chnum in Esneh, the ancient Latopolis. Narisah The Manichaean ‘god of the Nechbet world of light’, the father of the twelve ‘light-virgins’ (dominion, wisdom, vic- tory, conviction, purity, truth, belief, patience, uprightness, kindness, justice and light), corresponding to the twelve signs of the Zodiac. Narisah may also appear as ‘virgin of light’, and is then essentially androgynous. Narkissos (Latin ) Son of the Greek river-god Kephissos and the → Leirope. In unrequited love for his own image reflected in the water, he wasted away until he was transformed into the flower which now bears his name. (also Nusur) Ancient Arabian god whose name means ‘eagle’. Apart Upper Egyptian tutelary goddess of the from this, little is known about him. monarch, represented as a woman with a Natha (Sinhala ϭ protector, master) vulture’s skin on her head, or as a vulture. One of the four chief gods of Ceylon (Sri Her attributes are the of authority and Lanka), equated with the Bodhisattva → the eternity symbol. Her sacred creature, Avalokitefvara: subsequently also identi- the vulture, became symbolical for the fied as the future Buddha → Maitreya. whole of Upper Egypt, and entered the The Buddhist goddess → Tara is supposed Pharaonic regalia together with the snake to be his spouse. representing Lower Egypt (→ Uto). In popular belief in the days of the New Naunet In the ancient Egyptian cos- Kingdom and later Nechbet was revered mogony of Hermopolis, Naunet belongs as a goddess of birh. to the → Ogdoad, and is the female coun- terpart of → Nun, the personification of Nechmetawaj (Nehmet-awai) An the primeval deep. In old religious texts ancient Egyptian goddess venerated in 134 Neferhor

Hermopolis. Her name means ‘she who local goddess of Sais, the consonants of takes the part of the robbed’. She is the which are N.t. She was essentially a god- female counterpart of → Thot, who is of dess of war: her cult symbol which she course a protector of justice: their son is bears on her head consists of a pair of → Neferhor. At a later date, the goddess crossed arrows, often with a shield as merged with → Hathor. Plutarch men- well. Her epithet is ‘she who opens up the tions her under the name of Dikaiosyne. ways’, indicating that she marches ahead of the monarch and his army. The location Neferhor (Greek form Nephoros or of her cult – in the delta of the Nile – Nopheros) Ancient Egyptian god, explains her close relationship with the forming a triad with → Nechmetawaj and crocodile-god → Suchos, who is → Thot. The name means ‘he who is fair described as her son. Sometimes Neith of face’. appears as a primeval goddess, who may (Greek form Nephthemis) even have androgynous features. She is a Ancient Egyptian god of sweet savour: goddess of the dead along with → Isis, → actually, the deified lotus flower which he Nephthys and → Selket. bears on his head or carries in his hand in his anthropomorphic guise. In one Nemesis A Greek goddess who saw to Pyramid text he is described as the ‘lotus- it that justice and luck were evenly dis- bloom on the nose of Re’. In his solar tributed in human life and who meted out aspect, Nefertem himself becomes the due punishment for misdeeds and arro- sun-child on the lotus blossom, and the gance (). The name is connected victorious god of light. He is often shown with the root nemein in the sense of with a lion’s head: after all, his mother → ‘apportionment of what is proper, due’. Sachmet was a lion-goddess. The cult of Nemesis centred round Rhamnus in Attica and in Smyrna. In the A Germanic goddess, Hellenistic period, Nemesis was regarded evidence of whose cult has been found in as the goddess of the agone (sporting the Low Countries. It is not clear what her competitions of all sorts) and under the name means: and it has been variously Roman Empire she was honoured in suggested that the references to her iden- amphitheatres and at racecourses. tify her as a goddess of fertility or as a goddess of the dead. Altars dedicated to A Celtic goddess, who was her show her with fruit (or a basket of often coupled with the Gallic → Mars. Her fruit) and a dog; often the bows of a ship name is derived from the word nemton ϭ appear which may show her in another shrine, sanctum, and means something like light, as a tutelary goddess of seafarers. ‘she who is revered in the shrine’. Nehebkau A snake-demon in ancient Nenun (Nenwen) Ancient Egyptian Egyptian belief. He serves the sun-god, local god of Kus. He was a falcon-god, whom he accompanies in his barque; and later equated with Haroeris. he is a kind of watchman at the entrance to This old Egyptian word means the beyond. Finally, he assumes the stature ‘corn, grain’, and it is also the name of of a primeval god, and becomes, as lord of the god personifying grains. He is (everlasting) time, the hope of the dead. regarded as the son of the ‘food-snake’ → Neith (‘the terrible one’) This is the , and offers hope to the dead as Greek transliteration of the name of the ‘he who lives, after he has died’. Niamye 135

Nephthys (Nebthut: her name in hiero- of summer, and who brought fever and glyphic consonantal spelling is Nb.t-hw.t pestilence to human beings. ϭ ‘mistress of the house’) Ancient The Roman historian Tacitus Egyptian goddess, who seems to be asso- records the existence of this Germanic → ciated with Seth, but who is function- goddess, whom he calls Mater , → ally on the side of Osiris, whose corpse ‘mother earth’. Archaeological and → she guards together with her sister Isis. toponymical evidence suggests that her In this way, she becomes a goddess of the cult was mainly centred in Denmark. She dead. Nephthys and Isis are of the east is described as travelling through the land and they receive the rising sun. in a wagon drawn by cows and covered by Nepit The female counterpart of the a cloth; when she returns to her shrine, the ancient Egyptian corn-god → Neper. She wagon and the cloth, and even her image, is usually shown in human form, carrying are washed in a sacred lake. In Norway a sheaf of corn on her head; but some- and Sweden, Nerthus is transformed into times she appears in the form of a snake. the figure of the male → Njörd. It is likely Neptunus () Old Italic god of that both Nerthus and Njörd are later flowing water. The people celebrated his versions of an originally androgynous feast (the Neptunalia) on 23 July, the aim fertility deity. being probably to ward off the high sum- The Etruscan god of water, mer drought. Neptune was equated with especially of wells and springs, later of the Greek sea-god → Poseidon, and he the sea also. The name corresponds to the was, in addition, the god of race-courses. Latin → Neptunus. Like Neptune, Nereids The fifty daughters of the Nethuns is shown as naked and bearded, Greek sea-god Nereus. As → Nymphs with a wreath of leaves in his hair. dwelling in the sea they form the retinue Neto(n) An ancient Hispanic war-god of → Poseidon. Two of them, → with astral character. The name is proba- Amphitríte and → Thetis, deserve special bly connected with the Celtic word neto ϭ mention. The Nereids live on in the Greek warrior. mind today as gentle fairies. The supreme god of the Masai Nereus The Greek god of water, espe- people in East Africa. The name means cially of the sea; the son of → Pontos and ‘rain’ and indicates that Ngai was origi- the earth-goddess → Gaia, and father of nally seen as a weather-god. When a male the → Nereids. Like other sea-gods, he Masai dies, Ngai is invoked as follows: has the gift of prophecy, and is able to ‘Oh god, I pray, give health, give posses- change his appearance at will. sions, give children.’ Ngai is also revered Nergal (Sumerian, Nerigal) An ancient as supreme god by the Bantu Kikuyu peo- Mesopotamian god of the underworld, the ple: he lives in heaven, and lightning is husband of → Eremkigal. He was particu- visible evidence of his presence. larly venerated in the city of Kuthu, whose Niamye The supreme god of the Baule name, significantly, served as a synonym people in the Ivory Coast. He was born for the realm of the dead. Other names from the mother of the gods. The first thing given to the god were Lugalgirra and → he did was to create a wife for himself, and Meslamta’ea. In origin, Nergal was an then he turned his hand to creating men and earth-god incorporating the burning heat animals. To begin with, they all lived in 136 Nidhöggr heaven but it became overcrowded – so the Nergal, appears sympathetic. As god created the earth. When people mis- his name suggests (‘Master physician’) he behave and refuse to live in peace, he hurls is a god of healing. his thunderbolts on earth. (Sumerian ϭ ‘great queen’) Nidhöggr (‘Envy-dragon’) A corpse- The wife of the ancient Mesopotamian eating demon in Nordic mythology. He is a moon-god (→ Nanna or → Sin), and demon of the underworld who gnaws mother of the sun-god. She appears in unceasingly at a root of the world-ash Syria under the name of . Yggdrasil, thus threatening the whole of Ningirsu (‘lord of Girsu’) A Sumerian creation. god belonging to the Lagam pantheon, the husband of → Baba. He is probably iden- tical with → Ninurta, and like the latter he appears in two distinct functions: he is first a god of fertility and vegetation, and in this function his epithet is ‘lord of the ploughland’; second, he has a military side and strikes terror into foreign lands. His symbolical animal is the lion-headed eagle Imdugud. Ningiyzida (Ningizida, ‘lord of the right tree’) Chthonic god of the Sumerians. His symbolical creature is the horned snake. According to Akkadian incanta- tions, he watches over the demons who have been exiled to the underworld; while other traditions present him rather as a god of healing, akin to his father → Ninazu. Finally, he also figures as custo- dian at the entrance into heaven. Ningyo A mermaid in Japanese popu- Greek goddess mentioned first in Hesiod. lar belief. She has a human torso and a She is the personification of victory fish’s tail. She wards off misfortune and which is given by → Zeus or by → preserves peace in the land. Athená. She is mostly portrayed as a Ninhursanga (Sumerian ϭ ‘queen of the winged messenger of the gods, with lau- mountains’) A mother-goddess: many rel wreath, girdle and palm-leaf. Her Mesopotamian rulers – e.g. Hammurabi Roman counterpart is → . and Nebucadnezzar – called themselves l Nikkal A Syrian goddess taken over ‘children of Nin ursanga’. from the Mesopotamian pantheon. She Ninigi → Takamimusubi had a lunar aspect (→ Ningal) and was Nin’insina The Sumerian local god- wife of the moon-god → Jaril. dess of Isin; in the Babylonian period she Ninazu Sumerian god of the under- acted as a goddess of healing. At times, world. In contrast with the terrifying → identified with → Inanna. Nommo 137

Ninlil (Sumerian ϭ ‘queen breeze’) Nirrta (Nirrita) who is lord of the south- Ancient Mesopotamian goddess, wife of west precinct. → → Enlil and mother of the moon-god Sumerian goddess of the art of Nanna. She is a compassionate goddess writing and of knowledge, daughter of the with maternal traits. The Assyrians took sky-god → An. She ‘opens men’s ears’, her to be the wife of the tutelary god of i.e. she gives them understanding. As in → the empire Assur. the case of → Nabu, her emblem is the Ninmah The Sumerian name means writing-stylus. In origin, Nisaba was a ‘most great queen’ and refers to an old corn goddess. Mesopotamian mother-goddess. She is Nixe (Water-) (Old High German l also called Dingirma (‘most great divi- nihhus ϭ crocodile; related to Sanskrit l nity’) or simply Ma . nijanas ‘washing oneself’) The male Nix Ninsun(a) Ancient Mesopotamian (Nicker) was originally a water-monster goddess, wife of Lugalbanda. In the epic of an animal nature, regarded as mali- of Gilgamem (whose mother she is) she cious and dangerous. In Sweden, it is figures as an interpreter of dreams. Her known as Näck. The female Nixe is a name is Sumerian in origin and means water-sprite with a human torso and the ‘queen of the wild cow’. tail of a fish. There are similar beings in the folklore of many nations: cf. the → Ninyuyinak (also Inmuminak; Akkadian of the Slavs and the → Ningyo of form Muminak) The national god of the Japanese. Elam; the name is actually Sumerian and means ‘lord of ’. Njörd A Germanic god, descended from the → Vanir but resident with the Ninurta (Sumerian ϭ ‘lord of the earth’) Aesir (→ As) until the end of the world. Ancient Mesopotamian god, the son of → He rules over wind, sea and fire. He is Enlil, husband of the goddess of healing enormously rich, gives the peasants good → Gula. It is Ninurta that is thanked for harvests and helps the fishermen to land flourishing herds and fertile fields. He good catches: that is to say, he behaves as also displays warlike traits, and he it is a god of fertility. In west Norway, Njörd who hunts down the storm-bird → Zu and was especially venerated as a god of retrieves the stolen tablets of destiny. the sea. His children are → Freyr and → Ninurta is probably identical with the → Freyja. His female counterpart is → Ningirsu worshipped in Lagam. Nerthus, whose name is an allomorph of his. Nirah Old Mesopotamian god who incorporates the snake in its apotropaic Nommo In the cosmogony of the aspect. He is represented as a snake on in west Africa, a designa- Babylonian border-markers. tion for primeval beings who existed along with the creator god → Amma. Nirrta → Nirrti They are thought of as life-giving forces Nirrti (Nirriti ϭ annihilation) Indian belonging to the day and the sky, who goddess of destruction, who threatens are particularly associated with rain and both living and dead. In sacrificial ritual, fertility. Certain Nommo brought spe- she is allotted the colour of black, and her cific knowledge and skills to man, e.g. messenger is the dove. Her husband is weaving. 138

Nona A Roman goddess of birth, Nü-gua Ancient Chinese creator so-called because of the nine-month term divinity, variously regarded as male or of pregnancy. female. She formed the first human beings out of yellow clay, and she Norns ϭ (Old Norse norn she who whis- invented the flute. Like the mythical cul- pers) In Germanic mythology, spae- tural hero → Fu-xi, Nü-gua is depicted wives who determine a person’s fate on with reptilian lower half. earth the moment he or she is born; like the → Disir, they also play a part in the actual Num Sky-god and supreme deity of process of birth. To begin with, there seems the Samojedic people; the word num also to have been a plurality of Norns, but in the denotes the visible sky. The god is the cre- end they were reduced to a triad, perhaps ator of the sun, moon and earth, but he → under the influence of the Parcae. In the delegates the running of the world thus Völuspa they are named as Urd, Verdandi ordered to inferior deities. His epithet and : that is to say, the past, the pre- jilibeambaertje identifies him as the pro- sent and the future, or what has been, what tector of herds and flocks. Reindeer are is and what will be. The thread of fate sacrificed to him and hung up on trees or which the Norns are spinning is only occa- poles. sionally mentioned. In essence, the Norns → are closely related to the Valkyries. Num-Torum Sky-god of the Mansi Etruscan goddess of fate and (Vogul) people: he lives in a resplendent fortune. Her attribute is often a large nail. golden house in the seventh heaven, with In her temple at Volsini it was the custom an iron (or silver) pillar in front of the to hammer in a nail at New Year; this may door which signifies the axis mundi. The have been a sort of expiation rite – the bear is closely associated with Num- nailing down of the defunct year – or it Torum, and bears are regarded as the may have symbolized good wishes for the god’s children. coming one. Nun Ancient Egyptian god, the personi- Notos Greek god representing the fication of the primeval deep, the waters south wind. Like his brothers → Boréas, from which all that is has arisen. Like the → Euros and → Zéphyros, he is a son of ocean, he embraces the earth, but is at the the morning red (→ Eos). His Roman same time underneath it. As the primeval equivalent is Auster. god who was existent in the time of Chaos, he bears the epithet ‘father of the Nott (Old Icelandic ϭ night) In Nordic gods’. On occasion he is represented – like mythology, the daughter of a giant: she the other male gods of the → Ogdoad – drives her chariot across the sky, and with a frog’s head. His female counterpart the leading stallion (Frost-mane) bedews is → Naunet. the earth. Her son is Dag (ϭ day). Nuadu Irish god (king) who lost his Nusku Old Mesopotamian god of light hand in the mythical battle of Mag Tured, and fire, the son of → Enlil, and father but had it restored to him by → Dian- of the fire-god → Gibil. He is the enemy Cecht. He is the god of regal authority of witches and demons. A lamp is shown and as such the progenitor of the Irish as his symbol on Babylonian border- royal lines. markers. Nyx 139

Nut the moon. Being essentially androgynous, Nyame can also appear as a goddess. He corresponds to → Niamye of the Baule. gNyan Tibetan spirits who live in trees and stones, and who can send illnesses (especially plague and pestilence) and death to man. As they move about in the mountains as well, they are considered to be close to the gods. Nymphs (Greek nymphe ϭ young woman) For the Greeks, these were female nature deities of a lower order than Sky-goddess of the ancient Egyptians. In gods; but they were sometimes regarded the evening, she swallows the sun in the as demons also, especially when accom- west, only to eject it next morning in panied by and → Silene as their renewed vigour in the east. She is the ‘sow male partners. They dwelt in the moun- who eats up her piglets’ – that is to say, she tains and in caves (oreades), in the sea (→ subsumes all the heavenly bodies in her Nereids), in springs and pools (→ own being. In the Egyptian cult of the Naiads) and in trees (→ Dryads). In dead, she is connected with the concept of Greek myth they are called ‘daughters of resurrection; and the coffin is regarded as Zeus’, and in popular belief they were the symbol of heaven, indeed of Nut her- regarded as conferring fertility. As a rule, self, from whom the dead awaken to new they appeared in groups, often in the ret- life. In art, she is shown being raised by inue of → Dionysos and sometimes led → M the god of the air, u, above the earth- by → Hérmes, whose own mother was a → god Geb. nymph (→ Maía). In the Hellenistic- Nyama (Bantu ϭ animal, game, fish) Roman period they were regarded mainly A designation for a class of wild animal as water-spirits, and duly represented which is rich in magic power, and which with water-pot or mussel shell. The build- incorporates a force which is partly spiri- ing concerned with the provision of water tual and partly physical. The word can be in a Greek city was called the numphaion used to denote spiritual powers (e.g., the (Latin ). capacity of a dead person to avenge him- Nyrckes Nyrckes figures on an old self, to take reprisals); and among Finnish list of gods as the one who gives the Mandingo it is a circumlocution for ‘squirrels from the forest’. In magic for- certain deities. mulae used by hunters he appears as lord of the forest animals, and as the son – but Nyame The supreme being of the sometimes the wife (!)- of the forest god Akan (in the south of Ghana). It is Nyame → . who sends the soul into the embryo, and who determines individual destiny. Nyx In Greek cosmogony, the personi- Temples are erected to him, in which fication of the night. She was regarded as priests spend their lives in his service. His a primeval goddess in whose presence sacred number is five. His male aspect Zeus himself was awe-struck and appre- appears in the sun, his female aspect in hensive. She was derived from Chaos, and 140 Nzambi gave birth to the heavens (aither) and day punishes those who transgress his com- (hemera). Her sons were sleep (→ mands. He is inaccessible to man, and H[pnos) and death (→ Thanatos). accordingly no cult surrounds him. One tradition tells how Nzambi was born as a Nzambi The supreme god of the three-headed androgynous being. Among Bakongo people in the Congo area of the Equatorial African Pangwe (Fang) the Central Africa. He is invisible and has god figures under the name Nzame; he is created all men and all things; and he invoked only when people want rain. O

Oannes This is the Greek form of the to achieve wisdom he sacrificed one of name of an old Mesopotamian god, per- his eyes. In saga and in popular belief he haps a corruption of the Akkadian appears as a one-eyed warrior armed with ummânu ϭ master. The name is men- a spear, or as a wanderer in a blue mantle tioned in the historical writings of the late with a floppy hat. Finally, he is also the Babylonian priest Berossos; it denotes a leader of the ‘wild army’ of peregrinating culture-hero, half-man, half-fish, who souls. One of his epithets is Grimnir (‘the instructed mankind in handicrafts, building masked one’) – this because of his fond- and applied science. ness for changing his outward shape (e.g. into eagle or snake) and for disguises. Odin Other specific epithets are Hangagud (‘god of the hanged’) and Bölverkr (‘harm-bringer’). In Scandinavia and in England, the third day of the is called after him – English Wednesday. In the myth, Odin is swallowed by → Fenrir at Ragnarök, the destruction of the world. Early medieval bracteates show the god threatened by a monster; he is accompa- nied by two birds and sometimes by a deer as well, as in our illustration.

Odqan Mongolian fire-spirit. The name is borrowed from Turkish and means ‘fire-king’. The female version Yal-un eke is older; it means ‘mother of fire’.

( Wodan; south German Odudua An earth-goddess of the Wuotan) Germanic god, described in Yoruba people in Nigeria. In her aspect as → the Edda as the chief of the Aesir ( As) a fertility bringer she is also a goddess of → the husband of Frigg. He is god of war, love. Her sacred colour is black. patron of heroes and ‘father of the dead’ (Walvater). He is served by the → Oengus (Angus) An Irish god. Valkyries. Sacred to the god are the wolf Through cunning he acquires the palace and the raven; and two ravens, Hugin and of his father → Dagda by asking if he Munin, whisper into his ear what they may have it for one day and one night: to have seen on their flight through the the Celtic mind, this is a way of saying world. The name Odin/Wodan is con- ‘for ever’, and the father has been ousted nected with the German word Wut ϭ rage, for good. The full name of the god is fury. Wodan is the god of ecstasy, of magic Oengus ma ind Oc, which means ‘he who (runic magic) and of the art of poetry; and alone is powerful’. 142 Ogdoad

Ogdoad A group of four pairs of gods Okeanos The designation of the venerated in Hermopolis, whom the representative of the waters which girdle Egyptians called Mmun ϭ the eight. They the earth, and from which all springs, rivers are the personifications of the primeval and lakes derive. The etymology of the forces of Chaos: → Nun and his wife → name remains a mystery. Okeanos was sup- Naunet symbolize the primeval waters, → posed to be the son of the sky-god (→ Kuk and Kauket darkness, Huh and Hauhet Uranós) and the earth-goddess (→ Gaia) the eternity of space, and → Amun and → and husband of → Tethys. He is portrayed Amaunet represent invisibility. As cosmic as bearded and carrying a water-pot or urn. gods they are represented in anthropomor- Okeus (Oke) For the Indians living in phic form; individually they also appear as the Virginia area, this was the evil coun- apes who are seen greeting the rising sun (a terpart to the great god → Ahone. The symbol for the creation of the world). They European colonists and are also sometimes conceived as chthonic declared him to be a devil. animals, the male gods appearing as frogs, the female ones as snakes. Okuninushi Japanese god of the art of healing and of magic. Once upon a time, it Chief god of the Irish pantheon. is related, he descended to the underworld, → In the battle against the demonic overcame the storm-god → Susanowo, Fomore, he is able to take their king’s and robbed him of his weapons. sword away from him. One of his epithets is ‘he whose visage is like the sun’. One Olifat (other forms of the name are of his most signal achievements was to Olafat or Yelafath) In the belief of the invent the Og(h)am script which is used Caroline Islanders, a superhuman figure, in the oldest texts in the . part culture-hero, part rogue. His father was the sky-god, his mother was a mortal A Gallic god, corresponding, woman. On the one hand, he gave as his name suggests, to the Irish → mankind fire – but on the other, he gave Ogma. Lukianos (second century AD) the shark its teeth so that it could eat men. equated him with → Heraklés. Bald- Olmai headed and wrinkled, carrying a bow and (Olmay) Among the Lapps, this a club, he is supposed to symbolize the word denotes divine properties: thus, → power of speech. It may be Ogmios who biegg-olmai is the wind-god, and is portrayed on coins in the shape of a waralden olmai is a god of universal head, out of whose mouth an intertwined significance. chain of tiny human heads proceeds. Olokun In Yoruba cosmogony, the god Ogmios has also been interpreted as of wealth and of the sea. He is often to be Psychopompos, he who leads the dead. seen on Benin bronzes; he has legs like fish, and in each hand he holds a lizard. In Okeanides The sons of the Greek days gone by, human sacrifice was made water-god → Okeanos; they are principally to Olokun, it is said, to placate the anger river-gods, as, e.g. → Acheloos. of the god. Among the Ika Ibo, Olokun Okeaninai The daughters of → was worshipped in the form of a water- Okeanos and of → Tethys. The best- jug. One Yoruba myth tells how he once known of them are → Styx, and Doris, wanted to sink the earth in the ocean but who provided the sea-god → Nereus with was prevented by the creator god Obatala fifty daughters. (Aubatala) from carrying out his threat. Orion 143

Olorun brings the faraway’. He is portrayed in human form with four feathers on his head; in one hand he holds a lance. He is a deification of the royal hunter and war- rior, a function which is underlined by his epithet – ‘lord of slaughter’. In the late period he merges with → Mu, who brings back the faraway eye of the sun. Ops Roman goddess of seed-growth and harvest, the wife of → Saturn. It was in her honour that the harvest festival was celebrated on 25 August. The cult of Ops found a foot-hold in North Africa (among the ancient Berber tribes). Ora In Albanian popular belief, a female protective spirit. Every one of us is equipped with an ora from birth, which may have a white or a black visage according to whether the ora has a brave and industrious person to look after or a The supreme god of the Yoruba people. lazy, cowardly one. He it was who charged the sky-god → Orisa Nla to create a fundament, and then Orahan The sole god worshipped by he sent the rain vitally necessary for the the Canary Islanders on the island of growth of plants. The god has neither Gomera; he is enthroned in heaven, and temples nor priests, and he can only be his implacable enemy is the demonic, invoked as a last resort in the direst of woolly-haired Hirguan. circumstances. Orcus A Roman god of the underworld, Ometeotl (also known as Ometecutli, lord of the realm of the dead, equivalent to Tloque Nahuaque or Citlatonac) A the Greek → Hades. He appears as a high god in , who played lit- fierce fighter who strikes the valiant to the tle part, however, in cult and religious ground and who runs down the cowardly observance. He is ‘he who is in the cen- fugitive. In popular belief he also appears tre-point’, the god who embraces all as a demon with black wings. things. He is immediately and directly Ördög In ancient Hungarian belief, present but remains invisible. He is the the deity controlling the dark forces originator of all things: according to one of the world; after Christianization, a tradition, indeed, he thought himself up. designation of the devil. His Maya counterpart is → Hunab Ku. Oreades In Greek mythology → Omichle → Pothos nymphs who lived in the mountains and in caves. Onuris The Greek form of the god Anhuret, worshipped in the Upper Orion Son of the Greek sea-god → Egyptian city of This (Thinis). The name Poseidon. He was a mighty hunter who Anhuret means something like ‘he who was abducted by → Eos to be her lover. 144 Orisa Nla

But the Olympians begrudged Eos her Osiris possession of the beautiful youth, and he was killed by an arrow from → Artemis; according to another version, however, he was slain because he made sexual advances to the goddess herself or to one of her nymphs. Orion was elevated to the stars, where his constellation is still to be seen.

Orisa Nla The sky-god of the Yoruba people in Nigeria; he is delegated by the supreme god → Olorun to create the earth, the other gods and the first men.

