Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
---|---|---|
Goddess name "AVALOKITESVARA (merciful lord)" | Buddhist / India | Bodhisattva or buddhadesignate. One of the most important deities of the Mahayana sect of Buddhism. In Lamaism he is the tutelary god of Tibet. He equates with VIS NU in Hinduism and bears links with PADMAPANI. In cosmic mythology he is a creator deity. Color: white or red. Attributes: blue lotus, image of Amitabha (topmost pyramidal head), lotus, rosary, sword and water jar. NOTE: in Chinese Buddhism he is represented by the goddess Kuan-Tin, and in Japanese by KWANNON.... |
God name "Cao Guo-jiu" | Taoist / Chinese | Immortal being. One of the eight immortals of Taoist mythology, he was once a mortal being who achieved immortality through his lifestyle. The tutelary god of actors. Attributes include musical rattles or castanets.See also BA XIAN.... |
"Gui Xian" | China | The great Tortoise, one of the four Holy animals of Chinese mythology and a symbol of Longevity and Immortality. China |
"Han Xiang-zi" | Taoist / Chinese | Immortal being. One of the eight immortals of Taoist mythology. Once mortal beings, they achieved immortality through their lifestyle. Attributes include a basket of flowers and a flute.See also BA XIAN.... |
Goddess name "He Xian-gu" | Taoist / Chinese | Immortal being. One of the eight immortals of Taoist mythology, she was once a mortal being who achieved immortality through her lifestyle. The tutelary goddess of housewives and the only female deity among the group. Attributes include a ladle, lotus and peach fruit.... |
Goddess name "Izanagi-No-Kami (his augustness the one who invites)" | Shinto / Japan | Creator god. One of seventeen beings involved in creation. His consort is IZANAMI-NO-KAMI. They are strictly of Japanese origin with no Chinese or Buddhist influence. Jointly they are responsible to the other fifteen primordial deities to make, consolidate and give birth to this drifting land. The reference, in the Kojiki sacred text, is to the reed beds which were considered to float on the primal waters. The pair were granted a heavenly jeweled spear and they stood upon the floating bridge of heaven, stirring the waters with the spear. When the spear was pulled up, the brine which dripped from it created the island of Onogoro, the first dry land, believed to be the island of Nu-Shima on the southern coast of Awagi. According to mythology, the pair created two beings, a son HIRUKO and an island Ahaji. They generated the remaining fourteen islands which make up Japan and then set about creating the rest of the KAMI pantheon. Izanagi's most significant offspring include AMATERASU, the Sun goddess, born from his nose and SUSANOWO, the storm god, born from his left eye, who are the joint rulers of the universe. Also IzanagiNo-Mikoto.... |
Spirit name "Kun Lun" | Chinese | The Kunlun mountains are well known in Chinese mythology and are believed to be Taoist Paradise. The first to visit this Paradise was king Mu. He supposedly discovered there the Jade Palace of Huang-Di, the mythical Yellow Emperor and originator of Chinese culture, and met Hsi Wang Mu, the 'Spirit Mother of the West' usually called the 'Queen Mother of the West', who was the object of an ancient religious cult which reached its peak in the Han Dynasty, also had her mythical abode in these mountains. |
Deity name "Lan Cai-he" | Taoist / Chinese | Immortal being. One of the eight immortals of Taoist mythology, the deity is of ambiguous sex, sometimes depicted as a girl. Once a mortal being who achieved immortality through perfect lifestyle. Attributes include flowers and a flute. See also BA XIAN.... |
"Li Tie-guai" | Taoist / Chinese | Immortal being. One of the eight immortals of Taoist mythology, he was once a mortal being who achieved immortality through his lifestyle. Attributes include a bat, a gourd and an iron crutch.See also BA XIAN.... |
Demon name "Lu Dong-bin" | Taoist / Chinese | Immortal being. One of the eight immortals of Taoist mythology, he was once a mortal being who achieved immortality through his lifestyle. The tutelary god of barbers. Attributes include a sword with which he conquers demons.See also BA XIAN.... |
Deity name "Nezha" | Chinese | Nataku or Nata, a deity, the enfant terrible trickster, originally of Chinese mythology. His official Taoist deity name is Zhongtan Yuanshuai. |
"Shang Kbo-SLao" | Taoist / Chinese | Immortal being. One of the eight immortals of Taoist mythology, tradition has it that he was embodied as a bat which achieved immortality in human form. His sacred animal is an åśś. Attributes include drum and drumsticks.See also BA XIAN.... |
"Shong Li-Kuan" | Taoist / Chinese | Immortal being. One of the eight immortals of Taoist mythology, he was once a mortal being who achieved immortality through his lifestyle. Attributes include a fan which he waves over the dead to revive them.See also BA XIAN.... |
Planet name "T'ai Yi" | Chinese | Primordial god. The spirit of the universe who was present before the cosmos was created and who is known as the great unity. During the Sung Dynasty (AD 960-1279) he was elevated to the head of the ranks of astral gods and he is embodied in the Pole Star, otherwise identified in Chinese mythology as the Purple Planet.... |
God name "Zhang Guo-lao" | Taoist / Chinese | God. One of the eight immortals of Taoist mythology. Once mortal beings, they achieved immortality through their lifestyle. According to tradition, Zhang Guo-lao was a bat before he took human form. Attributes include a bamboo drum and sticks and his attendant animal is an åśś.See also BA XIAN.... |
God name "Zhong-li Quan" | Taoist / Chinese | God. One of the eight immortals of Taoist mythology. Once mortal beings, they achieved immortality through their lifestyle. Attributes include a fan.See also BA XIAN.... |