| Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
|---|---|---|
| God name "MITHRA (friend)" | Persian / Iran | God of the upper air. Originating in India, Mithra is a god of light who was translated into the attendant of the god AHURA MAZDA in the light religion of Persia; from this he was adopted as the Roman deity Mithras. He is not generally regarded as a sky god but a personification of the fertilizing power of warm, light air. According to the Avesta, he possesses 10,000 eyes and ears and rides in a chariot drawn by white horses. In dualistic Zoroastrianism, which effectively demoted him, Mithra is concerned with the endless battle between light and dark forces; he represents truth. He is responsible for the keeping of oaths and contracts. He was born from a rock and, according to legend, engaged in a primeval struggle with Ahura Mazda's first creation, a wild bull, which he subdued and confined to a cave. The bull escaped, but was recaptured by Mithra, who slit its throat. From the blood sprang plant life on earth. His chief adversary is AHRIMAN, the power of darkness. Mithra is not generally worshiped on his own, but as an integral part of the Mithraic worship of Ahura Mazda, where he acts as an intercessor between gods and men. In the Hellenic period he was transformed more closely to the role of a Sun god. See also AHURA MAZDA.... |
| Goddess name "MORRIGAN (queen of demons)" | Celtic / Irish | war, fertility and vegetation goddess. A complex goddess displaying various characteristics which are both generative and destructive (see also ANAT, INANA, IS'TAR, ATHENE). At the festival of Samain, she mates with the DAGDA to ensure the future prosperity of the land and as queen Maeve (Medb) of Connaught she was ritually wedded to the mortal king whose antecedent was Ailill. As Nemain (panic) and Badb Catha (raven of battle), she takes on a more warlike and destructive aspect. Rather than engaging directly in conflict, she uses her supernatural powers to spread fear and disarray. The Irish hero Cu Chulainn was thus visited on the battle field by BADB driving a chariot and dressed in a red cloak and with red eyebrows presenting an intimidating appearance. She is capable of changing her shape into various animal forms and in the guise of a raven or a crow is able to foretell the outcome of battle.... |
| Goddess name "Ma" | Cappadocian / Anatolia / Turkey | Fertility and vegetation goddess. The tutelary goddess of Pontic Comana, she was served by votary priestesses acting as sacred prostitutes, and biennial festivals were celebrated in her honor. Gradually she took on an added role as a warrior goddess with solar connotations and ultimately became syncretized with the Roman goddess BELLONA. On coins of the Comana region she is depicted with the radiate head of a solar deity carrying weapons and a shield.... |
| Goddess name "Macha" | Celtic / Irish | Fertility goddess. One of the aspects of the MORRIGAN (a trio of warrior goddesses with strong sexual connotations), she appears as the consort of Nemed and of Crunnchu. She is also a warrior goddess who influences the outcome of battle by magical devices. She can change shape from girl to hag and is generally dressed in red. She is depicted with red hair. She appears thus to the Irish hero, Cu Chulainn, before the Battle of Moytura when she suddenly changes herself into a crow, the harbinger of death. heads of slaughtered soldiers were fixed on the so-called Pole of Macha, and the ancient religious center of Emain Macha in Ulster is named after her.See also Banbha, ERIU and Fodla.... |
| God name "Macuilxochitl" | Aztec | Macuilxochitl (five flower) - the god of games and gambling, and chief of the Ahuiateteo, the gods of excess. Aztec |
| God name "Mahasthama(prapta) (he who has attained great power)" | Buddhist / Mahayana | God. A dhyanibodhisattva who personifies great wisdom. Color: white or yellow. Attributes: lotus, six lotuses and sword. (May have no attributes present.)... |
| God name "Mahes" | Egypt | Sun god. An ancient deity worshiped chiefly in the region of the Nile delta and representing the destructive power of the Sun's heat. Depicted in the form of a lion. Also Miysis (Greek).... |
| Goddess name "Mala (garland)" | Buddhist - Lamaist / Tibet | Mother goddess. One of a group of ASTAMATARA deities. Color: red or yellow. Attributes: garland of Forest flowers, or of jewels.... |
| God name "Malak-bel" | Palmyra | Of course other gods called "Lord" could be and sometimes were identified totally or in part with Bel Marduk. The god Malak-bel of Palmyra is an example, though in the later period from which most of our information comes he seems to have become very much a Sun god which Marduk was not. |
| 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 "Mangar-kunjer-kunja" | Australia | A lizard god who created humans. He found the first beings, Rella manerinja, on one side of a hill; they were fused together and he separated them with a knife and cut holes for their mouths, ears, and noses, then gave them the knife, spear, shield, fire, boomerang, and the tjurunga, and lastly gave them a system of marriage. Australia |
| Deities name "Manito" | Ojibwa / Canada | Creator being. One of a number of very powerful beings all identified by the same title. These deities include the four winds, the thunderbirds, the underwater manitos and the heroic god NANABOZHO. They are the ultimate source of existence and are essential to the continuance of life. It is necessary for mankind to maintain close communication with them.... |
| God name "Manmatha" | Hindu | God of love, represented as a young and handsome winged man who wields a bow and arrows. His bow is made of sugarcane with honeybees on it as the string and his arrows are decorated with five kinds of fragrant flowers. Its string is made of a chain of honeybees. Hindu |
| God name "Marawa" | Melanesia | God who made human beings mortal, supposedly only because he did not know how they were made Melanesia |
| God name "Matsuo" | Japan | God of sake brewers Japan / Shinto |
| God name "Matsuo" | Shinto / Japan | God of sake brewers. Celebrated annually in a festival in Kyoto, when the presence of the god is carried on a palanquin. It is rowed down the river prior to a general celebration, during which sake is drunk liberally.... |
| Goddess name "May-day" | Roman | Polydore Virgil says that the Roman youths used to go into the fields and spend the calends of May in dancing and singing in honour of Flora, goddess of fruits and flowers. The early English consecrated May-day to Robin Hood and the Maid Marian, because the favourite outlaw died on that day. Stow says the villagers used to set up May-poles, and spend the day in archery, morris-dancing, and other amu√åǧïñåts. |
| Goddess name "Mehet-Weret" | Egypt | Minor goddess of the creation accounts Egypt |
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