| Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
|---|---|---|
| God name "Su God" | Mahikari | Defined contemporary troubles as an imbalance between good and evil. Furthermore, he designated 2000 AD as a deadline for the task. According to legend, if society does not succeed at this task, Su God has promised to incinerate the world at this time. Mahikari |
| Goddess name "Surya" | Hindu / Vedic, Epic / Puranic | Sun goddess. The daughter of the Sun god SURYA. According to legend she was courted by all the gods, but won finally by the twin ASVIN gods with whom she rides in a chariot. Other legends account her consorts to include SOMA and PUSAN. She is the essence of the cosmos. Also Savitr.... |
| Deities name "Tangaroa" | Polynesian / including Maori | Sea and creator god. The deity responsible for the oceans (moana) and the fish (ika) within them. In Hawaiian belief he was the primordial being who took the form of a bird and laid an egg on the surface of the primeval waters which, when it broke, formed the earth and sky. He then engendered the god of light, ATEA (cf. TANE). According to Tahitian legend, he fashioned the world inside a gigantic mussel shell. In a separate tradition Tangaroa went fishing and hauled the Tongan group of islands from the depths of the ocean on a hook and line. He is the progenitor of mankind (as distinct from TUMATAUENGA who has authority over mankind). His son Pili married SINA, the tropic bird and they produced five children from whom the rest of the Polynesian race was born. In Maori culture Tangaroa, like all deities, is represented only by inconspicuous, slightly worked stones or pieces of wood and not by the large totems which are depictions of ancestors.... |
| Spirit name "Tanu'ka" | Koryak / southeastern Siberia | earth spirit. A guardian of the earth and its plants and animals, Tanu'ta is the consort of YINE'ANE'UT (in other legends she is married to the son of the supreme being TA'YAN).... |
| Goddess name "Thanatos" | Greek | Minor god of death. According to legend, he is one of the two sons of NYX, the goddess of night, and lives in a remote cave beside the river Lethe which he shares with his twin brother HYPNOS, god of sleep.... |
| Hero name "Theseus" | Greek | The great legendary hero of Attica, is one of those mythological personages whose legends it is by no means easy to disentangle, and represent in their original shape. Greek |
| Goddess name "Thetis" | Greek | Goddess of rivers and oceans. One of the daughters of NEREUS, Thetis takes responsibility, with OKEANOS, for the oceans and rivers. She is among the lesser known deities; according to mythology she is a mermaid, but she is particularly significant as the mother of Achilles by an unnamed mortal. According to legend she attempted to render him immortal by immersing him in the waters of the Styx. She failed because the heel by which she held him had remained dry. His education she entrusted to the centaur Chiron. She was surrounded by attendant sea creatures known as Nereids and after Achilles's death she returned to the ocean depths.... |
| Spirit name "Thor" | Norse | The god of thunder, keeper of the hammer, the ever-fighting slayer of trolls and destroyer of evil spirits, the friend of mankind, the defender of the earth, the heavens and the gods; for without Thor and his hammer the earth would become the helpless prey of the giants. He was the consecrator, the hammer being the cross or holy sign of the ancient heathen. Thor was the son of Odin and Fjorgyn (mother earth); he was blunt, hot-tempered, without fraud or guile, of few words but of ready stroke - such was Thor, the favorite deity of our forefathers. The finest legends of the Younger Edda and the best lays of the Elder Edda refer to Thor. His hall is Bilskirner. He slays Thjåśśe, Thrym, Hrungner, and other giants. In Ragnarok he slays the Midgard-serpent, but falls after retreating nine paces, poisoned by the serpent's breath. Norse |
| God name "Tibertus" | Roman | The god of the river Anio, a tributary of the Tiber. He is not to be confused with Tiberinus, the legendary founder of Tibur. Roman |
| Deities name "Titan" | Greek | A race of gods. The secondary group of deities in the pre-Hellenic pantheon, headed by the sky god OURANOS and the earth mother GAIA. They have six pairs of children: OKEANOS and TETHYS, KRONOS and RHEA, HYPERION and THEA, Koeos and Phoebe, IAPETOS and Klymene, Kreos and Eurybe. According to legend the children usurped their father but were eventually beaten by ZEUS, heading the major group of the pantheon, who hurled them into the abyss of Tartaros.... |