Oro War-god in Tahiti who ousted the ancient war-god → Tu from this office. His father is → Tangaroa. An image showing him in anthropomorphic form had a girdle of red feathers, a sign of highest rank. (the consonantal script form is wsjr; the Orotal(t) Herodotus has given us this Coptic form is Usire) In ancient name of an ancient Arabian god, who may Egyptian religion, the son of the earth-god → → have corresponded to the Nabataean → Geb and of the sky-goddess Nut. The Dusares. The Greeks took Orotal to be main centres of his cult were, in Lower equivalent to → Dionysos. Egypt, Busiris (Dedu) where he merged into the figure of the ancient tutelary god The son of the Thracian Anezti, and, in Upper Egypt, Abydos, river-god Oiagros and the Muse → where he was equated with the god of the Kalliópe. Apóllon is often said to be dead → Chontamenti. The myth tells how his father. Orpheus can charm plants Osiris was murdered and cut into pieces by and animals with his singing and his his brother → Seth: the remnants were col- luteplaying. When his wife lected by his sister → Isis and given new died, he moved the gods of the under- life so that she could receive from Osiris world so deeply with his singing that her son → Horus. Horus took over the they restored her to him – but she had royal inheritance of Osiris, while the latter to go back to the underworld again acts as regent and judge in the realm of the because Orpheus disobeyed the com- dead, and causes the plants to sprout forth mand of the gods and looked round at from the surface of the earth. This shows her.Later, he was torn to pieces him by as a fertility god, an aspect which Thracian Maenads and interred by the → is underlined by his connection with Muses. the annual flooding of the Nile. As the ‘eternally good being’ he appears under the Orunmila Among the Yoruba people name of Wennofer. As lord of the under- in Nigeria the god of compassion, who world, Osiris represents the sun in its noc- comes down to earth to help people. turnal transit. He was even seen in certain Oya 145 circles as a moon-god, the lunar phases Ouiot The primeval father and being taken as tokens of the god’s death moon-god of the Luiseño Indians in south and resurrection. His attributes are the California. He told his people that three crooked staff and the so-called scourge. days after his death he would return to Ostara A Germanic goddess who has them, and this is said to have happened. given her name to the Easter festival. She Since the departure of Ouiot, men too is identical with the Anglo-Saxon god- must die. dess Eostra mentioned by the Venerable Oya Mother-goddess of the Yoruba Bede. In name and function the goddess people in Nigeria. She is the ‘good → parallels the Greek Eos and the Roman mother’, but as goddess of storms she has → . She is the personification her terrifying aspect as well. She can even of the rising sun, associated by the bend the spirits of the dead to do her bid- Germanic peoples not with a time of day ding. She is goddess of dancing and is (dawn) but with a season – spring. accordingly represented on the rods Otos → Aloádes carried by Yoruba women in folkdances. P

Pabilsang A Sumerian god, the son of the Lappish god of thunder → Pajonn, the god-king → Enlil, and husband of → with the hammer or the axe of Pajonn Nin’insina, the goddess of healing. In acting as the instrument of slaughter. Babylonian times he was equated with → Pajonn The Lappish god of thunder. Ninurta. The name comes from pad’d’i ϭ ‘above’: Pachamama A fertility goddess in the the god is ‘he who dwells above in Inca Empire, and still revered in some of heaven’. the Andean valleys. The name means A Roman goddess who appears ‘earth-mother’. as a guardian of flocks and herds, a func- Pachet (‘she who scratches’) An tion she shares with → Inuus: she is the ancient Egyptian goddess of the desert, in Pales Panda, i.e. the Pales ‘who is to offer the form of a lion. She was thought of in fodder’. Her feastday – 21 April – was connection with the crown-goddess → celebrated as the birthday of Rome, in Urthekau. token of the city’s founding by herdsmen. Padmanarteqvara (‘lord of the dance, Palk The sun-god in the religion of with the lotus’) A form of the ancient , the founder of the realm of Bodhisattva → Avalokitefvara. He is light and the adversary of → Kud. His invariably depicted with one head, but he cult was practised on mountain tops: here may have from two to eight or ten arms. sacrifice was made to him, with stringent In his two-armed form he is red in colour: attention paid to the correct easterly in his left hand he holds a red lotus, with orientation. his right hand he makes a gesture associ- Pan A god of fields and woods origi- ated with dancing. nating in Arcadia; the son of the god of (‘he who is born from herds → Hérmes and a nymph. He was the lotus’) A Buddhist teacher (guru) represented with the horns and legs of a from north India who spread Tantric billy-goat, and it is in the guise of a randy Buddhism in Tibet in the eighth century goat that we see the mythical Pan pursu- AD. Tradition makes him out to have ing → Nymphs. One of them, called appeared in a lotus blossom, having been , changed herself into a reed to created by → Amitabha. He preferred to escape his clutches – so Pan cut several meditate in places of the dead. In Tibet, he reeds and made himself the pan-pipes is said to have changed many demons into (syrinx). He had a habit of appearing out → . of the blue, especially in the hush of the noonday heat, and this caused panic Padvaxtag → Xromtag among men and animals. The tale that Pajainen In the Finnish myth of the Plutarch tells about the death of Pan slaughter of the great bull (or pig), this is shows that he was a vegetation-god. The the god who figures as the slaughterer. An name ‘Pan’ was not been satisfactorily attempt has been made to derive him from explained; it has been connected with the Papas 147

It is possible that she is a later version of an ancient earth-goddess, as the name, which means ‘she who gives all’ or ‘she who is rich in gifts’ has been applied to such a goddess also. Panku

Greek word pan meaning ‘all’, which would elevate Pan to the status of an omnipotent or all-embracing deity. His counterpart among the Roman gods was → Faunus. In late medieval speculation he was seen simply as the devil. (Pan-gu) A primeval giant in Chinese mythology. He was born from the five Pañcaraksa (‘five-fold protection’) basic elements, and he used a hammer and A group of five Buddhist goddesses who chisel to form the heaven and the earth. were invoked to grant longevity and to According to another version of the myth, protect certain villages or areas. They Pan-gu arose from the world-egg in which arose through the personification of five yin and yang were as yet undivided; and magical protective formulae (raksa) from these components he formed the which, it is alleged, were once uttered by earth (yin) and the heavens (yang). After → Gautama Buddha himself. the death of the giant, the sun arose from Pandara (‘the white one’) A Buddhist his left eye, the moon from his right eye, goddess, the partner (prajña) of → the rain from his sweat; his flesh decom- Amitabha. Her element is fire and the posed and fell apart to form the arable passion of love. Iconographically, she land, and the plants grew from his hairs. appears in various forms. Papa → Atea Pandora Created by → Hephaistos at Papaja → Imdumtaja the behest of → Zeus, and equipped with every seductive gift, she was despatched Papas A Phrygian god, equated by the to earth as the first woman. With her she Greeks with → Zeus. He is said to have had a box (really a barrel: in Greek impregnated a stone which then gave ) containing sorrow and misfortune. birth to the hermaphrodite → Agdistis. 148 Papsukkal

Papsukkal An ancient Mesopotamian of as his wife. In the Rigveda he is god: the messenger of the gods who also represented in the form of a bull. acts as watchman or gate-keeper. Parvaqavari In origin, this is a god- Para Goblin-like creatures in Finnish dess once worshipped by aboriginals in folk-belief; they are thought of as domes- the subcontinent and who was then taken tic spirits who take the form of snakes, over by Buddhism. The name means frogs or cats, and who increase one’s sup- ‘Savari of the leaves’, i.e. Savari who ply of corn, milk, butter and money. has a loin-cloth of leaves. She occurs Among the Baltic peoples a similar role is in two forms, one yellow and one green. played by → Pukis. Her garments consist of bunches of leaves, or she may be shown wearing a aq Param va (‘noblest of horses’) Both tiger-skin with a wreath of leaves. She is the name of this Buddhist god and the regarded as the goddess who routs all horse’s head he bears in his iconographic epidemics. representation, remind us of → Hayagriva. He is red in colour, with four Parqva faces and eight legs which he uses to trample on Hindu gods.

Paraqu-Rama (‘Rama with the axe’) The sixth incarnation of → Visju, who took this form to break the tyranny of the warrior caste (the ksatriyas) and help the Brahmans to take power. At the behest of his father he used the axe (parafu) to kill his mother: this done, he pleaded success- fully for her reawakening.

Parcae (Latin root parere ϭ to bear, give birth) Originally, a pair of Roman god- desses of birth, named Decuma and → Nona; later, under the influence of the → Greek Moirai, a triad was formed by The penultimate in the series of the 24 → the addition of the goddess of death Tirthaykaras. According to the legend he Morta. Together, the three were thereafter was protected by the seven-headed snake- seen as the decisive influences on one’s king Dharana from the attacks launched personal fate in life. against him by the demonic Meghamalin. Pariacaca The god of rain, water and Hence, his symbolical creature is a snake, thunder in the belief of the pre-Inca and on his head he wears a seven-fold a f Indians in the central Andes. His sacred snake’s hood. It is probable that P r va is creature was the falcon. In myth, he is the based on a real historical personality – a adversary of the fire-god Caruincho. prince who lived some 250 years before → Mahavira and who founded the order Parjanya (‘rain-cloud’) Old Indian of the Nirgrantha, that is, ‘untrammelled’, rain-god and, accordingly, generator of those who have freed themselves from the vegetation. The fertilized earth is thought bonds of Karma. Pazuzu 149

Parvati (‘daughter of the mountains’) round the neck to ward off evil. They were The wife of the Hindu god → Fiva, the called the ‘sons of → Ptah’. The youthful daughter of → Himavat, king of the Ptah could himself figure as a Patek; and, mountains. Her son was the war-god imported in this guise from Egypt, he was Karttikeya (→ Skanda). Parvati merges a popular figure in Carthage. into the better-known goddess → Durga. Pattini The most important female Pasiphae In Greek mythology, the deity of the Singhalese. She watches over wife of the Cretan king → Minos. She marriage and keeps epidemics at bay; and was supposed to be a daughter of the sun- she is said to have brought the cultivation god → Hélios, and was also interpreted as of rice into Ceylon. The myth tells how she a moon-goddess because of her name was born from a mango which had been (‘she who shines on all’). The fruit of her struck by a divine arrow. ‘Fire-walking’ is union with a bull sent by → Poseidon was a practice bound up with her cult. → Minotauros. Roman goddess of peace, equated Paqupati (‘Lord of cattle’) Seals with the Greek → Eirene. It was during belonging to the ancient Indus cultures the rule of Caesar Augustus that she first show this ithyphallic deity seated in the acquired an altar on the Field of Mars Yoga posture, surrounded by animals (Ara Pacis Augustae). On coinage she (especially snakes as symbols of fertility). appears as a youthful woman, with a In the Veda, Pafupati is one of the names garland of corn, a cornucopia and an of → Rudra; later, the name was used for olivebranch. → Fiva in his aspect as a god of fertility. Pazuzu Pafu not only means ‘cattle’, ‘beasts’, but is also a designation for the soul; as ‘Lord of the soul’ the god leads his devotees to the ‘end of sorrow’, that is, to liberation. The cult of Pafupati is particularly wide- spread in Nepal. In one tradition, the god is said to have appeared in the shape of an antelope, and one of his horns, which was broken off when he was being hunted, was revered as his linga (phallus). Aztec god of medicine and ‘lord of the pulque root’. His wife is the pulque-goddess → Mayahuel. Pateke (sing: patek) According to Herodotus, protective whose images the Phoenicians fastened to the bow of their ships; in the light of this usage, the name was also applied to certain dwarf-like male beings in the late Egyptian period. An Old Mesopotamian (Assyrian) demon These were supposed to be mainly a form with four wings and a scowling visage. of protection against wild animals, and He was the representative of the stormy images of them were worn as amulets winds from the south-east, and he was 150 Peithó feared as a bringer of illnesses. Our illus- Penates (Di Penates) In , tration shows his general appearance but originally the divine protectors of the does not show his scorpion’s tail. His store-room (penus) and the supplies power to harm could be countered by therein; later widened to signify house various spells and incantations. and family spirits in general. They were Peithó A Greek goddess, the personi- venerated, together with the Lares, at the fication of . She appears in the household hearth. These spirits had no retinue of → Aphrodíte. proper names. The domestic penates, the protective spirits of the family, were par- Pekar (Pehar) A Tibetan demon-prince alleled by the penates populi Romani, the who probably played a part in the pre- protectors of the Roman people. Lamaist Bon religion, and who may also appear as a divine figure. He rides on a Peneios A Thessalian river and its god → → white lion, and is regent of the northerly who was a son of Okeanos and of → quarter. Tethys. His daughter was Dáphne. Pele Volcano goddess on Hawaii, Perchten (Berchten) Demonic crea- unpredictable and liable to sudden out- tures in myth and folktale, especially in bursts of anger. Traditionally, she came Alpine areas. They form the retinue of → originally from Kahiki (Tahiti), expelled by Frau Bercht, who sallies forth in deep her divine brothers who could no longer put midwinter. In folk-tale it is claimed that up with her insubordination. Pele is also the devil mixes with the eerie throng, in called Hina-ai-malama (‘Hina who eats the the hope of grabbing a victim incognito. moon’). It is possible that she is the The old beliefs linger on in the Perchten Hawaiian form of the common Polynesian processions with their grotesque demonic moongoddess → Hina; and both goddesses disguises. are also in control of lightning. Perendi Old Illyrian name for God, Pellonpekko Finnish god of barley; related to the Lithuanian → Perkunas, the his name comes from pelto ϭ field. To god of thunder, and the Greek word him is due the first beer brewed from keraunos ϭ lightning. That is to say, barley. In , Peko is a corn-god, a Perendi was a storm-god. With the com- waxen image of whom is kept in the corn- ing of Christianity, his name was retained chest. St Peter is called Pekka in Finnish, in Albanian as the ordinary designation and it was on St Peter’s day that the festive for God. beer used to be brewed; taken together, Perit In Albanian folk-belief, female these points suggest Christian influence. mountain-spirits clad in white. They pun- Pemba (Bemba) Creator-god of the ished anyone who was wasteful with bread Bambara in West Africa. When he was let by making him a crooked hunchback. down by the world-spirit → Yo on to the e earth, a tree grew out of him, under which P rkons Latvian god of thunder, the humans who had been created by → armed with sword, spear, iron arrows and Faro, sought . The divine primeval an iron rod. As the bringer of rain he fos- tree was tireless in coupling with women ters fertility. In myth he also appears as to engender living creatures. In order to the smith of heaven and in folk-tale he → strengthen the tree people sacrificed their fights the devil. Perkunas is his blood to it. Lithuanian equivalent. 151

Perkunas Lithuanian god of thunder, Seriphos, he rescued Andromeda from bringer of rain and of fertility. He protects a sea-monster. law and justice, and pursues demons. A Slavonic god of thunder, Sacred to him are the oak-tree and fire. especially venerated in old Russia. His He drives in his chariot over the clouds, name is taken to mean ‘striker’; the Polish holding an axe, which returns to his hand word piorun means ‘thunder’. Among the after he has hurled it at a target. He dis- images of gods erected at Kiev, Perun was guises himself as a hunter in order to shown with a club as attribute. In the hound the devil. Balkans, bulls were sacrificed to him. It is Persé (Perseis) The wife of the Greek doubtful whether Perun can be connected sun-god → Hélios. She embodies the with the thunder-god of the Baltic peo- underworld aspect of the moon-goddess. ples. Whether Perun is etymologically Another name for her is Neaira ϭ the new connected with the Lithuanian word → one, i.e. the new moon. Her children were Perkunas is not certain. → Kirke and → Pasiphae. Petbe Old Egyptian god of retaliation, Persephóne (also Persephassa; in Latin whose cult was known in the Ptolemaic- Proserpina) In Greek myth, the daughter Roman period. The word petbe means of → Zeus, and wife of → Hades, who ‘the retaliator’ and was also used as an abducted her as a small girl (hence her epithet denoting one of the specific name of Kore). Thereafter, she spends one- aspects of death. third of the year in the underworld (during Petesuchos Old Egyptian crocodile- this time the plants wither) and two-thirds god, venerated in Fayum in the Graeco- of the year with her mother, the earth- Roman period. goddess → Demeter. Both Demeter and Persephone were venerated as goddesses Pey Among the Tamils, demonic beings of vegetation, and their myth was solemnly who are thought to have something to do enacted in the Eleusinian mysteries. The with necrophagia. They are pictured as plants consecrated to Persephone are the wild creatures with tousled hair who drink ear of corn and the pomegranate. the blood of dead and wounded warriors, and who bring misfortune to the living. Perses (Persaios) A Titan-like god of The word pey means ‘devil’ or ‘goblin’. light, the son of → Perseus. From his union with Asteria, the stellar goddess, Phaéthon (‘the shining one’) The son was born → Hekáte. of the Greek sun-god → Hélios, who once allowed him to drive the sun-chariot. But Perseus Son of → Zeus, who united Phaéthon was too weak to control the fiery with Danae in the form of a golden rain. solar steeds: he came too close to the earth Perseus was charged by Polydektes, king and caused a terrible fire. Whereupon → of Seriphos, to bring him the head of Zeus hurled him in a flash of lightning into the → Gorgon Medusa, whose glance a stream, on whose banks his grieving sis- turned all those who met it to stone. The ters, the Heliades, were transformed into → Nymphs gave him winged sandals trees which drip amber tears. and a cap which conferred invisibility, and from the gods he received a sickle- Phanes (Greek ϭ he who appears) In shaped sword with which he struck off Orphic teaching regarding the creation, the gorgon’s head. On the way back to the first god who arose from the primeval 152 Phorkys egg which emerged from → Chronos. Pidrai The consort of the Phoenician An older source has him sitting ‘in the god → Baal. She probably represents untrodden (space) of the cave of the some sort of meteorological phenomenon. night’. Yet another tradition says that holy Pinikir (also Pinenkir) A mother- night (→ Nyx) is his daughter, and from goddess revered in Elam, comparable to their union heaven and earth were gener- the Babylonian → Imar. It is uncertain ated. In a sense, then, Phanes is the solar whether Pinikir corresponds to the potentiality breaking forth from primeval Kirimma who is often mentioned in invoca- darkness, and thus semantically coinci- tions to the gods. dent with → Mithras. Pirwa (Peruwa) A Hittite deity, whose Phorkys (also Phorkos) A Greek sea- name is derived from peruna ϭ cliff. An god, whose epithet was krataios ϭ ‘the associated epithet is ‘queen’, but other- strong one’. He was the husband of Keto wise the deity is considered to be male. (ketos was a sea-monster), and their chil- His attribute is the horse. dren were the hideous → Graii and the terrifying → Gorgons. Hesiod says that Sophia Female abstract Phorkys was a son of the earth-goddess → redeemer figure in a Gnostic work of the Gaia and the sea-god → Pontos. same name dating from the third century AD. Pistis Sophia claims equal status Phosphóros (‘he who brings light’: also with God the creator, and describes her- known as Heosphoros) The Greek god self as ‘The First and the Last’. The gnos- of the morning star. He was represented tic movement known as the Sethians as a naked, winged youth hurrying ahead called her Barbelo. → → of his mother Eos, or the sun-god Pitaras (‘the fathers’) In India, the Hélios, with a torch in his hand. In Latin venerable dead who were the first to fol- he was called Lucifer. low the path to heaven found by → Yama. The Atharvaveda describes them as Picullus Old Prussian god of the immortal and divine beings, yet their underworld, who came to be identified world is not that of the gods. with the prince of hell. In Old Prussian pickuls means ‘devil’. Pleiades In Greek myth, the seven daughters of → Atlas, who were pursued ϭ Picus (Latin woodpecker) In origin, by → Orion the hunter, and who were, for perhaps, a soothsaying forest demon; their own protection, placed by Zeus in later, the patron of husbandmen. The heaven as a constellation. woodpecker was the creature sacred to → Mars, and was sometimes equated with Plutos The Greek god of riches: first the god. His son was said to be → Faunus. and foremost, the benefactor who gave mankind the boon of farming, and, as Pifvu’fin The god of hunting and of such, the son of the earth-goddess → wild creatures among the Chukchi in east Demeter and of the mortal Iasion, who Siberia. He is so small that he can ride on was said to be the first sower of seed. a tiny grass sledge drawn by mice; but he Plutos had a temple in Eleusis but has the strength of a giant. He derives his seems to have played no other role in rit- nourishment not from solid food but from ual observances. In one of Aristophanes’ odours – probably those of the sacrifice. comedies, the god appears as an old Poseidon 153 blind man who distributes his gifts in a Portúnus Roman god of the house- very haphazard and unfair way. In sculp- entrance (Old Latin portus); subse- ture he is usually portrayed as a boy quently, the god of the Tiber basin, the with a cornucopia, often on the arm of → ‘exit port’ for Rome. On the day of his Eirene. feast – the Portunalia, held on 17 August – people threw their door-keys into the Podaleirios The son of the Greek god fire in order to make them immune to → of healing Asklepiós. He was a doctor misfortune. in the Greek army besieging Troy, and was revered as a Great Healer in Asia Poseidon Minor and in Thessaly. Polydeukes → Kastor Polyhymnia (also Polymnia) The → Muse of grave and solemn song accom- panied by instruments. Her name means ‘she who is rich in songs’. She is gener- ally represented without any sort of attri- bute, in a posture of earnest meditation. Polyphem (Greek Pol[phemos) The one-eyed son of the sea-god → Poseidon, and the nymph . He was one of the → Cyclops, in whose cave Odysseus and his companions find themselves. A Roman goddess of ripen- ing fruit, the wife of the vegetation-god → Vertúmnus; she is often presented as the beloved of → Picus. Her name comes from Latin pomum ϭ fruit (of a tree). Greek sea-god, the son of → Kronos and Pon The sky-god of the Yukagir who of → . The name is already attested live in east Siberia. He causes day and in Mycenaean times, but the etymological night to succeed each other, and he gives meaning is not clear. In Homer, he rates the blessing of rain. The name means as one of the most powerful gods along something like ‘some(thing)’. If any cult with the lord of heaven → Zeus, and the attaches to his name, nothing is known god of the underworld → Hades. He of it. sends storms and earthquakes, but he may Pontos The classical Greek word for also favour the traveller with a good voy- ‘sea’, and the name of a sea-god. His age. In origin, Poseidon was possibly an union with his mother → Gaia produced old fertility god, in the shape of a horse, the sea-gods → Nereus and → Phorkys. and venerated as the patron of horse- breeding; later on, the horse figured as his Porenutius A Slavonic god wor- sacred animal, and in Corinth horse-races shipped on the island of Rügen; he was were held in his honour. As the god depicted as having four heads. of earthquakes, he bore the name 154 Pothos

Enosigaios, ‘earth-shaker’. Originally he personified prajñas form the passive was armed with lightning flashes, later components in this partnership; and replaced by the trident – the symbol of accordingly, in iconographic representa- fishing. As Phytalmios, promoter of tion, they are always shown smaller than growth, he was close to the earth-goddess the god so complemented. When both → Demeter, and as sea-god he had → are shown in the Yabyum position, the Amphitríte to wife. Among his many chil- polarity is integrated. dren borne by various wives are → Prajñaparamita (Perfection of insight) Antaíos, → Orion and → Polyphem. His The personification of a text of the same Roman counterpart is → Neptunus. name, in which → Gautama Buddha is Pothos A personification of a divine supposed to have set out his teaching. As primeval force in late Phoenician cos- a female deity she figures in iconography mogony. Pothos is primeval desire which from India to south-east Asia and Java, unites with Omichle, darkness. Their off- hardly changing in appearance and usu- spring are Aër, the ‘unsullied of the spiri- ally equipped with the text in question. To tual’, and , ‘the living exemplar those who worship her she gives insight moved by the spiritual’. According to and learning. Contemplation of her sym- Philon of Byblos, Pothos moved as a bolizes the insight of transcendence, ‘dark’ wind over the face of Chaos, and ‘insight which has reached the farther impregnated himself. shore’. Prahlada → Daityas Preas Eyn God of the in Kampuchea: he rides a three-headed Prajapati (‘Lord of the creatures’) In elephant, hurls bolts of lightning and the Rigveda, the name of the divine cre- corresponds to the Indian → Indra. We ator of the world. In the Atharvaveda he is are assured in ancient tradition that it was said to be the creator of heaven and earth. Preas Eyn himself who built the great The world arises as an emanation from temple complex of , thus his inexhaustible being. His function as giving mankind on earth an image of the a progenitor is underlined in the heavenly city. Mahabharata where he appears as pro- tective lord of the sexual organ. Preas Eyssaur A god of the Khmer Occasionally, he takes the place of → people; he is a destructive god, but from Var uja, whose sacred animal, the tor- death he engenders new life, and in this toise, can be one of the forms Prajapati he corresponds to the Indian → Fiva. The may assume. In Hinduism, Prajapati is upright stone pillar which the ancient understood as one of the names of the god Khmer kings adopted as the symbol of → Brahman. their authority is, in fact, a version of the linga symbol, characteristic of Fiva. Prajña In Buddhism, the female principle: on the spiritual way, it is the Preas Prohm A mythical primeval god intuition which complements the male of the Khmer, himself uncreated but con- technique of meditation. The meaning of taining within himself all power. Preas the word prajña is ‘wisdom’ or ‘insight’. Prohm expressed no wish, but all that The law of polarity specifies that prajña was hidden within him was revealed, and can be paired with certain male partners thus arose the world of appearances. as their necessary complement. The Preas Prohm is represented as having four Ptah 155 faces: he corresponds to the Indian → Iapetos, who stole fire from the gods and Brahma. gave it to man. As a punishment, he was chained to a rock in the Caucasus, and an (north Albanian Prenne) Old eagle fed daily on his liver, which was Illyrian goddess of love, the female part- self-restoring. Finally he was released by ner of the thunder-god → Perendi. Today, → Heraklés. Prometheus was a culture- she is nothing more than a Catholic saint, hero who brought man not only fire but but in Albanian folk-belief she still rates also handicrafts and art, and he was as zoja e bukuris, ‘queen of beauty’. As is revered in Athens as the patron of crafts- usual in many cultures, here too Friday is men, particularly potters. One tradition the day sacred to the goddess of love. makes him out to be the actual creator of (Pali Peta) Spirits of the dead in the human race, as he formed men and Hindu and Buddhist belief. As befits the women from clay and water. damned, they have ugly bodies and live in A divine ‘old man of the sea’ Yamaloka, the realm of → Yama. In in Greek mythology. He was able to Buddhist iconography, certain deities assume various shapes. He had oracular (e.g. → Mahakala) are often shown stand- powers, and anyone smart enough to get ing on a Preta, thus symbolizing the hold of him could benefit from these. power of the teaching. Pryderi → Pwyll Priapos A Phrygian god of fertility, of gardens, bees, goats and sheep. In Greece, Psezpolnica ‘’ in he was unknown until the Macedonian Wendish (Serbian) folktale: her counter- hegemony, and his cult never assumed sig- part in Poland is Poludnica. She appears nificant proportions, either in Greece or in round about midday during harvest time, Rome. His father was said to be → when the day is at its hottest, and drives Dionysos, and his mother → Aphrodíte, people off their heads, weakens their the goddess of love. His cult was most limbs or cuts their heads off with a sickle. honoured in Asia Minor, and in Lampsakos, She is pictured as a woman with black on the Hellespont, he is even supposed to hair, but sometimes as a whirlwind. have been the most important figure in their Ptah Ancient Egyptian god who was pantheon. He was represented as an ugly, particularly venerated in Memphis. As a satyr-like man with exaggerated genitals. god of handicrafts he soon acquired the Priapos played a second part too, as the status of a creator-god, whose instruments patron of fishermen and sailors. of creation were his heart and tongue; Priqni → Maruts and through the power of the word he cre- ated the world. He is ‘the primeval one’, Prithivi (‘the wide (earth)’) In India, who contains within his own being the earth, felt as a mother and symbolized the essence of the male → Nun and the in the form of the cow; in Vedism, revered female → Naunet. In popular belief he together with the god of heaven → Dyaus. was the ‘sculptor of the earth’ who like → Among her children are the dawn (→ Chnum, created all beings on a potter’s Usas) and fire (→ Agni). When she gave wheel. Finally he came to be seen as ‘Lord birth to → Indra, the earth quaked. of world-order’, and as ‘chief of ’, i.e. Prometheus (‘he who thinks things out of the underworld. In the Ptolemaic in advance’) The son of the Titan → period, Ptah had the status of a tutelary 156 god of Egypt, and the monarch was Purusa (‘human being’) In India, the crowned in his temple. primeval man. The Purusa hymn in the Rigveda tells us that three quarters of him Puck In north Germany and are immortal and belong to heaven; one Scandinavia a kind of goblin (the quarter is mortal. From this mortal quar- Norwegians call him Pukje); in English ter he released his wife → Viraj, and then popular belief an evil spirit. The word was he himself was born from her as universal taken over by the Baltic peoples: → Pukis. spirit. Purusa assumed the form of a giant (Latin ϭ modesty) A Roman and was sacrificed by the gods: that is to goddess, the personification of chastity say, he was ritually slain and separated and demureness, represented as a mat- into his constituent manifestations: head ϭ ronly figure, veiled or heavily cloaked. heaven, navel ϭ atmosphere, feet ϭ the With the increasing erosion of in earth. In the Brahmanas and the the Empire, her cult went out of fashion Upanisads, Purusa serves as a designation and was forgotten. for → Prajapati, and in Buddhist texts the name is applied to → Buddha. Pugu The sun-god of the Yukagir in eastern Siberia. He is a champion of Pusan (‘the prosperer’) Old Indian righteousness, and punishes all deeds of god, who is described as radiant and violence. toothless. He is married to the sun- Pukis A kind of dragon in Latvian folk- maiden, and confers growth and prosper- belief. The name may well be of German ity through light. He watches over roads, origin (cf. → Puck). As a rule, Pukis is not protects travellers and guides the dead. malevolent, indeed he may even help you His car is drawn by goats. to amass riches. In Lithuania, Pukys Pwyll (Welsh ϭ understanding, judg- appears as a goblin-like domestic spirit: ment) A god of the underworld wor- then again as a dragon bringing treasure. shipped in ancient Wales. It is told of his Pultuce → Castur son Pryderi that he brought pigs from the underworld to Wales. Purá (also under the name of Poré) The supreme god of the Indians in Guyana, Python A dragon which guarded the also connected with the moon-god. The oracle of its mother, the earth-goddess → word is also used to denote a supernatural Gaia, in Delphi. It was finally slain by (divine) power of a general nature. → Apóllon. Q

Qandiya A female demon who lives in (‘feathered snake’) Originally, an springs and rivers in popular belief in the ancient Mexican local god, possibly based north of Morocco. She is particularly on on a historical priest-king; subsequently, the look-out for young men whom she the culture-hero of the Toltecs. The first seduces and then robs of their rea- Aztecs furnished him with various son. In one locality, sacrifice is made to offices: god of the wind, god of the zodiac her on the day of the summer solstice. It (the feathered snake was a stellar symbol) is possible that she is an up-dating of an and lord of knowledge. Born into the ancient love goddess, possibly → Astarte, world by parthenogenesis (→ Coatlicue) who may have reached these parts via he is said to have been seduced by → Carthage. Tezcatlipoca; whereupon he burned him- self to death and was transformed into the a Qayn n A god in pre-Islamic south morning star. He was also seen as a Arabia. The arabic word qain means moon-god who burns himself in the sun’s a ‘blacksmith’ so Qayn n may well have fires in order to reappear in renewed been a god of smiths and their craft. youth. As divine priest, Quetzalcoatl is Qormusta (Chormusta) Among the the counterpart of the divine warrior Mongolians, the highest of all the → Tezcatlipoca. He is also the creator of , i.e. the heavenly ones. As king of the first humans, whom he kneaded the gods he dwells in the centre of the together out of the meal of the rubbed- world, and is connected with the genesis down ‘jewel-bone’, mixed with his own of fire. blood. Quilla (Mama-Kilya ϭ mother moon) Quat The creator-god of the Banks The moon-goddess who was especially Islanders in Melanesia. Out of boredom deeply venerated in the Inca Empire. She he created people, pigs, trees and rocks. was closely associated with the Inca Quetzalcoatl calendar, as feast-days were nominated according to the phases of the moon. This god was revered along with → Jupiter and → Mars as the third member of an ancient divine triad. Originally, he was the local god of the Sabines dwelling on the Quirinal; there- after he appeared in a military function, defensive rather than offensive. He is therefore depicted peaceably disposed, as a bearded man in garments which are partly clerical and partly military. His sacred plant was the myrtle which was regarded in antiquity as the symbol of 158 Quiritis bloodless victory. Later, his cult fused An ancient Arabian god of with that of the deified → Romulus. storms and thunder, who was worshipped in the neighbourhood of Mecca. His Quiritis The protective deity of mother- weapon is a bow which he uses to shoot hood in the Sabine pantheon, correspon- the arrows of hail. ding to some extent to → Juno. R

Radha In Indian tradition, a cow-girl He corresponds to the seventh incarnation who was the beloved and/or wife of → of the Indian god → Visju. In the Krisja. Their love for each other symbol- Ramayana, the heroic saga of India, it is izes the relationship between the deity told how Rama conquers the king of and the individual soul. Radha is the demonic → Raksas, and frees his accorded divine status and accordingly wife → Sita. In iconography, his attrib- worshipped by certain Vishnuite sects. utes are a bow and arrows. A cult of Rama is attested from the eleventh century Rahab A monster of chaos in the Old onwards, and in Vishnuite north India Testament, the exemplar of powers inimi- his name is a designation for the cal to God (Job 9: 13; 26: 12). Visualized supreme god. More than one north Indian as a sea-serpent. royal dynasty saw Rama as their divine Rahu The Indian demon of eclipses: in progenitor. cosmogony, the ascending node in the Ran A sea-woman in Nordic mythol- lunar path. He drives in a car drawn by ogy, the daughter of → Aegir. She pos- eight black horses, and pursues sun and sesses a net with which she fishes up all moon with his jaws open. Whenever he those who have been drowned. Later, she succeeds in swallowing one or the other, acquired the status of a goddess of the there is an eclipse. He is also portrayed on dead ruling over her own necropolis. the chariot of the Buddhist goddess → Marici. Ran-deng (Chinese ϭ burning lamp) In Chinese legend, a beggar-woman who Raksas (Sanskrit raksasas ϭ malignant saved up her money until she could afford demon) In Vedism, nocturnal demons to light a lamp at Buddha’s altar: where- who go about in the shape of dogs or upon it was prophesied that, as a reward, birds, harming people. Their king is → she would be a future Buddha. According Ravaja, who abducts → Sita, the bride of to another tradition, Ran-deng was a → Rama. celebrated Taoist teacher who intro- duced Buddha to the teaching that leads Raluvimbha The supreme god of the to perfection. Baventa who live in the north of the Transvaal in South Africa. The god’s Rangi A Polynesian sky-god. For the name contains the word luvimbha ϭ Maori in New Zealand he and the earth- eagle. All natural manifestations such as goddess Papa form the divine primeval thunder, earthquake, drought and flood pair from whose warm embrace all living are regarded as his handiwork, and so are beings arose, led by the gods such as → epidemics. The tribal chief is permitted to Tangaroa and → Tane. speak with Raluvimbha, whom he Raphael (Hebrew ϭ blessing from God) addresses as ‘grandfather’. In the Old Testament Apocrypha, the Rama (‘The dark-coloured one’) Also angelic travelling companion of the young called Ramacandra (‘Rama the moon’). Tobias. Later, he became the patron saint 160 Rapithwin of pilgrims and travellers – indeed, the Raudna A Lappish goddess, wife of embodiment of the protective angel in the thunder-god → Horagalles. Her name general. He is regarded as one of the four means ‘rowan’ (mountain ash), and could (or seven) archangels. It has been sug- be related to the Finnish → . gested that his name is connected with that Rauni Finno-Ugrian philologists dis- → of the Rephaim. agree as to the exact identity of this figure Rapithwin Old Iranian god of midday, in : some regard her → lord of summer and of the southerly as the wife of the thunder-god , quarter. others take her to be a male deity. In any case, it seems clear that he/she has some- Raynu In old Iranian religion, the thing to do with fertility. Etymologically, personification of righteousness, the god equation of the name with the Lappish → of Ordal and guardian of the Cinvat Raudna (‘rowan’) has been suggested. bridge which leads to the beyond. He also The figure of Rauni has also been con- makes an appearance at the last judgment, nected with the rainbow which is, of where he weighs our good and bad deeds course, associated with rainstorms. in golden scales. Under the name of Ravava The ten-headed and twenty- Rajña he was also known in north India. armed prince of the demonic → Raksas, in Indian mythology. It was in order to Rati → Kama break his power that Visju was born as Ratnapani A → Dhyani-Bodhisattva of the prince → Rama. minor importance. He is green in colour; Re in his right hand he holds the jewel, in his left the moon-disc on a lotus.

