Deity Magick

Though out history, mankind has worshipped the Gods. from God (big G) of the Holy Bible of the Christian Church to Buku, the sky god of various west African Tribes. we have compiled a comprehesive list and additional information about these powerful Deities and their origins.

This list is far from complete. It lists a little about each Deity. A lot of research is being done, and once each one is completed, they will be posted with all their information under either the God or Goddess page.

 

THE TRIPPLE GODDESS: Used in Wicca and Pagan practices

ANANASI (Various tribes) The spider. A trickster. A creator god. Something of a scoundrel, but quite well liked. Many amusing and fanciful stories are told of him.

ANYIEWO (Ewe) The Great Serpent who comes out to graze after the rain. The rainbow is his reflection.

BUKU (Various West African peoples) A sky god sometimes worshipped as a goddess. Buku created everything, even the other gods.

DANH also DAN AYIDO HWEDO (Dahomey) Snake god. The Haitians know him as Dan Petro. The Rainbow Snake who encircles the world, Danh is often protrayed with his tail in his mouth as a symbol of unity and wholeness.

DXUI (Bushman; to the Hottentots, TSUI; to the Xhosa and Ponda, THIXO) A creator god. In the beginning, Dxui took the form of a different flower or plant every day, becoming himself at night, until he had created all the plants and flowers that exist.

ESHU (Yoruba) A trickster. A shape-shifter, Eshu can change his form at will, and can even seem to be both huge and small at the same time. Eshu confuses men and drives them to madness. But Eshu also knows all human tongues and acts as a go-between for mortals and the gods.

GUNAB (Hottentot) The enemy of Tsui-Goab, Gunab lived under a pile of stones. Gunab kept overpowering Tsui-Goab, but the god grew stronger after each battle. Because he killed so many, Gunab is sometimes identified with death. Creator of the rainbow.

GUA (Ga tribe of West Africa) God of thunder, blacksmiths and farmers. Gua's temples are often found at blacksmith's forges.

KIBUKA (Baganda) A war god sent to save the Baganda people. The king of the Baganda asked heaven for assistance in war, and Kibuka was sent to aid them. Warned not to have anything to do with the enemy's women, Kibuka neverthelessm made love to a woman prisoner. Unwisely, Kibuka confided in her, and after escaping she told the enemy how Kibuka could be killed, by firing arrows into the cloud where he was hiding. Kibuka flew off to a tall tree to die, and a temple was built at the place where his body was found.

LEZA (Central Africa) "The One Who Besets." Known to a number of peoples, Leza is the Supreme God who rules the sky and send wind and rain. Leza sits on the backs of all people, and no one ever breaks free of him. Leza is said to be growing old and so does not hear prayers as well as he once did.

MAWU-LISA (Ewe) The great god and goddess of the sun and moon. Lisa is the sun and Mawu is the moon.

MULUNGU (East Africa) God, the Supreme Being.

The concept of a supreme being and creator is nearly universal in Africa, although there are few temples to him. The titles which Africans have given God are wondrous in their variety. A few of these are: Creator, Moulder, Giver of Rain and Sunshine, he Who Brings the Seasons, He Who Thunders, Ancient of Days, the First, the Limitless, the One Who Bends Even Kings, the One You Meeet Everywhere, the Firelighter, Great Mother, Greatest of Friends, the Kindly One, the Providence Who Watches All Like the Sun, the Great Pool Contemporary of Everything, the Great Spider, the One Beyond All Thanks, the Bow in the Sky, the Angry One, the Inexplicable.

NANAN-BOUCLOU (Ewe) The original god of the Ewe tribe, both male and female, Nanan-Bouclou is much too remote for worship. In Haiti Nanan-Bouclou is remembered as the god of herbs and medicines.

'NGAI (Masai) Creator god. At birth, 'Ngai gives each man a guardian spirit to ward off danger and carry him away at the moment of death. The evil are carried off to a desert, while the good go to a land of rich pastures and many cattle.

NYAME (Ashanti) Supreme God of Heaven, both the sun god and the moon goddess. Nyame created the three realms, the sky, the earth and the underworld. Before being born, souls are taken to Nyame and washed in a golden bath, Nyame gives the soul its destiny and places some of the water of life in the soul's mouth. The soul is then fit to be born.

NYASAYE (Maragoli, Kenya) Cheif god of the Maragoli. Spirits aid Maragoli's work, and they are represented by round stones circling a pole which represents the god.

NZAME (Fan people of the Congo) A vague and shadowy god whose likeness can't be captured in wood, stone or metal. Nzame lived on earth with his three sons, Whiteman, Blackman and Gorilla. Blackman, Gorilla and all their kinfolk sinned against Nzame, and so Nzame took all his wealth and went to live with his son Whiteman in the west. Gorilla and his kin went to live in the jungle. Without he wealth, power and knowledge of Nzame, Blackman and his kin live a hard life of poverty and ignorance, ever dreaming of the western land where dwells Nzame and his favored son, Whiteman.

SAGBATA (Dahomey; to the Yoruba, SHAGPONA) God of smallpox. Sagbata's shrines were painted with a design of small spots. Sagbata's priests fought small pox with both prayers and medical knowledge, and wielded great power over the people because they had learned how to use dried scabs both to immunize themselves against the disease and to spread it. Smallpox was considered a great disgrace and its victims were ostracized.