| Spirit name "Toko'yoto (crab)" | Koryak / southeastern Siberia | Guardian spirit. In Koryak tradition, one of the owners of the world, the master and creator of the Pacific Ocean. His name is that of a large sea crab. In some legends he is the father of MITI, the mother of the Koryak people.... |
| Goddess name "Uttu" | Mesopotamian / Sumerian | vegetation goddess and goddess of weaving. Not to be confused with UTU the Sun god, Uttu is a minor deity whose father is ENKI. According to legend, Enki first impregnated the mother goddess NINHURSAG A, whose nine-day gestation produced the goddess NIN-S'AR. She in turn was impregnated by Enki and, after a similar nine-day gestation, gave birth to the goddess NINKURRA. Through the same procedure with her grandfather, Ninkurra conceived the goddess Uttu. She is depicted as the goddess of weaving and of spiders.... |
| God name "Vamana" | Hindu / Epic / Puranic | Incarnation of the god VISNU. The fifth avatara of Vis'nu which appears as a dwarf, symbolizing the puny state of mankind in the cosmos. According to legend, the god took the guise in order to trick BALI, a greatgrandson of Hiranyakashipu (see NARASINHA), whose prestige had begun to overshadow that of INDRA. To restore a proper balance Vamana requested from Bali a plot of land three paces wide on which to meditate. Vis'nu returned to his proper stature and claimed heaven and earth in two steps. He declined to take the third which would have also claimed the underworld, but instead gave its rule to Bali. The dwarfish form bears two arms. Attributes: umbrella and waterpot.... |
| Demon name "Varaha (boar)" | Hindu / Epic / Puranic | Incarnation of the god VISNU. The third avatara of Vis'nu, which appears as a boar. According to legend, he descends in this guise to the bottom of the primeval sea to rescue the earth, which has been removed there by a demon. He retrieves it in the shape of a girl. The avatara may be depicted in wholly animal form or as a human with a boar's head. Epithets include Adivaraha.... |
| God name "Visvamitra" | Hindu / Puranic | Minor god. According to legend, the father of the god NARADA.... |
| God name "Vulcan" | Greek | The Roman smith god, identified with the Greek god Hephaestus. He was traditionally introduced to Rome by either Romulus or Titus Tatius. There were no specific legends concerning Vulcan but he played an important part in the success of various heroes by providing invincible armour for them. In Virgil's Aeneid, Vulcan made a superb suit of armour for Aeneas at Venus' request. He made a shield (called the Aegis) and thunderbolts for Jupiter and in return received Venus as his wife. |
| Deities name "Whiro" | Polynesian / Maori | God of death. Regarded as an errant son of the creator deities, RANGINUI and PAPATUANUKU, Whiro stands as the chief antagonist of TANEMAHUTA, the creator god of light. He is, therefore, the personification of darkness and evil. During the time of creation from chaos, Whiro is said to have fought an epic battle against Tanemahuta in the newly formed heavens. He was vanquished and forced to descend into the underworld where he became ruler over the dead and chief among the lesser underworld deities who are responsible for various forms of disease and sickness. In the temporal world the lizard, a symbol of death, embodies him, and various creatures of the night, including the owl and the bat, are earthly representatives from his kingdom, as are such malignant insect pests as the mosquito. This deity is not to be confused with the legendary human voyager and adventurer of the same name whose traditions have, in the past, often been muddled with those of the god.... |
"Wild Huntsman" | German | The German tradition is that a spectral hunter with dogs frequents the Black Forest to chase the wild animals. The English name is "Herne the Hunter," who was once a keeper in windsor Forest. In Winter time, at midnight, he walks about Herne's Oak, and blasts trees and cattle. He wears horns, and rattles a chain in a "most hideous manner". Another legend is that a certain Jew would not suffer Jesus to drink out of a horse-trough, but pointed to some water in a hoof-print as good enough for "such an enemy of Moses," and that this man is the "Wild Huntsman." Various |
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