| Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
|---|---|---|
"Pancratis" | Greek | A daughter of Aloeus and Iphimedeia, in the Phthiotian Achaia. Once when Thracian pirates, under Butes, invaded that district, they carried off from Mount Drius the women who were solemnizing a festival of Dionysus. Among them was Iphimedeia and her daughter Pancratis. Greek |
| King name "Panic" | Greek | On one occasion Bacchus, in his Indian expeditions, was encompåśśed with an army far superior to his own; one of his chief captains, named Pan, advised him to command all his men at the dead of night to raise a simultaneous shout. The shout was rolled from mountain to mountain by innumerable echoes, and the Indians, thinking they were surrounded on all sides, took to sudden flight. Greek |
| 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.... |
"Pau-o-palae" | Pacific Islands | Pau-o-palae was clothed with a network of most delicate ferns. She was noted because of her magic power over all the ferns of the Forest, and for her skill in using the most graceful fronds for clothing and garlands. |
| 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.... |
"Penetralis" | Greek | A surname or epithet given to the several divinities at Rome, that were worshipped in the Penetrale, or the central part of the house, such as Jupiter, Vesta, the Penates, etc. Greek |
| Hero name "Perseus" | Greek | The famous Argive hero, was a son of Zeus and Danae, and a grandson of Acrisius. Acrisius, who had no male issue, consulted the Pythian oracle, and received the answer, that if Danae should give birth to a son, he would kill his father. Greek |
"Philter" | s | A draught or charm to incite in another the påśśion of love. The Thessalian philters were the most renowned, but both the Greeks and Romans used these dangerous potions, which sometimes produced insanity. Lucretius is said to have been driven mad by a love-potion, and Caligula's death is attributed to some philters administered to him by his wife, C?sonia. |
"Phlegethon" | Greek | I. e. the flaming, a river in the lower world, is described as a son of Cocytus; but he is more commonly called Pyriphlegethon. It flowed with fire that burned but did not consume fuel. In the Divine Comedy the river is made of boiling blood and is part of the seventh circle of hell, containing the shades of tyrants, murderers, robbers and those guilty of sins involving violence against others. Greek |
"Pillars of Hercules" | Spain | The opposite rocks at the entrance of the Mediterranean Sea, one in Spain and the other on the African continent. The tale is that they were bound together till Hercules tore them asunder in order to get to Gades (Cadiz). The ancients called them Calpe and Abyla; we call them Gibraltar Rock and Mount Hacho, on which stands the fortress of Ceuta. |
| 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 |
"Poldunica" | Germany | Polednica, Poludnica, Lady Midday. A young girl, a beautiful maiden or a crone who appears at the hottest part of a summer's day. She carries a scythe and will stop people in the field to ask difficult questions and if the person fails to answer a question or is evasive,she will strike them with illness or cut off their head. Germany |
| Goddess name "Pomona" | Roman | Goddess of orchards and gardens. Consort of VERTUMNUS generally represented by garden implements and offered fruits and flowers.... |
| God name "Portunus" | Roman | God of påśśage. The deity responsible for guarding the entrance of the city and the house alike. He was celebrated in the Portunalia festival, held annually on August 17, when keys were thrown into a fire to bless them. He is also the guardian of the Tiber estuary, the main access by sea to the city of Rome.... |
| God name "Poxiom" | Mayan / Tzeltal Indian, Mesoamerican / Mexico | God of disease. Apparently perceived as a star in the sky or a ball of fire. He may also be depicted as a fertility god shelling maize or as a fisherman, doctor, musician or hunter. An image of the god was discovered in the Christian church in Oxchuc, and the Indians were forced to revoke and spit on the icon before it was publicly burnt.... |