TANO (Ashanti) The second oldest son of God, and god of the river of the same name. The gods of the other rivers and families in the same region are all his family. Long ago Tano lost a singing match with Death. Tano and Death sang defiance to each other for over a month, but neither could win so they had to compromise. When someone is injured or falls ill, whichever god arrives first will claim him. If Tano arrives first, the person will live, but if Death arrives first the patient is lost.

TSUI' GOAB (Hottentots) "Wounded Knee," "Father of Our Fathers." A rain god who lives in the clouds, a great chief and magician. Tsui' Goab made the first man and woman from rocks. Several times Tsui' Goab died and rose again, to great joy and feasting. Men invoke Tsui' Goab with the first rays of dawn and give oaths in his name.

UNKULUNKULU (Zulu) "Old, Old One." Unkulunkulu was both the first man and the creator, a god of the earth who had no traffic with the heavens. Unkulunkulu showed men how to live together and gave them knowledge of the world in which they lived.

YO (Dahomey) A trickster, neither god nor human. Yo's greed constantly gets him in trouble. Mawu created him for no good reason. Yo is everywhere. You can't kill him, you can't eat him, you can't get rid of him at all. Yo is the only one of his kind. One is enough.

CHALCHIHUITLCUE Lady Precious Green, wife of Tlaloc. Goddess of storms and water. Personification of youthful beauty, vitality and violence. In some illustrations she is shown holding the head of Tlazolteotl, the goddess of the witches, between her legs. Chalchihuitlcue is the whirlpool, the wind on the waters, all young and growing things, the beginning of life and creation.

COATLICUE Earth monster. In the darkness and chaos before the Creation, the female Earth Monster swam in the waters of the earth devouring all that she saw. Wehn the gods Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca decided to impose form upon the Earth, they changed themselves into serpents and struggled with the Earth Monster until they broke her in two. Coatlicue's lower part then rose to form the heavens and her upper part descended to form the earth. Coatlicue has an endless, ravenous appetite for human hearts and will not bear fruit unless given human blood.

CINTEOTL The corn god, the giver of food, god of fertility and regeneration. Cinteotl is protected by the rain gods Tlaloc and Chalchihuitlcue.

EUEUCOYOTL The Old, Old Coyote. Associated with gaiety and sex. A god of spontaneity, of ostentatious ornament, of unexpected pleasure and sorrow. A trickster and troublemaker. Considered unlucky.

HUITZILOPOCHTLI God of war, son of Coatlicue. Principal god of the Aztecs. When Coatlicue became pregnant with Huitzilopochtli, her daughter Coyolxauhqui incited her brothers, the Centzon Huitznahua (the Four Hundred Stars) to destroy Coatlicue, because her pregnancy brought disgrace on the family. Still in the womb, Huitzilopochtli swore to defend his mother and immediately on being born put on battle armor and war paint. After defeating the Four Hundred Stars, Huitzilopochtli slew his sister and cast her down the hill at Templo Mayor where her body broke to pieces on striking the bottom. Priests at Templo Mayor killed prisoners in the same way, these sacrifices being replicas of mythical events designed to keep the daily battle between day and night and the birth of the God of War ever in the minds of the people. Often considered synonomous with QUETZALCOATL.

ITZCOLIUHQUI The Twisted Obsidian One, the God of the Curved Obsidian Blade. God of darkness and destruction. Blinded and cast down from the heavens, Itzcoliuhqui strikes out randomly at his victims.

ITZPAPALOTL Obsidian Butterfly. Beautiful, demonic, armed with the claws of a jaguar. The female counterpart of Itzcoliuhqui.

MICTLAN Below the world of living men there are nine underworlds, the lowest of which is Mictlan, the Land of the Dead ruled by Mictlantechupi and his consort Mictlancihuntl. Souls who win no merit in life come here after death, but they do not suffer as in the Christian hell. Instead they merely endure a rather drab and colorless existence before passing again into the world of the living. As a man disappears into the West, the direction of the dead, the seeds of his rebirth are sown.

OMETEOTL "God of the Near and Close," "He Who Is at the Center," the god above all, the being both male and female who created all life and existence. Ometeotl is dualistic, embodying both male and female, light and dark, positive and negative, yes and no. Ometoetol occupies Omeyocan, the highest of the Aztecs' thirteen heavens, and the four heavens immediately below Omeyocan are a mystery about which no one knows very much. Below the five highest heavens is a region of strife and tempest, where Ometeotl breaks into his many facets or aspects.

QUETZALCOATL The Feathered Serpent. The Precious Twin who lifts the sun out of darkness, god of the winds and the breath of life, First Lord of the Toltecs. Lawgiver, civilizer, creator of the calender. Demons tempted Quetzalcoatl constantly to commit murder and human sacrifice, but his love was too great for him to succumb. To atone for great sins, Quetzcoatl threw himself on into a funeral pyre, where his ashes rose to the heavens as a flock of birds carrying his heart to the star Venus. A frieze in the palace at Teotihuacan shows his first entry into the world in the shape of a chrysalis, from which he struggles to emerge as a butterfly, the symbol of perfection. Quetzalcoatl is by far the most compassionate of the Azec gods -- he only demands one human sacrifice a year. Often considered synonomous with HUITZILOPOTCHLI.

