Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
---|---|---|
God name "Olodumare" | Yoruba / Nigeria, West Africa | Creator god. He engendered the god OBATALA as his deputy. The souls of the dead are expected to make confession to Olodumare. When he created the earth, he filled a snail's shell with dirt, placed inside it a hen and a pigeon and threw it down, whereupon the hen and pigeon began to scatter the earth and create land. Olodumare then sent a chameleon to report on progress. Sand was added, followed by a palm, a coconut and a kola nut tree. When these were established the god placed on earth the first sixteen humans. Also Alaaye; Elemii; Olojo Oni; Olorun; Orishanla.... |
God name "Om" | India | A Sanscrit word, somewhat similar to Amen. When the gods are asked to rejoice in a sacrifice, the god Savitri cries out Om (Be it so). When Pravahan is asked if his father has instructed him, he answers Om (Verily). Brahmins begin and end their lessons on the Veda with the word Om, for "unless Om precedes his lecture, it will be like water on a rock, which cannot be gathered up; and unless it concludes the lecture, it will bring forth no fruit." |
God name "Orcus aka Hades or Pluton" | Roman | Orcus aka Hades or Pluton, the god of the lower world. Roman |
God name "Orunmila" | Yoruba / Nigeria, West Africa | God of destiny. He accompanied the creator god OLODUMARE at the creation of the world and when the destinies of mankind were decided. He is consulted in an oracular capacity at IFA and makes decisions on such matters as choice of sacrificial animals. He is also a god of healing and in many households enjoys personal shrines which include palm nuts, fragments of ivory and sea shells.... |
God name "Osiris" | Egyptian | The great Egyptian divinity, and husband of Isis. According to Herodotus they were the only divinities that were worshipped by all the Egyptians (Herodotus ii). Osiris is described as a son of Rhea and Helios. Osiris was the god of the Nile. |
Goddess name "Otontecuhtli aka Xiuhtecuhtli" | Aztec | Goddess of the earth, flowers, plants, games and dance, love. She is also the patroness of artisans, prostitutes, pregnant women and birth. Aztec |
God name "Ouranos" | Greek | Primordial god of heaven. The creator and incestuous consort of the earth mother GAIA with whom he engendered six giant sonsOKEANOS, Koeos, Kreos, HYPERION, IAPETOS and KRONOSand six daughtersKlymene, RHEA, THEA, THETIS, MNEMOSYNE and Phoebethe twelve collectively being known as the TITANS. fearing their power, Ouranos hurled them into the abyss of Tartaros and chained them up.... |
Goddess name "Pajau Yan" | Cambodian | Goddess of health and healing who was sent to live in the moon, where she provides flowers to the newly dead to ease their transition as they move into the underworld. Cambodian |
Goddess name "Pakhet" | Egypt | Bast and Sekhmet were similar feline war gods, one for Upper Egypt and the other for Lower Egypt. Where the two groups met, at Beni Hasan, the similarity of the goddesses lead to a new merged form known as Pakhet. |
God name "Palici" | Greek | Twin gods, originating in Sicily. They were sometimes said to have been the sons of Zeus by Thaleia the daughter of Hephaestus, sometimes the sons of Zeus by Aetna. While she was pregnant with the twins, Thaleia, fearing Hera's jealousy hid in the earth and when the time came the twin boys emerged from the ground, which explains their name 'the Returners'. Greek |
Deities name "Panao" | Kafir / Afghanistan | Creator god. Local deity worshiped in Ashkun villages in southwestern Kafiristan. Also a generic title for deities controlling the natural world and said to live in the mountains. These include Lutkari Panao (fertility), Saramun Panao (health), Plossa Panao (rain and good health), Påśśamun Panao (rain and good health), Indermun Panao (fruit and wine), and Malek Panao (nut trees). These gods were generally worshiped in sacred open spaces where their wooden images were regularly drenched with blood sacrifices.... |
Planet name "Paradise Lost" | Milton | Satan rouses the panic-stricken host of fallen angels to tell them about a rumour current in heaven of a new world about to be created. He calls a council to deliberate what should be done, and they agree to send Satan to search out for the new world. Satan, påśśing the gulf between Hell and heaven and the limbo of Vanity, enters the orb of the Sun (in the guise of an angel) to make inquiries as to the new planet's whereabouts; and, having obtained the necessary information, alights on Mount Niphates, and goes to Paradise in the form of a cormorant. Seating himself on the Tree of Life, he overhears Adam and Eve talking about the prohibition made by God, and at once resolves upon the nature of his attack. Gabriel sends two angels to watch over the bower of Paradise, and Satan flees. Raphael is sent to warn Adam of his danger, and tells him the story of Satan's revolt and expulsion out of heaven, and why and how this world was made. After a time Satan returns to Paradise in the form of a mist, and, entering the serpent, induces Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit. Adam eats "that he may perish with the woman whom he loved." Satan returns to Hell to tell his triumph, and Michael is sent to lead the guilty pair out of the garden. Milton |
Goddess name "Parna-Savari (dressed in leaves)" | Buddhist / Mahayana | Goddess. An emanation of AKSOBHYA and BODHISATTVA or buddha-designate. Also one of a group of DHARANIS (deifications of literature). She is particularly recognized in the northwest of India. Her vehicle is GANESA surmounting obstacles. Color: yellow or green. Attributes: arrow, ax, bow, flower, noose, peaçõçk feather, skin and staff. She is depicted as having three eyes and three heads.... |
Deities name "Penates" | Roman | Hearth deities. These gods are a peculiarly Roman innovation, unknown to the Greeks. The penates, chosen individually by the head of the household, oversaw the domestic affairs of most Roman families. They were considered sufficiently important that, if a move was anticipated, they were taken to and established in the new residence a priori. They are represented in the form of small statues made of anything from clay to gold according to the wealth of the owner, and were provided with regular offerings of scraps of food.... |
God name "Pisacas" | Hindu | Demigods created by Brahma, the creator of the universe. People, with all parts of their bodies smeared with mud; besmearing their friends here and there with mud; speaking, for the sake of love, various beautiful utterances concerning persons having sexual intercourse and the women fit for cohabitation, instigating sex-instinct; saying indecent words and crying aloud - should play. On that day, in the morning, the Pisacas of dreadful sight - the followers of Nikumbha - enter all the human beings. In the evening, they leave the body of one who does so and is bathed and enter that of another, cursing him, who does not do so. Then the bathed persons should worship Kes'ava. Hindu |
God name "Pitao Cozobi" | Zapotec / Mesoamerican / Mexico | Maize god. Worshiped by the Monte Alban culture of Zapotec-speaking peoples in the Valley of Oaxaca. Sculptures were often adorned with casts of maize ears.... |
God name "Pluton" | Greek | The giver of wealth, at first a surname of Hades, the god of the lower world. Greek |
Goddess name "Pomona" | Roman | Goddess of orchards and gardens. Consort of VERTUMNUS generally represented by garden implements and offered fruits and flowers.... |