| Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
|---|---|---|
| King name "Andraemon" | Greek | The husband of Gorge, the daughter of the Calydonian king Oeneus, and father of Thoas. When Diomedes delivered Oeneus, who had been imprisoned by the sons of Agrius, he gave the kingdom to Andraemon, since Oeneus was already too old. |
| God name "Anm (1)" | Mesopotamian / BabylonianAkkadian | Creator god. Consort of ANTU(m). Derived from the older Sumerian god AN. Anu features strongly in the akitu festival in Babylon, Uruk and other cities until the Hellenic period and possibly as late as 200 BC. Some of his later pre-eminence may be attributable to identification with the Greek god of heaven, ZEUS, and with OURANOS.... |
| Deity name "Ans ar" | Mesopotamian / BabylonianAkkadian | Primordial deity. Mentioned in the Babylonian creation epic Enuma Elis' as one of a pair of offspring (with KIS'AR) of LAHMU and LAHAMU, and who in turn created ANU. Ans'ar is linked with heaven while Kis'ar is identified with earth.... |
| Goddess name "Anunit aka Anunitu" | Chaldea | The Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the cognate northwest Semitic goddess Astarte. Anunit, Astarte and Atarsamain are alternative names for Ishtar. Chaldea |
| Goddess name "Anunitu" | Mesopotamian / BabylonianAkkadian | Mother goddess. See also ANTU.... |
| Goddess name "Anunnaki" | Mesopotamian / Sumerian / Babylonian - Akkadian | Children and courtiers of the god of heaven. Known from at least 2500 BC until circa 200BC (in Babylon). The Anunnaki originate as chthonic fertility deities but later feature as the seven fearsome judges of the underworld who answer to Kur and ERES KIGAL and who are responsible for påśśing sentences of death including that placed on the goddess INANA. They are often closely identified with the IGIGI.... |
| Hero name "Aon" | Greek | A son of Poseidon, and an ancient Boeotian hero, from whom the Boeotian Aonians and the country of Boeotia (for Boeotia was anciently called Aonia) were believed to have derived their names. |
"Aonian" | Greek | Poetical, pertaining to the Muses. The Muses, according to Grecian mythology, dwelt in Aonia, that part of Boetia which contains Mount Helicon and the Muses' Fountain. Greek |
| God name "Apam Napat" | Hindu / Persia / Vedic | Child of the waters. One of the Ahuras in Old Iranian religion, a beneficent god who is the giver of water to man. Hindu / Persia / Vedic |
| King name "Aphareus" | Greek | A son of the Messenian king Perieres and Gorgophone, the daughter of Perseus. (Apollodorus i) His wife is called by Apollodorus (Apollodorus iii) Arene, and by others Polydora or Laocoossa. (Argonautica) Aphareus had three sons, Lynceus, Idas, and Peisus. |
| God name "Apsu" | Mesopotamian / Babylonian - Akkadian | God of underground primeval waters. Derived from the Sumerian ABZU. In the Babylonian creation epic Enuma Elis Apsu is killed, while sleeping, by ENKI, who establishes his own abode above the deeps. Apsu's death triggered the cosmic challenge between the forces of MARDUK and TIAMAT.... |
| God name "Arab" | Pre - Christian Georgian | Local god of Agriculture. Probably derived from the Armenian god ARAY.... |
| God name "Aray" | Pre - Christian Armenian | war god. Probably derived locally from the Greek ARES. Some traditions suggests that he was also a dying-andrising god.... |
| Spirit name "Ardat lili" | Babylonian | Maids of the night. evil spirits who plied their trade at night. Babylonian |
| God name "Ares Lusitani" | Lusitanian | The God of horses. Lusitanian |
"Ariadne" | Greek | A daughter of Minos and Pasiphae or Greta. (Apollodorus iii). When Theseus was sent by his father to convey the tribute of the Athenians to Minotaurus, Ariadne fell in love with him, and gave him the string by means of which he found his way out of the Labyrinth, and which she herself had received from Hephaestus. |
"Aristaeus" | Greece | An ancient divinity worshipped in various parts of Greece, as in Thessaly, Ceos, and Boeotia, but especially in the islands of the Aegean, Ionian, and Adriatic seas, which had once been inhabited by Pelasgians. He is described either as a son of Uråñuś and Ge, or according to a more general tradition, as the son of Apollo by Cyrene, the grand-daughter of Peneius. |
| Goddess name "Aruru" | Mesopotamian / Sumerian / Babylonian - Akkadian | Mother goddess. See also NINHURSAG A.... |
Table of Gods
Your guide to the World gods, spirits,
demons and legendary monsters
The Legend of Nian Monster
Chinese people held the first New Year Festival more than 3,000 years ago. Farmers gave thanks for the harvest and prayed. They asked the gods for good crops in the coming year.
But there is a story behind all the celebration, below is the legend of how the Chinese New Year celebration began.
Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a monster called "Nian" ("year") that would come out to eat people and animals on the eve of every New Year. To avoid the monster's attack, people would flee to the depth of the mountains and call this day "Nian Guan" (meaning "the Pass of Nian"). On one New Year's Eve, there came an old beggar in Peach Blossom Village, where an old lady gave him some food and asked him to hide himself in the mountain to avoid the monster Nian. The old man promised that he could drive the monster away as long as he was put up for the night at the old lady's home. Being unable to persuade the old man into hiding in the mountain, the old lady went alone. In the middle of the night, the monster Nian dashed into the village. He trembled and cried when he saw the red paper on the door of the old lady's house, which was brightly lit. Just as the monster reached the entrance, there came blasting sounds that prevented him from moving any further. At that time, the old man, wearing a red robe, opened the door and the monster was scared away.
The following year, the villagers were ready for it. They set off firecrackers, lit all their lamps and decorated their houses in red, they paste red paper on the doors, wear red clothing, hang up red lanterns. They made loud music, play the gong and drums and they dance and burn the fireworks whenever Nian was about to arrive, to scared away the beast.This is how these customs came into being.
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