TEZCATLIPOCA The Prince of This World, the Mirror that Smokes, the One Always at the Shoulder, the Shadow. A trickster, revered particularly by soldiers and magicians. The name refers to the black obsidian mirrors used by magicians which become cloudy when scrying. A god of wealth and power, Tezcatlopoca's favors can only be won by those willing to face his terrors. Ruler over the early years of a man's life.

TLALOC Lord of all sources of water, clouds, rain, lightening, mountain springs, and weather.

TLALOCAN Kingdom of Tlaloc, a heaven of sensual delights, of rainbows, butterflies and flowers, of simple-minded and shallow pleasures. Souls spend only four years here before returning to the land of the living. Unless it strives for higher and nobler things while living, a soul is destined for this endless round of mortal life and Tlalocan. When a life had been particularly evil, a soul might journey instead to Mictlan.

TLILLAN-TLAPALLAN The land of the fleshless. The Land of the Black and Red, the colors signifying wisdom. A paradise for those who successfully follow the teachings of Quetzalcoatl. Those souls who come to Tlillan-Tlapallan have learned to live without fleshly bodies, a state greatly to be desired.

TLAZOLTEOTL Eater of filth, devourer of sins, goddess of witches and witchcraft. Tlazolteotl has power over all forms of unclean behavior, usually sexual. Confessing sins to Tlazolteotl, one is cleansed. The goddess has four forms or aspects, corresponding to the phases of the moon: a young and carefree temptress, the lover of Quetzalcoatl; the Goddess of gambling and uncertainty; the Great Priestess who consumes and destroys the sins of mankind; and frightful old crone, persecutor and destroyer of youth.

TONATIUH God of the Sun. Poor and ill, Tonatiuh cast himself into the flames, and being burnt up, was resurrected. Daily Tonatiuh repeats his passage across the heavens, down into darkness, and back again into the sky. With him Tonatiuh carries all brave warriors who have died in battle and all brave women who have died in childbirth. The greatest heroes Tonatiuh carries with him to the greatest heights. In Tonatiuhican, the House of the Sun, dwell those who have won even greater enlightenment than those who dwell in Tlillan-Tlapallan.

XIPE TOTEC Lord of the Spring, god of newly planted seed and of pentitential torture. A pockmarked saviour who tears out his eyes and flays himself in penance to the gods, thus persuading the gods to give maize to men. Giving up his pockmarked skin, Xipe Totec is then clad in robes of gold.

XIUHTECUHTLI Lord of fire, Lord of the Pole Star, pivot of the universe, one of the forms of the Supreme Deity. The lord of every flame, from those which burn in the temples to those which burn in the lowliest huts.

XOLOTL The god with backward feet who brought Man as well as Fire from the underworlds. Bringer of misfortune. The evil aspect of the star Venus. Quetzalcoatl's deformed twin.

ANGUS OF THE BRUGH Also OENGUS OF THE BRUIG God of youth, son of the Dagda. In Ireland, Angus is the counterpart of Cupid. Angus' kisses turn into singing birds, and the music he plays irresistably draws all who hear.

ARIANRHOD "Silver Wheel," "High Fruitful Mother." One of the Three Virgins of Britain, her palace is Caer Arianrhod, the Celtic name for the Aurora Borealis.

BADB A goddess of war. One of a triad of war goddesses known collectively as the Morrigan. Bird shaped and crimson mouthed, Badb uses her magic to decide battles. Badb lusts after men and is often seen at fords washing the armor and weapons of men about to die in combat.

BRIGHID also BRIGIT. Goddess of healing and craftsmanship, especially metalwork. Also a patron of learning and poetry. In Wales she is Caridwen, who possesses the cauldron of knowledge and inspiration. The Celts so loved Brighid that they could not abandon her even when they became Christians, and so made Brighid a Christian saint.

CARIDWEN also HEN WEN; in Wales, BRIGHID "White Grain," "Old White One." Corn goddess. Mother of Taliesen, greatest and wisest of all the bards, and therefore a patron of poets. The "white goddess" of Robert Graves. Caridwen lives among the stars in the land of Caer Sidi. Caridwen is connected with wolves, and some claim her cult dates to the neolithic era.

CERNUNNOS Horned god of virility. Cernunnos wears the torc (neck-ring) and is ever in the company of a ram-headed serpent and a stag. Extremely popular among the Celts, the Druids encouraged the worship of Cernunnos, attempting to replace the plethora of local deities and spirits with a national religion. The Celts were so enamored of Cernunnos that his cult was a serious obstacle to the spread of Christianity.

DAGDA Earth and father god. Dagda possesses a bottomless cauldron of plenty and rules the seasons with the music of his harp. With his mighty club Dagda can slay nine men with a single blow, and with its small end he can bring them back to life. On the day of the New Year, Dagda mates with the raven goddess of the Morrigan who while making love straddles a river with one foot on each bank. A slightly comical figure.

DANU Mother goddess, an aspect of the Great Mother. Another of a triad of war goddesses known collectively as the Morrigan. Connected with the moon goddess Aine of Knockaine, who protects crops and cattle. Most importantly, the mother of the Tuatha de' Danann, the tribe of the gods.

DIAN CECHT A healer. At the second battle of Moytura, Dian Cecht murdered his own son whose skill in healing endangered his father's reputation. The Judgments of Dian Cecht, an ancient Irish legal tract, lays down the obligations to the ill and injured. An agressor must pay for curing anyone he has injured, and the severity of any wound, even the smallest, is measured in grains of corn.

