1
2 |
Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
---|---|---|
Supreme god name "Ai Apaec" | Mochica Indian / pre - Columbian South America / northern coast of Peru | Supreme god. Probably originated as a jaguar god but came to rule the destinies of the world. He was thought to live like ordinary people and could reveal himself as man or god at will. He is depicted in anthropomorphic form, but with huge fangs and a cat-like wrinkled face with whiskers coming from his nose. He received sacrificial victims hurled from the top of a high cliff.... |
Spirit name "Apacita" | Inca / pre - Columbian South America / Peru, etc | Guardian spirit. The apotheosis of a pile of stones marking the top of a påśś or some other critical point on a route invoked by travelers with small offerings to strengthen them on their journey.... |
God name "Apo (lord)" | Inca / pre Columbian South America / Peru, etc | mountain god. The apotheosis of an Andean mountain, all mountains being sacred to the South American Indians.... |
Goddess name "Axo-Mama" | South American Indian / Peru | Goddess of potato crops. A model of this minor deity was made out of parts of the plant as a harvest fetish and kept for a year before being burned in a ritual to ensure a good potato harvest.... |
Deities name "Bacabs" | Mayan / Mesoamerican / Mexico | Attendant gods. Four deities identified with points of the compåśś and colors, thus Hobnil (red) resides in the east, Can Tzicnal (white) in the north, Zac Cimi (black) in the west and Hozanek (yellow) in the south. They are also identified as the Toliloch (opossum actors) in the Codex Dresden, where each carries the image of the ruling god for the incoming year on his back. Hobnil is also a patron deity of beekeepers.... |
Goddess name "COATLICUE (the serpent-skirted goddess)" | Aztec / Mesoamerican / Mexico | Mother goddess. The creator goddess of the earth and mankind and the female aspect of OMETEOTL. One of the group clåśśed as the TETEOINNAN complex. She has 400 sons, the stars of the southern sky, and is the mother of the goddess COYOLXAUHQUI. Later, as a widow, she was impregnated by a ball of feathers as she was sweeping the serpent mountain of Coatepec near Tula. Her other children decapitated her as punishment for her dishonor, but she gave birth to the Sun god HUITZILOPOCHTLI who subsequently slew Coyolxauhqui and her brothers, thus banishing night for day. According to tradition Coatlicue feeds off human corpses. She is also recognized as the patron deity of florists.... |
Goddess name "Coca-Mama" | South American Indian / Peru | Goddess of the coca plant. Minor goddess who oversees the harvest of the coca crop. Models of the deity were made from the leaves of the plant and kept for a year before being burned in a ritual to ensure a good coca harvest.... |
Spirit name "Cururipur" | S American | spirit of the jungle that brings destruction to tortoise hunters. South American |
Goddess name "HUITZILPOCHTLI" | Aztec / Mesoamerican / Mexico | Blue hummingbird on left foot. Sun god, patron god of the Aztec nation. The tutelary god of the Aztecs who also regarded him as a war god. He is the southern (blue) aspect or emanation of the Sun god TEZCATLIPOCA, the so-called high-flying Sun, and the head of the group clåśśed as the Huitzilpochtli complex. He is regarded, in alternative tradition, as one of the four sons of Tezcatlipoca. His mother is the decapitated earth goddess COATLICUE, from whose womb he sprang fully armed. He slaughtered his sister (moon) and his 400 brothers (stars) in revenge for the death of his mother, signifying the triumph of Sunlight over darkness.... |
Spirit name "Huaca" | Inca / pre - Columbian South America / Peru, etc | spirit being. The apotheosis of a natural object such as a rock or a place of local importance such as a spring. It is uncertain whether the principle is one of animism (when a deity takes on different natural shapes at will) or anImatism (when an object is a supernatural being in its own right).... |
Spirit name "Huanacauri" | Inca / pre - Columbian South America / Peru, etc | Guardian spirit. The apotheosis of a special spindle-shaped stone sited near Cuzco which protected the Inca royal family and also featured strongly in the maturation rites of male Inca adolescents. Also Wanakawri.... |
God name "Imyapa" | Inca / pre - Columbian South America / Peru, etc | weather god. Also perceived as a thunder god, he became syncretized with Santiago, the patron saint of Spain. The Indians called Spanish firearms Ilyapa. Also Inti-Ilyapa; Coqi-Ilya; Illapa; Katoylla.... |
Goddess name "Inlti (sun)" | Inca / pre - Columbian South America / Peru, etc | Sun god. His consort is the moon goddess MAMA-KILYA. Inti was depicted as a trinity in the sanctuaries in Cuzco, possibly in deference to the Christian Trinity. The Temple of the Sun is reported to have housed images, in gold, of all the sky gods in the Inca pantheon on more or less equal terms, since the Sun is regarded as one of many great celestial powers. Inti may also have been depicted as a face on a gold disc. The socalled fields of the Sun supported the Inca priesthood. The three Sun deities are Apo-Inti (lord Sun), Cori-Inti (son Sun) and Inti-Wawqi (sun brother). The Sun god(s) is perceived as the progenitor of the Inca rulers at Cuzco through two childrena son Manco Capac and his sister / consort Mama Ocllo Huaco. The Quechua Indians of the central Andes call the same deity Inti Huayna Capac and perceive him as part of a trinity with the Christian god and Christ.... |
God name "Keyeme Taulipsang" | S America | God and lord of the animals South America |
Deities name "Kokopelli" | S America | A fertility deity, usually depicted as a humpbacked flute player (often with a huge phallus and antenna-like protrusions on his head), who has been venerated by many Native American cultures in the Southwestern United States. Like most fertility deities, Kokopelli presides over both childbirth and Agriculture. He is also a trickster god and represents the spirit of music. |
Goddess name "Mama Qoca (mother sea)" | Inca / pre - Columbian South America / Peru, etc | Goddess of the ocean. Originally a pre-Inca goddess of coastal regions who retained her influence under Inca rule. Invoked by all Indians who gain their livelihood from the sea. Today probably syncretized largely with the Christian Virgin Mary. Also Mama Cocha.... |
Goddess name "Mama-Kilya (mother moon)" | Inca / pre - Columbian South America / Peru, etc | moon goddess. The consort of the Sun god INTI, she is important in the calculation of time and regulating the Inca festival calendar. The Indians consider that an eclipse of the moon is a time of great danger, caused by a mountain lion or snake eating the moon, and perform a ritual making as much noise as possible to frighten the predator off.... |
Goddess name "Mictanteot" | S America | Goddess of the underworld. South America |
1
2 |