Ratnasambhava (‘born of a jewel’; in China, known as Bao Sheng Fo) A → Dhyani-Buddha; he is yellow in colour, his heavenly quarter is the south and his season is spring. His car is drawn by a pair of lions or by a horse. His left hand reposes in his lap with the palm turned uppermost.

Ratri In Indian mythology, the night, sister of the dawn (→ Usas). As a bene- volent goddess, she is invoked for protec- tion against robbers and wolves. Rat-taui (Rait-taui, ‘Sun of the two lands’) Ancient Egyptian goddess, wife of → Month, mother of → Harpre. She was represented in human form with a vulture’s crest, and cow’s horns with the (; in Middle Babylonian texts Ria) sun’s disc. The Greeks transcribed her name The old Egyptian name of the sun and as Ratus, and identified her with → Leto. of the sun-god, whose cult was already 161 established at an early date in On (the ‘divine beings’ or as ‘spirits’; and there is Greek Heliopolis, ‘sun-city’). He united some evidence to suggest that they were with → Harachte, from whom he took denizens of the underworld. In the Old the falcon-head which accompanies his Testament, certain giants are called anthropomorphic guise. Through his Rephaim. union with → Atum, he became the Reret creator of the world; and he was also Ancient Egyptian hippopotamus- identified with other gods, e.g. with → goddess, whose name really means ‘sow’: Amun and with the crocodile-god → an indication of maternal fecundity which Suchos. From the fourth dynasty onwards tirelessly creates new life. the Pharaohs describe themselves as ‘sons Reyef The Canaanite-Phoenician god of Re’. In his barque, the sun-god and of lightning and of plagues; identified by guider of worlds fares across the ocean of the Greeks with → Apóllon. His name heaven, accompanied by his vizier → means ‘fire’ or ‘plague’, and the word Thot and his daughter → Maat, who per- reˇsep is used in both meanings in the Old sonifies cosmic order. The orb of the sun Testament (Deuteronomy 32: 24; Psalm was taken to be the visible body of the 76: 4). Remef is the god of pestilence who god, but it was also regarded as his eye. spreads death around him and who bears Symbols of his cult were the the epithet ‘lord of the arrow’. He was whose pinnacles (often gilded) were taken over by the Egyptians who made struck by the first rays of the rising sun. him into a war-god, represented with Reahu The name given by the Khmer shield and club (or ball-axe?); instead of people to the dark demon who pursues the the uraeus in his Upper Egyptian crown sun and the moon through the heavens in he has the head of a gazelle. → order to swallow them (cf. Rahu). Rhadámanthys The brother of the Remanta In Buddhism, king of the Cretan king → Minos: he rules over the horsegods and lord of the easterly quarter Islands of the Blessed, whither are sent of heaven. He rides on a red horse and the souls of heroes beloved of the gods. holds a red banner; he is accompanied by Rheia (Rhea) The daughter of the sky- birds like falcons and vultures. god → Uranós and the earth-goddess → Renenutet Ancient Egyptian goddess Gaia, sister and wife of → Kronos and of agriculture and harvest. When the crops mother of → Zeus, → Poseidon, → Hades were being gathered in and the grapes and → Hera. She was later equated with the were being pressed, sacrifice was made to Anatolian mother of the gods → Kybéle. the goddess who was then represented in Ribhus A triad of Indian gods of the image of a snake. Her name consists of somewhat inferior rank, named Ribhu, two components: renen ϭ food, nourish- Vaja and Vibhvan; they were the sons of ment and utet ϭ snake. One of her epi- → Indra and of Saranyu, a daughter of → thets was ‘queen of the orchards’. The Tvastar. According to one tradition they Greeks called her Thermuthis. were of human descent and their promo- Rephaim (root RP: the m is the plural tion to divine status was a reward for their marker) Ancient Syrian chthonic skilful work – for example, they provided beings, bound up with the concept of fer- Indra and the → Afvins with the vehicles tility. It is not clear whether they rated as they ride in. 162 Rigenmucha

Rigenmucha The supreme being of The name means ‘sound’, ‘noise’; he is the Papuan tribe of the Baining (in the therefore ‘the sounding one’, represented Gazelle Archipelago of New Guinea). He by the islanders on Mangaia as a large is conceived as a lone, disembodied being ’s horn. above the clouds. He created the world Rosmerta A goddess of fertility and and from him come both life and death. riches who was particularly venerated in Rind (Rinda, Old Icelandic ) A north-east Gaul, among the Lingones, north Germanic goddess. Her name has the Treveres and the Mediomatrikes. not been satisfactorily explained, but it Iconographically she is shown with cor- may be connected with the word rind ϭ nucopia and caduceus, the staff with two ivy, an etymology which would associate snakes. The presence of the latter attribute the goddess with the generative powers of has led some scholars to identify the god- growth. She has also been interpreted as dess as the female counterpart of the an earth-goddess. A liaison between her Gallic → Mercurius. and → Odin produced → . (also in the form Radu, from the Risabha The first herald of salvation root RDW ϭ to be gracious) A pre- (→ Tirthaykara) in Jainism. He is golden Islamic deity revered in north Arabia, in colour and is symbolized by the bull. sometimes male, sometimes female and usually associated with the evening star. s Ri is (‘seers’) In Vedism, the singers of In Palmyra, Ruda was known under the holy songs before the dawn of time: holy name of → Arsu. ones raised to supernatural status who form the seven stars of the Great Bear. In Rudianos A Gallic local god of war- the post-Vedic age, other Risis are men- like character, a manifestation of the tioned, including → Daksa and → Gallic → Mars. The name is related to the Kafyapa. root rudio ϭ red. Romulus Son of the vestal priestess Rudra Indian god of storms, father of and the war-god → Mars. the → Maruts. In the Rigveda he appears Romulus was exposed in the Tiber along as a vengeful archer, who fires his arrows with his twin brother Remus; they were of sickness at gods, men and animals. In suckled by a wolf and reared by a herds- his terrible aspect he appears as ruddy or man. When Rome was founded, Romulus blackish, but he can also be a benign god slew Remus and became the first king of who shines like the sun and whose epithet the thriving city. At the close of his life he is fankara ϭ he who does good deeds. He is supposed to have journeyed up to is a ready helper of the sick and a lord of heaven in a fiery chariot; later, he was animals; in this latter capacity he appears revered as the god → Quirinus. in the form of a bull. In older periods of Hinduism. Rudra is identified with Fiva. Rongo (known in Tahiti as Ro’o, in The name Rudra is interpreted as mean- Hawaii as Lono) Polynesian god of ing ‘the howler’ or ‘the red one’. peace and agriculture. It is he who causes the food plants to grow. He abominates Rugievit (‘Lord on Rügen’) A god blood sacrifice. On Mangareva he is the who was once worshipped on the island rain-god who manifests himself in the of Rügen by the Slavs who originally rainbow. Rongo loves song and festivities. lived there. His function was probably Ruti 163 warlike. According to the ancient Danish dance in forest clearings and meadows on historian Saxo Grammaticus he was por- the night of the new moon. Their shrill trayed with seven heads and a sword in laughter can be fatal to men. one hand. Ru Shou → Gou Mang Rundas Hittite god of hunting and Ruti A pair of lions revered in the good fortune. His emblem is a double ancient Egyptian city of Letopolis. They eagle with a hare in each of its talons. were early identified with → Mu and → Rusalka Demonic female beings among Tefnut. Among their functions was the the east Slavs. They are water-nymphs who nourishment of the dead. S

Sabazios (Sabos) Phrygian god of Roman city of Leptis Magna and further, agriculture and midwifery, whose figure under the name of Satrapas, in some merged to some extent with that of the coastal areas of Greece. Jewish Zebaoth (→ Jahwe). The cult of Safa The god of weapons among the spread by way of Thrace to Ossetians (in the Caucasus): in particular, Greece and Rome. His epithet Bassareus the tutelary spirit of the chain associated identifies him as one ‘clad in a long fox- with the household hearth. Children and skin’. Ceremonial contact with a snake newly-married couples were commended formed part of his rites. The orgiastic to his care – always in connection with the nature of his cult, rich in nature symbol- chain. ism, sometimes caused him to be equated with → Dionysos. The Romans identified Yai (the Greek form is Psais) In ancient him with → Jupiter. Egypt the personification of destiny and its shaping. He is the beneficial power Sachmet (‘she who is powerful’) Old which co-operates with → Renenutet to Egyptian goddess of war, completing, make human life possible. Like the Greek along with her husband → Ptah and her son → Agathós Daímon he can be represented → Nefertem, the triad of Memphis. She as a snake. accompanied the Pharaoh (as whose mother she figured) to war, and spread fear Yaitan The Arabic form of the name and alarm everywhere. She was armed with → Satan. In pre-Islamic writings the arrows ‘with which she shoots through name is found as a synonym of → Jinn. hearts’. The hot winds of the desert are the Sajigor A god in the pantheon of the fiery breath of the goddess. She was also Kalam people in the Hindu-Kush, possibly associated with the fire-spitting uraeus of with a military function. His cult symbol the monarch, thus becoming the ‘eye of → is a knife. Re’. She was represented as a lioness or as a woman with a lion’s head. Sachmet was Qakra (‘the powerful one’) One of regarded as a mistress of magic who put her the divine princes in the Jain pantheon. supernatural skills at the service of the In canonical scripture he is called healer’s art and craft. Devadhipati ϭ Lord of gods. In his choice of riding animal (the elephant Airavata) Qaci → Indra and weapon (vajra ϭ thunderbolt) he cor- Yaddai In the Old Testament, a very responds to → Indra in the Brahmin- obscure epithet of → Jahwe: in the com- Hindu pantheon. In Buddhist texts, Fakra bination ‘el maddai’ it is usually translated (in Pali Sakka) is the name of the Hindu as ‘God the almighty’ or ‘most high God’. Indra, but is construed as a purely Buddhist figure. As divine king, Fakra Yadrapa An ancient Syrian god of leads the fight against the demons. healing; in Palmyra he was represented as a youth with a snake or a scorpion. He Qakti (‘power’) Female creative energy, was also venerated in Carthage and in the usually personified in Hinduism as a Yanda 165 goddess. Fakti is allotted to the male Yamay The Semitic word for the sun creative principle as consort, a role in became the name of the Babylonian sun- which she appears as → Durga, as → god; during the day he sees all things, and Laksmi or as → Parvati. In popular belief hence is the god of justice and of the ora- → Kamaksi is venerated as the supreme cle. He is symbolized by the sun’s disc Fakti. The Tantric symbol of Fakti is and a four-pointed star, surrounded by the yoni (womb) which unites with the rays. In Assyria, the emblem was the solar lingam of → Fiva to express the unity of disc with wings. Otherwise, he is repre- all opposites. sented as a king seated on a throne. Mamam is ‘judge of the heavens and of the Yala(s) Old Mesopotamian goddess, earth’: justice and righteousness, Memaru the wife of the Akkadian weather-god → and Kettu, are in fact hypostatized into Adad, or of → Dagan, who was taken personifications who accompany him at over from the west Semites. all times. By night the sun-god moves Yalim → Mar through the underworld, bringing light and nourishment to the dead. (Malman) Pre-Islamic god revered in north Arabia; his name means Sämpsä A Finnish god of vegetation, ‘peace’, ‘blessing’. whose name means ‘sedge’. When (Latin ϭ salvation, rescue) A Sämpsä lies idle in bed, enjoying his win- Roman goddess personifying the general ter sleep, neither rye nor oats can prosper. welfare of the state (salus publica); later So the god must be roused. Before sow- identified with the Greek → Hygíeia, and ing, he celebrates marriage with his step- revered as the protector of health. She is mother. Sämpsä is also seen as a sower accompanied by a snake. Another of her who sows pines, fir and juniper. attributes is a bowl. Yams A pre-Islamic deity whose Samael (Sammael, Samiel) The name Arabic name means ‘sun’. In north of an angel in apocalyptic writing. From Arabia, the deity was conceived as male the third century onwards, a Jewish desig- (like the Mesopotamian → Mamam); but as nation for → Satan, who leads men astray female in south Arabia. The south into all sorts of evil doings. He is best Arabian sun-goddess has the epithet known for his erotic relationship with → aliyat ϭ she who is lofty. Lilith. Samael is also occasionally taken to be an angel of death. Samvara (also Cakrasamvara) A god of initiation in Tantrism. His mandala Samantabhadra (‘he who is completely shows him as four-faced and with twelve → fortunate’) One of the eight great arms; his sacred cord is a snake, and his Bodhisattvas; he was an emanation from crown consists of five skulls. His female → Vairocana. Only in Tibet, under the consort is → Vajravarahi. name of Kun-tu-bzanpo, did he assume greater significance as the primeval Yanda An ancient Luvian god in Asia Buddha (→ Adhibuddha). In oriental art Minor, the associate of → Kubaba. On he is shown enthroned on a white ele- occasion, he appears as → Marduk, an phant, the symbol of strength and wis- import from Babylon. He was also known dom. In China he is known as Bu-xian, in in Cilicia and Lydia under the name of Japan as Fu-gen. Sandas. 166 Sangarios

Sangarios An ancient Anatolian Sarasvati (Phrygian) river-god. His daughter Nana (an epiphany of the Magna Mater) is impregnated by the fruit of an almond tree, and gives birth to → Attis. Sango God of thunder among the Yoruba in Nigeria. On his head he bears a large axe with six eyes. The thunder is represented by the bellowing of the ram, the animal sacred to the god. Saoyyant (a later form is Somans) In Iran, originally the title of the eschatolog- ical hero and coming saviour. According to the Avesta, he renews the world and resurrects the dead. He carries out the sacrifice of the bull Hadayom, and from its fat mixed with Haoma juice he pre- pares a draught of immortality for all of mankind. In origin, an ancient Indian river goddess. In the Brahmanas, she is identified with Yapy The goddess of the sun in speech, whence she is promoted to Ugaritic myth. She is called ‘the light of become goddess of eloquence and wis- the gods’. dom, identified with → Vac. The Saptaksara (‘seven-syllabled’) A venerate her as Vagdevi, ‘goddess of lan- form of the Buddhist god → Heruka. He guage’. She is regarded as both the cre- is blue in colour, six-armed and three- ation and the wife of → Brahma, and as headed, each head having three eyes. His the mother of the Vedas. She rides on a plaited crown is adorned with a double swan (less frequently on a peacock) or sits thunderbolt and the sickle moon. On his on a lotus. In her manifestation as knee is seated his → prajña who is Vajrasarasvati she is three-faced and six- embracing him. He is surrounded by six armed. other goddesses who form his mandala. Sárkány A weather-demon of the Yar and Yalim Old Syrian deities rep- ancient Hungarians: he had seven or nine resenting morning and evening, or per- heads, lived in the underworld and was haps the morning and the evening star. armed with a sabre and the morning star. The word sar ˇ or sachar ˇ really means Seated on his charger he rides along with ‘dawn’, and is found in the Old Testament the thunderclouds, often accompanied by (Isaiah 14: 12). It has been suggested that a magician. Sárkány can turn people into the place-name Jerusalem – in Hebrew stones. In Hungarian folktale the name is jerusalajimˇ – means the place ‘founded’ applied to a dragon. by the god Malim. Sarpanitu (Akkadian ϭ ‘she who shines Yara The ancient Mesopotamian god silver’) The wife of the Babylonian chief of the town of Umma; he was said to be god → Marduk. Under the epithet of Erua the son of → Inanna. she figured as the goddess of pregnancy. Satyr 167

Yarruma (Sarrumma) Old Anatolian The wife of the ancient Egyptian god (Hurrian): the ‘king of the moun- creator-god → Chnum; the ‘Queen of tains’, the son of the weather-god → Elephantine’ and donator of the cooling Temub, who appears in the form of a bull, waters of the cataract. She was repre- and → Hebat. Thus, Marruma is also sented anthropomorphically with the known as ‘bull-calf’. He rides on a pan- crown of Upper Egypt on her head, ther, and he is armed with an axe. flanked by two curved antelope horns. Qasana-deva, Qasana-devi (‘gods and Satúrnus The Roman god of agricul- goddesses of the teaching’) Jainist ture, presumably taken over from the divinities who accompany each Etruscans. As early as the fifth century Tirthay kara. While they are redeemed BC his temple stood on the Forum, acting and raised above all earthly things, the as the Roman treasury (the aerarium). gods are still accessible via prayer. At his feast, the Saturnalia, held on Among their names are many which 1719 December, it was the custom for occur also in the Brahmin-Hindu pan- masters to serve their slaves; and people theon, e.g. → Brahma, → Kubera, → gave each other candles as presents, Var uja, → Kali, → Gauri. whose light was supposed to be a magi- Satan (Hebrew ϭ the adversary; Greek cal contribution to the failing powers form Satanas) In the Old Testament, of the winter sun. In Roman myth, → Satan appears as the ‘prosecutor’ before Saturnus appears as husband of Ops → the heavenly court (: 1 ff.; Job and father of Jupiter. His name is con- 1: 6; 2: 7 ff ) but he also figures as the chief nected with the concept of a . seducer and tempter (1 Chronicles 21: 1), From the third century AD onwards, → while in the Christian scheme of things he Saturn was identified with the Greek is the embodiment of evil (Mark 4: 15). In Kronos. the apocryphal book of Henoch it is told Satúrnus Africánus This god was how Satan rebelled against God and was revered in Roman North Africa. In some → hurled by the angel Michael into the respects, he is reminiscent of the Punic → abyss. Satan is the devil pure and simple, Baal. He appears as a bearded old man, the ‘prince of this world’; and he can be and is regarded as lord of heaven, of time imagined in the form of a snake or a and of agriculture. His attributes com- → dragon. Other names for him are prise sickle, honey-comb or fircone and → Beelzebub and Belial. a lion. He is the ‘holy god’ ( sanctus) Sataran (Imtaran) Ancient Mesopo- and ‘god of fruits’ (deus frugum). tamian god who appears both as judge Satyr The satyrs were the licentious and as doctor. As regards the latter aspect, and lecherous crew who accompanied the it is fitting that the snake-like → Nirah Greek god → Dionysos. They were should figure as his messenger. thought to be hybrid creatures, half-man, In Indian mythology, the daughter half-horse, with animal ears, a rough tou- of → Daksa, and the wife of → Fiva. Grief- sled pelt, horns and a tail, and they were stricken by reason of her husband’s dispute usually depicted as ithyphallic. They with her father, she seeks release in death. were related to the → Silenes as demons Her corpse is dismembered by → Visju, of fertility, indeed often hardly to be but the goddess is reborn as → Parvati. distinguished from them. 168 Saule

Saule warlike traits as well, and her name means ‘she who is armed’. She is portrayed wearing the cap normally reserved for male deities, and a slit skirt which leaves her legs free. Wings sprout from her back. Her sacred animal is the lion. Maumka’s reputation as a goddess of healing reached as far afield as Egypt. Savitar The Vedic god who oversees the whole span of heaven, and who drives man and animals to activity (Savitar means ‘stimulator’). He drives in a golden chariot and has golden arms which reach to the frontiers of heaven: in other words, a solar god. Saxnot (‘sword-companion’: cf. Old High German sahs ϭ knife, sword) The Latvian sun-goddess; in mythology Originally, the tribal god of the , and in folktale she is hailed sometimes as who is mentioned in an old Low German ‘sun-virgin’ and then again as ‘mother manuscript along with Donar and Wodan sun’. She is wooed by the sky-god → (→ Odin). He is probably a local form of Dievs and the moon-god → Meness. → Tyr. Saule herself was thought of as dwelling on her farm or estate on top of the moun- Sebettu (Akkadian ϭ the seven) tain of heaven, and she was invoked in Designation of a group of demons, some prayer to foster the fruits of the earth. benign, others malignant. The seven Among the Lithuanians, Saule (the sun) malevolent demons are in fact the prog- figures less prominently as a deity, having eny of the sky-god → An, but that been set in heaven by the divine smith; does not prevent them from helping the but here too we find the tradition that sun plague-god → Erra; they also encircle and moon (→ Menulis) form a conjugal the moon, thereby causing an eclipse. The couple. benign seven appear as adversaries of these malignant spirits. Sebettu was also Saules meitas These were the ‘daugh- the Akkadian name for the Pleiades. ters of the sun’ in ancient Latvian mythol- ogy, and are often mentioned together Sechat-Hor (‘she who remembers with the → Dieva deli. While the daugh- Horus’) Ancient Egyptian cow-goddess, ters of the sun sow roses, the sons of the queen of herds and foster-mother of sky-god strew golden dew. the infant → Horus. She was particularly venerated in the third nome of Lower Sguyka (Mawumka, Sausga) A goddess Egypt. worshipped by the Hurrians who lived in Asia Minor; functionally, she is compara- The personification of secu- ble to the old Mesopotamian goddess of rity, revered by the Romans as the god- love → Imtar. Like Imtar, Maumka not dess in whose hands the permanence of only confers health and fertility: she has the Empire rested. Semnocosus 169

Yed A popular god in ancient Egypt. sister of the sun-god → Hélios. She drives The name means ‘saviour’ and identifies in a chariot drawn by two horses or rides the god, who often figured on amulets, as on a mule. The goddess, who was also one to whom men could turn in their hour called Mene ϭ moon, was regarded as of need. Above all, he was supposed to tutelary deity of magicians and sorcerers. offer protection against wild animals. In the Hellenistic period she fused with → Artemis or → Hekáte; the Romans Y → M ed edim equated her with → Luna. Yedim In the Old Testament, devils or Selket The name of this old Egyptian demons to whom the apostate Israelites goddess is really -hetu which made sacrifice (Deuteronomy 32: 17; means ‘she who lets throats breathe’. She Psalm 106: 36). In some translations of is the tutelary goddess of the dead, and the Bible they appear as goblins. They uses her magic spells to help the sun-god are probably connected with the against his enemies. Her symbolical ani- Mesopotamian → Medu. In rabbinic liter- mal, which she wears on her head, is the ature, the word sedˇ denoted a dangerous scorpion. The Greeks called her Selkis. type of demon with magical powers. Selvans An Etruscan god: the similar- Sea-goddess of the Eskimos in ity in name has led scholars to compare Baffin Land. In east Greenland, she is him with the Roman god of field and known as ‘mother of the sea’ (Immap forest → . ukua), while the polar Eskimos refer to her as , i.e. ‘the eating-place’, Semele In origin, Semele was proba- a very description of the sea as a bly a Thracian-Phrygian earth-goddess. In source of nourishment. Sedna is queen of Greek myth she appears as the daughter the sea-creatures. of the Theban king Kadmos. When → Zeus, who was wooing her, revealed him- Yedu In the days of the Babylonian self to her in all his divine majesty, she Empire, a kindly and helpful demon. In the was burnt by the lightning emanating late Assyrian period, Medu and the female from him. Zeus rescued the unborn child Lamassu (→ Lama) were winged bull- by sewing the embryo into his thigh, and beings who protected the palace entrances. in due course → Dionysos was born. Se’irim (Sahirim) The Se’irim are Later, Dionysos descended to the under- mentioned in the Old Testament as world and led his mother back to demons in the shape of goats. The name is Olympus where she took her place among derived from the word sa’ir ϭ hairy. In the immortals under the name of Thyone. Leviticus 17: 7 the children of Israel are Semnai Theai (‘exalted goddesses’) forbidden to make sacrifice to the Se’irim In origin, typical earth-goddesses of fer- (goat-spirits). tility who were worshipped in a cave on Yelardi The moon-god of the Urartian the Aeropagos. Later, they were identified contemporaries of the Assyrians, who with the → Erinyes. lived in what is now Armenia. Semnocosus A war-god worshipped Seléne (from Greek selas ϭ light, radi- in northern Hispania, whose cult became ance) Greek goddess of the moon, the popular among Roman troops. Prisoners, daughter of the Titan → Hyperion and horses and goats were sacrificed to him. 170 Senmurw