DIS PATER Originally a god of death and the underworld, later the cheif god of the Gauls. The Gauls believed, as their Druids taught, that Dis Pater is the ancestor of all the Gauls.

DONN Irish counterpart to Dis Pater. Donn sends storms and wrecks ships, but he protects crops and cattle as well. Donn's descendents come to his island after death.

EPONA Horse goddess. Usually portrayed as riding a mare, sometimes with a foal. Roman legionaires, deeply impressed with Celtic horsemanship, took up the worship of Epona themselves and eventually imported her cult to Rome itself.

ETAIN A Celtic moon godess from Ireland, her name literally means "shinning one." She is a symbol of fertility and the vitality & life of growing things. Etain reminds us that we can shine no matter the circumstances surrounding us.

ESUS A god of the Gauls "whose shrines make men shudder," according to a Roman poet. Human sacrifices to Esus were hanged and run through with a sword. For unknown reasons, Esus is usually portrayed as a woodcutter.

GOVANNON The smith god. The weapons Govannon makes are unfailing in their aim and deadliness, the armor unfailing in its protection. Also a healer. Those who attend the feast of Govannon and drink of the god's sacred cup need no longer fear old age and infirmity.

LUG also LUGH, LLEU A sun god and a hero god, young, strong, radiant with hair of gold, master of all arts, skills and crafts. One day Lug arrived at the court of the Dagda and demanded to be admitted to the company of the gods. The gatekeeper asked him what he could do. For every skill or art Lug named, the gatekeeper replied that there was already one among the company who had mastered it. Lug at last pointed out that they had no one who had mastered them all, and so gained a place among the deities, eventually leading them to victory in the second battle of Moytura against the Formorian invaders. (The Formorians were a race of monsters who challenged the gods for supremacy in the first and second battles of Moytura.) The Romans identified Lug with Mercury. The most popular and widely worshipped of the Celtic gods, Lug's name in its various forms was taken by the cities of Lyons, Loudun, Laon, Leon, Lieden, Leignitz, Carlisle and Vienna.

MACHA "Crow." The third of the triad of war goddesses known as the Morrigan, Macha feeds on the heads of slain enemies. Macha often dominates her male lovers through cunning or simple brute strength.

MEDB "Drunk Woman." A goddess of war, not one of the Morrigan. Where the Morrigan use magic, Medb wields a weapon herself. The sight of Medb blinds enemies, and she runs faster than the fastest horse. A bawdy girl, Medb needs thirty men a day to satisfy her sexual appetite.

MORRIGAN , THE also MORRIGU MORRIGAN A war goddess, forerunner of the Arthurian Morgan La Fey. Like Odin, fickle and unfaithful, not to be trusted. A hag with a demonic laugh, the Morrigan appears as a grotesque apparition to men about to die in battle. Her name is also used for a triad of war goddesses, who are often thought of as different aspects of the Morrigan.

NEMAIN "Panic." A war goddess.

NUADHU also NUD, NODENS, LUD. "Nuadhu of the silver arm." God of healing and water; his name suggests "wealth-bringer" and "cloud-maker." At the first battle of Moytura, Nuadhu lost an arm, and Dian Cecht replaced it with a new one made out of silver. Because of this, Nuadhu was obliged to turn leadership of the Tuatha de' Dannan over to Lug. People came to be healed at Nuadhu's temple at Lydney, and small votive limbs made of silver have been found there.

OGMIOS also OGMA "Sun Face." A hero god like Hercules, a god of eloquence, language, genius. Generally portrayed as an old man dressed in a lion skin. From his tongue hang fine gold chains attached to the ears of his eager followers.

SUCELLUS Guardian of forests, patron of agriculture. His consort is Nantosvelta, whose name suggests brooks and streams. Sometimes considered synonomous with Cernunnos or Daghda.

TUATHA DE' DANANN The divine tribes and people descended from the goddess Danu. Skilled in druidry and magic, the Tuatha de' Danann possess four talismans of great power: the stone of Fal which shrieked under the true heir to the throne; the spear of Lug which made victory certain; the sword of Nuadhu which slays all enemies; and the ever full cauldron of Daghda from which no man ever goes away hungry.

CHINA / EGYPT / GREECE

AO The Four Dragon Kings Ao Chi'in, Ao Kuang, Ao Jun, and Ao Shun, gods of rain and the sea. Subjects of the Jade Emperor.

CH'ENG-HUANG God of moats and walls. Every village and town had its own Ch'eng-Huang, most often a local dignitary or important person who had died and been promoted to godhood. His divine status was revealed in dreams, though the gods made the actual decision. Ch'eng-Huang not only protects the community from attack but sees to it that the King of the Dead does not take any soul from his jurisdiction without proper authority. Ch'eng-Huang also exposes evil-doers in the community itself, usually through dreams. His assistants are Mr. Ba Lao-ye and Mr. Hei Lao-ye -- Mr. Daywatchman and Mr. Nightwatchman.

CHU JUNG God of fire. Chu Jung punishes those who break the laws of heaven.

