| Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
|---|---|---|
| God name "Lu Pan" | Chinese | God of artisans. The deity concerned with builders, bricklayers, housepainters and carpenters. He is particularly revered in Hong Kong. According to tradition he was born in 606 BC in the kingdom of Lu, where he became a skilled carpenter. He turned into a recluse on the Li Shan mountain, where he perfected his skills. He is said to have constructed the palace of the queen of the western heaven. Because of his powers he was murdered. He is also an invoker of harmonious relationships. His festival takes place on the thirteenth day of the sixth month, when the Rains are due. Attributes include a set square and carpenter's plane. He is also depicted with an ax, the symbol of a marriage go-between.... |
| God name "Luna" | Greek | The moon. The Sun and the moon were worshipped both by Greeks and Romans, and among the latter the worship of Luna is said to have been introduced by the Sabine T. Tatius, in the time of Romulus. But, however this may be, it is certain, notwithstanding the åśśertion of Varro, that Sol and Luna were reckoned among the great gods, that their worship never occupied any prominent place in the religion of the Romans, for the two divinities had between them only a small chapel in the Via Sacra. Greek |
| God name "Lupercal" | Roman | The place where Romulus and Remus were suckled by the wolf (lupus). A yearly festival was held on this spot on Feb. 15, in honour of Lupercus, the god of fertility. On one of these festivals Antony thrice offered to Julius C?sar a kingly crown, but seeing the people were only half-hearted, C?sar put it aside, saying, "Jupiter alone is king of Rome." Roman |
| Demon name "Lybie and Lamia" | Greek | Lybie was the mother of Lamia by Poseidon and as there are virtually no references to Lybie in clåśśical literature it seem likely that Lamia, Lybie and the Lamiae are all variations of the same myth concerning the beautiful queen of Libya, daughter of Belus and Libya. Lamia, in Greek mythology, queen of Libya. She was beloved by Zeus, and when Hera robbed her of her children out of jealousy, she killed every child she could get into her power. Hence Lamia came to mean a female bogey or demon, whose name was used by Greek mothers to frighten their children; from the Greek she påśśed into Roman demonology. Greek |
| God name "Lyre" | Greek | A lyre is a stringed musical instrument well known for its use in Clåśśical Antiquity. The recitations of the Ancient Greeks were accompanied by it. According to ancient Greek mythology, the young god Hermes created the lyre from the body of a large tortoise shell (khelus) which he covered with animal hide and antelope horns. Lyres were åśśociated with Apollonian virtues of moderation and equilibrium, contrasting the Dionysian pipes which represented ecstasy and celebration. Greek |
| Goddess name "Lysizona" | Greek | I. e. the goddess who loosens the girdle, is a surname of Artemis and Eileithyia, who were worshipped under this name at Athens. Greek |
| God name "MITHRA (friend)" | Persian / Iran | God of the upper air. Originating in India, Mithra is a god of light who was translated into the attendant of the god AHURA MAZDA in the light religion of Persia; from this he was adopted as the Roman deity Mithras. He is not generally regarded as a sky god but a personification of the fertilizing power of warm, light air. According to the Avesta, he possesses 10,000 eyes and ears and rides in a chariot drawn by white horses. In dualistic Zoroastrianism, which effectively demoted him, Mithra is concerned with the endless battle between light and dark forces; he represents truth. He is responsible for the keeping of oaths and contracts. He was born from a rock and, according to legend, engaged in a primeval struggle with Ahura Mazda's first creation, a wild bull, which he subdued and confined to a cave. The bull escaped, but was recaptured by Mithra, who slit its throat. From the blood sprang plant life on earth. His chief adversary is AHRIMAN, the power of darkness. Mithra is not generally worshiped on his own, but as an integral part of the Mithraic worship of Ahura Mazda, where he acts as an intercessor between gods and men. In the Hellenic period he was transformed more closely to the role of a Sun god. See also AHURA MAZDA.... |