Senmurw double wings, seen by Isaiah in the vision which launched him on his career as a prophet (Isaiah 6: 2). In the divine hier- archy of Dionysius the Areopagite they form the highest of the nine angelic choirs: the → Cherubim are ranked below them. The seraph was an oft-recurring motif in romanesque art. Serapis (Sarapis) The Greek form of Osiris-Apis: i.e. the bull-god → Apis as raised to fusion with → Osiris. This is the designation given to a god first intro- duced into the Egyptian pantheon by King Ptolemaios I who came from Macedonia. As lord of generative fecun- A mythical winged monster in ancient dity he bears a kalathos (a basket-shaped Iran. In one tradition it is described as a head-dress) entwined with ears of corn. bat combining the natures of dog, bird and Otherwise, he has the status of a universal musk-ox. In Sassanid art it is represented god, uniting in his person traits of → as a sort of peacock dragon with a dog’s Zeus and → Hades. From his temple head. Fancies relating to Senmurw were (Serapeum) in Alexandria, his cult spread later transferred to the modern Iranian to every corner of the Roman Empire. wonder-bird, the simurgh: it is supposed Yeri and Hurri Divine bulls and com- to be so old that it has seen the destruction panions of the old Anatolian weather-god of the world three times already. (→ Imkur, → Temub). The names mean Yentait An ancient Egyptian goddess ‘day’ and ‘night’. Both names figure in in the form of a cow. She was taken into lists of gods to be invoked when making the circle of deities concerned with the a vow or taking an oath. protection of the dead; as an exemplar of Qesa An Indian snake-demon, who maternal fertility she merges in the late bears the earth or enfolds it. He is the period into the figure of → Isis. king of the Nagas; under the name of Sepa (Sep) The Old Egyptian word Ananta he is the symbol of eternity, and means ‘centipede’. It is the name of a god ranged under → Visju. who was invoked in charms and spells Seyat Ancient Egyptian goddess of against dangerous animals and enemies of writing. She is ‘she who presides over the the gods. As a chthonic being, he was iden- house of records’ and ‘queen of builders’. tified with → Osiris, the god of the dead. Her most important function is recording A Gallic goddess of the river the Pharaonic years of rule and jubilees. Seine and the tribe of the Sequanae. The She is regarded as the sister or daughter duck is sacred to her. of → Thot. Seraphim (Serafim, Hebrew saraph ϭ to Yesmu (Mesemu, Mezemu) Ancient burn; then, fiery ‘snake’) In the Old Egyptian god of oil and wine pressing. To Testament, spirits with three pairs of the dead he proffers wine as a sustaining Shosshu 171 draught; as for sinners, he tears their heads He is ‘god of the white light’ from whom off and presses them in his wine-press. all other gods have emanated. Lamaism took him over as god of wisdom. Seth (Setech, Sutech) The shady god in the ancient Egyptian pantheon. As lord Shen-nong Chinese culture-hero, of the desert he is the adversary of → known as the ‘divine husbandman’. He Osiris, the god of vegetation, and the has the head of an ox, and it is he whom fight between the two brothers reflects the mankind has to thank for agriculture and permanent struggle between these two the knowledge of healing and curative aspects of nature. As Seth murders his herbs. As god of the hot winds, however, brother, he came later to be regarded as he can also be harmful to peasants. His the embodiment of evil, and the Greeks wife is the goddess of silk-worm culture. equated him with → Typhon; and it is sig- gShen-rab The founder of the Bon nificant that Seth was also regarded as the religion. In art he is represented as a super- god of non-Egyptian lands. The horse, the natural being remote from the world, antelope, the pig, the hippopotamus and seated on a lotus: in his right hand he holds the crocodile were regarded as sacred to the sceptre. Seth. Seth had a positive aspect as well, appearing as the Upper Egyptian partner Shen Yi Chinese sun-god, known as of the Lower Egyptian tutelary god → the ‘divine archer’. Once upon a time, it is Horus. Standing on the bows of the sun- said, there were ten suns in heaven whose barque, Seth fights off the → Apophis- heat threatened all life on earth. Shen Yi snake. shot down nine of them and became the lord of the remaining one. In terms of Sethlans Etruscan god of fire and Chinese yin-yang symbolism (the polarity blacksmiths, in iconography equated with between the male and female principles) the Greek → Hephaistos. Shen Yi incorporates male yang, while his Shang-di (also known simply as Di) wife → Heng E represents female yin. The supreme god in ancient China. He Shichi-fukujin The Japanese deities of rules over heaven in the same way as the good fortune, usually shown as seven in dynastic ruler is supreme on earth. number: → Benten, → Hotei the friend of Because he exercises control over such children, → Jurojin, → , natural forces as thunder and lightning, Bishamon ( zeal), Daikoku wind and rain, he is also regarded as the (riches), and Ebisu the patron of fisher- god of agriculture. men. They are sometimes portrayed all Sheila-na-gig A female demon known together in a treasure-ship. in the British Isles from early Celtic times Shi-jia-mu-ni → Fo onwards. She displays her pudenda in an apotropaic gesture, thus providing a par- Shi-tenno The name applied to the allel to the Baubo of antiquity. During the four Shintoist gods who guard the heav- Middle Ages, Sheila-na-gig was repre- enly quarters. One of these ‘kings of sented on the walls of various churches in heaven’ is → Zocho. Their Indian counter- England as a way of warding off evil. parts are the → Lokapalas. gShen-Lha-od-dkar A Tibetan deity Shosshu The god of blacksmiths and in the ancient, pre-Lamaist Bon religion. metal-workers among the Abkhaz people 172 Shou Lao who live in the Caucasus. Oaths were Balder, Loki is punished by having a sworn and pledges made over the anvil poisonous snake suspended over his which represented the god. head – but his faithful wife collects the venom in a bowl as it drips down. Shou Lao (Shou Xing Lao Tou-zi) In China, the ‘god of long life’, also called Sihai → Sirao Nan-ji Xian-weng, ‘the ancient of the Sila (or Silma inua) The divine ruler of South Pole’. Originally a stellar deity, he the universe in the belief of the Eskimos: became the president of that department some tribes imagine him as an airy spirit, of heavenly administration which fixes others think of him as the god who rules our life-span. His sacred creature is the the souls of man and beast and whom the white crane, a symbol of longevity. He is shamans invoke. often shown holding a peach in his hand. Shurdi A god of thunderstorms whose Silene Two-legged half-human horse- antecedents go back to the ancient like beings in Greek mythology. Silenos → who once lived in the area of (in the singular) is the ringleader of the present-day Albania. The name is inter- Satyrs, and also appears as the tutor of the → preted as meaning ‘the deaf one’ and may young Dionysos: he is portrayed as → [ be connected with the name of the bald-headed and pot-bellied. Mars as Thracian thunder-god Zibelthiurdos. also belonged to the Silene. Si Silewe Nazarata A goddess revered on the island of Nias (Indonesia). She represents life in all of its forms. She is regarded as helpful to mankind, neverthe- less she bears the epithet ‘she who is feared’. The moon is often said to be her dwelling-place; otherwise, she sits with her husband → Lowalangi in the loftiest sphere of heaven. Silvanus Roman god of fields and A moon-god heading the pantheon wor- woods. He was portrayed as a peasant, shipped in the ancient Chimu Empire of either naked or clad in a tunic tucked up Peru. On vases, he is shown in the sickle- round his legs; in his long hair he wears moon with a crown of feathers joined to a wreath of pine twigs, and he has a goat- an armoured backplate (see illustration). skin over his shoulders. Silvanus had no Sia → Hu official cult, but he was very popular among the common people. It is possible Sif The wife of the Germanic god → that he can be traced back to the Etruscan Thor. It has been suggested that her → Selvans, whose name would be under- golden hair is a poetic image for waving stood, by popular etymology, as meaning fields of corn. However speculative this ‘he who lives in the woods (silva)’. is, it does seem very probable that Sif Yimigi A sun-god of the Hurrians in played the part of a goddess of vegetation. ancient . In significance and Sigyn The wife of the Germanic god mode of appearance he coincides with the → Loki. For his share in the murder of → Hittite → Imtanu. Qiva 173

Simurgh → Senmurw Sirens (Greek seirénes) Divine hybrid creatures, half-bird, half-maiden, gifted Sin (1) (older form Suen; Old Assyrian, with the power of bewitching song. They Suin) Babylonian moon-god. His sym- dwell in Hades or in the heavenly fields; bol is the sickle-moon which can be con- but, as the daughters of → Phorkys they strued as a boat, and the god himself was may live on an island, beguile passing called ‘shining boat of heaven’. But the mariners with their song and then suck moon-god was also thought of as a bull, their blood. In this, they are close to the whose horns are formed by the sickle of old demons of death like the → Harpies; the moon. Sin was revered as an ancient and they were often represented on funer- and wise god, as lord of destiny and – like ary monuments as symbolic figures of → m the sun-god Sama – as judge of mourning. heaven and earth. The number associated with him was 30. A Celtic goddess revered in the Mosel Valley and often connected with Sin (2) A god of the moon and of the Gallic-Roman Apóllon. As to her riches revered in pre-Islamic times in function, there are conflicting theories – Hadramaut (south Arabia). she may have been a goddess of springs Singbonga The chief god of the and wells, or possibly a stellar goddess. Mundas, who speak an Austro-Asiatic lan- Sita An incarnation of the Indian god- guage and live in eastern India. The word dess → Laksmi. By her own wish she was sing may mean ‘sun’, and bonga originally born from a freshly ploughed field – meant ‘spirit’ or ‘higher being’. In the Ho hence her name, which means ‘furrow’. tribe, the god is called Sirma Thakur ϭ She became the wife of → Rama. Lord of Heaven. White goats and white Abducted by the king of the → Raksas cocks are sacrificed to Singbonga. (→ Ravaja) she was, after her release, Sipe Gyalmo In the Bon religion of suspected of adultery, whereupon she Tibet, a goddess who is ‘queen of the returned to her mother earth. world’. In art, she is represented as having Qitala (‘the cool one’) Bengali goddess a head with three eyes, and six arms in of smallpox, depicted as an ugly woman which she holds the following attributes: with a switch, riding on an ass. In south banner of victory, sword, royal sunshade, India she is revered under the name of swastika, skull-bowl and trident. She Mariamma. rides on a red mule. Yiuy A sky-god and sun-god of the Sirao An ancient tradition among the Hittites who invaded Asia Minor. islanders on Nias (in Indonesia) tells us Subsequently, he had to relinquish his that Sirao was the first of the gods, who solar aspect to other deities (→ Imtanu, the created the earth, and then the first exis- sun-goddess of Arinna). tent being, named Sihai. The sprouted from Sihai’s heart (according to Qiva (‘the friendly one’, ‘gracious one’) another version of the myth, from that of This deity can be traced back to the Indus his son); from his right eye came the sun, Valley cultures which preceded the Aryans and from his left eye the moon. Among in north India. Very early on, Fiva began to other names, that of → Lowalangi is take on characteristics of the Vedic → mentioned as the son of Sirao. Rudra, forming a triad (→ Trimurti) 174 Yiwini

Yiwini The Urartian sun-god; known as → Mimigi among the Hurrians. Skadi In Germanic myth, the daughter of the giant → Thiassi and wife of the god → Njörd. Njörd and Skadi fall out with each other as to where they should live: Njörd would like to live by the sea, but Skadi prefers the mountains. Later, according to Ynglingasaga, Skadi entered into a new marriage with → Odin. Any connection between the name Skadi and the word Scandinavia is hypothetical. Skan The sky-god of the Sioux Indians. He was revered as the source of all power and strength and as the creator of the world, which he has ordered modulo 4. Skan is judge over the gods and over the souls of men. Skanda Indian god of war, the son of together with → Brahma and → Visju. In → Fiva: another version of the myth makes his dark and destructive aspect he is Ugra him the progeny of the seed of → Agni, (‘the violent one’), Mahakala (‘death’) and cast into the sacrificial fire. Reared by the → Bhairava; and in this aspect he is por- six-starred constellation of the Pleiades trayed as either naked or clad in a skin, (Kirttikah) he was given the name smeared with ashes and adorned with Karttikeya. As a handsome young man he a wreath of skulls. In his benign aspect he is also known as Kumara (‘youth’). He appears as Mahayogin (‘the great yogi’) rides on the peacock Paravani, has six and as Nataraja (‘King of the dance’). As heads and twelve arms, and carries spear, Ardhanarifvara he combines in himself bow and arrows. In south India, Skanda male and female characteristics. Among is worshipped under the name of his attributes are the sickle moon and the Subrahmanya (‘favourable to Brahmins’). trident (trifula) and a third eye. In south Indian art he is shown with an axe and a Skuld → Norns gazelle in his hands. Fiva is the great god Skylla (Greek ϭ bitch; Latin Scylla) In of generation, revered under the symbol of the , a monster lurking by certain the linga(m), and in this connection the straits which devoured passing seamen; it bull → Nandin on which he rides should was imagined as having twelve feet and also be mentioned. His wife is → Durga; six heads which were canine or lupine. in the epics, → Parvati also appears in this Later, Skylla, and Charybdis lying oppo- role. His devotees see Fiva as the supreme site it, were identified as the whirlpool, being, the embodiment of cosmic power in dangerous to shipping, lying in the Straits all of its aspects, destructive as well as cre- of Messina. ative. In Ceylon, he is known as → Ifvara. For his relationship with Visju see → Smertrios War-like deity of the Gauls, Harihara. especially of the Treveres. On a relief Spenta Mainyu 175 discovered in Paris he is portrayed as a a deity. Soma was regarded as the vital sap bearded athlete, using a club to dispatch in all living beings, and its ritual extrac- a snake. tion was a symbol of cosmic processes. The gods drink soma from the bowl of the So The name given to their god of moon, and soma confers immortality thunder by the Ewe people who live in (amrita). In the post-Vedic age, Soma is Togo and Ghana. He is in fact a mixta a customary name for the moon-god. persona – the male Sogbla and the female Sodza, both of whom are manifest to us in Somtus (better known as Harsomtus ϭ a thunderstorm. Sogbla dwells in heaven ‘uniter of the two lands’) A god revered and is surrounded by flames; he is revered in the ancient Egyptian city of Dendera: above all by hunters, and feared by evil- creator and child of the sun. Late temple doers. Sodza is the donor of rain and fer- pictures show him as a snake or a lotus tility. Ewe people are forbidden to drink blossom. rain-water, as this is water of So. Sopdu Ancient Egyptian god of the Sokar (, Sokaris) A falcon-god frontier and of the east, revered originally of the dead revered in the area of in the twentieth nome of lower Egypt, Memphis in ancient Egypt. As lord of the then later in the Sinai Peninsula. necropolis he became patron of the crafts- men working there, and was equated with Sothis The Greek name of the ancient → Ptah; later, also with the god of the Egyptian goddess Sopdet, the incorpora- dead → Osiris. tion of the Dog Star, Sirius. As the helia- cal rising of Sirius once coincided with Sol (1) Roman sun-god, corresponding the onset of the Nile flood, it was believed to the Greek → Hélios. His temple stood that the goddess herself was to be thanked on the Quirinal, and as patron of the char- for the life-giving waters and the fertility iot teams he had a in the they engendered. Later, Sothis merged Circus Maximus. During the Empire into the figure of → Isis, who, as Sirius, period, the designation Sol invictus was follows → Osiris, embodied in Orion. transferred to various oriental sungods, e.g. to the Syrian → Elagabal. Under the Spandaramet Armenian earth- Emperor of the same name, Elagabal goddess, whose name comes from the became the supreme tutelary god of Rome. Iranian . She is the goddess of ‘those who are asleep’, i.e. the dead. Sol (2) (Old Icelandic sol ϭ sun) The With the coming of Christianity, the word daughter of Mundilferi, sister of → Mani. Spandaramet took on the meaning of hell. Her car is drawn by two horses called e a Arvakr (‘he who is early awake’) and Spenta Mainyu (Sp n k Menoi) In Alsvidr (‘swiftest of all’) across the sky. Old Iranian myth, the constant adversary → The personification of the sun is also of Angru Mainyu ( Ahriman). Where found in the second Merseburg spell, Spenta Mainyu creates life, Angru under the name of Sunna. Mainyu is responsible for death. Throughout the whole of world history Soma In ancient India, the intoxicating the two remain active as good and evil drink made from the soma plant, which principles. In Pahlavi literature, the figure played a crucial role in the Vedic sacrifi- of Spenak Menoi merges into the figure cial rites and which was personified as of Ormazd (→ Ahura Mazda). 176

Spes Roman goddess, the personifica- cock-crow he calls men to their religious tion of hope, not excluding the plant duty. In Manichaeanism the name is world. This made her a goddess of gar- transferred to a cosmic luminosity with dens, who had her temple in the vegetable eschatological function. market, and who was represented as a girl Yrat A domestic demon of the West bearing flowers or grain. Slavs which can fly and which appears as Sphinx a fiery figure. The name is Germanic (cf. Old High German scrato ϭ forest spirit). Sri Demonic beings in the old Bon reli- gion of Tibet. They dwell below the ground, chase little children and behave as in places where corpses are laid out. Qridevi One of the terrifying god- desses of Lamaism, whose Tibetan name is dPal-ldan Lhamo. She exercises a spe- cial tutelary function for the , but she also plays a part in the judgment of the dead, and keeps a record of our sins. She is portrayed as mounted on a mule; she has an eye in her forehead, and in her left hand she carries a bowl made from a skull. Stihi A female demon in south The (male) Sphinx of Gizeh was wor- Albanian popular belief. As a fearsome shipped as → Harmachis. Later, the form dragon breathing fire it guards a treasure. of the Sphinx was attributed to the king of East Slavonic god mentioned → the gods, the sun-god Amun-Re. In in the Nestor Chronicle and elsewhere. Greece, the (female) sphinx – originally The phrase ‘Stribog’s grandchildren’ ϭ phix, which became sphinx the stran- referred to the winds, and the god himself gler, by popular etymology – is to be has accordingly been seen as ruler of the interpreted as a kind of demon of death. winds. She is the daughter of → Typhón and of → Echidna. To every passer-by she gives Strigae (sing. striga ϭ she who a riddle – and swallows those who cannot screeches) In Roman popular belief solve it. bird-like demons who stole children. Sometimes they were said to be old Sraoya (Modern Persian Srom) In Old women who had turned into birds. Iranian religion, a figure belonging to or close to → the Amema Spentas: a personi- Styx (from Greek stygein ϭ to hate) fication of the ‘ear’ of → Ahura Mazda, The name of the river in the Greek under- through which the faithful have access world, and of its tutelary goddess. Hesiod to the god. After sunset, he guards cre- says that she is the most powerful of the ation from the demonic powers. Through daughters of → Okeanos and of → Summamus 177

Tethys. The gods swore their most solemn for this theory is provided by the dog oaths by the water of the Styx (the river allotted to him on an altar. itself is masculine in Greek). Among the Suchos This is the Greek reading of children of the goddess were → Bia and the name of the old Egyptian crocodile- → Nike. god: in script SBK, vocalized as . Yu (Greek transcription Sos) In ancient The main centres of his cult were Egyptian myth, Mu came forth as breath Krokodilopolis in Fayum and Kom Ombo from the nose of the primeval god → in Upper Egypt. In the myth he appears as Atum. His name means ‘emptiness’ and the son of → Neith. Representations identifies him as a god of the space showing crocodiles with falcon heads and between heaven and earth, which he is the double crown are based on an approx- said to have separated, the one from the imation of this god to → Horus. Further other. Together with his sister → Tefnut identification with → Re led to the solar (moisture), Mu (air) incorporates the disc being added to the crocodile’s head. forces which are necessary for life. The The Greeks depicted Suchos as a radiant identification of Atum with the sun-god → Hélios, and gave him a crocodile in → Re makes Mu the ‘son of Re’ and he is one hand as an attribute. then entitled to be represented wearing Sugaar A male snake-like spirit of the the lion’s head. Basques: it lives under the ground but can Suaixtix A designation of the sun and also traverse the heavens like a fiery the name of the sun-god of the ancient sickle. In one district he is regarded as the Prussians (Pruzzen). A connection has spirit → Maju, in another as the devil. been suggested with the word svaistikas Sul A Celtic goddess worshipped in (‘he who shines around’). Bath (in southern England). Eternal fire Succubus (from Latin succumbere ϭ to burned in her temple; her name means lie under) A female demon who besets ‘sun’. During the Roman occupation she a man sexually during sleep. In other was identified with Minerva. words, the succubus is a kind of → Alp. Yulmanu The Assyrian god of war and Women on trial as witches were often of the underworld. accused of being the devil’s succubus or Y paramour. ulpa’e An old Mesopotamian god whose Sumerian name means ‘youth who Sucellos (Celtic ϭ he who strikes well appears in radiance’. He may appear as home) A Gallic god with markedly the husband of the mother-goddess → syncretic traits. His chief attribute is a Ninlursanga. He was regarded as the hammer, and Celtic philologists refer to representative of the planet Jupiter. him therefore as the ‘hammer-god’. His Sumbharaja One of the Buddhist → rather more haphazard attributes are Krodhadevatas, and guardian of the man- a club and a purse, reminiscent of figures dalas. He has three eyes and six arms, and like → Heraklés and → Mercurius. Often in his crown he bears the image of → he holds in his hand a vase or a drinking- Aksobhya. bowl (olla), which may be symbols of plenty and which may identify him as Summamus An Etruscan god who a god of fertility. He has also been inter- hurls down lightning by night. He preted as a god of the dead, and evidence received his own temple in Rome and the 178 Sun Hou-zi fratres Arvales sacrificed black wethers hair and golden arms. He drives in a to him. chariot drawn by a team of four or seven horses; in his hand he holds a lotus flower, Sun Hou-zi A divine ape in Chinese often a discus (cakra) as well. The daughter mythology, also known as Sun Wu-kong, of the sun-god is also called Surya. i.e. ‘he who awakens to nothingness (Nirvana)’. He was born from an egg fer- Susanowo (Susanoo) Japanese god of tilized by the wind. Skilled in various the winds and lord of the ocean. It is said magic arts and crafts, he was finally able – that he arose from the nose of → Izanagi. against the will of the gods – to eat of the In his capacity as god of thunder he is peaches of immortality and the pills of associated with snakes and dragons. eternal life. Svantevit (Latinized form Svantovitus) Suparqva The seventh → Tirthaykara A war-god revered by the Slavonic inhab- in Jainism. Its characteristic emblem is the itants of the island of Rügen. He was also swastika symbolizing the four planes of a protector of their fields, and the harvest existence – the world of the gods, the world festival was dedicated to him. The early of men, the world of animals and hell. Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus relates that his main attributes were a Surt(r) In Germanic mythology, an cornucopia and a white horse. opponent of the gods at the time of the destruction of the world. He rules over (Svaropi3) Slavonic fire- and Muspelheim and possesses a glowing-hot sun-god, equated by Greek-Christian sword with which he will set fire to the writers with → Hephaistos. The divine world at the end of time. In the last battle smith was also regarded as the founder of he slays → Freyr. the institution of marriage. Originally, Svarog was at the summit of the Slavonic Surya Indian sun-god and guardian of pantheon, but he ended up as a sort of the south-west quadrant. His father is the fire-spirit. In Russia, his place was taken sky-god → Dyaus or → Indra; one myth by → Perun. tells how he arose from the eye of the world-giant → Purusa. Surya has golden Syrinx → Pan T

Tabiti Goddess of fire and queen of suggested that this festival represents a animals of the Scythians who once lived hieros gamos between the god of light and in south Russia. She was the ‘great god- the earth goddess (). dess’ represented as winged and sur- Tai-sui-xing ‘The star of the great rounded by animals. The Romans took year’ – that is to say Jupiter which takes → her to be identical with Vésta. 12 years to complete its orbit, and which is regarded as the god of time in China. Tai-yi (‘the Great Monad’) Taoist sky- god, who dwells in the ‘purple palace’, the constellation of Zi-gong. He was that being who was already perfected before the creation. During the (960–1279) Tai-yi was revered as the highest of nine or ten stellar gods, and he was given the name of Jiu-gong Tai-yi: i.e. ‘Tai-yi of the nine palaces’. Takamimusubi (‘high and sublime begetter’) In Japan, the progenitor god of the royal family. As a sky-god he rules the world together with the sun-goddess (→ Amaterasu). It is said that his grand- child Ninigi descended from heaven and founded the dynasty of the Tenno. In Etruscan tradition, a youth who had the Ta’lab Sabaean (ancient south Arabian) wisdom of age: it is said that he suddenly god. The name is taken to mean ‘ibex’, and emerged from a furrow one day when a the god himself is seen as a moon-god. In field was being ploughed, and proceeded addition, he was also a kind of oracle. to expound the practice of haruspicina – prognostication by the inspection of Tane (in Hawaii Kane) Polynesian god entrails. Tages, the child of earth, begot- of the forest, and patron of craftsmen, ten by a → Genius, is represented on especially boat-builders. He is the god of bronze mirrors with two snakes forming light, and on Tahiti he is revered as the his lower limbs. god of all that is beautiful. People turn to him when they are in trouble. The name Tailtiu An Irish goddess, embodying ‘Tane’ means ‘man’. The Maoris say that tellurian and natural forces. In Irish myth, ‘Tane’s way’ leads westwards – that is to she figures as the nurse of → Lug. At her say, it follows the path of the sun. His request, a festival is instituted for her after entrance into the underworld (his night her death – the Lugnasad, i.e. ‘the voyage) is described in the myth in terms espousal of the god Lug’. It has been of his relationship to → Hine-nui-te-po. 180 Tang