KUAN TI God of war. The Great Judge who protects the people from injustice and evil spirits. A red faced god dressed always in green. An oracle. Kuan Ti was an actual historical figure, a general of the Han dynasty renowned for his skill as a warrior and his justness as a ruler. There were more than 1600 temples dedicated to Kuan Ti.

KWAN YIN also KWANNON Goddess of mercy and compassion. A lady dressed in white seated on a lotus and holding an infant. Murdered by her father, she recited the holy books when she arrived in Hell, and the ruler of the underworld could not make the dead souls suffer. The disgruntled god sent her back to the world of the living, where Kwan Yin attained great spiritual insight and was rewarded with immortality by the Buddha. A popular goddess, Kwan Yin's temple at the Mount of the Wondrous Peak was ever filled with a throng of pilgrims shaking rattles and setting off firecrackers to get her attention.

LEI KUNG God of thunder. Lei Kung has the head of a bird, wings, claws and blue skin, and his chariot is drawn by six boys. Lei Kung makes thunder with his hammer, and his wife makes lightening with her mirrors. Lei Kung chases away evil spirits and punishes criminals whose crimes have gone undetected.

PA HSIEN The Eight Immortals of the Taoist tradition. Ordinary mortals who, through good works and good lives, were rewarded by the Queen Mother Wang by giving them the peaches of everlasting life to eat. They are:

LI TIEH-KUAI Li of the Iron Crutch. A healer, Li sits as a beggar in the market place selling wondrous drugs, some of which can revive the dead.

CHUNG-LI CH'UAN A smiling old men always beaming with joy, he was rewarded with immortality for his ascetic life in the mountains.

LAN TS'AI-HO A young flute-player and wandering minstrel who carries a basket laden with fruit. His soul-searching songs caused a stork to snatch him away to the heavens.

LU TUNG-PIN A hero of early Chinese literature. Renouncing riches and the world, he punished the wicked and rewarded the good, and slew dragons with a magic sword.

CHANG-KUO LAO An aged hermit with miraculous abilities. Chang owned a donkey which could travel at incredible speed. The personification of the primordial vapor which is the source of all life.

HAN HSIANG-TZU A scholar who chose to study magic rather than prepare for the civil service. When his uncle chastised him for studying magic, Han Hsiang-Tzu materialized two flowers with poems written on the leaves.

TS'AO KUO-CHIU Ts'ao Kuo-Chiu tried to reform his brother, a corrupt emperor, by reminding him that the laws of heaven are inescapable.

HO HSIEN-KU "Immortal Maiden Ho." A Cantonese girl who dreamed that she could become immortal by eating a powder made of mother-of-pearl. She appears only to men of great virtue.

P'AN-CHIN-LIEN Goddess of prostitutes. As a mortal, she was a widow who was much too liberal and inventive with her favors, and her father-in-law killed her. In death she was honored by her more professional associates and eventually became the goddess of whores.

SHI-TIEN YEN-WANG The Lords of Death, the ten rulers of the underworld. They dress alike in royal robes and only the wisest can tell them apart. Each ruler presides over one court of law. In the first court a soul is judged according to his sins in life and sentenced to one of the eight courts of punishment. Punishment is fitted to the offense. Misers are made to drink molten gold, liars' tongues are cut out. In the second court are incompetent doctors and dishonest agents; in the third, forgers, liars, gossips, and corrupt government officials; in the fifth, murderers, sex offenders and atheists; in the sixth, the sacreligious and blasphemers; in the eighth, those guilty of filial disrespect; in the ninth, arsonists and accident victims. In the tenth is the Wheel of Transmigration where souls are released to be reincarnated again after their punishment is completed. Before souls are released, they are given a brew of oblivion, which makes them forget their former lives.

TI-TSANG WANG God of mercy. Wandering in the caverns of Hell, a lost soul might encounter a smilng monk whose path is illuminated by a shining pearl and whose staff is decorated with metal rings which chime like bells. This is Ti-Tsang Wang, who will do all he can to help the soul escape hell and even to put an end to his eternal round of death and rebirth. Long ago, Ti-Tsang Wang renounced Nirvana so that he could search the dark regions of Hell for souls to save from the kings of the ten hells. Once a priest of Brahma, he converted to Buddhism and himself became a Buddha with special authority over the souls of the dead.

T'SHAI-SHEN God of wealth who presides over a vast bureaucracy with many minor deities under his authority. A majestic figure robed in exquisite silks. T'shai-Shen is quite a popular god; even atheists worship him.

TSAO WANG God of the hearth. Every household has its own Tsao Wang. Every year the hearth god reports on the family to the Jade Emperor, and the family has good or bad luck during the coming year according to his report. The hearth god's wife records every word spoken by every member of the family. A paper image represents the hearth god and his wife, and incense is burned to them daily. When the time came to make his report to the Jade Emperor, sweetmeats were placed in his mouth, the paper was burned, and firecrackers were lit to speed him on his way.

TU-TI Local gods. Minor gods of towns, villages and even streets and households. Though far from the most important gods in the divine scheme, they were quite popular. Usually portrayed as kindly, respectable old men, they see to it that the domains under their protection run smoothyly.

YENG-WANG-YEH "Lord Yama King." Greatest of the Lords of Death. Yeng-Wang-Yeh judges all souls newly arrived to the land of the dead and decides whether to send them to a special court for punishment or put them back on the Wheel of Transmigration.