| Goddess name "MORRIGAN (queen of demons)" | Celtic / Irish | war, fertility and vegetation goddess. A complex goddess displaying various characteristics which are both generative and destructive (see also ANAT, INANA, IS'TAR, ATHENE). At the festival of Samain, she mates with the DAGDA to ensure the future prosperity of the land and as queen Maeve (Medb) of Connaught she was ritually wedded to the mortal king whose antecedent was Ailill. As Nemain (panic) and Badb Catha (raven of battle), she takes on a more warlike and destructive aspect. Rather than engaging directly in conflict, she uses her supernatural powers to spread fear and disarray. The Irish hero Cu Chulainn was thus visited on the battle field by BADB driving a chariot and dressed in a red cloak and with red eyebrows presenting an intimidating appearance. She is capable of changing her shape into various animal forms and in the guise of a raven or a crow is able to foretell the outcome of battle.... |
"Ma" | Greek | Rhea herself was by the Lydians called Ma, and that bulls were sacrificed to her, whence the name of the town Mastaura was derived. Greek |
| Goddess name "Ma" | Cappadocian / Anatolia / Turkey | Fertility and vegetation goddess. The tutelary goddess of Pontic Comana, she was served by votary priestesses acting as sacred prostitutes, and biennial festivals were celebrated in her honor. Gradually she took on an added role as a warrior goddess with solar connotations and ultimately became syncretized with the Roman goddess BELLONA. On coins of the Comana region she is depicted with the radiate head of a solar deity carrying weapons and a shield.... |
"Maanegarm or Moongarm" | Norse | Maanegarm or moongarm [Moon-swallower]. A wolf of Loke's offspring. He devours the moon. Norse |
| King name "MacCuill" | Ireland | Son of the hazel, one of the last Tuath kings, was so-called because he worshipped the hazel. Fairies danced beneath the hawthorn. Ogham tablets were of yew. Lady Wilde styled the elder a sacred tree; and the blackthorn, to which the Irishman is said to be still devoted, was a sacred tree. Ireland |
"Macha" | Ireland | One of the greatest of the women of the Tuatha de Danaan, she fed on the heads of men slain in battle. She, along with Badb and Morrigu, used powers of enchantment to bring mists, clouds of darkness, and showers of fire and blood over the Firbolgs at Teamhair for three days. The daughter of Emmåśś, she was killed by Balor in the second battle of Mag Tuireadh. Ireland |
| Goddess name "Macha" | Celtic / Irish | Fertility goddess. One of the aspects of the MORRIGAN (a trio of warrior goddesses with strong sexual connotations), she appears as the consort of Nemed and of Crunnchu. She is also a warrior goddess who influences the outcome of battle by magical devices. She can change shape from girl to hag and is generally dressed in red. She is depicted with red hair. She appears thus to the Irish hero, Cu Chulainn, before the Battle of Moytura when she suddenly changes herself into a crow, the harbinger of death. heads of slaughtered soldiers were fixed on the so-called Pole of Macha, and the ancient religious center of Emain Macha in Ulster is named after her.See also Banbha, ERIU and Fodla.... |
| God name "Macuilxochitl" | Aztec | Macuilxochitl (five flower) - the god of games and gambling, and chief of the Ahuiateteo, the gods of excess. Aztec |
| Demon name "Maenades" | Greek | The priestesses of Dionysus, who at the celebration of his festivals gave way to expressions of frenzied enthusiasm, as if they were under the spell of some demonic power. Greek |
"Magbabaya" | Philippines | The highest and most powerful divinity, the creator and the sources of all life. Philippines |
| King name "Magi" | Christian | According to Christian fable, were Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar, three kings of the East. The first offered gold, the emblem of royalty, to the infant Jesus; the second, frankincense, in token of divinity; and the third, myrrh, in prophetic allusion to the persecution unto death which awaited the "Man of Sorrows." |