Tang sitting beside him. The god loves his grandchildren, the human race. Tapio East Finnish forest spirit or god, often invoked in hunters’ prayers. With the coming of Christianity he turned into a patron saint of hunting: he is supposed to have a daughter – St Anna (Anniki). Tara (less frequently Tarini) The most important Buddhist goddess; her name means both ‘she who delivers’ and ‘star’. The legend goes that she was born from a tear by → Avalokitefvara. The ear- liest representations of the goddess date from the sixth century AD. Tara incorpo- rates the very concept of female divinity, and her name can therefore be added as a generic term to the names of other god- desses: indeed other goddesses often appear as specialized forms of Tara. Altogether, 21 forms of Tara are distin- In Chinese mythology, the heavenly swal- guished, divided into the white forms low in its function as Messiah and (in these her left hand usually holds redeemer. In order to help mankind, it a lotus) and the coloured forms (blue, sacrificed its own body in the mulberry- yellow, red). tree copse. Tang’s most signal achieve- Taranis (Celtic taran ϭ thunder) ment is his victory over the prince of hell. Gallic thunder-god and lord of heaven, Tangaroa (Tangaloa) Polynesian sea- equated by the Romans with → Jupiter. god, and creator of all things. In the It is possible that he is the god shown Marquesas Islands he appears as god of in Gallic art as bearing a wheel, which the winds and of fishing, under the name is taken to be a symbol of thunder or of Tana’oa. At the same time, it is related of the sun. The Gallic hammer-god has of him that he dwelt in heaven at the also been connected with Taranis, but he beginning of time, and that he ruled over usually has a lightning flash in his hand. the night until → Atea was born from Tarhunt An ancient Anatolian him. According to Tahitian tradition, the (Hurrian) weather-god. The name means god resided in a dark mussel-shell, from ‘mighty one, victor’; he corresponds to which he finally fashioned heaven and the Hittite → Imkur. earth. Tangaloa’s messenger is the bird Tuli. Taru Ancient Anatolian (Hattic) weather-god; his Luvian name is → Ta Pedn The god of the Semang negri- Tarlunt. His son is the vegetation-god → tos in : the name can be trans- Telipinu. lated as ‘old man Pedn’ or ‘grandpa Pedn’. He is enthroned on a many- Taymetu Ancient Mesopotamian god- coloured mat in the heavens, with his wife dess, who in her function as ‘she who Teljavelik 181 hears prayer’ personifies divine accessi- She represented humidity, but came to be bility; she is the spouse of → Nabu. regarded subsequently as incorporating world order. At an early date, Mu and Taymiyu Ancient Anatolian god, who Tefnut were identified with the pair of figures repeatedly in myth as the brother lions → Ruti, revered in Leontopolis, and and helper of the weather-god → Temub. were accordingly portrayed theriomor- Tate The wind-god of the Sioux phically. In Egyptian myth, this god- Indians. He orders the seasons, and dess may represent either the lunar or the allows only those souls to take the path solar eye: and as the latter can also appear of the spirits, whom → Skan regards as as the uraeus snake, Tefnut may figure worthy. as the ‘snake on the forehead of all the gods’. Tatenen (Tenen, Ten) The name of this ancient Egyptian god means ‘the raised Teharonhiawagon The good god land’ – a reference to the primeval hill, the revered by the Mohawk and the earth as it rose in the beginning from the Onondaga Indians. The name means ‘he primeval waters. Tatenen is primeval god who holds the heavens in his two hands’. and god of the earth; in Memphis he was Another name for him is Oterongtongnia, coupled with → Ptah, under the name of which means ‘little tree’. He has created Ptah-Tenen. He is represented in human all good things, and gives health and pros- shape with the horns of a ram and a crown perity. Morning and day are his province, of feathers. while evening and night form that of his adversary → Tawiskaron. Tawa Among the Pueblo Indians of Teisiphone → Erinyes North America, the great sun-spirit, who has created men. Demon workers in metal, gifted with the evil eye and skilled in Tawiskaron (‘fire-stone’) An evil spirit magic, in the mythology of the Greek in the mythology of the Mohawk, Huron islanders (especially on Rhodes). In and Onondaga Indians in North America. many respects they resemble the → He steals the sun, creates monsters with Kabiroi. The Telchines often appear as human faces, lets a toad drink up the fresh diminutive mermen; it was to them that water which humans need, and wreaks the young Poseidon was handed over for havoc among the good works of his his bringing up. creator-brother → Teharonhiawagon. In ritual, Tawiskaron figures as the great Telipinu (Telipuna) Ancient Anatolian magician to whom the nocturnal cere- god of vegetation, the son of the weather- → monies are dedicated, and who was cred- god Taru. He brings rain, and has, like ited with being able to ward off illnesses. his father, control over thunder and light- ning. He causes plants to grow, and confers Tecciztecatl (‘he who comes from the fertility upon man and animals. Sometimes land of the sea-slug shell’) Aztec moon- in anger or in pique he quits the assembly god, so-called because of the similarity of the gods, and then all life on heaven and between the moon and the slug. earth comes to a standstill. The pinu com- ponent in his name means ‘son’ or ‘child’. Tefnut (Greek form Tphenis) Old Egyptian goddess who emerged from → Teljavelik The heavenly smith in Atum along with the god of the air → Mu. Lithuanian mythology. He it is who 182 Tellus created the sun (→ Saule) and placed it in she plucks the strings with the plectrum the heavens. held in her right hand. Tellus (Latin ϭ earth) Roman goddess Teyub (Temup) The Hurrian weather- of the earth and the cornfields. In her god, corresponding to the Hittite → Imkur. aspect as a fertility goddess, she is related His attributes are the double-headed axe to → Ceres. Tellus was sometimes given and the cluster of lightning flashes; his another Latin name which also means car is drawn by the bulls → Meri and ‘earth’ – Terra. Lurri. His wife is → Lebat. Tenenit A goddess of beer mentioned Teteo innan (‘Mother of the gods’) in the Egyptian Book of the Dead and in An ancient tellurian deity of the Aztecs, some texts dating from the Ptolemaic also known as (ϭ ‘our little period. mother’). Women revered her as a god- dess of childbirth and childcare, while Tengri Among the Turkish tribes and men saw her as a divine warrior – the Mongols, a designation for certain Quauhcihuatl, ‘Eagle woman’. She may heavenly beings. The Buriats call their be transmuted into the figure of → sky-god Esege Malan Tengri – ‘Father Cihuacoatl, and then again equated with Bald-head Tengri’. The supreme sky-god the goddess of love → Tlazolteotl. of the Mongols is called → Qormusta Tengri. His Yakut counterpart is Tangara, Tethys Daughter of the sky-god → whose epithet is urün ajy tojon ϭ wise Uranós and the earth-goddess → Gaia: lord creator. one of the → Titans. She is also the sister and the wife of → Okeanos. Ten-gu () Mountain and forest goblins in ; they have Teutates A god revered in Gaul, long noses or beaks, and figure as bogey- whose name is attested in Britain as men. They dwell in hollow trees, and are Totatis. The name is interpreted as mean- said to be the progeny of the storm-god → ing ‘father of the tribe, people’. He was Susanowo. thought of in connection with war and fighting (that is to say, a sort of Gallic → Tepeyollotli This earth and cave god Mars) but also appeared as a god of fertil- was originally native to the Indians in the ity and plenty (→ Mercurius, Gallic). His Central American isthmus. He was the importance may be gauged from the epi- ‘heart of the mountain’ and the source of thets applied to him: Albiorix (‘King of earthquakes. His symbolical animal was the world’), and Loucetios (‘the shining the jaguar. The Aztecs regarded him as one’), while Caturix (‘lord of the battle’) one of the gods of night and as represent- points to his warlike aspect. ing one aspect of → Tezcatlipoca. ϭ Roman god of border mark- Tezcatlipoca (Tezcatl mirror, popoca ϭ ers. His feast was the Terminalia, held on smoking) Aztec tutelary god of war- 23 February. riors, and avenger of misdeeds. One of his epithets was Moyocoya ϭ the Terpsichore (Greek ϭ she who delights omnipotent. He represents the stars in dancing) The → Muse of the solemn (→ Mixcoatl), the night sky, the winter, and ceremonial dance. She is usually and the north, and is thereby the adver- shown with a lyre in her left hand, while sary of → Huitzilopochtli. The animal Thor 183 sacred to him is the jaguar, whose spotted afar – underlines her character as a goddess coat is reminiscent of the night sky. On of light. the other hand, Tezcatlipoca may also Themis Greek goddess of justice, embody the sun. It is typical of his divi- order and morality. She was supposed to sive and divided being that he is able to be the daughter of the sky-god → Uranós lead → Quetzalcoatl into temptation. and the earth-goddess → Gaia; she was Each year, a prisoner of war was chosen the wife of → Zeus and the mother of the as the earthly representative of → Horae and the → Moires. Tezcatlipoca, and sacrificed by having his heart torn from his breast. Etruscan goddess of dawning, who not only ushers in the day but also, Thab-lha A hearth-god in the old according to evidence from Greek Tibetan Bon religion. Condign punish- sources, was regarded as a goddess to ment awaits anyone who defiles his invoke in childbirth. domestic fires. He is imagined as a red man who holds a snake aloft in the form Theseus Athenian cult figure and of a noose. national hero. His father is variously given as the sea-god → Poseidon, and as Thaleia → Charites the mythical King Aigeus, from whom the Thalia (Greek thaleia ϭ she who blos- Aegean Sea gets its name. One of his soms) The → Muse of comedy, the most outstanding feats was to conquer the light-hearted art of letters. Among her monster → Minotauros. attributes are a comic mask, a wreath of Thetis Daughter of the Greek sea-god ivy and a crooked staff. → Nereus and wife of the mortal ; Thallo → Horae their son was → Achilleus. Thalna An Etruscan goddess of birth, Thiassi (Thjazi) A giant in Nordic depicted as a sumptuously clad young mythology, the father of → Skadi. He was woman; she is often shown in the com- slain by → Thor, and his eyes were pany of the sky-god → Tin. thrown into the skies where they became stars. Thanatos In Greek mythology, the son of Night (→ Nyx) and twin brother of → Thor (Old Saxon thunar: Donar, etymo- . At a later period he was por- logically cognate with German Donner) trayed as a beautiful winged youth, bear- Germanic god of thunderstorms and of ing a lowered torch in one hand. fertility, belonging to the race of the Aesir (→ As); the son of → Odin and the divine Theandr(i)os A pre-Islamic god personification of the earth (→ Jörd). He revered in north Arabia, and known to us drives in a chariot drawn by two goats, from Greek and Latin inscriptions. and possesses the throwing-hammer Theia In Greek mythology, one of the Mjölnir. In the Edda, he is described as → Titans, wife of → Hyperion: their chil- the strongest of all the gods whom he pro- dren are the sun-god → Hélios, the moon- tects, along with the human race, against goddess → Seléne and the goddess of the giants. At Ragnarök, the twilight of dawning → Eos. The name Theia means the gods, he slays the → Midgard-snake, ‘the divine one’; another of her names – but is himself done to death in the Euryphaessa ϭ she whose rays shine moment of victory. It was to Thor that 184 Thot men turned for in marriage, Tiamat (Akkadian ϭ sea) In old and for protection of herds and crops. His Mesopotamian myth, the name of the - sacred tree was the oak (the Donar-oak at versal mother, the personification of salt Geismar, felled by Boniface). The water and spouse of the god of fresh water Romans took him to be equivalent to → → Apus. Tiamat is the primeval dragon- Hercules or → Jupiter, and the fourth day like monster of original chaos, which is of the week is named after him. defeated by the god → Marduk, and from Thot (Dehuti) Ancient Egyptian god of whose two halves he forms heaven and the moon, of the calendar and of chrono- earth. logy. His attribute is writing materials or Tian The Chinese word denotes both a palm-leaf (as a year/date marker). His the sky and its personification. Tian ibis head identifies him as native to the fused partly with the ancient sky-god → delta, and in Hermopolis he soon fused Shang-di, partly with the supreme being with the figure of the peacock-headed of Taoism → Yu-di. From the Zhou god → Hez-ur. In myth we are told how Dynasty (c. 1050–256 BC) onwards, Thot searches for and finds the lost eye of the Chinese Emperor was regarded as the moon, which he heals with his spittle. the ‘son of heaven’. In the meaning of Another tradition relates how Thot was ‘supreme ruler’ the characters tian and di born from the head of → Seth. He is ‘rep- are interchangeable. resentative deputy of → Re’ and versed in → very powerful magic skills. As protector Tian-long Di-ya of → Osiris he came to be seen as a guide Tian-zhu (‘lord of heaven’) The desig- and helper of the dead; and in due course nation chosen for ‘God’ in the Chinese this led to his identification with the Catholic catechism. Greek escort of souls → Hérmes. Tiberínus The most important river- Th’uban A fire-spitting, dragon-like god of the Romans, whose temple stood demon in Islamic literature, known to the from the very earliest times on an island under the name of Tinnin. It is in the Tiber. In order not to provoke the likely that a pre-Islamic snake-deity god, bridges across the stream had to be underlies the figure. made of wood only, with no iron parts; a constraint which lasted right into the Thunupa Ancient Peruvian culture- republican period. In myth, his bride is hero, who can transform himself into the the thrown into the Tiber, figure of → Huiracocha and who also Rhea Silvia. shows signs of Christian influence. Thus, it is said of him that he came from the north, Tiki (known as Ki’i in Hawaii) The carried a cross and expelled the old gods. Polynesian designation either for the god who first created man, or alternatively, for Thursir In Germanic mythology, giant the first man himself. Furthermore, Tiki demonic beings with big ears and covered also denotes anthropomorphic images of with rough hair. They can cause illnesses gods fashioned out of stone or wood. and rob men of their understanding. In myth, the Thursir were present at the Tilla A bull-god of the Hurrian people beginning of the world: the world-giant in ancient Asia Minor. Yoked with the bull → Ymir is the progenitor of all the → Meri he sometimes pulls the chariot of Hrimthursir, the giants of frost and rime. the weather-god. Titans 185

Tin () Etruscan sky-god, depicted Tirthamkara sometimes bearded, sometimes unbearded, but always with a cluster of lightning flashes. His attributes may also include a spear or sceptre. The Romans equated Tin with → Jupiter.

Tinirau East Polynesian god of the sea and of fish, depicted sometimes in human, sometimes in fish form. He is of terrifying appearance as is indicated by his epithet ‘the swallower’. There are several versions of the myth relating his love affair with the lady in the moon → Hina. (‘ford-maker’: that is to say, he who finds Tinnit (also Thinit; an earlier reading of a ford through the stream of the rebirth the name was Tanit) Supreme goddess cycle) A saviour in Jainism. Jains bel- of Carthage with the constant epithet of ieve that there have been 24 such saviours, ‘face of Baal’. She is queen of heaven, of whom the following are treated in s a f a f virgin and mother, and she confers fertil- this book: Ri abha, Sup r va, P r va and a i i y ity. In this latter capacity she bears the Mah v ra. The symbol of all T rtha karas name Nutrix (‘foster-mother’, ‘she who is the mystic syllable hrim, where the nourishes’), and has such attributes as a nasal marker takes the shape of the sickle pomegranate, figs, ears of wheat and, moon in token of deliverance. from the realm of creatures, the dove. Her Tiypak The Babylonian tutelary god of special symbol is the so-called Tinnit Esnumma. It is possible that he was taken emblem: a triangle with horizontal beams over by the Hurrians (weather-god → placed on it, on which a disc lies. In her Temub). capacity as Dea Caelestis she seems to have had some sort of relationship with Tistriya Iranian stellar god (Sirius) the moon. who engages the forces of evil in combat, as leader of the armies of Angru Mainyu Tir Armenian god of writing, wisdom (→ Ahriman). He also sends rain and the and oracles. His epithet ‘clerk of Ormizd’ seed of useful plants. In Armenia, Tistriya suggests Iranian influence. In the → appears in a different capacity under the Mithraic mysteries, Tir corresponds to → name of → Tir. Hérmes/Mercurius. Titans The secondary race of gods in Tirawa The god of the Pawnee Indians Greek mythology, comprising the six sons who live in Kansas. He is the creator of all and the six daughters of the sky-god → things and giver of life. The wind is his Uranós and the earth-goddess → Gaia. breath, and lightning is his glance; but no According to Hesiod they form six sets of one knows what he really looks like. pairs; among the best known of these pairs Tirawa is the power that has ordered all are → Okeanos and → Thetys, → things and given man everything he Hyperion and → Theia, → Kronos and → needs. Rheia. Others are Koios and Phoibe, Kreios 186 Tiwaz and Eurybie, → Iapetos and Klymene. Led Tnong The sun-god of the Menik- by the youngest son Kronos, the Titans Semang people in the Malacca Peninsula. topple their father Uranós; later, however, He is supposed to take the shape of a they too are overthrown by → Zeus with dragon-fly. the help of the → Cyclops. Toar → Empung Luminuut Tiwaz In Luvian (a language related to Toeris Hittite) the name of the sun-god. The name appears in Palaic in the form Tijaz. Both in function and in appearance the god corresponds to the Hittite → Imtanu. Tlahuizcalpantecutli (‘lord in the house of twilight’) Aztec god of the morning star. Under the calendar name of ce acatl (‘one-reed’), he figured as a mystic hero born of the virgin Chimalman (a personi- fication of the earth). Tlaloc Azetec rain-god, whose dwelling was supposed to be partly in the cloud-capped mountains and partly in springs and lakes. As he often conceals (Thoëris, Ta-uret, ‘she who is great’) himself behind a dark storm-cloud, he is Old Egyptian hippopotamus-goddess, portrayed in manuscripts as black of body who is portrayed as upright with human and with a painted face. In his hand he arms and breasts. In her capacity as a pro- carries a staff which is the symbol of tective deity she was depicted on beds, lightning; it may be toothed, or may have head-rests and in vignettes in the Books snakes entwined round it. His Maya coun- of the Dead. As an attribute she holds the → terpart is Chac. Those who are Sa-loop, an emblem of protection; often drowned or struck by lightning, and those also a torch to ward off demons. Toeris is who have leprosy are admitted to especially helpful to women in childbirth. Tlalocan, the kingdom of Tlaloc, where they will never again suffer any need. Tomam A bird-goddess of the Ket people in Siberia. She is queen of the Tlazolteotl The love-goddess of the migratory birds. Nahuatl people in Mexico, the mother of (r) A divinity whose antecedents the maize-god Cinteotl. Her epithet go far back into Illyrian times; father of Ixcuinan (‘queen of cotton’) comes from the gods and of men, and also known as the Huastec people. Her forehead is Baba Tomor. He is flanked by two female bound and she has cotton ear-rings. The eagles with long beaks. The winds are his Aztecs identified her with their older servitors. Even today, Albanian peasants earth-goddess → Teteo innan, and swear by him. His spouse was supposed to regarded her as the mother of the maize- be → Bukura e dheut. god. The name Tlazolteotl (‘goddess of filth’) seems to be a reference to illicit (‘queen of our flesh’) sexual relationships; adulterers came to An Aztec goddess who co-operates with her priest to confess. her husband → Tonacatecutli in the task Trowo 187 of transferring infant souls from heaven (Trigelawus) A god of the Slav to the maternal womb. For this reason peoples who lived in the Baltic area; pre- she is known as Omecihuatl (‘queen of sumably, he had a warlike function. The duality’). name means ‘three-headed’, and accord- ing to medieval chronicles he was repre- Tonacatecutli (‘lord of our flesh’) A sented as three-headed at various sites in supreme god of the Aztecs. He bears this Stettin and . In Stettin he name because it is he whom we have to was regarded as the supreme god. Some thank for our food which builds up our sort of horse-oracle was connected with bodies. Together with his wife → his cult. A south Slavonic god Triglav has Tonacacihuatl he sits enthroned in the also been postulated on many occasions, loftiest of heavens, and together they are but there is no convincing evidence for engaged in promoting generation and this – in spite of the mountain with the birth. In this capacity, he bears the name same name in Slovenia. Ometecutli (‘lord of duality’). Trimurti (‘having three forms’; trinity) Tonatiuh (‘soaring eagle’) Aztec sun- The Indian trinity consisting of the world god, usually represented with a crown of creator → Brahma, the sustainer → Visju, eagle feathers. His house (tonatiu ichan) and the destroyer → Fiva. According to the offered hospitality to those who had died Samkhya school, the three are manifesta- in battle and to women who had died in tions of one essential unity. In popular childbed. Tonatiuh could also be wor- belief they are often regarded as manifes- shipped in the form of → Huitzilopochtli. tations of the supreme god → Ifvara. Tore God of the forest and lord of ani- Triphis The Greek name given to the mals in the belief of the Bambuti pygmies Egyptian Repit (‘she who is exalted’). in the Ituri area. He manifests himself in Essentially, an honorary title, referring in wind and storms, and may appear as a particular to → Hathor. However, it is leopard. He may present himself in his also a proper name for a lion-goddess theriomorphic guise at initiation cere- worshipped in the ninth nome of Upper monies for boys. Egypt, where Athribis was the cult-centre. Tork A mountain god in Old Armenian Triton Greek sea-god, half-man, half- literature. His antecedents go back into fish. His parents are → Poseidon and → the farthest Anatolian past, and subse- Amphitríte. Later pluralized, so that now quently he acquired demonic traits. we speak of Tritons, meaning the male Originally, he was the mountain itself, companions of the female → Nereids, who and only thereafter the patron and protec- are shown blowing on their conch shells. tor of the mountain world and the animals Troll (Old Norse ϭ fiend) In living in it. He was of hideous appear- Scandinavian folk-belief, are ance, but nevertheless a being endowed demons who may be male or female, with superhuman powers. giants or dwarfs. They are endowed with Torto A fearsome spirit in Basque magic powers during the of dark- folklore. He has only one eye in the mid- ness, and this is why they fear daylight. dle of his forehead, and he likes to abduct Trowo (the singular is tro) The Ewe young people whom he dismembers and people in Togo believe in these as God- devours. created beings who represent various 188 bTsan cosmic objects or phenomena – the sky, engaged in the creation of the world. On stars, lightning. Oldest among them is Mangarewa Tu is invoked to make the Anyigba, the earth, whose constituent bread-fruit trees flourish. In ancient parts – mountains, streams, forests, ant- times, human sacrifice was made to the hills – form their own series of trowo, Hawaiian god ‘Ku with the maggoty who give children, cause the yams to mouth’. flourish and induce or cure illnesses. Tu (2) A god-like earth-spirit in bTsan (bCan) Tibetan demons whose ancient Chinese religion. It was also realm is in the air. They appear as fierce called she, and was the object of a fertil- ruddy huntsmen, riding furiously over ity cult. She-altars in phallic form were the mountains on bright-red horses. made out of pounded earth on fields Anyone found alone in the wilderness is belonging to the ruler and his vassals. slain by their deadly arrows. In ancient Tuatha De Danann (‘the people of the Tibet, the king was regarded as the earthly goddess Dana’) A clan of Celtic gods representative of the bTsan, and had the in Ireland, to whom belong → Dagda, → title bTsan-po. Lug, and → Ogma inter alia. In myth and Tsukiyomi Japanese moon-god. He in cult, these heroic deities appear as the arose when → Izanagi washed her right eye partners of human beings. in the sea; when she washed her left eye, Tuchulcha Etruscan demon of the → the sun-goddess Amaterasu was born. underworld. Its head looks like that of → Tu Charun, while its arms are entwined with snakes. Tupa Among the Guarani in South America, this is the favourite son of the supreme god. The name was taken over by Christian missionaries working in Brazil and in Paraguay to translate ‘God’. Turan Etruscan goddess of love. Her attributes are a swan and a dove, often accompanied by a twig or a blossom. She is usually portrayed as winged, conform- ing in this to the general type of the ancient Mediterranean Great Mother. Turan was also the tutelary deity of the town of . Turms An Etruscan god with the func- tion of a psychopompos, guider of souls to the underworld. As such, he takes on the iconographic characteristics of → Hérmes, and is shown naked with a (1) (The Hawaiian Ku) Polynesian war- backwards-streaming shoulder cloak god; his name means ‘he who stands’. He (chlamys), winged shoes and kerykeion was also the great master-craftsman (the herald’s staff ). Tyr 189

Tursas In Finnish folk-poetry, a deep- the daughters of → Okeanos. Pindar calls sea monster which raises its head from her a daughter of → Zeus. As a represen- the sea. The name probably derives from tative of the unpredictable way of the the Germanic thurs ϭ giant, monster (→ world, Tyché became particularly popular Thursir). It is not clear to what extent at the time of the , when belief in Tursas is connected with the Turisas other gods was at a low ebb. Several mentioned in a sixteenth-century list Hellenistic towns, such as Antiochia on of gods. the Orontes, chose Tyché as their tutelary goddess. In art she is shown with a helms- Tvastar (Tvastri; Sanskrit, ‘he who man’s rudder (as director of fate) and cor- forms’) Indian craftsman-god who nucopia (as bringer of good fortune). The gave all things their forms, his principal wheel and the globe point to inconstancy achievements being the soma cup of the and transitoriness. Her Roman counter- gods, and the thunderbolt (vajra) for → part was → Fortuna. Indra. In the earliest traditions he appears as the creator who gave heaven and earth Typhón (Typhoeus) The progeny of the their shape, and who gave life to underworld (Tartaros) and the earth (→ mankind. In Hinduism he is reckoned as Gaia). A monster with a hundred dragon- one of the twelve → Adityas. heads and snake’s feet. From his union with → Echidna came → Kerberos, → Tyché Ladon and the Chimaira. The name Typhón (or Typhos) means ‘whirlwind’, and later the giant was taken to be a demon which causes storms and earthquakes. Tyr The original form was Tiwaz, Anglo-Saxon Tiw, Old High German Ziu, cognate with Greek → Zeus. To begin with, a sky-god of the early Germanic peoples, till he was ousted by → Odin. The Romans were quick to identify him as a god of war, and the week-day - cated to Mars became Ziu’s day (Tuesday; Alemannic Zischdi). Tyr/Ziu was not only god of war but also of justice, and his spear was an emblem of judicial authority Greek goddess of fate and fortune. In as well as being a weapon. At Ragnarök Hesiod’s she appears as one of the god falls in battle with → Garm. U

Uacilla Among the Ossetians who live Ülgän The sky-god of the Altai Tatars. in the Caucasus, the spirit ruling over He it is who sends the saviour Maidere to thunder, lightning and rain. The illa com- earth, to teach men to respect and fear the ponent in the name is derived from Elias true god, but Maidere is slain by the evil (Elijah), the Old Testament prophet who → Erlik. From Maidere’s blood there is regarded in Eastern Europe as the lord arises a fire which roars up to heaven, of thunder and storm. whereupon the sky-god causes Erlik and his followers to be destroyed. Udu(g) (Akkadian Utukku) An ancient Mesopotamian demon, regarded for the Ull(r) A north Germanic god, whose most part as malevolent. The terrifying name may be connected with the Gothic Utukku can turn into the evil → Sebettu. word wulthus ϭ splendour. He is closely associated with the administration of jus- Ugar An Old Syrian god. The name is tice (oaths were sworn over his ring) and probably derived from the Akkadian ugar he was invoked for protection in duels. He ϭ field, and indicates the agricultural was reckoned to be a skilful archer and nature of the god. It is not clear whether skier. On the one hand he has all the traits or not the name of the town, Ugarit, is of a god of winter, but on the other he is connected with him. connected with the forces of fertility, and Uji-gami (‘clan-chief’) A Japanese in place-names his name is more often designation for ancestral or progenitor than not combined with words meaning deities. ‘field’, ‘meadow’, etc. In myth, Ull is the son of → Sif and the stepson of → Thor. A kind of fertility goddess in Shintoism; after she was slain by the Ullikummi Ancient Anatolian demon, moon-god → Tsukiyomi, rice, oats, created by the dethroned king of the gods → beans, a cow, a horse and silk-worms Kumarbi, by making a stone pregnant, were found beside her corpse. in order to help him to get back his king- dom in heaven. Ukko (‘old man’) The Finnish god of Uma In India, the personification of thunder, also known as Isäinen light and beauty; also venerated under the (‘grandad’). When he drives his wagon name of → Gauri. She is the Devi (god- along a stony path in the heavens, sparks dess) allotted to → Fiva, and, as such, can fly from the hooves of his horses. When it turn into → Durga or → Parvati. The thunders, people say that Ukko is rolling main centre of her cult is in Bengal. big stones or grinding corn. In incanta- tions and magic spells he is described as Umvelinqangi The creator god of the having such attributes as a blue cloak, a Zulu people in South Africa. He caused fiery pelt, a sword, an axe and a hammer. trees and grass to grow and created all In Karelia and in Ingermanland, the animals. Finally, he fashioned a reed or prophet Elias (Elijah) takes the place cane, out of which the god → of Ukko. Unkulunkulu emerged. Urgs 191

Uneg A plant-god mentioned in the or wolf. The name means ‘he who opens Pyramid texts, companion of the sun-god up ways, paths’ and may refer to a suc- → Re, and bearer of the heavens. cessful military campaign. His standard accompanied the king as a sort of battle Ungud Aboriginals in north-west ensign. His attributes as a god of war are Australia believe in this divine creative the club and the bow. In processions he power which takes the form of a snake and precedes the god → Osiris, just as he pre- which can be thought of as male, female cedes the king. In Abydos he became, as or androgynous. It may also represent the ‘lord of the necropolis’, a god of the dead. rainbow. Medicine-men believe that their erect penis is identical with Ungud. Upulevo The sun-god in the Indonesian island of Timor. No image is Uni Etruscan goddess, corresponding made of him, and he is worshipped in the in terms of Greek myth to → Hera, and form of a lamp made from woven coconut accordingly allocated to the sky-god → leaves. He comes down over a fig-tree to Tin. In addition, she was the tutelary god- his wife, mother earth, in order to fertilize dess of Perugia. It is probable that the her. Pigs and dogs are sacrificed in front name Uni is not Etruscan, but connected of this tree. with the Italic-Latin name Iuno (→ Juno). Upulvan (short form Pulvan) The high- Unkulunkulu The supreme god of the est of the four great gods in the Singhalese Zulus in South Africa, said to have pantheon. His name means ‘the water-lily emerged from a ‘primeval cane’. He coloured one’. According to the tradition, and his wife of the same name (together he was the only god who stood by → forming an androgynous unity?) then Gautama Buddha in the latter’s fight with generated the first human beings. → Mara. In recent times the god has Unumbotte A mythical god of the tended to fuse with the Hindu → Visju. Bassari people who live in Togo. He first Urania (‘the heavenly one’) One of the created human beings, and then the nine → Muses, she who comforts mortals animals. by pointing to the harmony of heaven. She A goddess in the form of a hare represents astronomy, and her attribute is who was worshipped in the fifteenth the heavenly sphere. nome of Upper Egypt (Hermopolis). Uranós (‘heaven’, ‘sky’) Greek god of Later, she took on the lineaments of a the sky, the husband of the earth goddess lioness. She was finally ousted as a figure → Gaia; their progeny are the → Titans of any significance by → Thot, and was and the → Cyclops. When Uranós driven reduced to playing the part of a protective by hatred and fear banished the Cyclops goddess armed with knives. to the underworld (Tartaros), Gaia incited Upelluri In Hurrian belief (ancient the youngest son (→ Kronos) to attack his Anatolia) a world-giant, whose torso father, castrate him with a sickle and sticks up out of the ocean and bears topple him from his throne. From the heaven and earth. drops of blood which fell into the sea → Aphrodíte was born. Upuaut (Wep-wawet; the Greek tran- scription is Ophois) Ancient Egyptian Urgs An old Mesopotamian form god of Siut, in the form of a black jackal of the earth goddess, espoused to the 192 Urd sky-god → An. Their child was the god- Usiny A Latvian deity with somewhat dess of healing → Nin1insinna. indeterminate functions. In part it has the characteristics of a god of light, with Urd → Norns special reference to the morning or the Uriel (Hebrew ϭ ‘my light is like God’) evening star; in part, again, it is In the Old Testament apocrypha, an angel connected with spring, and, finally, appears who reveals secret things to Esdras (4: 4). as a sort of tutelary deity of bees. With the In Christian angelology, an archangel. coming of Christianity, the figure of Usinm was transmutted into that of St George. Urme (Also known as ursitory) Polish, s iq a Russian and Serbian gipsies believe in U n avijay (‘the victorious one with these female spirits who determine peo- the head-band’) A particularly popular ple’s fate. They are thought of as three in Buddhist goddess, white in colour with a number. white mandala; she has three faces and eight arms. → Vairocana is visible in her Uryanabi (Sursunabu) In the Gilgamem crown. She posseses the virtues of all the epic, the ferryman of the underworld Buddhas. stream. Utgard-Loki In Nordic mythology, a Urthekau (Werethekau ϭ ‘she who is demonic giant to whom even the gods → rich in magic’) A personification of Loki and → Thor succumb in competition. mysterious supernatural powers, which Thor tries in vain to overcome the giant’s the ancient Egyptians imagined as inher- foster-mother (a personification of old ent in the crown. The lion-headed crown age) in a wrestling bout, and to lift his cat goddess dwelt in the state sanctuary. (the → Midgard-snake) from the ground. Urthekau could also figure as an epithet Uto for other goddesses, e.g. of → Isis. Urtzi (Ortzi, Urcia) A Basque word meaning ‘firmament’ and, by extension, the sky-god, who also acted the part of the ‘thunderer’. Uqanas In India, the divine regent of the planet Venus. He is white in colour and holds a staff, a prayer-ring and a water-pot in his hands. This deity may also be portrayed as a woman sitting on a camel. Ufanas was supposed to be the tutor of the demons (→ Daityas). Usas Indian goddess of the early dawn, daughter of the sky-god → Dyaus, and beloved of → Surya. In the Vedas she is described as a delicate bride in rose-red () The name of the old Egyptian garments with a golden veil. She drives in snake-goddess of Buto (in the sixth nome a car pulled by reddish cows (an image of of Lower Egypt). Her name means ‘she the morning clouds). who is papyrus-coloured’ – i.e. ‘the green al-Uzza 193 one’, and the goddess is bound up with Uzume Japanese goddess of jollity, the regenerative forces of vegetation. As whose obscene dancing entices the god- the tutelary goddess of Lower Egypt she dess → Amaterasu from her cave, thus is the counterpart of the Upper Egyptian ensuring the return of the spring sunshine vulture-goddess → Nechbet. Uto is equated bringing life and fertility. with the uraeus of the monarch, thus al-Uzza The Bedouin tribes in ancient becoming a manifestation of the solar eye. central Arabia regarded al-Uzza as the Utu Sumerian sun-god. His main role youngest daughter of Allah (the other two is that of a guardian of justice. In other being → Allat and → Manat). She dwells respects he falls short of the Akkadian in an acacia-like tree. Her cult can be sun-god → Mamam in importance and sig- shown to have spread to north Arabia nificance, and this is evident from the fact where she is known as Han-Uzzai. Her that he is classified under the moon-god identification with the morning star is (→ Nanna) who was his father. also attested. V