YU-HUANG-SHANG-TI "Father Heaven." The August Supreme Emperor of Jade, whose court is in the highest level of heaven, originally a sky god. The Jade Emperor made men, fashioning them from clay. His heavenly court resembles the earthly court in all ways, having an army, a bureaucracy, a royal family and parasitical courtiers. The Jade Emperor's rule is orderly and without caprice. The seasons come and go as they should, yin is balanced with yang, good is rewarded and evil is punished. As time went on, the Jade Emperor became more and more remote to men, and it became customary to approach him through his doorkeeper, the Transcendental Dignitary. The Jade Emperor sees and hears everything; even the softest whisper is as loud as thunder to the Jade Emperor.

AMMON Also AMON; AMUN; AMEN "Hidden." King of the gods of Egypt. Patron of the Pharoahs. Originally a god of fertility, a local deity of Memphis. Ammon became linked with the sun god Ra through the royal family, becoming Ammon-Ra.

ANUBIS The jackal-headed god. Anubis can foresee a mortal's destiny and is associated with magic and divination. Anubis supervises the weighing of the soul when the departed are brought to the hall of the dead.

ASTARTE The Assyro-Babylonian goddess Ishtar, inducted into the Egyptian pantheon and made a daughter of Ammon-Ra. Sometimes identified (or confused, which is the same thing) with Isis.

ATUM The first of the gods, the self-created. By sheer will, Atum formed himself out of the stagnant waters of Nun. Atum was bisexual and was sometimes called "the great He-She." The Egyptians had two cosmogonies, one taught by the priests at Heliopolis and the other by the priests at Memphis. The priests at Memphis taught that Nun and Atum, together with Atum's children Shu and Tefnut, were aspects or forms of Ptah.

BAST Also BASTET. The cat-headed goddess, a local deity of the delta. The kindly goddess of joy, music and dancing. Cats were sacred to Bast as a symbol of animal passion. Bast's devotees celebrated their lady with processions of flower-laden barges and orgiastic ceremonies. Her festivals were licentious and quite popular.

HATHOR A sky goddess, sometimes represented as a woman with cow's horns between which hangs a solar disc, sometimes portrayed as a cow. Hathor concerns herself with beauty, love and marriage, and watches over women giving birth. Mother and wife of Ra. Hathor is also a goddess of death and offers comfort to the newly dead as they pass into the afterworld.

HORUS The falcon-headed god. A complex deity with many aspects. Some of them are: Horus the Elder, a sky god whose eyes are the sun and the moon, continually at war with Set, the god of evil; Horus of the Horizon, symbolized by the rising and setting sun; Horus the Child, whose frequent depictions as a baby at the breast of his mother Isis influenced Christian images of the Madonna and the Christ child; Horus, son of Isis, avenger of Osiris. There were many others.

ISIS Wife and sister of Osiris (the ancients had nothing against a little divine incest). The ideal wife and mother. Generally a goddess of the home and person rather than of the temple and the priest. After the twenty sixth dynasty, Isis is increasingly portrayed as a nursing mother, and her cult eventually spread throughout the Roman empire.

MAAT Goddess of truth and justice. Her symbol is the feather.

MIN A god of fertility and sexual potency. An ancient god of pre-dynastic origins. His symbol is the thunderbolt. As orgiastic festivials were held in his honor, Min was quite a popular god.

NUN God of the primal waters. Nun was a mass of stagnant water which filled all the universe.

OSIRIS At first the god of corn; later the god of the dead. Osiris brought civilization to the Egyptians, teaching them the uses of corn and wine, weaving, sculpture, religion, music and law. Set slew Osiris and dismembered th body; but Osiris' consort, Isis, reassembled the body and brought Osiris back to life. Osiris then retired to the underworld. Osiris is the god of the Nile which rises and falls every year; the god of corn and the vine, which flourish, die, and flourish once more; and the god of the rising and setting sun.

PTAH The artificer. The creator god. According to the priests of Memphis, the fount of all creation. God of artisans and artists, designers, builders, architects, masons, metal workers. Ptah's consort is Sekhmut, goddess of war.

RA God of the sun; sometimes identified or considered synonomous with Atum. Ra created man from his tears. At one time Ra became so digusted with men that he orderd Hathor to kill them all. This Hathor did with such zeal that Ra took pity on men and ordered Hathor to stop. Crazed with blood, Hathor ignored the order, and Ra resorted to chicanery to save humankind. Ra mixed beer with pomegranate juice and left pots of the concoction about the battlefield. Thinking the mixture was blood, Hathor drank it greedily and got too swacked to carry out her mission.

SEKHMUT Goddess of war and battles, consort of Ptah. Hathor took Sekhmut's shape when she made war on men. Sekhmut is usually portrayed as a woman with the head of a lionness, sometimes brandishing a knife in an upraised hand.

SET Red of hair and eyes, pale of skin, Set is the god of evil, of drought, of destruction, thunder and storm. Set tore himself from his mother's womb in his hurry to be born. Every month Set attacks and devours the moon, the sanctuary of Osiris and the gathering place of the souls of the recently dead.

THOTH "Thrice Greatest." God of wisdom, music, magic, medicine, astronomy, geometry, surveying, art and and writing. Historian, scribe and judge. Thoth's priests claimed Thoth was the Demi-Urge who created everything from sound. It was said that Thoth wrote books in which he set forth a fabulous knowldege of magic and incantation, and then concealed them in a crypt.

