| Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
|---|---|---|
| Deities name "Nanahuati (rumor)" | Aztec / Mesoamerican / Mexico | Creator god. In cosmogony, when on the fifth day of creation the gods sat in judgment to elect the new Sun god, Nanahuatl and TECCIZTECATL cremated themselves in the sacred fire. The heart of Nanahuatl ascended to become the new Sun and that of Tecciztecatl became the moon. Tradition suggests that Nanahuatl is diseased and impoverished but of great courage, while Tecciztecatl is wealthy and a coward. In an alternative tradition, in which Nanahuatl is the son of QUETZALCOATL and Tecciztecatl is the son of TLALOC, both deities are hurled into the fire by their fathers. NOTE: eventually all the gods sacrificed themselves so that mankind might be engendered from their remains. Also Nanahuatzin.... |
| Goddess name "Nortia" | Etruscan | Goddess of fate. She enjoyed an important sanctuary at Volsini, where her presence was symbolized by a large nail. In a New Year rite, the nail was hammered into a block of wood, probably derived from an old fertility ritual symbolizing the impregnation of life into the new year. She has been identified with the Greek goddess TYCHE.... |
| God name "Nun" | Egypt | The name by which ancient Egyptians called both the mysterious underworld from where life was renewed and the primordeal god residing there. |
| God name "O-lwa-Dai-Myojin" | Shinto / Buddhist / Japan | God of stoneworkers. Probably more a Buddhist deity, but also revered in Shintoism.... |
| God name "Olokun" | Fon / Yoruba / Benin / Nigeria, West Africa | God of fresh waters and oceans. The eldest son of the creator god OSANOBUA. He is symbolized in the sacred river Olokun, which runs almost the length of Benin and from the source of which come the souls of unborn children. A girl baby is given a shrine of the god which includes a pot of river water and which she takes with her to her new home when she marries. The god is particularly popular among women and has a cult of priestesses. Olokun is also a guardian deity of mariners.... |
| God name "Oshats" | Mexico | A sky god and the Sun. The Sia, Pueblo Indians. New Mexico |
| Goddess name "Osun" | Yoruba / Nigeria, West Africa | River goddess. The daughter of Oba Jumu and Oba Do and the consort of the god SHANGO. The guardian deity of the river Osun, revered particularly in the towns and villages along the banks of the river where sacred weapons are kept in her shrines. Also a goddess of healing. She is worshiped particularly by women and is honored in an annual festival, the Ibo-Osun, during which new cultic priestesses are selected.... |
| Goddess name "Pajau Yan" | Cambodian | Goddess of health and healing who was sent to live in the moon, where she provides flowers to the newly dead to ease their transition as they move into the underworld. Cambodian |
| Goddess name "Pakhet" | Egypt | Bast and Sekhmet were similar feline war gods, one for Upper Egypt and the other for Lower Egypt. Where the two groups met, at Beni Hasan, the similarity of the goddesses lead to a new merged form known as Pakhet. |
| 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 |
| 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.... |
| Goddess name "Pi Hsia Yuan Chin" | China | Goddess of birth and midwives who brings health and good fortune to the newborn baby. China |
| Goddess name "Pinga" | Inuit | A goddess of the hunt, fertility and Medicine. She was also the psychopomp, bringing souls of the newly-dead to Adlivun, the underworld. Inuit |
| God name "Rangi" | Maori / New Zealand | A god of the sky |
| Goddess name "Ratri" | Hindu / Vedic | Goddess of the night. Ratri is the personification of darkness bedecked with stars. Her sister is USAS, the dawn goddess, who, with Agni the fire god, chases her away. She is perceived as the guardian of eternal law and order in the cosmos and of the waves of time. Ratri is generally regarded as a benign deity who offers rest and renewed vigor, and who may be invoked to ensure safety through the hours of darkness. She deposits the gift of morning dew. However she also offers a bleaker aspect as one who brings gloom and barrenness.... |
| 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 "Rongomatane" | Polynesian / including Maori | God of Agriculture. He is the father of cultivated food and the special gardener of the kumara or sweet potato which is a vital crop in Polynesia. In New Zealand the first sweet potatoes are offered to Rongomatane. In the traditions of the Hervey Islands, Rongo is one of the five sons of the moon god, Vatea, and the mother goddess, Papa.... |
| Goddess name "Rozanica" | Slavic | Glistening goddess who predicts the fate of the new-born. Slavic |
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