Vac (Vak ϭ speech) In India, the can range through the underworld in deified personification of speech, which the form of a snake; in the end, however, is believed to be invested with magical he is translated to the heavens where powers. In the Rigveda, Vac is the world Orion is his scythe and the Pleiades principle which underlies all action by form his woven shoes. In a list of gods the gods. The goddess is regarded as the drawn up in the sixteenth century he wife of → Prajapati. In Buddhism, Vak is figures as Äinemöinen, ‘he who forges a name of → Mañjufri; he sits in the med- poems’. itative posture, with his hands in his lap. Vairocana (‘sun-scion’) One of the Vadatajs An evil being in Latvian five → Dhyani-Buddhas. Of the five folklore. It may appear either as an animal world-divisions, the centre is the one or in human form and it tries to lead allotted to him, and his season is the win- travellers astray at cross-roads. ter. He is white in colour, and his hands are held in the so-called sermon position Vahagn Armenian god of bravery and against his chest. His vehicle is a pair of → victory, corresponding to the Iranian dragons or a lion, and his emblem is a m Verethragna. His epithet, Vi apakal, has white wheel. In Tantrism he appears as not been satisfactorily explained: it may three-faced and six-armed. In China, mean ‘dragon-strangler’ (dragon-slayer) Vairocana is known as Pi-lu Fo and may or ‘drawer up of dragons’, in the sense of appear in the office of a world-ruler. a god of thunder-storms. In Armenian Certain Japanese sects like the myth, Vahagn arises from fire and has and the Shingon regard him as the uni- flames for hair. versal Buddha, all other Buddhas, Vahguru (‘Great guru’) The name of Bodhisattvas and gods being merely the one true God in the Sikh religion which specific manifestations of him. has been influenced by both Hinduism and Vaiqravava (in Pali, Vessavana; in Islam. He is also known by the Hindu Chinese Do Wen) One of the four names Hari (‘God’) and Govinda (‘herds- Buddhist guardians of the world (→ man’). There are no images of gods in the Caturmaharajas). Vaifravaja is entrusted Golden Temple at Amritsar. with the northern quarter. His allotted colour is yellow, he bears a banner aloft Vaimanika In Jainism, a group of in token of victorious belief and he is lord gods who dwell in mobile palaces in the of the → Ya k sas who watch over hidden world above. One of the most important treasure. gods in this group is → Fakra. Vaja → Ribhus Väinämöinen The central figure in the Kalevala, the Finnish folk-epic: a Vajrabhairava (‘he who arouses fear’) singer of magical potency and inventor Buddhist god regarded as a manifestation of the (a zither-like instrument). of → Mañjufri, whose function is to over- He has all the marks of a shaman who come the god of death (→ Yama). He has Vanth 195

9 heads, 34 arms and 16 legs. The main who selects the dead’) Supernatural head is that of a bull. female beings commissioned by the god → Odin to intervene in battles and bring Vajrapani (‘he who holds a vajra in his heroes doomed to die (Einherjer) up to hand’) Originally, in the earliest Valhalla, ‘hall of the dead’. From the Buddhist period, a kind of protective spirit names of individual Valkyries, their orig- accompanying → Gautama; later, reckoned inal function as natural demonic forces is as one of the eight great → Bodhisattvas, clear: thus, for example, Wolkenthrut and as an emanation of → Aksobhya. (‘cloud-power’) and (‘fog’). It is not Finally he was seen as preceptor of esoteric until the heroic epic in Middle High and ‘lord of secrets’. German that the anthropomorphic image Vajrasattva (‘Vajra-being’) Revered of the warrior maiden appears. in Nepal as the sixth → Dhyani-Buddha. In much Tantric ritual he is regarded as a Vampire In south Slavonic folklore, mystic Buddha. The second half of the the spirit of a dead person, or a corpse night is allotted to him, and his season is revived by an evil spirit. Vampires arise autumn. He is portrayed balancing a vajra by night from graves and suck people’s on his right hand in front of his breast. blood. In the literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries – for example, in Vajravarahi In Buddhist belief, one E.T.A. Hoffmann and Gogol – vampires of the most important supernatural female became more and more demonic in char- beings (→ ). Her name means acter: it is enough to think of the film fig- ‘diamond-sow’ and this she owes to the ure of Dracula. In Greek folklore the → fact that there is a growth close to her Lamia correspond to the vampires. right ear which looks like a pig’s head. Her naked body is red like a pomegranate Vanir A group of north Germanic blossom. In her right hand she holds a gods, including among their number → thunderbolt (vajra), and in the left a skull Freyr, → Freya, and → Njörd: all three of and a club. them being fertility deities. The struggle between the Aesir (→ As) and the Vanir, i Vajrayogin A Buddhist goddess of and the subsequent reconciliation → Da i initiation, one of the kin s. In her between them, may reflect the opposition yellow form she is headless, and carries between two ways of life – that of the her head in her hand. From her rump peasant and that of the warrior. The Vanir comes a stream of blood. In her more countenanced marriage between siblings, usual red form, she has thunderbolt, cra- and they were master magicians (seidr). nium and club as attributes, and is functionally equivalent to → Vajravarahi. Vanth A female demon in the Etruscan underworld. She is represented as winged, Vali A Germanic god, the son of → with a snake, a torch and a key as attrib- Odin and of → Rind. He was only one night utes. On alabaster urns from we old when he avenged the death of → Balder can see that there is a large eye on the by slaying the murderer Hödur. The speci- inside of each of her wings – a warning fication of ‘one night old’ probably refers that this demonic being is everywhere to moment of initiation, not to date of birth. present and keeps an eye on everybody. Valkyries (German Walküren; also as Vanth is a messenger of death and may be Valkyrien; Old Norse valkyrja ϭ ‘she helpful with the quietus. 196 Varaha

Varaha (‘she who holds treasure’) Buddhist goddess of riches, in origin, per- haps, an earth-goddess. She is the consort of → Vaifravana. She is portrayed as yellow in colour, aged 16, and heavily bedecked with jewellery. With her right hand she makes the gesture of donation of largesse, while in her left hand she holds ears of corn and often a vessel filled with jewels. She stands on the moon above a double lion. Vasuki → Naga Vasus A group of Indian gods. In the Rigveda, their leader is said to be → Indra, whose role is later taken by → Agni. The other seven Vasus are the deified forms of earth, wind, air, sun, moon, stars and sky. Vata Old Iranian god of the wind (vata ϭ wind). He is called Amvara (‘the The third incarnation of the Indian god → truthful one’) and is often mentioned along Visju. In the form of a boar he slays the with → Mithra and → Ramnu. The god of demon Hirañyaksa and frees the earth victory → Verethragna first appeared to which the demon had sunk in the ocean. Zarathustra in the form of Vata. Varuva The supreme god in Vedism, Vayu (Sanskrit ϭ wind) Indian god of creator of the three worlds, heaven, earth wind; it is related in certain myths that he and air. The etymology of the name is arose from the breath of the world-giant → doubtful; it may be cognate with the Purusa. Vayu, → Agni and → Surya form Greek Uranos (‘sky’). Varuja is the one of the oldest triads. In the Rigveda, the guardian of order, both cosmic and moral → Maruts appear as his sons. In Iran too (rita). He binds evil-doers with his there was a wind-god called Vayu along nooses; but he can undo sin just as one with → Vata. The Iranian Vayu was the undoes a noose. In late Vedic theology, tutelary god of warriors, and also a deity Var uja becomes lord of the night as → controlling fate. In this latter capacity he Mitra is of the day. In later mythology, can appear as either a beneficient Vayu or Var uja is the god of water and guardian an evil one (then also known as Wai). This of the westerly quarter of heaven. One of dual role is particularly marked in the his epithets is , ‘King of the Pahlavi texts. Pantheistic speculation made snakes’. Vayu out to be the breath of God, or the Vasistha In Indian mythology, a poet suspiration of the cosmos. (→ Risi) who had access to the gods, and Ve → Vili who may indeed have been himself of divine origin. He is provided with every- Veive (Vetis; Latin Veiovis or Vedius) thing he requires by the wishing-cow An Etruscan god, beardless, with arrows Nandini. According to the Purajas, he is and a goat as attributes. He is of youthful one of the → Prajapatis. appearance and is reminiscent of → Aplu, Vésta 197 both of them having a on (Latin ϭ love, sensual desire) Old Italic their heads. Veive was either ousted by goddess of spring and gardens, native to Aplu as a cult figure, or fused with him. Latium. It was not until the beginning Veja mate (‘wind-mother’) Latvian of the third century BC that her cult goddess of the winds, who rules the reached Rome. Her feast – the Veneralia – weather. When she tears across the land it was celebrated on 1 April. Under the influ- is said of her, ‘she is blowing her flute’. ence of Greek literature she was equated → Together with → Mepa mate she looks with Aphrodíte. Caesar, who regarded → after the forests and the birds. himself as descended from Aenéas and hence from Aphrodíte/Venus, intro- (Volos) Slav god of the under- duced the cult of Venus Genetrix, in which world. In modern Czech veles means some- the life-giving function of the goddess was thing like ‘devil’. In Old Russian texts, stressed. Volos has the epithet ‘cattle-god’, and non- ϭ Varangian Russians had to swear by him. Verbti (verbi the blind one) Old Albanian god of fire and of the north Velnias Lithuanian name for the devil; wind which fans fires. He hates unclean- the name is a derivative from vele, liness and bad ways of speaking. ϭ velionis dead person. Christianization turned Verbti into a Velu mate (‘mother of the dead’) demon, and it was spread about that Latvian queen of the dead; she is clad in a anyone who invoked him would go blind. white woollen wrap and she receives the Verdandi → Norns dead at the entrance to the burial place. Her epithet is indicative: Kapu mate, Verethragna Old Iranian god of ‘graveyard-mother’. victory who manifests himself in the wind, and then again in anthropomorphic Venus or theriomorphic form. Particularly note- worthy is his incarnation as a boar which tramples opponents with its metal feet. The name contains the word vritra ϭ encloser, obstruction (for the Indian form → Vritra): Verethragna is he who breaks down resistance, the victor. Vertúmnus (or Vortumnus) In origin, an Etruscan god (→ ) who was taken over by the Romans in the third century BC. He was revered as the god of change, i.e. of the changing year (Latin vertere ϭ to turn, change). His feast, the Vortumnalia, was celebrated on 13 August. The wife of Vertúmnus was → Pomona. Vésta Old Italic goddess of the domes- tic hearth and its fire, and, as such, related to the Greek → Hestia. The small round 198 Vestius Alonieus temple dedicated to her at the foot of the Fenrir in retaliation for the death of → Odin Palatine Hill contained no image of the at Ragnarök, the twilight of the gods. goddess; but there was the public hearth After Ragnarök, Vidar and his half- with the sacred fire burning. Near the brother → Vali are to rule over the rejuve- sanctuary lay the atrium Vestae where the nated world. vestales, charged with the care of the fire, Vidyadhara (‘possessor of knowledge’) lived. The ass was regarded as sacred to Semi-divine beings in Buddhist belief, the goddess, as one was supposed to have who are supposed to possess a knowledge defended her against the advances of → of supernatural powers. They can fly Priapos. On her feast-day, asses were through the air and are therefore known as adorned with wreaths. vayuputras, ‘sons of the wind’. They bear Vestius Alonieus A god once revered garlands of flowers and are reminiscent of in north-west Hispania; he was associated flying genii. In Tibet they are Tantric with the bull, and had a military function. divinities under the name of rig-’dzin lnga, i.e. they are five (lnga) in number. Vibhvan → Ribhus Vidyujjvalakarali A Buddhist god- Victoria dess, a specific form of → Ekajata. Her name means ‘she who is as terrible as the fire of lightning’, and she is indeed a fear- some figure: jet-black in colour, armed with such attributes as sword, vajra, arrow, spear, hammer, club, knife, noose and skull, to say nothing of her bared fangs, her 12 heads and her 24 arms. Her brown hair streams upwards like flames. Vighnantaka (‘he who gets rid of obstructions’) A Buddhist god, who also appears under the name of Vighnari, and who is a door-keeper of mandalas. He is usually represented as having one head and two arms; he is blue in colour and of terrifying appearance. In his left hand with its threatening index-finger, he holds the noose, while his right hand raises the thunderbolt. Vili and Ve In Nordic mythology, the Roman goddess of victory, corresponding sons of Bor, and the brothers of → Odin. to the Greek → Nike. She had her own From the members of the primeval giant temple on the Palatine Hill in Rome. She → Ymir, slain by them, the three brothers was regarded as the maiden protector fashion the earth and they use his blood to of the Roman Empire, and was often make the sea. The proposed etymology of portrayed on coins. ‘will’ for Vili and ‘holiness’ for Ve Vidar North Germanic god, the son of (Gothic weihs) is not certain. → Odin and of the giantess Gridr. He is the Vilkacis A werewolf in Latvian folk- god of vengeance, who slays the wolf → lore, known in Lithuanian as Vilkatas. Visvu 199

Usually a threatening figure, he may on Visvu occasion have treasures to bestow. Víly Spirits of wind and storm in Slavonic folklore. In Slovakia they are regarded as the souls of dead girls, who lead young men to death. In south Slavonic belief, they are beautiful female beings endowed with supernatural powers: they often appear in the form of a swan, on occa- sion of a horse. They are in general well disposed towards humanity, but the arrows they fire may disturb one’s reason. Country people used to lay food and flow- ers in front of caves where they believed the dwelt. Viraj (‘she who extends herself in might’) In Indian mythology, a primeval being generated by → Brahman; often thought Indian god; in the Vedas, the consort of → of as the primeval cow. Another tradition Indra. As he who takes three steps to speed makes Viraj a female creative principle through the world he is a manifestation of which has arisen from → Purusa. the sun in its daily transit – rising, zenith and setting: and here a reference is also ϭ (Latin courage, manliness) A seen to the three worlds – heaven, atmos- → Roman goddess, often coupled with phere and earth. In Hinduism, Visju is one Honos as the personification of virile of the most important gods. Indeed, his manhood. Virtus is represented as a devotees, the Vishnuites, regard him as the maiden in a short tunic, with a helmet on supreme god, and he is bound up with the her head, and a sword and/or a lance in concept of → Narayana. One of his many her hand. epithets is Purusottama ϭ ‘the highest → u Virudhaka (in Pali Virulha; in Chinese god’. He belongs to the Trim rti, and his Zeng Zhang) One of the four Buddhist main function is to sustain the world. He a guardians of the world (→ Catur- appears in various forms or avat ras, to maharajas). He is specifically charged combat demons and to restore cosmic aj with looking after the southern quarter. divine order. The Pur as mention ten a → His colour is blue, he holds a sword avat ras: as a fish ( Matsya), as a tor- → u → a and is lord over the demonic Kumbhanda. toise ( K rma), as a boar ( Var ha), as a man-lion (→ Narasiy ha), as a dwarf Virupaksa (in Pali, Virupakkha; in (Vamana), → Parafu-Rama, → Rama, → Chinese Guang Mu) In Buddhism, the Krisja, → Buddha and → Kalki. Later, fur- guardian of the western quarter of heaven, ther avataras are mentioned, as for exam- one of the four great kings (→ ple, Gajaraja, ‘lord of the elephants’. Visju Caturmaharajas). He is red in colour. As is generally depicted as four-handed, and lord over the → Nagas, he holds a snake his attributes include club, mussel-shell, in one hand; in the other he holds a pearl discus and lotus; he rides on the mythical or other jewel. Often a is also bird → Garuda. The seven-headed world- present. snake (Ananta) serves him as resting-place. 200 Viqvakarman

Viqvakarman (‘the all-creator’) In Volumna Roman goddess of the India, a figure bound up with concept of nursery, who was supposed to look after a supreme god. In the Brahmanas he is the health and welfare of her charges. → identified with the creator god Vör (or Vara) A Germanic goddess. In a Praj pati. Under Hinduism, the god took the late period – e.g. in the work of the → st on the functions of Tva ar. Icelandic writer Snorri – she appears as Viqvapani A → Dhyani-Bodhisattva goddess of contracts, and her name is of minor interest, an emanation of → taken to mean ‘she who is cautious’. Amoghasiddhi. His symbol is a double Oaths and pledges are sacred to her, and lotus. she is also the guardian of marriage. Votan (Uotan) Originally, it would Vivasvat (Vivasvant, ‘he who lights up’) seem, a religious reformer among the In Indian mythology, father of the → Maya in Central America, who was sub- Afvins, of → Yama, the god of death, and sequently deified. He was given the epi- of → Manu, the progenitor of mankind. thet ‘heart of towns’, and was supposed to Vivasvat is an aspect of the sunrise; in the be the guardian of the slit-drum Rigveda he is said to bring fire. (tepanaguaste). His wife was → Ixchel. Vodnik (Russian vodyanoi)InVritra In Indian belief, a demon who Slavonic folklore a water-demon, said to holds the waters prisoner – hence his arise from a drowned unbaptized child. name, which means ‘encloser’. He is the The vodnik entices people into the water fearsome enemy of gods and of men, who and then drowns them. To placate him, is finally slain by → Indra’s club. Vritra sacrifice was made to him – in Poland, for was variously imagined, as a dragon, a example, of a chicken. snake or a cloud. Vohu Manah (‘good thought’) A Vucub-Caquix (‘seven Arara’) A hypostatization in Iranian religion, form- demon mentioned in Popol Vuh, the sacred ing part of the → Amema Spentas. Vohu scriptures of the Quiché-Maya. He imag- Manah is, on the one hand, a specific ined himself to be sun, moon and light, and trope of → Ahura Mazda, and, on the had to be overthrown by the divine broth- other hand, created by him. On earth, ers → Hunapu and Ixbalanque before they Vohu Manah is represented by the benign could start creating the human race. creatures, especially the cow. In Vulcanus Manichaeanism he is known as Wahman: (Volcanus) Roman god of he appoints the apostles, and helps in the fire and of the blacksmith’s craft, taken creation of the New Man. over from the Etruscans; later, identi- fied with the Greek → Hephaistos. His Voltumna An Etruscan god, originally feast, the Volcanalia, was celebrated on of chthonic nature and subsequently ele- 23 August, at the time of greatest drought, vated to the status of supreme god (deus and was intended to ward off the danger Etruriae princeps). For the Etruscans he of major conflagrations; and as a further was primarily the tutelary god of the mollification of the fire-god fish were Etruscan federation; some scholars believe thrown live into the flames. In the seaport him to be a specialized form of the sky-god town of Ostia, where stores of grain were → Tin. Voltumna was taken over by the especially at risk from fire, Vulcanus was Romans under the name of → . the chief deity. W

Wadd Moon-god and tutelary god of with the epithet gumali, he is the ‘black’ the ancient south Arabian states of Ausam god of disaster. and Main (fifth to second centuries BC). Wen-chang The Taoist god of litera- The name means ‘love’ or ‘friendship’. ture, honoured in many Chinese house- The snake was sacred to the god. holds by having his name-tablet on Wakan The name used by the Dakota the wall. Indians to designate their gods. Everything → in the world has its wakan or spirit, Wer (or Mer) Along with Adad, which is neither born nor dies. Chief another name for the weather-god among among the wakan beings is the sun, which the Semitic population of ancient is called kin. Several Sioux Mesopotamia. In Mari he was called tribes regarded Wakan Tanka as the Iturmer. universal god, under whom four other We-to deities (including the sun-god Wi) were ranked. Wakan Tanka → Wakan Wakonda The creator of all things in the belief of the Omaha Indians in North America. The word is now used to desig- nate an invisible life-force which is omnipresent, and which is invoked by human beings in need of help. Walaganda → Wondjina Waralden Olmai One of the most esteemed gods of the Lapps. The name comes from the Old Norse veraldar god (‘world god’), an epithet of the Germanic god → Freyr. Watauinewa The supreme being in the belief of the Yamana who live in Tierra del A divine general in Chinese Buddhism. He Fuego. He is the primeval progenitor and is portrayed as youthful and arrayed in lord of life and death. The god is invoked the full panoply of war, with helmet and in prayers as ‘Our father’, but plays no part sword. He is seen as a protector of the in myth. He is lord and giver of animals. teaching (→ Dharmapala) and is also a sort of guider of souls from earth to the lowest Wele The supreme deity of the Bantu heaven. Kavirondo (Vugusu). He appears in two aspects: when he has the epithet Whiro Among the Maori in New omuwanga, he is the benign ‘white’ god; Zealand, the god of darkness, of evil and 202 Whope death. He is the adversary of the god of rainbow snake. Most of them were light and fertility → Tane. Whiro is aided imaged in rock-paintings, while their and abetted by the spirits of illness. spirit dived into a near-by pool so as to be available to man in the form of life-giving Whope Among the Sioux Indians, the water. One of the Wondjina, named daughter of the sun-god → Wi, and wife Walaganda (‘he who belongs to heaven’) of the south wind. She came to earth one changed himself into the Milky Way. day and visited the Sioux people, to whom she brought the pipe as a symbol of Wosyet (‘she who is strong’) Ancient peace. But the pipe is also supposed to be Egyptian goddess, worshipped in Thebes an intermediary between humans and → during the Middle Kingdom period as the Wakan Tanka. protector of the youthful → Horus. Wi The sun-god of the Sioux Indians. Wunekau A sun-god worshipped by He was supposed to be omniscient, and various tribes in New Guinea. He is taken the defender of those who were brave and to be the creator of all things, whose name loyal. Among the animals, the bison was may be uttered only with the most particularly closely associated with him; extreme reverence. A wind sent by him indeed, it was often regarded as a mani- makes women pregnant. The giant snake festation of the god himself. His daughter Make is seen as a special manifestation of was the beautiful → Whope. his divine presence. Wonajö (Wanajo) A culture-hero in Wuru(n)katte Ancient Anatolian the form of a snake in the Louisiade (Proto-Hattic) god of war, whose epithet Archipelago in the Pacific. He lit the first was ‘king of the land’. In the Hittite period fire and scattered its ashes across the his role was taken over by → Zababa, the heavens so that the clouds arose. He gave war-god borrowed from the Akkadians. the islanders the pig, the dog and the Wuru(n)yemu The proto-Hattic name taro-plant. of the old Anatolian sun-goddess. In Wondjina Primeval beings in the essentials she corresponds to the goddess belief of the aboriginals in north-west of → Arinna. Wurumemu also figures as an Australia. They are spirits of rain and earth-goddess, in which capacity she is cloud, and are identified also with the the consort of the weather-god → Taru. X

Xewioso growth of plants covering the earth. was also the tutelary god of the craftsmen in gold. Xiuhtecutli (‘lord of the turquoise’) Aztec fire-god, also known simply as ‘old god’ (huehue teotl). The turquoise snake provides his clothing (nahualli) and in manuscripts he is shown with a red or yellow face. Sacred to him is the number 3 – the number of hearth-stones on which the baking-plate and the cooking-pot sit. Xi-Wang-mu Chinese goddess of immortality, and the embodiment of Yin. She dwells in the mythical Kun-lun A god of thunder and of fertility mountains in the west of China and is venerated in Dahomey. He is represented known as ‘queen mother of the western in the form of a ram, with the thunder-axe paradise’. Originally, she was thought of as his attribute. as a menacing figure with tiger’s fangs and a leopard’s tail, who sent infectious Xhindi Invisible spirits, analogous to diseases. Subsequently, she changed in elves, in Albanian folk-belief and folktale. Taoist popular belief into a friendly being Their arrival is signalled by the creaking of who watches over the herb of immortality, doors and flickering of lights. Sometimes and who regales her chosen ones on the they are kind and helpful, but at other times peaches of eternal life. She is accompanied they appear as a sort of oppressive → Alp. by the phoenix. Xian The Chinese designation for Xochipilli (‘flower-prince’) Old genii, spirits and immortals. The heavenly Mexican god of flowers and games, and, xian, or tianxian, live on the heavenly in addition, one of the 13 watchmen of the bodies, and surpass all the others in hours of the day. The design painted on might. Especially noteworthy are the his face resembles a butterfly. In one spe- ‘Eight Immortals’ (→ Ba Xian). cific form he appears under the name of Xiang Yao → Gong Gong Macuilxochitl (‘five – flower’). He holds a staff whose point is sunk into a human Xipe totec (‘our lord, the flayed one’) heart (symbol of life). Ancient Mexican god of spring, who causes the seed to germinate in the earth. Xochiquetzal (‘upright flower’) Ori- In art, he is often shown wearing a flayed ginally this goddess had a lunar character human skin. The flaying of humans was a as the wife of the Mexican sun-god. In cult ritual in pre-Aztec tribes. The Aztecs the Aztec pantheon, she figured as the regarded the god’s garment as the new youthful goddess of love, patron of all 204 Xocotl forms of female handicrafts, and queen of ‘twin’ and is understood in relation to the plants. inverted rising and setting of the sun as perceived in the underworld. In Aztec Xocotl A god of fire and of the stars, myth he figures as the twin brother of → originally worshipped by the Otomi and Quetzalcoatl. subsequently taken over by the Nahua peoples, including the Aztecs. In his hon- Xroytag and Padvaxtag Two Mani- our, the ‘great feast of the dead’, Xocotl chaean divinities. They are the personifi- vetzi, was celebrated in August. Dead cations of ‘call’ and ‘answer’. The call is warriors were thought of as stars who uttered from above by the ‘living spirit’, stood in a special relationship to the and it is ‘answered’ from below by the stellar god. man who is to be saved. A dog-headed follower of the Xucau This is the name given by the sun. He helps those who have died to Ossetians (in the Caucasus) to their cross the ‘nine-fold stream’ and enter the supreme god, who rules over other underworld (mictlan). His name means heavenly spirits (e.g. → Uacilla). Y

Yaksas In India, semi-divine beings of of hell; he is clothed in red garments and a chthonic nature: they live in the he has a noose with which he draws the Himalayas, and, as followers of → soul out of the body. He rides on a black Kubera, they watch over hidden treasures. buffalo. In Buddhism too, he figures as Like Kubera, they have stubby limbs and judge of the dead, though here he often pot-bellies. Not all yaksas are malevolent; bears a wheel on his breast as a symbol of some are benign and these are revered by the Buddhist teaching. In Tantric pictures ordinary people as protective spirits and he may appear standing on a bull which is bringers of fertility. The benign yaksas copulating with a woman. In Tibet, Yama were taken over by Buddhism and appear is one of the → Dharmapalas, and is rep- in art, for example, as supporting figures. resented with a bull’s head, flaming hair and a club. In Japan, he is known as Yama Emma-ten. (‘he who puts an end to Yama’) One of the → Krodhadevatas in Buddhism. In Tibet, he is regarded as a protective deity. He is usually dark-blue in colour, and is shown standing on a bull over the sun and a lotus. In his mandala, he is three-faced, six-armed and he is trampling on → Yama, in token of his victory over death. He is also known as Yamari (‘enemy of Yama’). As Vajrabhairava (‘he who arouses fear’) he has 34 arms, 16 legs and 9 heads. The central head is that of a bull. Yan-lo (or Yan Wang) In China the dreaded prince of the underworld, god of the dead; he corresponds to the Indian- Buddhist → Yama. Yan-lo is clad in the robes of an emperor. Yao Mythical primeval emperor of the Chinese; together with the heavenly A mythical king in Indo-Aryan times (he archer → Shen Yi he vanquished the figures in the Avesta as →Yima) who was unruly winds. In , he is pre- the first man to die, thereby path-finder sented as the exemplar of the good ruler. into the realm of the dead and now ruler over the dead. He is accompanied by two Yao-shi-fo The Chinese name means four-eyed spotted dogs. In Hindu mythol- ‘physician Buddha’. He has taken the vow ogy, Yama is judge of the dead and prince to devote himself entirely to the salvation 206 Yarhibol of mankind, and to cure them of mental Ymir A primeval giant in Germanic and physical illnesses. mythogy, who arose from a poisonous mixture of ice and meltwater. He drew his Yarhibol Ancient Arabian sun-god, nourishment from the milk of the revered in Palmyra and Dura Europos primeval cow Audhumla. Ymir was slain along with the sky-god → Bel and the by the gods → Odin, → Vili and Ve, and moon-god → Aglibol. He was also the his body was used as raw material for the god of the holy spring at Efka, and may creation of the world. have been regarded as an oracle. Yo A sort of impersonal world-spirit Yazata (‘worthy of reverence’) In old in the religious system of the Bambara Iranian religion, a designation for ‘god’, people in West Africa. Yo created the two along with → Baga. The Yazatas are partly male elements, air and fire, and the two protective spirits, partly personifications female elements, earth and water. Finally of abstract concepts like → Ramun (‘right- the world-spirit let something heavy fall on eousness’) or → Daena (‘religion’). to the earth – this was the creator-god → Yehl (Yetl) Creator-god in the form of Pemba. a raven, among the Tlingit Indians in Yu-di (‘’; also known as Yu north-west Canada. He flew over the Huang) Supreme lord of heaven in primeval mists and used his wings to clear Chinese cosmogony. He has nine daughters them away until the dry land appeared. who dwell in the nine different heavens. In According to the myth, he changed him- certain traditions he is said to have formed self into a blade of grass and let himself the first men out of clay. Twice a year, the be swallowed by a chief’s daughter, from earthly Emperor made sacrifice to his heav- whom he was then born as the first man. enly counterpart in the Temple of Heaven Ye’loje (older name, Pugu) The sun in Peking. Yu-di’s consort was Wang Mu deity of the Yukagir people in Siberia. niang-niang, a form of → Xi Wang-mu. Ye’loje looks after those who are oppressed, Yu-huang Shang-di During the Song and keeps an eye on behaviour and morals. Dynasty, the name given to the supreme Yima Primeval man and primeval king Taoist god; sometimes abbreviated to → in Iranian mythology. He corresponds to Yu-di. the Indian → Yama, and in each case the Yu-qiang In Chinese mythology, the name means something like ‘twin’. As a god of the sea and the ocean winds. As king, he represents all three social func- sea-god, he has a fish’s body, and he rides tions: he is pious as a priest, strong like on two dragons; as god of the winds, he a warrior, and rich in herds like a husband- has the body of a bird and a human face. man. He reigned in the Golden Age, when there was no death. Yima was born in a Yum Kaax The Maya god of maize, pillar of fire as a bolt of lightning from known in specialist literature as god E. He heaven. Another version of the myth makes corresponds in some ways to the Aztec → him the brother of the sun and the moon. Cinteotl. Z