ADONIS Beloved of Aphrodite, the central figure of a widespread fertility cult, god of vegetation and re-birth. Adonis seems clearly linked with Tammuz, the Assyro-Babylonion god who dies and rises again. Adonis is the Greek version of the Phoenician term Adon, which means "Lord."

APHRODITE Goddess of fertility, love and beauty. When Zeus killed his father, Uranus, he cut off his father's genitals and cast them into the sea. The sea foamed and boiled and Aphrodite arose from the waters. As Aphrodite stepped from the ocean, flowers grew wherever her feet touched. Paphos, the place where Aphrodite supposedly rose from the waters, was her most important place of worship, and at Corinth she was worshipped with sacred whores. Aphrodite is clearly related to Ishtar and Astarte and very much loves the company of the male gods. While married to Hephaestus, she also dallied with Ares, Poseidon, Adonis, and Dionysius. Aphrodite is a complex, many faceted deity. Among her many names are Melaina (the Black One), Androphonos (Killer of Men), Epitymbidia (She Upon the Graves), Anadyomene (Rising from the Sea), Urania (Sky Borne), and Pandemos (Goddess of All the People).

APOLLO God of light, god of prophecy and music, god of medicine, god of flocks and herds, the divine archer, a pastoral god. Wise, beauteous, all-knowing, ever just, ever young. Apollo urges forgiveness to all offenses, even the blackest of crimes, so long as the offender was truly penitent. After Zeus and Athene, the greatest of the Gods. Apollo's most important place of worship was the famous temple at Delphi, where oracles prophesied in his name. The Sybil at Cumae in southern Italy also foretold the future in his honor. Paintings and statuary show him with his bow and lyre, which were a gift from the infant Hermes. Apollo loved young men and young women alike, though his affairs usually ended unhappily. Artemis is his twin sister, and Horus is his counterpart in the Egyptian pantheon.

ARES ; to the Romans, MARS God of war. The Greeks detested Ares. Quarrelsome, spiteful, unfaithful, Ares loves only hatred, strife and bloodshed. Ares was the first god to be placed on trial for murder, and the place in Athens where he was supposed to be have been tried was called the Aeropagus, the Hill of Ares. By custom trials for murder were held at the Aeropagus. The Romans believed Ares to be the father of Romulus and Remus

ARTEMIS Also PARTHENOS Fertility goddess, patron of maidens, goddess of childbirth. Identified with the moon, as her brother Apollo is identified with the sun. The Virgin Huntress, Mistress of Beasts, Lady of All Wild Things, A Lion unto Women. Usually benevolent, but stern and demanding, dangerous to cross. Artemis lived in Arcadia with a band of nymphs subject to her strict discipline; those who dallied with men, as did Callisto, might be shot down with an arrow or otherwise punished. No man or god ever gained the love of Artemis. Artemis is virtually unbeatable in combat. The only one of the immortals who ever bested her was Hera, who defeated Artemis on the battlefield at Troy, whipped her with her own bow, and sent her fleeing in tears.

ASCLEPIUS God of medicine and healing, son of Apollo. Originally a mortal. So great was Asclepius' skill that he could revive the dead. Zeus killed Asclepius after Hades complained that he was being cheated of his lawful due, but Asclepius' virtues and good deeds won him a place among the gods. Those who wished a cure of Asclepius would sleep in his temple, where he would appear to them in a dream and advise them. Snakes are his symbol and were allowed to wander freely in his temple at Epidaurus.

ATHENE ; to the Romans, MINERVA Goddess of wisdom, of architects and sculptors, of weavers, of oxen and horses. A goddess of war. Like Artemis, an eternal virgin. Often associated with birds, particularly the owl. Athene taught men to tame horses and invented the potter's wheel. Her city is Athens, which she won in a contest with Poseidon.

CHARON The ferryman who carries dead souls across the river Styx to Hades. His fee is one obol, which was placed in the mouth of the dead man before he was buried.

CRONUS The chief of the Titans, the race of giants who preceded the Olympian gods. In very ancient times, Cronus was probably a corn god. Told that he would be overthrown by one of his own sons, Cronus devoured them all as they were born until his wife Rhea deceived him to save Zeus. Wrapping a stone in swaddling clothes, Rhea gave the stone to Cronus and spirited Zeus away to a hiding place. After defeating Cronus, Zeus imprisoned him and the rest of the Titans, thus beginning the age of the Olympian gods.

DEMETER ; to the Romans, CERES Goddess of grain and the fruitful earth. An earth mother who was certainly one of, if not the oldest of the gods. Demeter's immensely popular festivals, held twice a year at Eleusis, were so highly revered that no initiate was ever known to break the vow of secrecy. Demeter gave the gift of grain to men and instituted the Eleusinian Mysteries. The nature of these Mysteries has been lost to us, though we know that the mystery cults celebrated the Lesser Mysteries in February of every year and the Greater Mysteries in September of every fifth year. Most likely the rites included processions, ritual cleansing and religious dramas.

