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| Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
|---|---|---|
| Goddess name "Balarama (strength of Rama)" | Hindu / Epic / Puranic | Incarnation of the god VIS'NU. May have originated in Vedic times as an agricultural fertility deity. He is the son of VASUDEVA and DEVAKI, though born from the womb of ROHINI. Jointly with KRSNA (his brother), he is identified as the eighth avatara (incarnation) of Vis'nu, or, with RAMA, as the seventh. Legend describes how Vis'nu impregnated the belly of the goddess Devaki with two hairs, one black, one white. To ensure their safety against a demon king, they were transferred before birth to Rohini. Krsna grew to be dark-skinned, and Balarama light. The latter enjoys similar characteristics to Krsna but fails to attract the same popularity. He is usually depicted on the right side of Krsna, rarely standing alone. The consort of Balarama is REVATI and his sons are Nisatha and Ulmuka. Epithets included Ananda (joy). In Jainism he is known as Baladeva. Attributes: arrow, club, drinking cup, fan palm, honey pot, lotus, pestle, pitcher, plough, prayer wheel, shield and sword.... |
| Goddess name "Bebhinn" | Britain | A goddess of the underworld and daughter of its ruler and a breathtakingly beautiful giantess with long golden hair. Britain |
| Goddess name "Berenice" | Egypt | Goddess of Coma Berenices. Eratosthenes referred to it as both "Ariadne's Hair" and "Berenice's Hair. Egypt |
| Goddess name "Bhairavi" | Hindu | A fierce and terrifying aspect of the Goddess virtually indistinguishable from Kali, except for her particular identification as the consort of the Wrathful Shiva. |
| Goddess name "Bhutadamara (tumult of demons)" | Buddhist / Mahayana | God. May be depicted reclining on the Hindu goddess APARAJITA. Attributes: snakes in the hair, and staff. Three-eyed.... |
| Goddess name "Devaki (divine)" | Hindu / Epic / Puranic | Mother goddess. Daughter of Devaka and consort of the mythical king VASUDEVA, Devaki bore eight sons, including KRSNA and BALARAMA. Her brother Kamsa believed that the eighth child would kill him and he slaughtered the first six sons. In order to save the remaining two, VISNU implanted the seed of his avataras in Devaki's womb (in the form of hairs from his head), before transferring Balarama to the womb of the goddess ROHINI and Krsna to Yasoda, the wife of a cowherd, Nanda.... |
| Goddess name "Eibhir" | Ireland | Goddess of the Sun, described as being a yellow-haired "stranger from another land." Ireland / Manx |
| Goddess name "Eri" | Ireland | Eri of the Golden Hair, Virgin Goddess of the Tuatha De Danann. Ireland |
| Goddess name "Eri of the Golden Hair" | Irish | A virgin goddess of the Tuatha De Danann |
| Goddess name "Ganga" | Hindu / Puranic | River goddess. Guardian deity of the Ganges. The elder daughter of HIMAVAN and MENA, she is the sister of PARVATI and the consort of VIS'NU and AGNI. She is also the second consort of SIVA. Ganga is regarded as a symbol of purity and is frequently depicted with Brahma washing the raised foot of VIS'NU TRIVIKRAMA. According to tradition she was a heavenly river brought to earth and caught by Siva in his hair to soften the shock of her fall. She rides on a fish or water monster. Color:... |
| Goddess name "Harpokrates [Greek]" | Egypt | Form of the god HORUS as a child. Generally depicted sitting on the knee of his mother, the goddess ISIS, often suckling at the left breast and wearing the juvenile side-lock of hair. He may also be invoked to ward off dangerous creatures and is åśśociated with crocodiles, snakes and scorpions. He is generally representative of the notion of a god-child, completing the union of two deities. Also Har-pa-khered (Egyptian).... |
| Goddess name "Hine-Nui-Te-Po (great woman of the night)" | Polynesian / including Maori | Chthonic underworld goddess. Originally she was HINE-ATAUIRA, the daughter of TANE and HINE-AHUONE, but she descended to rule over the underworld. She is depicted in human form but with eyes of jade, hair of seaweed and teeth like those of a predatory fish.... |
| Goddess name "Ihy" | Egypt / Upper | God of music. Minor deity personifying the jubilant noise of the cultic sistrum rattle generally åśśociated with the goddess Hathor. The son of HATHOR and HORUS. Particularly known from the Hathor sanctuary at Dendara. Depicted anthropomorphically as a nude child with a side-lock of hair and with finger in mouth. May carry a sistrum and necklace.... |
| Goddess name "Inar (rice-grower)" | Shinto / Japan | God (Goddess) of foodstuffs. The popular name of a god(dess) worshiped under the generic title Miketsu-No-Kami in the Shi-Den sanctuary of the imperial palace, but rarely elsewhere. The deity displays gender changes, develops many personalities and is revered extensively in Japan. Inari is often depicted as a bearded man riding a white fox but, in pictures sold at temple offices, (s)he is generally shown as a woman with long flowing hair, carrying sheafs of rice and sometimes, again, riding the white fox. Inari sanctuaries are painted bright red, unlike most other Shinto temples. They are further characterized by rows of wooden portals which form tunnels leading to the sanctuary. Sculptures of foxes are prolific (an animal endowed, in Japanese tradition, with supernatural powers) and the shrines are decorated with a special device, the Hoju-No-Tama, in the shape of a pear surrounded by small flames. Often identified with the food goddess TOYO-UKE-BIME.... |
| Goddess name "Jyrstha" | Hindu / Puranic / earlier | Goddess of misfortune. The elder sister of the goddess LAKSMI, Jyestha personifies poverty and is depicted with a large belly and long nose. In earlier Hinduism she was worshiped particularly in southern India. Also a NAKSATRA of evil influence; daughter of DAKSA and wife of CANDRA (SOMA). Her animal is an åśś. Attributes: arrow, banner with crow, cup, blue lotus, hair-ornament and staff.... |
| Goddess name "Kabandha" | India | A monstrous evil spirit slain by Rama. A son of the goddess Sriand "covered with hair, vast as a mountain, without head or neck, having a mouth armed with immense teeth in the middle of his belly, arms a league long, and one enormous eye in his breast." India |
| Goddess name "Kesini (hairy)" | Buddhist | Goddess. An attendant of ARAPACANA.... |
| 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.... |
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