Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
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God name "Quirinus" | Roman | God of war. One of a triad of warrior gods including JUPITER and MARS. He originated as the tutelary god of the Sabines, living on the Quirinal, one of the seven hills of Rome. His warrior status is primarily one of defense and he is depicted bearded and in a compromise of military and clerical clothing. The myrtle is sacred to him.... |
Goddess name "Raka (trouble) (2)" | Polynesian / Hervey Islands | God of winds. The fifth child of VARI-MA-TE-TAKERE, the primordial mother. His home is Moana-Irakau (deep ocean). He received as a gift from his mother a great basket containing the winds, which became his children, each allotted a hole in the edge of the horizon through which to blow. The mother goddess also gave him knowledge of many useful things which he påśśes on to mankind.... |
God name "Rakta-Yamari (red Yamari)" | Buddhist | God. An emanation of AKSOBHYA and a variety of YAMARI. Color: red.... |
God name "Raktalokesvara" | Buddhist | God. A variety of the BODHISATTVA AVALOKITESVARA. he is generally depicted sitting beneath an asoka tree with red blossoms and is popularly known as the Red Lord. His attributes include a hook, bow, red lotus flower, arrow and noose.... |
Demon name "Rama (pleasing)" | Hindu / Epic / Puranic | Incarnation of the god VIS NU. The seventh avatara (sun aspect) of Vis nu. Rama began as a comparatively minor incarnation who became one of the great heroes of the Ramayana epic, as well as featuring in the Mahabharata. The son of Dasaratha and Kausalya, he was a king of Ayodhya who, in the Ramayana, slew the demon Ravana that had captured his consort SITA and was upheld as a deity par excellence in respect of manhood and honor, though his subsequent treatment of his wife might be regarded as cavalier (see Sita). The Ramayana epic was composed by the poet and sage Valmeeki during the reign of Ramachandra and it gave form to a story that had been in existence for many centuries as an oral tradition. Valmeeki portrayed Rama not as an incarnate deity but as a great mortal hero. The saga is strongly political and serves to unite a vast and fragmented people in a common focus, irrespective of caste and language. It defines the historical schism between the Hindu culture of India and the largely Buddhist tradition of Sri Lanka. Rama rides in a chariot and is depicted in human form with two arms, typically holding a sugar cane bow and with a quiver at his shoulder. Also Ramacandra.... |
Goddess name "Ran" | Nordic / Icelandic | storm goddess. The consort of the god AEGIR. She was presumed to gather mariners in her net having carried them to the bottom of the sea in whirlpools. She was propitiated with money and other offerings thrown overboard.... |
Goddess name "Rati" | Hindu / Epic / Puranic | Goddess of sexual desire. A daughter of DAKSA (in some texts SIVA) and the consort of the god KAMADEVA. One of twelve SAKTIS åśśociated with the god VISINU in his various incarnations. Attribute: a sword.... |
God name "Resep (A) Mukal" | Western Semitic / Canaanite / Phoenician / , originating in Syria | war and plague god. Introduced into Egypt by the XVIII Dynasty during the sixteenth century BC and rapidly achieved some prominence. His wife is Itum and he was also known as Res ep-Amukal and Res epSulman. Res ep is probably modeled on the Mesopotamian NERGAL. He is depicted as a youthful, warlike god, often with a gazelle's head springing from his forehead, and with a spear in his right hand. In Egyptian iconography he is depicted wearing the crown of Upper Egypt surmounted in front by the head of a gazelle. He has links with the Theban war god MONTU and was thought of as a guardian deity in battle by many Egyptian pharaohs; he is said to have shot firebrands with a bow and arrow. He also exerted a benign influence against disease. The influence of Res ep extended to Cyprus during the preHellenic period and at the time of Hellenization he was allied to and perhaps syncretized with APOLLO. Also Ras ap, Res ef.... |
God name "Rongomai" | Polynesian / Maori | Whale god. He is the son of TANGAROA, the creator deity responsible for the oceans and the fish, and the father of KAHUKURA, the deity responsible for the appearance of the Rainbow. He is also regarded as the ancestor of several Maori clans. Various traditions are åśśociated with Rongomai. In some regions of New Zealand he is also regarded as a god of war and is thought to have discovered the magic arts during a visit to the underworld, including the power of kaiwhatu, a preventative charm against witchcraft. Rongomai is sometimes mistakenly identified with RONGOMATANE, or Rongo, though the latter is generally considered a distinct personality. As the god responsible for the well-being of whales Rongomai may take the form of a whale, a guise in which he once challenged MARU, a more widely recognized New Zealand war god. Separate mythology places him in the heavens in the form of a comet.... |
Goddess name "Rudracarcika" | Hindu / Puranic | Mother goddess. One of the ASTAMATARAS, alternatively a variety of the goddess DURGA.... |
God name "Ryujin" | Shinto / Japan | dragon god. A deity controlling thunder and Rain and probably the most significant of the group of weather gods known as the RAIJIN. He is of Chinese origin and more Buddhist than Shinto. He does not appear in the sacred Shinto texts Kojiki or Nibongi, but enjoys shrines in many Shinto sanctuaries and is worshiped by farmers, particularly in times of drought. He lives in the sea, lakes and large ponds from which he ascends in mists and winds. He generates dark Rain clouds which then burst. His main festival takes place in June.... |
God name "S e ab" | Egypt | Minor god of wine and oil presses. Known from circa 3000 BC until the end of Egyptian history, circa AD 400. In later iconography he is depicted as a lion, but more generally is in human form. Sezmu had a definite cult following in the fertile Faiyum region of the Nile valley, but was probably represented in most sanctuaries, particularly where ritual unguents were made and stored. He is recognized in both benign and malevolent roles. In the latter he is reputed to squeeze human heads like grapes, but in beneficent mood he provides aromatic oils and ointments.... |
God name "Sabazios" | Phrygian / northwestern Turkey | God. Eventually Hellenized, identified with ZEUS and DIONYSOS and linked with Dionysiac mysteries, appearing in Athens from circa 400 BC. His device is a right hand cast in bronze and decorated with symbols representing his benevolence. His influence extended into Roman culture where he reached a height of popularity circa AD 200. As late as AD 300 there are frescoes of Sabazios in the tomb of Vibia whose husband was a priest of the god's cult.... |
God name "Sadbhuja-Sitatara" | Buddhist | God. An emanation of AMOGHASIDDHI and a variety of SITATARA. Color: white. Attributes: arrow, blue lotus, bow, image of Amoghasiddhi on crown, lotus and rosary. Three-headed.... |
God name "Sadrapa" | Western Semitic / Syrian / / Pontic | God of healing. He is depicted on reliefs as a youth holding a scorpion or snake. Known originally from Palmyra, his popularity spread to Carthage and, during the Hellenic period, to the Greek coast. Also Satrapis (Greek).... |
Goddess name "Sagaritis" | Greek | A nymph in whose embraces Attis became faithless to Cybele. The goddess avenged the wrong done to her by causing the tree with which the nymph's life was connected, to be cut down. Greek |
God name "Salagrama" | Hindu / late | Aniconic form of the god VIS'NU. A fossil ammonite shell embodying the god and forming a part of daily ritual in many Vaisnava households as well as appearing in monasteries.... |
God name "Salmoneus" | Greek | A son of Aeolus by Enarete, and a brother of Sisyphus. Sangarius, a river-god, is described as the son of Oceåñuś and Tethys, and as the husband of Metope, by whom he became the father of Hecabe. (Theogony 344). Greek |