Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
---|---|---|
God name "Mot" | Phoenicia | The god of the dead and of all the powers that opposed life |
Goddess name "Mujaji" | Lovedu / South Africa | Rain goddess. She is said to reside in the northern Drakensberg mountains and sends both destructive tempests and gentle generative Rain. In past times she was propitiated with sacrifices of cattle and occasionally young girls. She is represented by a lineage of mortal queens on whose fabulous reputation the author Rider Haggard based the novel She. Also Modjadji.... |
God name "Muluku" | Congo | The creator god of the Benue-Congo-speaking Makua and Banayi people of Mozambique. Muluku created men and women, and gave them the art of using tools, but the humans were disobedient. So Muluku called up monkey and she monkey. He gave them tools, and the monkeys used them well. So Muluku cut off the tails of the monkeys and fastened them to the man and the woman, saying to the monkeys, "Be men," and to the humans, "Be monkeys." Macoua |
God name "Mungan Ngour" | Australian aboriginal | Creator god. Chiefly revered among the Kurnai Koori aborigines in Victoria State. The Southern Lights or Aurora australis are regarded as a sign of his displeasure when the law and order given to humankind by the gods are abused. His son is Tundun, who is responsible for the secret ceremonies originally divulged only to men and including the initiation rights of påśśage from boyhood to maturity. When these were revealed to women, the Dreamtime ended, a period of chaos ensued and Mungan Ngour elected to live henceforth in the sky.... |
Goddess name "Mut" | Egypt | The patron goddess of Thebes. In Upper Egypt she is the counterpart of SAKHMET, the Lower Egyptian goddess from Memphis. After superseding the goddess AMAUNET, she became locally the consort of the Sun god AMUN, in which capacity she is the mother of the moon god KHONSU. She was also regarded as the Divine mother of the Theban kings. Mut is depicted in human form wearing a vulture headdress sur mounted by the twin crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt. She is typically dressed in a bright red or blue patterned gown. Less frequently she is drawn with a lion's head. She enjoyed a cult center at Thebes where her sanctuary was known as the Iseru.... |
God name "Mystis" | Greek | A nurse of the god Dionysus and the nymph who personified initiation into the mysteries of the god while her son Corymbus represented the sacred ivy, with which the initiates were dressed. Greek |
God name "Na Cha" | China | Guardian god who takes pity on oppressed mortals and challenges both the undersea god and his own father in a fight on land, under the sea, and in the air. China |
Goddess name "Naenia" | Roman | A dirge or lamentation such as was uttered at funerals, either by relatives of the deceased or by hired persons. At Rome Naenia was personified and worshipped as a goddess, who even had a chapel, which, however, as in the case of all other gods in connection with the dead, was outside the walls of the city, near the porta Viminalis. The object of this worship was probably to procure rest and peace for the departed in the lower world. Roman |
God name "Nahui Oiiin (earthquake sun)" | Aztec / Mesoamerican / Mexico | Creator god. According to most of the codices, at the time of the Spanish conquest there had been four previous world ages, each represented by a Sun and terminated by a cataclysm. Ollin, the fifth Sun, was created at Teotihuacan and at the conquest was just under 2,000 years old. It is presided over by the god TONATIUH. Each creation is considered to last 2028 x 52 terrestrial years and the present one is destined to be destroyed by a great earthquake. Tradition has it that Ollin was originally a sickly or humble deity named NANAHUATL (the diseased one). Also (4)Ollin; Ollintonatiuh.... |
Deities name "Nanahuati (rumor)" | Aztec / Mesoamerican / Mexico | Creator god. In cosmogony, when on the fifth day of creation the gods sat in judgment to elect the new Sun god, Nanahuatl and TECCIZTECATL cremated themselves in the sacred fire. The heart of Nanahuatl ascended to become the new Sun and that of Tecciztecatl became the moon. Tradition suggests that Nanahuatl is diseased and impoverished but of great courage, while Tecciztecatl is wealthy and a coward. In an alternative tradition, in which Nanahuatl is the son of QUETZALCOATL and Tecciztecatl is the son of TLALOC, both deities are hurled into the fire by their fathers. NOTE: eventually all the gods sacrificed themselves so that mankind might be engendered from their remains. Also Nanahuatzin.... |
God name "Ndauthina" | Fiji | The god of sailors and fishermen. When he was a toddler, his mother tied fiery reeds to his head. He has roamed the coral reefs with a hood on ever since. He is a trickster and a patron of adulterers, and a seducer of women. Fiji |
God name "Neleus" | Greek | A son of Cretheus and Tyro, the daughter of Salmoneus. Tyro, previous to her marriage with Neleus, is said to have loved the river-god Enipeus and in the form of Enipeus Poseidon once appeared to her, and became by her the father of Pelias and Neleus. Tyro exposed the two boys, but they were found and reared by horse-herds, and when they had grown up they learned who their mother was, and Pelias killed their foster-mother, who had ill-used Tyro. Greek |
Goddess name "Nephthys [Greek]" | Egypt | Funerary goddess. Nephthys is the younger sister of ISIS, OSIRIS and SETH, who are the offspring of the chthonic god GEB and the sky goddess NUT in the Ennead genealogy of Egyptian deities defined by the priests of Heliopolis. Nephthys is depicted in human form wearing a crown in the style of the hieroglyphic for a mansion, the translation of her Egyptian name. She can also take the form of a hawk watching over the funeral bier of Osiris. According to legend Nephthys liaised briefly with Osiris and bore the mortuary god ANUBIS. She is said to guide the dead Egyptian ruler through the dark underworld and to weep for him. Also Neb-hut (Egyptian).... |
Goddess name "Nerrivik" | Inuit | Sea goddess. The mother of all sea creatures, invoked by fishermen and seal hunters.See also SEDNA.... |
Goddess name "Nerrivik/ Sedena" | Inuit | The sea goddess |
God name "Ninazu" | Mesopotamian / Sumerian | Chthonic god. Less frequently encountered in the texts than NERGAL. Son of ENLIL and NINLIL or, in alternative traditions, of ERES KIGAL and the father of Ning-is-zida. The patron deity of Es nunna until superseded by TISPAK. His sanctuaries are the E-sikil and E-kurma. Also identified as a god of healing, he is (unlike Nergal) generally benevolent.... |
God name "Ningilin" | Sumeria | Ningilin may at an early date have been confused with a god of magic called Ningirima, who was invoked in spells to drive away snakes. Sumeria |
Goddess name "Ninlil" | Mesopotamian / Sumerian | Goddess of the air and of grain. She is the daughter of the god of stores, Haia, and the barley goddess, Ninsebargunnu. The consort of the air god Enlil, who impregnated her with water to create the moon god Nana, she also conceived the underworld god Nergal when Enlil impregnated her disguised as the gateman of Nippur. In a similar manner she conceived the underworld god Ninazu when Enlil impregnated her disguised as the man of the river of the nether world, the man-devouring river. According to some texts she is also the mother of Ninurta, the god of the plough and thunderstorms.... |