Zababa Ancient Mesopotamian town- Lithuanian folksong it is called ‘envoy of god of Kim; in the early Babylonian period the gods’. The Latvian cognate is zalktis. he was equated with → Ningirsu or with Zam Avestan (Persian) word for → Ninurta. His consort is the warlike → ‘earth’, which was deified and invoked Inanna. He himself is a war-god, and in along with the heavens as an object of one text he is called ‘Marduk of the veneration. Zam is one of the → Yazatas. battle’. A pre-Roman goddess in the Zac → Bacab Balkans, equated by the Romans with → Zagreus In origin, a pre-Hellenic god Diana, although there is no conclusive of animals and of hunting; subsequently, proof of this. She was protected by three the chief god in Orphic theology. He is goats with golden horns. Zana lives on in said to be the son of → Zeus and the god- the Albanian mountains as a fairy, revered dess of the underworld → Persephone, for her courage and her beauty. and at the instigation of the jealous → Zao Jun Taoist kitchen-god, whose Hera he is torn to pieces by the → Titans. picture hung in virtually every Chinese Zeus (in another version of the story → kitchen until well into the present century. Semele) swallows the still-beating heart, The image was usually placed in a niche thus enabling the infant → Dionysos (in over the hearth, and sacrifice in the shape an Orphic equation with Zagreus) to be of sweets and honey-cakes was made to reborn. him on a given day. Zalmoxis The supreme god of the Zemepatis (‘Lord of the earth’) A Thracian Getae and (Dacia being Lithuanian chthonic deity, protector of the the area known today as Romania). The cattle and of the farm as a whole. He was only solid information we have about him supposed to be the brother of the earth- comes from Herodotus. The ancient goddess → Zemyna. Greeks interpreted Zalmoxis as the founder of a religion, while present-day Zemes mate (‘earth-mother’) Ancient scholars tend to see him rather as an Lettish earth- and mother-goddess. She earth-god, a sky-god, a ruler of the dead takes an interest in man’s welfare, and or as a figure in divine mysteries. The looks after his fields and makes them legend tells how Zalmoxis took human fertile. However, she also plays the part of a form and lived among his people and then ruler of the dead, merging here with → vanished for three years and was mourned Velu mate. When the Baltic lands were con- as dead. In the fourth year, however, he verted to Christianity, she changed gradu- came forth again from an underworld cave ally into the figure of the Virgin Mary. (the realm of the dead). Zemyna (Zemynele) Lithuanian earth- Zaltys The ancient Lithuanians goddess, the mother of plants. In prayers revered the grass-snake, the paltys, and it she is given the poetic epithet ziedkeleˇ , played a special part in prophecy. In one ‘she who raises flowers’. Sacrifice was 208 Zenenet made to her, as the nourisher of man and animals, especially at seed-time and harvest. Zenenet (‘the exalted one’) A goddess venerated in the ancient Egyptian town of Hermonthis. She was regarded as the consort of → Month, and merged with → Rat-taui. Zéphyros The god of the west wind, in Greek myth the son of the stellar god Astreios (‘the starry one’) and of the early dawn (→ Eos). As herald of spring, he is married to one of the → Horae; and at the behest of → , he abducts Psyche. He was called Favonius by the Romans. thereafter with his brothers → Poseidon Zervan (also as Zurvan, Zrvan, ϭ ‘time’) and → Hades. With his wife → Hera he Iranian god of time, the creator of all the sits enthroned in Olympus. He has many paths which lead to the Cinvat bridge – liaisons with mortal females, and on these the crossing-point into the Beyond. In occasions he appears in various guises – Zervanism, which was spread by magi, he as a golden rain (with Danae), as a bull figured as the supreme god, lord of light (with Europa), as a swan (with Leda). and darkness. The radiant → Ahura Along with his functions as sky-god, Zeus Mazda and the dark → Ahriman are his also figures as god of weather, in which children. Zervan is the ‘four-fold god’ capacity his epithet is keraunos (‘light- who comprises in his own being divinity, ning’). As katachthonios (‘the subter- light, power and wisdom. As a god of ranean one’) he is associated with the fate he is related to the Greek → Chronos. underworld, and as (‘the gentle In Manichaeanism Zervan is also the one’) he appears as a judge. As guardian supreme god, ‘father of greatness’ and of freedom, eleutherios, he has pan- tetraprosopos – the god with four faces as Hellenic significance. His symbolical lord of the four elements. creature is the eagle. It was believed that his voice could be heard in the rustling of Zeus Supreme god of the Greeks, the the oak-tree (the oracle at ). son of → Kronos and of → Rheia. His name comes from the Indo-Germanic Zhang Guo-lao One of the ‘Eight root dei (‘to shine’) and is cognate with Immortals’ (→ Ba Xian). He is supposed → the names of other sky-gods ( Dyaus, to have been really a bat which turned → Diu-pater Jupiter). The myth of the itself into a man. He rides on a white ass, → divine child – reared by the goat and his attribute is a drum with Amáltheia or by the bee Melissa, and two sticks. hidden from Kronos by the armed dancers, the → Kurétes – goes back to Zhong-Kui The Chinese god of litera- Cretan/Mycenaean times. The grown ture and of examinations; also, a protector Zeus hurls his father and the other Titans against evil spirits and demons. He really into Tartaros, and shares world-mastery belongs himself to the class of demonic Zu 209

Zhong-li Quan One of the ‘Eight Immortals’. He is recognizable by the fan with which he revives the dead. Zhu Dian (Tian) Chinese designation for the Buddhist gods which originally came from India, as e.g. Gong De Tian or He-li Di (→ Hariti). Zibelthiurdos → Shurdi Zipakna and Kabrakan Earthquake- gods of the Maya. The former was the ‘creator of mountains’, the latter the ‘destroyer of mountains’. Zocho One of the ‘heavenly kings’ of Shintoism, who protect the world from the evil demons. Zocho is the guardian of the south. Zotz Bat-god of the Maya, and still beings (→ Gui Xian) as he committed today tutelary god of the Zotzil Indians suicide when the authorities refused to who live in Chiapas, as well as of certain give him the first place in the examination Guatemaltecan tribes. results which he merited. His portrait is Zu (or Anzu) A demonic storm-bird in hung up at the end of the year to drive off Akkadian (Babylonian) mythology. He demons. His attribute is a sword with steals the tablets of fate in order to place which he fends off the five poisonous himself at the head of the gods, but is creatures – the snake, the centipede, the himself vanquished by → Ningirsu (or → scorpion, the lizard and the toad. Ninurta). Appendix I Functions, aspects, spheres of competence

Agriculture, gods of (see also Grain, Takamimusubi gods of ) Uji-gami Ah Bolom Tzacab Angels, see Messengers, Amaethon divine Ao → Jw Apóllon Animals, protective deities of Aray Akerbeltz Aristaíos Anky-Kele Balarama Aristeíos Ceres Ártemis Consus Donbittir Enbilulu Faunus m m Fauna Geu Ta an m Lactans Geu Urvan Mars Hérmes Ops Hinkon Renenutet Inuus Rongo Kekri Sabazios Keyeme Satúrnus Kis Satúrnus Africánus Lahar Shang-di Lamaria Silvanus Mal Tellus Num Ugar Nyrckes Xipe totec Pales Pi3vu’3in Ancestral gods Priapos (see also Progenitors) Rudra Aenéas Sechat-Hor Deng Sedna Freyr Tabiti Hintubuhet Tomam Ing Tore Manes Watauinewa Mulungu Zagreus Nuadu Zemepatis Appendix I 211

Astral deities (see also Moon deities, Júno Morning Star deities, Sun deities) Kaltem Allat Lucina Astlik Máter Matúta Bahram Mesenet Baltis Mokom Brhaspati Nechbet Budha Nona God C Norns Camaxtli Parcae Dhruva Sabazios Dioskúroi Sarpanitu Inanna Teteo innan Isis Thalna Imtar Thesan Itzpapalotl Toeris Jyotiska Volumna Kallistó Blacksmiths and forging, gods of Manda Goibniu Makgala Hamam(m)eli Mixcoatl Hephaistos Neto Kinyras Orion Kotar Pleiades Kurdalaegon Risis Perkons Shou Lao Qaynan Sothis Sethlans Mulpa’e Shosshu Tai-yi Svarog Tistrya Teljavelik Ufanas Vulcanus Väinämöinen Xolotl Creator deities Ai Tojon Birth and protection of children, deities of Akongo Ártemis Allah Disir Amma Eileithyia Amun Freyja Aramazd Guan Yin Arebati Lannalanna Awonawilona Hariti Baiame Heket Brahma Hera Bulaing Ixchel Buluga Jizo Bumba 212 Appendix I

Cghene Unumbotte Chnum Var uja El Vili and Ve Elohim Wakonda Enki Yehl Éros Culture heroes, bringers of culture Fidi Mukullu Basajaun j Hira yagarbha Bochica Huiracocha Fu-xi Hunab Ku Gluskap Imra Huang-di Isten (2) Ilmarinen Julunggul Itzamna Kaia Julunggul Ka Tyeleo Koyote Koyote Kutkinnáku Kucumatz Marunogere Kun-tu-bzan-po Oannes Kwoth Olifat Laima Prometheus Leza Quetzalcoatl Lisa Shen-nong Lowalangi Thunupa Mahatala Wonajö Makemake Moma Dawning, deities of Mula Djadi Aruna Nareau Auróra Niamye Eos Nü-gua Máter Matúta Orisa Nla Thesan s Pemba U as Prajapati Dead, death, deities of Ptah Amentet Quat Anubis Quetzalcoatl Apis Rigenmucha Arimanius Sirao Armaiti Somtus Asto Vidatu Tangaroa Cherti Teharonhiawagon Chontamenti Tiki Citipati Tirawa Dua Tvastar Estanatlehi Umvelinqangi Giltine Ungud Ha Appendix I 213

Harendotes Asag Hel Asasel Heros Asmodaios Hunhau Api Dahaka Isdes Bolla Isis Cherufe Kalypso Drug Kebechet Erge Kebechsenef Gandarewa Ksitigarbha Guta Libitina Harpies Meresger Herensugue Nantosuelta Imdugud Nehalennia Incubus Nephthys Inguma Nut Iya Odin Kaia Orcus Kalevanpojat Ran Kéres Ruti Kingu Selket Kulshedra Mentait Lamia Sokar Lilith Sucellos Lilitu Upuaut Mahr Velu mate Mazzikin Yama Pey Zemes mate Psezpolnica Puck Death and underworld, demons of Rahu Ammit Raksas Asto Vidatu Reahu Charontes Sebettu Culsu Strigae Elel Succubus Harpies Tawiskaron Ke’lets Udu(g) Sirens Vadatajs Sphinx Vucub-Caquix Tuchulcha Vanth Demon-slayers Demons and spirits embodying evil Acala (see also Enemies of gods, Bhutadamara Sickness, demons of ) Camunda Aemma Daeva Dharmapala Ahriman Hayagriva 214 Appendix I

Heruka Mammon Ihi Marchocias Inar Mephistopheles Indra Pan Krodhadevatas Maitan Lü Dong-bin Samael Mahakala Satan Michael Velnias Mon Narasiyha Earth deities Nusku Aditi Ogma Aker Perkunas Ala Rama Ana Fakra Aretia Tang Armaiti Thor Cheng-huang Tistriya Cihuacoatl Varaha Coatlicue Visju Demeter Zhong-Kui Di-ya Zocho Di-zang Gaia Devils, infernal beings (see also Geb Enemies of gods) Hekáte Aatxe Hlodyn Izanami Ammit Jian Lao Asto Vidatu Kukulcan Babi Lur Bali Ma Beelzebub Maía (1) Behemoth Medr Belial Nerthus Beng Odudua Dabog Pandora Daevas Prithivi Djall Rind bDud Semele Forneus Semnai Theai Galla Spandaramet Gong Gong Tailtiu Hiisi Tatenen Iblis Tellus Ke’lets Tepeyollotli Lucifer Teteo innan Appendix I 215

Uram Moires Wuru(n)memu Nabu Zam Namtar Zemes mate Nanna (1) Zemyna Norns Nortia Enemies of the gods (see also Devils) Nyame Ahriman Parcae Aloádes Mai Apophis Sin (1) Asura Tyché Bali Urme Daityas Vayu Erlik Fenrir Fertility, deities of Fomore Amun Garm Ana Giants Anahita Iapetós Aphrodíte Jotun¨ Apis Kabandha Armaiti Koyote Ártemis Kud Amera(t) Leviathan Astarte Loki Asthoreth Mara Atargatis Midgard-snake Ba (1) Okeus Baal Rahab Baal-Addir Ravaja Baal-Hammon Surt(r) Bácchus Vritra Bress Fate, deities and spirits of Ceres Camaxtli Ceres Africana Disir Cernunnos Ea Curche Enlil Demeter Fairy Diónysos Fatit Disir Gul-mem Egres Hemsut El Imdumtaja Fjörgyn Kaltem Freyja Karta Freyr Laima Harpokrates Manat Hlodyn 216 Appendix I

Jumis Eate Krónos Gabija Kybéle Gibil Liber Hephaistos Makemake Hinokagutsuchi Manasa Itzpapalotl Mars, Gallic Jagaubis Men Kukulcan Min Li Mnevis Mahuike Mokom Nusku Nandin Odgan Nehalennia Pandara Ningirsu Sethlans Ninurta Svarog Njörd Tabiti Nommo Verbti Nymphs Vulcanus Osiris Xiuhtecutli Pachamama Xolotl Pafupati Fortune, gifts, deities of Poseidon Benten Priapos Bhaga Rauni Diti Reret Ekajata Rosmerta Fortúna Mentait Fukurokuju Serapis Fu Shen Thor Gad Tinnit Garmangabi(s) Ukemochi Gefjon Vanir Gong De Tian Xewioso Hotei Fertility demons Laima Baubo Laksmi Kurétes Nortia Naga Rundas Rephaim Shichi-Fukujin Satyr Tyché Tu (2) Ghosts and spirits of the dead Ya k sas Aképhalos Fire, deities of Befana Agni Etemmu Cácus Gui Xian Coatlicue Lemures Appendix I 217

Preta Baal-Marqod Vampire Baba (1) Vodnik Bamamum Bhaisajyaguru Good spirits and demons Borvo Agathós Daímon Cheiron Amáltheia Dian-Cecht Aralez Endouellicus Bercht Emmun Bukura e dheut Grannus Kaukas Gula Kobold Lala Majas gars Hygíeia Metatron Imhotep Para Jizo Pukis Juras mate Sebettu Kamrumepa Medu Marduk Grain and maize, deities of Meditrina Amnan Ninazu Chalchihuitlicue Nin’insina Cinteotl Okininushi Dagan Patecatl Demeter Podaleirios Gabjauja Rudra Lalki Madrapa Köndös Sataran Neper Maumka Nepit Yao-shi-fo Nisaba Home and hearth, deities of Pellonpekko Dievini Handicrafts, gods of Hestia Athená Lamaria Kotar Lares Lug Nang Lha Prometheus Nantosuelta Ptah Penates Tane Portúnus Tu (1) Thab-lha Tvastar Vésta Xochiquetzal Zao Jun Healing, deities of Hunting, deities of Aesculápius Ártemis Apóllon Artio Afvins Diana 218 Appendix I

Hinkon Fridevi Hittavainen Yama Mepa mate Zeus Murukan Justice and law, deities of Onuris Adrásteia Rundas Anbay Tapio Chenti-irti Zagreus Dharma Zana Díke Immortality, givers of Eunomía Goibniu Forseti Gou Mang Lendursanga Hah Maat Hébe Nechmetawaj Idun Nemesis Jurojin Perkunas Mu Gong Ramnu Saomyant Mamam Mesmu Tefnut Xi-Wang-Mu Themis Tyr Judgment, deities of (see also Justice Ull(r) and law) Var uja Abat(t)ur Ye’loje Aiakós Assur Kings and rulers, deities of kingship, Bhagwan divine (see also State and nation, Gao Yao deities of ) Hananim Alalu Haukim Amun Imara Behedti Isdes Enlil Imtanu Lanwamuit Kalunga Harpre Karuilemmiunem Lebat Katavul Horus Ksitigarbha Inmutef Mafdet Inti Mamitu Imkur Marduk Kumarbi Osiris Mac Gréine Pugu Malik Ramnu Month Sataran Nechbet Sin (1) Nuadu Skan Qormusta Appendix I 219

Fakra Harmerti Seth Hemen Uto Ipet Light, deities of (see also Sun deities) Junit Ahura Mazda Kis Ártemis Lugalbanda Balder Marduk Belenus Mehit Hélios Menhit m Horus Nan e Hyperion Nebtuu Júpiter Nenun Mithras Nin’insina Narisah Quetzalcoatl Nefertem Rudianos M Nusku ara m Perses Ti pak Pusan Turan Tane Uni Theia Zababa Uma Zenenet Usinm Love, deities of Lightning, deities of (see also Weather Alpan deities) Ámor Aplu Aphrodíte Deng Amera(t) Illapa Astarte Júpiter Asthoreth Pele Éros Perendi Freyja m Re ef Frigg Summamus Hathor Xolotl Inanna Local gods, town gods Imtar Alaunus Kadem Alisanos Kama Arduinna Kubaba Assur Nanaja Athená Odudua Baal Prende Baba (1) Maumka Beelzebub Tlazolteotl Cheng-huang Turan Djebauti Venus Dumuziabzu Xochiquetzal 220 Appendix I

Magic, demons and spirits of Gapn Baba-Yaga Gou Mang Dakini Hérmes Daktyloi Hermod(u)r Druden Iris Gullveig Isinu Kirke Israfil Sárkány Imum Medim Metatron Tawiskaron Michael Telchines Mnevis Troll Namtar Man-eating gods; vampires Nike Ammit Papsukkal Bolla Raphael Cherufe Samael Cyclops Seraphim Dakini Uriel Diwe Valkyries Fene Hariti Moon deities Iya Aglibol Kaiamunu Alako Kholomodumo Almaqah Kulshedra Amm Ljubi Arma Skylla Ártemis Sri Candra Torto Chia Vampire Chons God D Marriage, deities of Diana Airyaman Heng E Aryaman Hilal Bhaga Hina Ceres Ilazki Hera Ixchel Hymén Jaril Júno Joh Pattini Júno Caeléstis Svarog Kamku Vör Kemwer Messengers, divine; Angelic beings Kumuh Amema Spentas Luna Cherubim Mah Gabriel Mahrem Appendix I 221

Mani Kali Marama Kubaba Mawu Kybéle Men Ma Meness Mama Menulis Mari (1) Nanna (1) Matres Napir Nammu Nikkal Ninlursanga Ouiot Ninmal Pasiphae Oya Persé Zemes mate Quilla Mountain deities Melardi Adrásteia Seléne Baal-Karmelos Si Baal-Qarnain Sin (1) Baal Sapon Sin (2) Candamius Ta’lab Dercetius Tecciztecatl Ebech Thot Elagabal Tinnit Lazzi Tsukiyomi Himavat Jahwe Xochiquetzal Kybéle Morning/Evening Star deities Liluri Aruja Pele Auróra Tork Eos Music, literature, dance, deities of Máter Matúta Apóllon Thesan Baal-Marqod Usas Benten Mother goddesses; Great Mother Bragi Aditi Dhrtarastra Amaunet Erato Ammavaru Eutérpe Anahita Gandharvas Ártemis Gratiae Atargatis Guan Di Boldogasszony Gwydyon Cihuacoatl Hathor Durga Hérmes Gatumdu(g) Ihi Gauri Kalliópe Lannalanna Kaménae 222 Appendix I

Kinyras Ármány Laka God D Melpoméne Kuk and Kauket Meret Nott Muses Nyx Odin Ördög Orpheus Oya Tepeyollotli Polyhymnia Var uja Rongo Whiro Fiva Terpsichore Nourishment, food, deities of (see also Thalia Grain, deities of ) a Uzume Ameret t Wen-chang Chicome coatl a Zhong-Kui Durg Inari Nature demons and spirits Tonacatecutli Centaurs Yum Kaax Dryads Elben Oaths, pledges and contracts, deities of Fairies Dagda Gandharvas Gaia Gnomes Lazzi Heitsi-Eibib Hélios Jinn Imara Juma Karuilemmiunem K’daai Mamitu Kiskil-lilla Mitra Kobold Meri and Lurri Laskowice Shosshu Maahiset Styx Maruts Tomor Mikal → Michael Ull(r) Oreades Veles Perit Vör Ten-gu Oracles, deities of bTsan Ammon Typhón Anbay Uacilla Apóllon Vili Baal-Hammon Valkyries Baal-Karmelos Wondjina Endouellicus Night deities; dark aspect of the world Fortúna Abhiyoga Hubal Arimanius Ifa Appendix I 223

Nanme Izanami Nereus Kematef Proteus Namita Mamam Nammu Tages Nehebkau Ta’lab Neith Tir Nun Triglav Ogdoad Yarhibol Pothos Peace, deities of Preas Prohm Eirene Ptah Pax Sirao Rongo Tatenen Salman Progenitors of human race Salus Adam Kadmon Whope Bur(i) Plants, deities of (see also Tree and Daksa forest deities, Grain, deities of, Gayomard Vegetation deities) Kékrops Ameretat Manu Chalchihuitlicue Martanda → Adityas Flóra Ouiot Han Xiang-zi Purusa Haoma Tiki Horae Yama Maia (2) Yima Nefertem Protective deities; guardians Pomona Acala Spes Aitu Uneg Athená Xochipilli Ayiyanayaka Xochiquetzal Bhairava Zemyna Dadimunda Primeval deities (see also Creator deities) Dvarapala Adibuddha Eranoranhan Amaunet Grama-devata Ammavaru Guhyasamaja Amun Harendotes Anmar and Kimar Harsiesis Atea Heimdall Atum Hemsut Chepre Heraklés Harsaphes Hérmes Heket Heruka Izanagi He Xian-gu 224 Appendix I

Hor-Hekenu Raphael Imiut Ya k sas Isis Yazata st a I adevat Rain deities Ixtab Abhiyoga a J nguli Adad Janus Afi Júno Caeléstis Ah Bolom Tzacab K’op’ala Asurakumara Lama (2) Chac Lares Illapa Lhamo Indra Mandah Mari (1) Mbotumbo Nagakumara Men Shen Ngai Meresger Nommo p a Me a m te Pariacaca Nahi Parjanya Nehebkau Perkons s Pañcarak a Perkunas Pateke Pon Quiritis Rongo Safa Sodza → So M ed Telipinu Shosshu Tistriya F ridevi Tlaloc Sumbharaja Toeris Revenge, deities of Unut Adrásteia Vighnantaka Anat(h) Zotz Erinyes Petbe Protective spirits and demons Rudra Alardi Tezcatlipoca Basajaun Vidar Bes Riches and prosperity, deities of (see Beset also Fortune, gifts, deities of ) Daimon Abundantia Elben Adad Fravami Bab (1) Fylgir Cai Shen Genii Cernunnos Ka Daikoku (→ Shichi-Fukujin) Lama (1) Dis Páter Nagual Freyr Ora Gabjauja Appendix I 225

Hades Anky-Kele Jambhala Bangputys Kubera Beher Kurukulla Glaúkos Mahakala Jamm Mammon Leukothea → Inó Mercurius Lir Plutos Makemake Rosmerta Manannan Sucellos Melqart Teutates Minaksi Vasudhara Nehalennia River deities Neptunus Acheloos Nereids Asopós Nereus Gakga Nethuns Hapi (2) Njörd He Bo Okeanos Peneios Olokun Sangarios Phorkys Sarasvati Pontos Sequana Poseidon Styx Proteus Tiberinus Sedna Tangaroa Saviours and redeemers Tinirau Adam Kasia Triton Aditi Yu-qiang Adityas Amida Sickness, deities of Avalokitefvara Apóllon Bodhisattva Dala Kadavara Da-shi-zhi Erra Guan Yin Jarri Maitreya Lature Danö Manda d-Hiia Mari (1) Mi-lo Fo Mikal Orunmila Nergal Pistis Sophia Remef Saomyant Rudra Tang Fitala i y T rtha kara Sickness, demons of Yao-shi-fo Agam Sea deities Alardi Achilleus Alp Amphitríte Asag 226 Appendix I

Ays Orisa Nla Bilwis Pon Dimme Satúrnus Africanus Elel Shang-di Jinn Singbonga Kukuth Mium Lamamtu Skan gNyan Tai-yi Pazuzu Takamimusubi Thursir Tengri Tian Sky deities Tin Akafagarbha Tyr Amenominakanushi Ülgän An Uranós Arebati Urtzi Astar Yu-di Baal-Biq’ah Zeus Baal-Mamem Souls, guides of Barmamin Camaxtli Bel (2) Charon Bhima Charun Candamius Cherti Dievs Di-zang Dyaus Hermanubis Es Hérmes Faro Ogmios Hananim Thot Haroeris Turms Hathor Urmanabi Horus We-to Inmar Xolotl Izanagi Spirits (see also Demons and spirits Juma embodying evil, Good spirits and Jumala demons, Nature demons and spirits, Júpiter Protective spirits and demons) Kamui Abgal Mandulis Aitvaras Mawu Baba (2) Men Baba-Yaga Mugasa Bardha Ndjambi Bercht Num Gandharvas Num-Torum Hesperides Nut Holle Appendix I 227

Juma Wadd Kami Zalmoxis Kinnara Laume Sun deities Maju Adityas dMu Amaterasu Naiads Apóllon Nymphs Arinna Sugaar Aton Xhindi Baal-Biq’ah Xian Behedti Spring deities God C Maia (2) Cath Ostara Chepre Venus Chors Xipe totec Dabog Zéphyros Ekhi Elagabal Star gods, see Astral deities Hammon State and nation, deities of Harachte Almaqah Harmachis Amun Harpokrates Assur Harsaphes Baal-Hammon Hélios Dusares Horus Laldi Huiracocha Huitzilopochtli Huitzilopochtli Itzamna Hun-Hunapu Júno Hvar Júpiter Inti Kamom Kinich Kakmó Kataragama Khyung-gai mGo-can Kucumatz Lisa Mahadeo Mahes Mahaprabhu Malakbel Mahrem Mandulis Marduk Marduk Melqart Marici Milkom Melqart Ninmuminak Mihr Ogma Mithras Ptah Mog Ruith Saxnot Nahhundi Sin (2) Nefertem Tinnit Osiris Voltumna Palk 228 Appendix I

Pugu Cagn Re Cghene Mamam Devel Sams˜ Hananim Mapm Huiracocha Saule Hunab Ku Savitar Imra Shen Yi Io (2) Simigi ¯Ifvara Mium Kalunga Miwini Karei Sol (1) Katavul Sol (2) Ka Tyeleo Somtus Kitanitowit Suaixtix Kun-tu-bzan-po Suchos Leza Sul Manitu Surya Mayin Svarog Mulungu Tawa Narayana Tezcatlipoca Ngai Tiwaz Niamye Tnong Num Tonatiuh Nyame Upulevo Nzambi Utu Odin Vivasvat Olorun Wi Ometeotl Wunekau Purá Wuru(n)memu Raluvhimba Yarhibol Rigenmucha Ye’loje Fiva Tonacatecutli Supreme gods, supreme beings (see also Unkulunkulu State and nation, deities of ) Visju Abora Vifvakarman Acoran Watauinewa Ahone Wele Akongo Xucau Aramazd Zervan Armaz Zeus Baiame Bhagavan Thunder, deities of (see also Weather, Bhagwan deities of ) Buluga Ah Bolom Tzacab Bumba Asurakumara Bunjil Illapa Appendix I 229

Júpiter Ladon Karei Pukis Lei-zi Stihi Nagakumara Pajonn Tree and forest deities Pariacaca Abellio Perkons Artio Perkunas Diana Perun Fagus Sango Fauna Susanowo Hathor Taranis Heléne Thor Hiisi Ukko Korrawi Urtzi Lykurgos Xewioso Medeine Mepa mate Time and eternity, deities of Pan Aetérnitas Silvanus Aión Tane Chons Tapio Chronos Hah Underworld, gods of Kala Aiakós Satúrnus Africánus Alpan Tai-sui-xing Ataecina Thot Baal-Addir Zervan Barastir Beletseri Town gods, see Local gods Belili Bhavanavasin Trade, commerce, travel, deities of Dis Páter Ekchuah Djata Guan Di Dur Hekáte Enmemarra Hércules Epona Hérmes Eremkigal Ilmarinen Gestinanna Jizo Gwydyon Lares Hades Meness Hel Mercurius Hine-nui-te-po Poseidon Hunhau Pusan Izanami Treasure, demonic guardians of Karuilemmiunem Fafnir Lature Danö Kaukas Laverna 230 Appendix I

Lelwani Nike Mamitu Vahagn Manes Verthragna Meslamta’ea Victoria Mictlantecutli War, deities of (see also Moma Demonslayers) Morrigan Adraste Mot Anat(h) Mutu Apam napat Nergal Aray Ninazu Arés Ningimzida Assur Orcus Astarte Persephóne Asthoreth Picullus Athená Pwyll ’Attar Mulmanu Baal-Hadad Veles Badb Yan-lo Beg-tse Bellóna (2) Vegetation deities (see also Plants, Cariociecus deities of ) Diomédes Abu Dolichénus Adonis Guan Di Ariádne Gwydyon Ártemis Hachiman Attis Hadúr Balder Inanna Disir Indra Duillae Imtar Dumuzi Jarovit Egres Júpiter Heléne Korrawi Hyákinthos Laran Kabiroi Lug Malakbel Ma Ningirsu Mahrem Pan Mars Persephóne Mars, Gallic Sämpsä Mithras Sif Month Telipinu Morrigan Uto Murukan Victory, deities of Nanaja Anahita Neith Korrawi Neto(n) Appendix I 231

