Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
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Goddess name "Pallas" | Greek | Surname of Athena. In Homer this name always appears united with the name Athena, but in later writers we also find Pallas alone instead of Athena. Plato derives the surname from "to brandish", in reference to the goddess brandishing the spear or aegis, whereas Apollodorus derives it from the giant Pallas, who was slain by Athena. But it is more probable that Pallas is the same word as virgin or maiden. Another female Pallas, described as a daughter of Triton, is mentioned under palladium. Greek |
Demon name "Pancanana" | Hindu / Puranic | demonic deity. Regarded as a form of the god SI IVA possessing five faces, each face having three eyes. Depicted with the naked body of an ascetic, wearing a necklace of snakes. Shrines symbolize the god with a stone, its top painted red and usually placed beneath a tree. Pancanana is worshiped extensively in Hindu villages throughout Bengal where women make invocations and anoint the stones, particularly when sickness strikes. There is a belief that children in the throes of epilepsy have been seized by the god.... |
"Panthera" | East | A hypothetical beast which lived in the East. Reynard affirmed that he had sent her majesty the queen a comb made of panthera bone, "more lustrous than the Rainbow, more odoriferous than any perfume, a charm against every ill, and a universal panacea." France |
Goddess name "Papatuanuku" | Polynesian / including Maori | Chthonic mother goddess. According to tradition she evolved spontaneously in the cosmic night personified by TE PO and became the apotheosis of papa, the earth. In other traditions she was engendered, with the sky god RANGINUI, by a primordial androgynous being, ATEA. Paptuanuku and Ranginui are regarded as the primal parents of the pantheon who, through a prolonged period of intercourse, produced at least ten major deities as their children. In Maori culture Papatuanuku, like all deities, is represented only by inconspicuous, slightly worked stones or pieces of wood and not by the large totems, which are depictions of ancestors.... |
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 |
Demon name "Parasurama (Rama-with-the-ax)" | Hindu / Epic / Puranic | Incarnation of the god VIS'NU. The sixth avatara of Vis'nu (see also RAMA) in which form he saved the world from an army of tyrannical warriors. According to legend, Rama, the son of a wise man, became a skilled bowman and in gratitude he went to the Himalaya where he stayed, devoting himself to SIVA. His consort is DHARANI. Though without his bow, Rama acted as a champion of the gods in a war against the demons and was rewarded with an ax. In another legend, Vis'nu took the form of Parasurama to rid the world of despotic rulers. This avatara appears in human form, with two arms and with an ax in the right hand. Other attributes: arrow, bow, knife, skin and sword. Also Parasuramavatara.... |
"Paris" | Greek | Also called Alexander, was the second son of Priam and Hecabe. Previous to his birth Hecabe dreamed that she had given birth to a firebrand, the flames of which spread over the whole city. This dream was interpreted to her by Aesacus, or according to others by Cåśśandra, by Apollo, or by a Sibyl, and was said to indicate that Hecabe should give birth to a son, who should bring about the ruin of his native city, and she was accordingly advised to expose the child. Greek |
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.... |
Goddess name "Parvati/ Sakti/ Ahladini-Sadini/ Sati/ Uma" | Hindu / Puranic / Epic / India | A goddess of the mountains |
Goddess name "Pasowee" | Tarot | The Goddess of Endurance. Tarot |
Spirit name "Paurnamasi" | Hindu | The mother of Sandipani Muni, the spiritual master of Krishna. Paurnamasi makes the arrangements for Radha and Krishna's pastimes. Hindu |
Spirit name "Pax" | Roman | spirit of peace. Became well-known as Pax Romana and Pax Augusta from the second century BC and was accorded a shrine on the Field of Mars. Depicted as a young woman bearing a cornucopia, an olive branch and a sheaf of corn.... |
"Pegasus" | Greek | The famous winged horse, whose origin is thus related. When Perseus struck off the head of Medusa, with whom Poseidon had had intercourse in the form of a horse or a bird, there sprang forth from her Chrysaor and the horse Pegasus. The latter obtained the name Pegasus because he was believed to have made his appearance near the sources of Oceåñuś. Greek |
"Pelops" | Greek | A grandson of Zeus, and son of Tantalus and Dione, the daughter of Atlas. He was thus a great-grandson of Cronos. Some writers call the mother of Pelops Euryanåśśa or Clytia. Greek |
Spirit name "Peri" | Arabia | Delicate, gentle, fairy-like beings of Eastern mythology, begotten by fallen spirits. They direct with a wand the pure in mind the way to heaven. These lovely creatures, according to the Koran, are under the sovereignty of Eblis; and Mahomet was sent for their conversion, as well as for that of man. |
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 |
"Ph?dria" | Lake | Handmaid of Acrasia the enchantress. She sails about Idle lake in a gondola. Seeing Sir Guyon she ferries him across the lake to the floating island, where Cymochles attacks him. Ph?dria interposes, the combatants desist, and the little wanton ferries the knight Temperance over the lake again. Fairy Tale |
"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 |