Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
---|---|---|
God name "Virbius" | Roman | Minor chthonic god. A malevolent underworld deity who was frequently invoked during the worship of Diana in the Arician woodlands surrounding her sanctuary at Nemi. Virbius was reputed to prowl these woods and to be an emanation of Hippolytus, a mortal who had been trampled to death by his horses and made immortal by Aesculapius. For this reason the Arician woods were barred to horses.... |
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. |
God name "Wadd" | Greek | The Minaean moon god. Snakes were believed to be sacred to him. |
God name "Wadj Wer (the mighty green one)" | Egypt | Fertility god. Sometimes depicted in androgynous form, he personifies the Mediterranean Sea or the major lakes of the Nile delta. He is depicted carrying the ankh symbol of life, and a loaf. The figure often appears pregnant and is åśśociated with the richness of the Nile delta waters.... |
Goddess name "Wadjet" | Egypt | Goddess of royal authority. Wadjet takes the form of a fire-breathing cobra and, as the uraeus symbol worn on the headdress of the ruler, she epitomizes the power of sovereignty. She is a goddess of Lower Egypt equating to NEKHBET in Upper Egypt, with her main cult center at Buto (Tell el-Farain) in the Nile delta. She forms an integral part of the symbolism of the Sun god RE, coiling around the Sun disc to symbolize Re's powers of destruction. According to mythology, she created the papyrus swamps of the delta. She is described as a wet nurse to the god HORUS and is the mother of the god of the primeval lotus blossom, NEFERTUM.... |
God name "Wer" | Mesopotamian / Babylonian - Akkadian | storm god. A minor deity linked with ADAD and AMURRU. His attendant is the fierce guardian of the pine Forest, Huwawa, the focus of one of the Gilgames epic sagas. Cult centers include Afis, south of Aleppo.... |
God name "Were" | Africa | Supreme Creator God. North West Africa |
God name "Were Luo'" | A chief god | |
God name "Weri Kumbamba" | Gishu / Uganda, East Africa | Creator god. A deity embodied in rocks and specifically invoked before and after cirçúɱcision to ensure the speedy recovery of the patient.... |
God name "Wisagatcak" | Cree | A trickster god in Cree mythology, similar to Nanabozho in Ojibwa myth and Inktonme in Assiniboine myth. His name means "the Flatterer." He is generally portrayed as being responsible for a great flood which destroys the world originally made by the Creator, as well as the one who creates the current world with magic, either on his own or with powers given to him by the Creator for that specific purpose. |
God name "Xochipili" | Aztec | The god of love, games, beauty, dance, flowers, maize, and song. Aztec |
Goddess name "Xochiquetzal" | Aztec | A goddess of flowers, fertility, games, dancing and Agriculture, as well as craftsmen, prostitutes and pregnant women. She was originally a moon and love goddess. Aztec |
Goddess name "Xochiquetzal-Ichpuchtli (maiden)" | Aztec / Mesoamerican / Mexico | Minor fertility goddess. One of the group clåśśed as the TETEOINNAN complex. Depicted as a youthful deity åśśociated with sexual love, flowers and pleasure.... |
God name "Yaldabaoth" | Gnostic Christian | Creator God. The so-called prime parent of Gnostic cosmogony, engendered by PISTIS SOPHIA out of the nothingness of chaos, provided with form and given charge over the substance of the cosmos. Yaldabaoth is, at first, unaware of the existence of Pistis Sophia and, by his own powers, engenders seven androgynous beings, placing them in seven heavens. He decrees himself alone and allpowerful, whereupon Pistis Sophia names him SAMAEL (blind god). Of his offspring, the most significant is SABAOTH, who stands against his father and on the side of Pistis Sophia. When she eventually reveals herself to Yaldabaoth as pure radiant light, he is humbled.... |
God name "Yamandaga" | Kalmuck | One of the senior gods. Depicted with six hands, holding a scepter, a pair of ropes, two drinking vessels and an animal skin. Coloured blue with red palms and soles, he has snakes coiled around ankles and wrists and another forming a necklace; another necklace is made up of human heads. His crown is made of flowers and skulls. Kalmuck |
God name "Yemeoonji" | Mongo / Nkundo / Democratic Republic of Congo, central Africa | Creator god. According to tradition, he gave the Sun god Nkombe three parcels when the people complained the world was too dark; two were brightly colored and one was a dull gray. Realizing that he was about to be tricked, Nkombe opened the gray parcel and the world was flooded with light.... |
God name "Yum Cimil" | Mayan / Yucatec, Mesoamerican / Mexico | God of death. Depicted with a skull head, bare ribs and spiny projections from the vertebrae, or with bloated flesh marked by dark rings of decomposition. He wears bell-like ornaments fastened in the hair. Sacrificial victims were offered to the god by drowning in the sacred pool or cenote. Also God A.... |
Goddess name "Zara-Mama" | South American Indian / Peru | Maize goddess. A minor deity, models of whom were made from the leaves of the plant and kept for a year before being burned in a ritual to ensure a good maize harvest.... |