Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
---|---|---|
Goddess name "Mahesvari" | Hindu / Epic / Puranic | Mother goddess. A SAKTI who in later Hinduism became one of a group of seven MATARAS regarded as of evil intent. Also one of eight ASTAMATARAS. In another grouping one of a group of nine NAVASAKTIS who, in southern India, rank higher than the SAPTAMATARAS. Attributes: antelope, arrow, ax, bow, club, drum, prayer wheel, staff and trident.... |
God name "Mainatavasara" | Melanesia | One of Fiji's fourteen vanua; the ancient gods. Melanesia |
God name "Makilehohoa" | Java | A sky god, father of Kimulani. Nukumanu and Ontong Java Melanesia |
Goddess name "Mamaki (greedy)" | Buddhist | Goddess. The SAKTI of RATNASAMBHAVA or AKSOBHYA. Also a BODHISATTVA or future buddha, originating from the blue mantra MAM. Color: yellow or blue. Attributes: cup, flowers, jewel, knife and staff.... |
God name "Mandhata (thoughtful)" | Hindu / Epic / Puranic | God. Minor avatara of VISNU. One of the lords of the universe.... |
Goddess name "Mariyamman (mother of smallpox)" | Dravidian / Tamil / southern India | Plague goddess. A terrible goddess, one of the NAVASAKTIS and linked with the goddess KALI. She is honored in a ritual during which victims (in penance) are suspended from a rope and an iron hook through the flesh of the back and whirled around a pole. Also Mariyattal.... |
"Martha" | Christian | Patron saint of good housewives, is represented in Christian art as clad in homely costume, bearing at her girdle a bunch of keys, and holding a ladle or pot of water in her hand. Like St. Margaret, she is accompanied by a dragon bound, but has not the palm and crown of martyrdom. The dragon is given to St. Martha from her having destroyed one that ravaged the neighbourhood of Marseilles. Christian |
Goddess name "Matara" | Hindu | Mother goddess. Applied collectively to groups of deities, the Divine mothers, also more specifically to the consort of the god KASYAPA. As Divine mothers they are also regarded as SAKTIS. The numbers vary according to separate traditions and they are therefore identified as the SAPTAMATARAS (seven), ASTAMATARAS (eight) and NAVASAKTIS (nine). Less commonly there may be up to fifty mataras in a group. Their images are normally carved in stone (very few exist in metal) and they are depicted seated, often upon a corpse, and may be of terrifying appearance.... |
Demon name "Matsya" | Hindu / Epic / Puranic | Incarnation of the god VIS'NU. In this first avatara Vis'nu appears as a fish which, according to one legend, tows a ship carrying the law-giver MANU to safety after the primal flood. Matsya engages in an epic battle with the demon HAYAGRIVA who stole the Vedas from a sleeping BRAHMA. Usually depicted with a human torso carrying symbols, e.g. wheel and conch, on a fish's body.... |
"Mauthe Dog" | Manx | A spectre hound that for many years haunted the ancient castle of Peel town, in the Isle of Man. This black spaniel used to enter the guard-room as soon as candles were lighted, and leave it at day-break. While this spectre-dog was present the soldiers forebore all oaths and profane talk. One day a drunken trooper entered the guard-house alone out of bravado, but lost his speech and died in three days. Manx |
God name "Meghanada (cloud roar)" | Hindu | Minor god. A son of Ravana who once briefly bested INDRA and became known as the Indra-conqueror.... |
Goddess name "Mena" | Hindu | mountain goddess. The consort of HIMAVAN and the mother of GANGA and PARVATI.... |
"Mohini" | Hindu | One of the 25 avatars of Vishnu found in the Puranas. Hindu |
Demon name "Mohini (illusion)" | Hindu / Epic / Puranic | Minor incarnation of VIS'NU. Mohini is an avatara who appears in the form of an enchantress whose form Vis'nu adopted briefly to deceive demons attempting to remove the ambrosia created by churning the primeval ocean of milk (see also GARUDA). Vis'nu used the same guise to dupe and seduce the god SIVA.... |
God name "Mulciber" | Roman | A surname of Vulcan, which seems to have been given to the god as a euphemism, and for the sake of a good omen, that he might not consume by ravaging fire the habitations and property of men, but might kindly and benevolently aid men in their pursuits. Roman |
Goddess name "Naeeeegaaei (slayer of alien gods)" | Navaho / USA | God of war. The most powerful of the Navaho war gods. The son of the Sun god TSOHANOAI and the fertility goddess ESTSANATLEHI. According to tradition, he vanquished a race of giants who had nearly destroyed the human race. He is a benevolent god, ready to help mankind in times of trouble. He also cures diseases brought about through witchcraft. Said to live at the junction of two rivers in the San Juan valley, he is invoked by warriors preparing for battle. His priest wears a buckskin bag mask, painted black and adorned with five zigzag lightning streaks, the eye and mouth holes covered with white sea shells. He also wears a fox skin collar, a crimson cloth around the hips and a leather belt with silver ornamentation, but is otherwise naked. No depictions are made of this deity.... |
God name "Nagakumara" | Jain | One of the group the gods with the title of bhvanavasi who were åśśociated with Rain and thunder Jain |
God name "Namasangiti (the chanting of the name)" | Buddhist | God. A form of AVALOKITESVARA, but also a distinct emanation of VAIROCANA. The personification of a sacred text. He stands upon a lotus. Color: white. Attributes: club, lotus, sword, half-staff and waterjar.... |