Ningirsu Ea Odin Enki Onuris Faro Oro Haurvatat Quirinus Jamm Rudianos Juras mate Rugievit Jutúrna Sachmet Kaménae Safa Kukulcan Sajigor Mandah Maumka Mehet-uret Semnocosus Nagakumara Skanda Nethuns Smertrios Nun Mulmanu Nymphs Svantevit Satis Teteo innan Tiamat Teutates Var uja Tezcatlipoca Triglav Water demons and spirits Tu Aegir Tyr Apsaras Upuaut Egeria Vestius Alonieus Forneus We-to Harun, Haruna Wuru(n)katte Kappa Zababa Katavi Lahama Watchmen, demonic Mimir Árgos Naiads Luwawa Ningyo Kérberos Nixe Ladon Qandima Nehebkau Ran Python Rusalka Stihi Vodnik

Water deities (see also Rain, River, Sea, Weather deities (see also Lightning, deities) Rain, Thunder, deities) Ahurani Adad Apam napat Afi Apsu Amm Atlaua Baal-Biq’ah ’Attar Baal-Hadad Chalchihuitlicue Bhima Chnum Dolichénus Donbittir Fjörgynn 232 Appendix I

Gebeleizis Wine and drinking, deities of Ilmarinen Bácchus Imkur Diónysos Perendi Lalki Quzah Haoma Shurdi Kvasir So Liber Tarlunt Mayahuel Taru Mesmu Temub Soma Thor Tenenit Wer Wisdom, enlightenment, knowledge, Zeus writing, deities of Akafagarbha Wind and storm, deities of Athená Aíolos Bodhisattva Amaunet Brahma Amun Buddha Baal Enki Baal-Hadad Fudo Myoo Boréas Gajefa Eate Hanuman Euros Hermes Trismegistos Fei Lian Itzamna Fujin Kvasir Ilmarinen Lao-zi Martu Mañjufri Notos Marduk Oya Metis Quetzalcoatl Nabu Rudra Nisaba Shen-nong Odin Stribog Ogma Susanowo Prajña Tate Prajñaparamita Tore Quetzalcoatl Vata Sarasvati Veja mate Semat Verbti Shen-Lha-od-dkar Yu-qiang Tir Zéphyros Vidyadhara Appendix II Symbols, attributes, motifs

Agave Antelope horns Mayahuel Satis

Almond-tree Anthill Agdistis Amma Sangarios Anvil Shosshu ’Attar Apple Awonawilona Eris Faro Hesperides Hermaphróditos Idun Hintubuhet Kucumatz Ark of the Covenant Mahatala Jahwe Mawu Nyame Armpit Nzambi Lao-zi Ungud Arrow Amor Animal ears Ártemis Bes Atlaua Charun Ekajata Satyr Éros Hemsut (see also Bull sacrifice) Kama Ahriman Kurukulla Semnocosus Men Shen Singbonga Neith Summamus Pattini Upulevo Quzah Remef Antelope Rudra ’Attar Sachmet Candra bTsan Pafupati Veive Seth Vila 234 Appendix II

Ashes Battle axe Heruka Anat(h) Kama Maruts Fiva Wonajö Beans Lemures Ass Bali Bear Mitala Artio Vésta Kallistó Zhang Guo-lao Num-Torum Ass’s foot Bee Empusa Aristaíos Demeter Axe Lannalanna Acala Usinm Esus Pajainen Bell Parafu-Rama Akafagarbha Perkunas Sango Belly j f Marruma Ga e a Fiva Hayagríva Ukko Hotei Xewioso Jambhala Silene Axe, double Ya k sas Dolichénus Temub Bird (see also Eagle, Falcon, Heron, Phoenix, Raven) Baboon see Monkey Garuda Ball Kinich Kakmo Awonawilona Khyung-gai mGo-can Kinnara Ball-game Mog Ruith Hun-Hunapu Nari Banana leaf Senmurw Narayaja Strigae Bat Tangaroa Hunapu Tomam Li Tie-guai Yu-qiang Senmurw Zu Zhang Guo-lao Bison Zotz Wi Bathroom Black Auseklis Ahriman Dieva deli Asurakumara Appendix II 235

Bhutadamara Book, scroll Camunda Arapacana Daevas Cunda bDud Klio Kali Mañjufri Lature Danö Moires Nirrti Bow (see also Arrow) Odudua Assur Orcus Jarri a R hu Mal Ogmios Blacksmith see Appendix I: Blacksmiths, Quzah gods of Shen Yi Blood Skanda Adonis Ull(r) Attis Upuaut Bhairava Bowl Chinna-masta Bhairava Erinyes Concordia Gigantes Durga Harsaphes Gajefa Karei Hygíeia Kingu Kubera Mama Salus Manzashiri Sigyn Namita Bowl, alms- Pemba Amitabha Quetzalcoatl Fo Uranós Box Blue Pandora Dharma Breast Ekajata Ana Vighnantaka Estanatlehi Virudhaka Hatuibwari Boar Lammtu Arduinna Minaksi Attis Breath Freyr Bunjil a M rici Selket a Var ha Mu Verethragna Vayu Bone Bridge Buddhakapala Heimdall Mayahuel Ramnu 236 Appendix II

Broom Bull-man Baba-Yaga Lama (1) m Buffalo Lama tu M Lao-zi edu Yama Bull sacrifice Bull Liluri Aatxe Mithras Acheloos Perun Adad Saomyant Almaqah Apis Bullet Baal-Hadad Fortúna Bata Tyché Buchis Butter, churning Chentechtai Ida Dolichénus Imra Dyaus Manu El Gurzil Butterfly Imkur Fatit Kemwer Hintubuhet Mars Itzpapalotl Mnevis Mahr Month Xochipilli Nandin Caduceus see Snakes, staff of Pajainen Parjanya Camel Risabha Arsu Rudra Ufanas Meri and Lurri Candle Sin (1) Satúrnus Fiva Temub Cap, magic (conferring invisibility) Tilla Alp Yama Hades Ya m antaka Perseus Zeus Cassowary Bull head Namita Astarte Cat Vajrabhairava Aitvaras Bull horns Bastet Acheloos Freyja Aglibol Para Baal Utgard-Loki Appendix II 237

Cattle (see also Cow, Bull) Budha Aemma Daeva Dagda Geum Urvan Deng Mah Dharma Mon Imkur Vohu Manah K’op’ala Cave Kubera a Amaterasu M l Anubis Mars, Gallic Cheiron Ogmios Demeter Perun m Drug Re ef Mihr Smertrios Sucellos Chain Upuaut Ogmios Safa Visju Charioteer Cock j Aru a (2) Aitvaras Candra Lowalangi Dievs Mercurius, Gallic Eos Murukan Hélios Sraoma Indra Manda Cock head Mari (2) Abraxas Mithra Coconut Nerthus Hainuwele Nott Phaéthon Coffin Rahu Nut Savitar Coins (see also Purse) Seléne Cernunnos Sol (1 and 2) Charon Surya Júno Temub Thor Comb m Ukko Lama tu Usas Coping stone Circle Atargatis Adam Kadmon Kybéle Kitanitowit Corn see Maize Club Cornucopia Baal-Hadad Amáltheia Buddhakapala Concordia 238 Appendix II

Epona Crooked staff Fortúna Anezti Gaia Osiris Harpokrates Thalia Matres Crow Nantosuelta Badb Pax Plutos Crown Rosmerta Anahita Svantevit Anat(h) f Tyché Avalokite vara Beg-tse Cow (see also Cattle) Bhutadamara Armaiti Bodhisattva Damona Candarosana Gaueko Chensit Hathor Cunda Hera Geb Hesat Metatron Io (1) Remef Mehet-uret Samvara Nerthus Satis Prithivi Sumbharaja Mentait Urthekau Usas Usnisavijaya Viraj Crown, of horns Enlil Cow horns Isis Cypress Rat-taui Ataecina Dance Crane Baal-Marqod Fukurokuju Elves Jurojin Korybantes Shou Lao Kurétes Laka Crocodile Mars Chentechtai Oya Djata Padmanartefvara Leviathan Fiva Nixe Uzume Petesuchos Seth Darkness (see also Appendix I: Night Suchos deities) Abhiyoga Crocodile head Ahriman Ammit Arimanius Appendix II 239

Belial Ke’lets Kiskil-lilla Kérberos Lature Danö Lamamtu Lilith Legba Rahu Nehalennia Raksas Deer Skylla Artemis Sucellos Cernunnos Xolotl Finn Yama Itzpapalotl Odin Dog head Chors Deer head Hermanubis Fei Lian Sunmurw Desert Door Beletseri Janus Ha Men Shen Pachet Seth Dove Diadem Anahita Anahita Aphrodíte Hera Astarte Hachiman Dice Nirrti Apsaras Shurdi Disc (see also Sun) Tinnit Inti Turan Dragon Discus Confucius Hyákinthos Djall Kamaksi Fafnir Mal Gong Gong Surya Gou Mang Visju Kaukas Dog Ladon Anubis Marduk Aralez Mutu Bhairava Pukis Charon Python Chontamenti Sárkány Epona Satan Garm Stihi Gula Susanowo Hekáte Th’uban Hunhau Tiamat 240 Appendix II

Vairocana Nepit Vritra Persephóne Yu-qiang Serapis Dragonfly Spes Tnong Tinnit Vasudhara Drum Kutkinnáku East Votan Aksobhya Zhang Guo-lao Bhaisajyaguru Dhritarastra Duck Duamutef Sequana Gou Mang Dwarf Indra Alp Mu Gong Bes Nephthys Hayagríva Palk Iwaldi Remanta Maahiset Sopdu Pateke Eel Troll Kaia Eagle (see also Eagle, double) Azizos Egg Bel (2) Amma Dusares Ammavaru Elagabal Kun-tu-bzan-po Isten (2) Panku Lowalangi Sun Hou-zi Malakbel Elephant Nasr Aksobhya Ningirsu Cakravartin Raluvimbha Dadimunda Tomor(r) Dala kadavara Tonatiuh Gajefa Zeus Indra Eagle, double Murukan Ai Tojon Preas Eyn Rundas Fakra Samantabhadra Eagle, lion-headed Visju Imdugud Elk Ear of corn Alcis Atargatis Demeter Eye Jian Lao Amaterasu Jumis Árgos Appendix II 241

Chenti-irti Feather Cherubim Beset Horus Chensit Kemwer Maat Manzamiri Onuris Midir Oro Mithra Si Mog Ruith Tatenen Nareau Feather boa, Feather-snake Odin Kukulcan Panku Quetzalcoatl Re Sango Ferryman Sirao Charon Surya Cherti Tefnut Urmanabi Thiassi Fifty Tsukiyomi Enlil Vanth Fig Falcon Tinnit Behedti Fig-tree Bunjil Upulevo Chentechtai Chenti-irti Finger Harachte Daktyloi Harmerti Fir-cone Haroeris Satúrnus Africánus Hemen Hor-Hekenu Fire, Flame (see also Appendix I: Horus Fire deities) Kebechsenef Agni Month Ahura Mazda Nenun Amema Spentas Pariacaca Atri Re Brigit Sokar Lhamo Maui Falcon cloak Mihr Freyja Minaksi Olifat Falcon head Pandara Am Perkunas Prometheus Fan Qormusta Zhong-li Quan Remef 242 Appendix II

Mrat Mars[as Sul Nü-gua Vahagn Veja mate a a a Vidyujjv l kar li Footprint Vivasvat Gautama Fire-sickle Forty Sugaar Enki Fish Four-headed Atargatis Brahma Behanzin Dharmadhatuvagifvara Dagan Gajefa Hatmehit Paramafva Kama Porenutius Kukulcan Preas Prohm Manu Samvara Matsya Zervan i a si M n k Fox Tinirau Inari Yu-qiang Fox-skin Five Sabazios Nyame Frog Flower(s) Heket Adonis Nun Attis Ogdoad Chasca Coyllur Para Da-shi-zhi Fruit (see also Apple, Pomegranate, Gratiae, Graces Peach) Han Xiang-zi Gaia Hyákinthos Jumis Kama Matres Lan Cai-he Nehalennia Mañjufri Pomona Narkissos Garland (see also Laurel) Spes Hymén Turan Lares Vidyadhara Lasas Xochipilli Nethuns Xochiquetzal Gazelle Flute Anuket Eutérpe Fiva Han Xiang-zi Krisja Gazelle’s head Lan Cai-he Remef Appendix II 243

Giant Geb Aloádes Kaltem Árgos Grain (see also Ear of corn); see u Bh tas Appendix I: Grain and maize deities Cyclops Diwe Grass, blade of Fornjotr Yehl Jötun Grass snake Kalevanpojat Zaltysˇ Mimir Green s Puru a Amoghasiddhi Rephaim Larunda Thursir Ratnapani Troll Uto Upelluri Utgard-Loki Hail Ymir Eate Hair Goat (female) Mahr Amáltheia Panku Chimaira Mamitu Hair sacrifice Veive Ártemis Zana Hammer Goat (male) Charontes Agni Charun Akerbeltz Horagalles Asasel Pajainen Ba Sucellos Diónysos Thor Pan Ukko Se’irim Hand Goat-skin Dian-Cecht Silvanus Hetepet Juesaes Gold Ka Aegir Lug Gullveig Nyame Jambhala Hand, birth from Meret Ayiyanayaka Gold rain Daksa Zeus see Perseus Hare Goose Gluskap Amun Kaltem Brahma Unut 244 Appendix II

Harp Herald’s staff Dagda Hermanubis Hérmes Head Iris Ikenga Turms Mimir Ogmios Heron Purusa Djebauti Mesmu Hippopotamus Head, birth from Behemoth Abu Ipet Athená Reret Juesaes Seth Thot Toeris Headless Honey Aképhalos Afvin Chinna-masta Kvasir Hunapu Hun-Hunapu Horn (see also Bull horns) Vajrayogini Amáltheia Asthoreth Heart Chors Hike Diwe Kucumatz Heimdall Ptah H[pnos Sihai → Sirao Ikenga Xochipilli Lares Hearth Pafupati Hestia Lamaria Horse Lares Apam Napat Safa Afvin Thab-lha Bhútas Cakravartin Zao Jun Candra Charon Heel Dievs Achilleus Dioskúroi sj Kri a Eos Helmet Hvar Armaz Isten (2) Laran Kalki Maruts Nott Menrva Pirwa Virtus Poseidon We-to Remanta Appendix II 245

Sárkány Ivy Seléne Thalia Svantevit Jackal bTsan Ammavaru Víly Anubis Horse head Duamutef Hayagríva Upuaut Kalki Jewels Paramafva Akafagarbha Anahita Horse-rider Aparajita Arsu Armaz Epona Afokakanta Heron Avalokitefvara Heros Cakravartin Indra Ratnapani Human sacrifice Judge see Appendix I: Judgment deities Adraste Jug Ártemis Nymphs Baal-Hammon Olokun Coatlicue He Bo Kerykeion see Herald’s staff Kulshedra Kettle Moloch Baba-Yaga Olokun Dagda Tezcatlipoca Hymir Tu (1) Key Humming bird Janus Huitzilopochtli Kybéle Portúnus Hunt, hunters see Appendix I: Vanth Hunting deities Knife Ibex Bes Almaqah Buddhakapala Ta’lab Ekajata Sajigor Ibis Unut Chons Thot Ladle He Xian-gu Ice-block Bur(i) Lamp Nusku Ichneumon Ran-deng Atum Upulevo 246 Appendix II

Lance Ngai Laran Poseidon Libertas Preas Eyn Mars Semele Menrva Tirawa Onuris Yima Virtus Lightning flashes, cluster of Lapis lazuli Adad Bhaisajyaguru Almaqah Laurel Amm Apóllon Baal-Hadad Dáphne Bel (2) Dolichénus Laurel wreath Imkur Aplu Taranis Nike Temub Veive Tin

Left Lingam Daktyloi Pafupati Es Preas Eyssaur Fidi Mukullu Fiva Kemwer Laverna Lion Panku Arsnuphis Sirao Ártemis Atargatis Lemon Bastet Jambhala Budha Leopard Dedun Tore Lebat Kadem Lettuce Kybéle Min Mahavira Light (see also Appendix I: Mahes s Light deities) Mañjugho a Amida Mehit Amitabha Pachet Lucifer Pekar Marici Ratnasambhava Pusan Ruti Satúrnus Africánus Lightning (see also Appendix I: Maumka Lightning deities) Triphis Kucumatz Urthekau Lucifer Vairocana Appendix II 247

Lion head Lyre Aión Apóllon Aker Hérmes Chnubis Kinyras Dakini Terpischore Imdugud Maize Mu Chicome coatl Lion skin Kukulcan Bes Maize meal Heraklés Estanathlehi Liver Mango Imset Pattini Prometheus Mare Lizard Loki Imara Mask Kukulcan Melpoméne Olokun Thalia Lotus Mead a Amit bha Goibniu Arapacana Hymir a Brahm Kvasir a Cund Valkyries Dharmadhatuvagifvara Gakga Mermaid, Harpokrates Abgal Kamaksi Ningyo Khasarpana Nixe Kurukulla Oannes Laksmi Olokun Narayaja Triton Nefertem Metals (see also Gold) Padmanartefvara Amema Spentas Padmasambhava Gayomard gShen-rab Illmarinen Somtus Surya Milk Tara Amáltheia Vasudhara Boldogasszony Visju Vifvapani Milk ocean Ammavaru Lungs Kurma Hapi Naga 248 Appendix II

Milk sacrifice Lature Danö Acoran Nyame Ida Osiris Manu Ratnapani Silewe Nazarata Milky Way Vasudhara Gwydyon Heimdall Moon, sickle Labbu Aglibol Wondjina Arma Chons Millipede Mah Sepa Saptaksara Mirror Si Amaterasu Sin (1) Imdumtaya Fiva Kubaba Tirthaykara Kybéle Morning and Evening Star see Mistletoe bough Appendix I: Morning/Evening Balder Star deities Mongoose Mountain (see also Appendix I: Jambhala Mountain deities) Monk Assur Aksobhya Ehlil Fo Huang Fei-hu Mi-lo Fo Júpiter Mercurius, Gallic Monkey Hanuman Mountain ash Hapi (1) Alisanos Hez-ur Raudna Isten (1) Mouse Mbotumbo Pi3vu’3in Ogdoad Sun Hou-zi Mule Thot Seléne Sipe gyalmo Moon (see also Appendix I: Moon Fridevi deities) Ahura Mazda Musical instruments (see also Amoghapafa Flute, Harp, Lyre) Afokakanta Dhrtarastra Avalokitefvara Erato Baal-Mamem Hathor Bhrkuti Hérmes Horus Ihi Appendix II 249

Israfil Thunupa Janguli Vaifravaja Kinyras Nose Korybantes Susanowo Pan Oak Mussel Perkunas Cakravartin Thor Mal Zeus Nareau Nymphs Tangaroa Re Visju Ointment Mussel-shell vehicle Bastet Amphitríte Hor-Hekenu Olive-branch Myrrh tree Pax Adonis Ostrich feathers Myrtle Anat Quirinus Maat Nail Owl Nortia Athená a a Navel C mund Aditi Lilith Narayana Owl’s head Purusa Hunhau Net Ox Maui Kwoth Ran Palm Noose Endouellicus Acala Hathor Amoghapafa Nike Asto Vidatu Palm-leaf, frond Var uja Hah Vighnantaka Thot Yama Palm-tree North Lao-zi Amoghasiddhi Ani Panther Hapi (1) Dusares Kubera Hebat Pekar Kybéle Tezcatlipoca Marruma 250 Appendix II

Parrot Pwyll Kama Reret Seth Peach Vajravarahi He Xian-gu Shou Lao Pillars Sun Hou-zi Hérmes Xi-Wang-Mu Inmutef Irmin Peacock Junit a Amit bha Kamui Anahita Num-Torum Hera Yima Murukan Sarasvati Pine Skanda Attis Silvanus Pearl Allah Pine-cone Virupaksa Demeter Phallus (see also Lingam) Pipe Dionysos Whope Freyr Plough Isten (2) Balarama Min Mac Gréine Mutunus Tutunus Satyr Pole Star Tu (2) God C Dhruva Phoenix Mixcoatl Aetérnitas Xi-Wang-Mu Pomegranate Hariti Pickaxe Kubaba Marduk Persephóne Pig Tinnit Afokakanta Pomegranate blossom Bjutas Anahita Demeter Endouellicus Poppy Kirke H[pnos Lamamtu Potter’s wheel Lowalangi Chnum Marici Ptah Nang Lha Nut Protractor Pryderi Fu-xi Appendix II 251

Purse Manda Kubera Mihr Mercurius, Gallic Odin Mi-lo Fo Yehl Sucellos Rays Rain see Appendix I: Rain deities Ariádne Aton Rainbow Baal-Mamem Binbeal Cath Iris Chnubis Julunggul Ekhi Mari (2) Inanna Rauni Lug Rongo Marici Ungud Mummu Rainbow snake Mamam Julunggul Red Wondjina Amitabha Ram Arapacana Agni Astabhuja-Kurukulla Ammon Camunda Amun Kataragama Ba Lature Danö Cherti Murukan Chnum Padmanartefvara Gao Yao Paramafva Harsaphes Thab-lha Hérmes Virupaksa Mari (2) Reeds Mercurius, Gallic Inanna Sango Xewioso Reindeer Horagalles Ram horns Num Hommon Tatenen Rhinoceros bird Lowalangi Rat Mahatala Gajefa Right Rattle Daktyloi Chalchihuitlicue Es Chicome coatl Ha Panku Raven Sirao Kutkinnáku Lug River see Appendix I: River deities 252 Appendix II

Rock Sexual organs (see also Phallus, Womb) Díke Agdistis Eranoranhan Amma Kumarbi Baubo Rosary Hine-nui-te-po Allah Marunogere a Avalokitefvara Praj pati Bhrkuti Priapos Brahma Sheila-na-gig Brhaspati Shield Mi-lo Fo Anat(h) Rose Astarte Saules meitis Budha Hemsut Rudder Mars Fortúna Menrva Isis Neith Tyché Remef Sack Ship, boat Fujin Dionysos Salt Nehalennia Gabija Re Scales Shichi-fukujin Abat(t)ur Sin (1) Ammit Sickle Anubis Bilwis Michael Chronos Moires Marduk Ramnu Mari (2) Scarab Psezpolnica Atum Satúrnus Africánus Chepre Uranós Scissors Skeleton Culsu Citipati Scorpion Skull Ekchuah Bhutadamara Hedetet Buddhakapala Imara Ekajata Madrapa Kali Selket Krodhadevatas Samvara Semen Gayomard Smith, see Blacksmiths, gods of in Skanda Appendix I Appendix II 253

Snail Lature Danö Coatlicue Leviathan God D Mahakala Tecciztecatl Maju Midgard-snake Snake Naga Acheloos Nehebkau Aetérnitas Nepit Agathós Daímon Ningimzida Ahriman Nirah Aión Nü-gua Aparaji¯ta Ogdoad Apóllon Parfva Apophis Quetzalcoatl Asklepiós Rahab Athená Renenutet Atum Sabazios Api Dahaka Madrapa Bhairava Mai Bhutadamara Salus Bolla Satan Bulaing Smertrios Candarosana Somtus Chepre Sugaar Chnubis Susanowo Demeter Tefnut Djata Thab-lha Echidna Tuchulcha Erinyes Uto Genius Väinämöinen Glykon Vanth Harun Virupaksa Hatuibwari Vritra Ledammu Wadd Herensugue Wonajö Heron Wunekau Huitzilopochtli Snake-dress Hygíeia Coatlicue Illujanka Janguli Snake hair Kadem Charun Kaia Gorgons Kematef Hekáte Keyeme Snake legs Krodhadevatas Abraxas Labbu Tages 254 Appendix II

Snake-staff (caduceus) Spring see Appendix I: Spring deities Aesculápius Springs and wells Asklepiós Borvo Mercurius, Gallic Chac Rosmerta El South Goibniu Huitzilopochtli Grannus Imset Jutúrna Li Kaménae Rapithwin Mimir Ratnasambhava Muses Virudhaka Nethuns Zocho Nymphs Spear Yarhibol Anat Staff (see also Herald’s staff, Astarte Crooked staff, Snake-staff ) Izanagi Aplu Lug Brhaspati Murukan Cakravartin Odin Dionysos Skanda Imtanu Tin Janus Tyr Jizo Spear-point Nechbet ’Attar Tlaloc Ufanas Spindle Xochipilli Imdumtaya Lamamtu Stake Moires Amera(t) As (Aesir) Spinning and weaving Cghene Ixchel Laume Star (see also Appendix I: Moires Astral deities) Nommo Imtar Mamam Spittle, spitting Xian Bumba Julunggul Stomach Kvasir Duamutef Nainuema Stone (see also Rock) Thot Allat Spoon Deive Durga Dusares He Xian-gu Elagabal Appendix II 255

Empung Luminuut Rat-taui Éros Suchos Grama-devata Sun, eye of du-l Halasa Haroeris Hubal Horus Kybéle Sachmet Papas Uto Preas Eyssaur Ullikummi Sunshade Aparajita Stones, heap of Heitsi-Ebib Swallow Hérmes Makemake Mula Djadi Stupa Tang Gautama Maitreya Swan Brahma Stylus Sarasvati Nabu Turan Nisaba Víly Summer Zeus Auxo Swastika Horae gShen-rab Huitzilopochtli Sipe Gyalmo Rapithwin Suparfva Sun (see also Appendix I: Sun deities) Sword Ahura Mazda Acala Akafagarbha Akafagarbha Aker Arapacana Aksobhya Armaz Allah Budha Astabhuja-Kurukulla Cakravartin Atri Cajdarosaja Baal-Mamem Dievs Lowalangi Ekajata Nyame Ikenga Ostara Kalki Sun-disc (see also Winged sun) Lü Dong-bin Apis Mal Arinna Mañjufri Aton Michael Behedti Mot Cath Perseus Hathor Rugievit Isis Sárkány 256 Appendix II

Saxnot Cherubim Sipe Gyalmo Lanwamuit Surt(r) Lebat Ukko Isis Virudhaka Mamam We-to Thumb Zhong-Kui Daksa Tears Thunder (see also Appendix I: Eos Thunder deities) Freyja Baiame Tara Buluga Ten So Imkur Thunderbolt (see also Vajra) Thirty Amoghasiddhi Kumuh Niamye Sin (1) Saptaksara a Three Vighn ntaka Ouiot Thyrsos staff Visju Dionysos Xiuhtecutli Tiger Three-eyed Cai Shen Acala Li Bhutadamara Ekajata Tiger-skin Heruka Candarosana Krodhadevatas Ekajata Mahakala Mahakala Saptaksara Parjafavari F iva Toad a Sumbhar ja Heng E Three-headed, three-faced Tawiskaron Amoghasiddhi Toe a Guhyasam ja Namita a M rici Narayana Nzambi Sarasvati Tongue Triglav Hike Usnifavijaya Ptah Vairocana Torch a Ya m ntaka Amor Throne Cautes and Cautopates Allah Culsu Atargatis Dionysos Appendix II 257

Erinyes Sipe Gyalmo Hekáte Fiva Triple staff Kukulcan Bhrkuti Phosphóros Thanatos Turnip Toeris Egres Vanth Turquoise snake Tortoise Huitzilopochtli Fukurokuju Two-headed, two-faced Jurojin Ani Kafyapa Harihara Kurma Janus Mercurius, Gallic Prajapati U¯ rja Tree (see also Appendix I: Fo Tree deities) Gautama Dryads Usnisa Fagus Fo Gautama Gautama Hamam(m)eli Hathor Vajra (see also Thunderbolt) Heléne Acala s Hun-Hunapu Ak obhya Isten (2) Indra F Kaltem akra a Lao-zi Vajrap ni Mahatala Vajrasattva a a Mal Vajrav r hi Murukan Vessel (see also Bowl, Water-pot) Nareau Sucellos Ningimzida Pemba Vine Sirao Gapn m Teharonhiawagon Ge tinanna al-Uzza Vulture Tree, birth from Manda Bestla Mut Nechbet Triangle Tinnit Vulture-crest Rat-taui Trident Agni Water (see also Appendix I: Harihara Water demons, Water deities) Poseidon Amitabha 258 Appendix II

Amoghasiddhi Aparajita Marama Arapacana So Buchis Candra Water-buffalo Cunda Lao-zi Dhrtarastra Water-pot (see also Jug) Faro Agni Gauri Anahita Giltine Bhrkuti Khasarpana Brahma Locana Brhaspati Mawu Ea Ora Gakga Singbonga Okeanos Usnifavijaya Ufanas Vairocana West Wind, storm (see also Appendix I: Wind Amentet deities) Amitabha Adro Chontamenti Buluga Estanatlehi Empung Luminuut Ha Enlil Isdes Gaueko Kebechsenef Harpies Ru Shou (→ Gou Mang) Iya Var uja Kwoth Virupaksa Psezpolnica Xi-Wang-Mu Sachmet Sun Hou-zi Wheel Tirawa Avalokitefvara Tomor(r) Cakravartin Typhón Fortúna Verethragna Gautama Wunekau Harihara Locana Wings Mog Ruith Alardi Taranis Alpan Tyché Ámor Vairocana Arma Yama Ártemis Charun Whip, scourge Éros Anezti Genii Osiris Gorgons White Hatuibwari Amoghapafa Hymén Appendix II 259

H[pnos Mani Lasas Mars Marchocias Odin Orcus Romulus Phosphóros Upuaut Maumka Seraphim Womb Tabiti Aditi Turan Hathor F Vidyadhara akti Winged shoes Wood Hérmes Brahman Perseus Woodpecker Turms Mars Winged sun Picus Ahura Mazda Assur Wool Behedti Ariádne Horus Yellow m I tanu Aparajita M m ama Afokakanta Winter Bhrkuti Aksobhya Ratnasambhava Vairocana Vaifravaja Vasudhara Wolf Fenrir Zodiac, Signs of Laskowice Aión Lupercus Narisah Bibliography

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