DIONYSIUS God of religious ecstasy and wine, accompanied always by satyrs and nymphs. The force of life in all growing things. Dionysius is the Greek form of Thracian and Phrygian deities of vegetation and fetility, who followers worked themselves into a frenzy and ritually tore apart their god in the form of a goat, a bull or a man. The cult survived the introduction of the Olympian gods and proved so popular that it finally had to be accepted by the Dorian Greeks. In the dark age which followed the decline of the Myceneans, the cult of Dionysius spread rapidly, especially among women. His followers were known as maenads (mad women) and it was best not to be near when their frenzy came upon them. Animals, and sometimes people, were torn apart and sometimes eaten in the belief that they were devouring the god himself. Drunk, lawless and noisy, not terribly impressed by authority or convention, the followers of Dionysius were often unwelcome. His worshippers danced wildly, and his rites were designed to cleanse men of lowly irrational emotions and desires.

ERIS The dark sister of Eros. Goddess of chaos and discord, Eris loves confusion and conflict. It was Eris who gave the goddesses the golden apple inscribed "To the Fairest," which set in motion the chain of events that led to the Trojan War.

EROS God of love both heterosexual and homosexual, though his domain is not limited solely to sexual love and includes love in all its broadest senses. One of the oldest of the gods, the center of his worship was at Thespiae. The ancient Greeks feared Eros. Eros can cause havoc, and there is an air of maliciousness about him. Eros can drive men and women to noble self-sacrfice, but he can also torture them to madness and drive them to self-destruction. Lacking wisdom, moderns have made Eros contemptibly cute and sweet, and somewhat prankish.

GAIA "Mother of all things." The Earth itself, mother of the Titans, the old gods. Usually represented as a giant woman. Before anything else existed, there was only Chaos (the Void, the Nothingness, the Emptiness) and the Earth. Gaia nurses the ill and watches over marriages. Gaia is an oracle as well, and the temple at Delphi was hers before it was Apollo's. The Greeks had no tales about Gaia, because she belonged to the distant past.

HADES Also PLUTO "The Unseen," "the Rich." God of wealth and the underworld. Hades is stern but perfectly just, and rejects all pleas for mercy, but he is in no sense evil or destructive. His realm is not a place of flames and torment, as is the Christian hell. Most dead souls dwell on the plain of Asphodel, where they wander aimlessly as mere shadows of their earthly selves. The blessed go to the Elysian Fields, a place of great joy and beauty, while the abominably wicked go to the dismal plain of Tartarus. You're born, you live, you die, you go to Hades. End of story.

HEBE Goddess of youth and beauty. An eternally young girl, Hebe helps the gods wash and dress themselves, though her main duty is to serve nectar and ambrosia at their feasts. A minor but charming deity.

HECATE Goddess of black magic and evil ghosts. Often portrayed with three faces: maiden, mother and crone. The poor and down trodden often turned to Hecate for protection or vengance. Hecate defends children and appears with her dogs at crossroads and tombs.

HELIOS God of the sun, the charioteer who drives the sun across the sky. From his great height, Helios sees everything and was often called upon to witness contracts and oaths. From the fifth century onward, Helios was considered identical with Apollo.

HEPHAESTUS ; to the Romans, VULCAN The lame blacksmith god, patron of craftsman and metalworkers, god of fire. The centers of his cult could be found wherever metalworkers congregated and near volcanos. Hephaestus was so ugly that his mother Hera kept him out of sight, and the other gods laughed at his lame gait. In revenge, Hephaestus tricked the gods into giving him Aphrodite for his wife, though he never succeeded in keeping her faithful. Some scholars say Hephaestus' lameness was a reflection of an actual practice. A skillful smith was a rare and valuable man, and tribes or villages would often cripple a good smith to keep him from leaving or running away.

HERA ; to the Romans, JUNO. Wife of Zeus, queen of the gods. Zeus is quite a randy god, and Hera's domestic life with him is always stormy. Zeus and Hera were on opposite sides during the Trojan War, and they squabble all the way through the Iliad. At first a sky goddess, Hera later became the embodiment of womanliness. Like Dionysius, Hera is a pre-Olympian deity whose cult was so strong that it had to be adopted by the Dorian Greeks. Hera was worshipped in high places, and her temples were built on mountain peaks. Her festival, held at Argos and called the Heraia, involved athletic contests.

JAPAN / MESOPOTAMIA / NORSE

HERMES ; to the Romans, MERCURY The messenger of the gods, the god of eloquence, the god of luck. God of travelers, merchants and athletes. Originally a pastoral and fertility god in Arcadia, in his oldest monuments Hermes is represented simply as a phallus. Easygoing, kind and obliging, Hermes is quite helpful to both gods and men, though he appears in some stories as a trickster. Hermes invented the lyre, which he gave to Apollo to get out of a mess he'd made by stealing Apollo's cattle. Hermes' image was often found at crossroads and junctions, and he is shown with winged sandals and a winged helmet. Hermes was quite popular.

HYPNOS God of sleep. Brother of Thanatos (Death). Hypnos has power even over the gods.

IRIS Goddess of the rainbow. Like Hermes, a messenger for the gods. The center of her cult was at Delos, and the proper offerings to her were dried figs and honeycakes.

MOROS God of destiny. Dark, unknowable, all powerful. Even the gods are subject to Moros.

MORPHEUS God of dreams. His name is the root word of "morphine."

NEMESIS Also ADRASTEIA Goddess of destiny and inevitability, the repayment of sin and crime.

NIKE ; to the Romans, VICTORIA Goddess of victory. Generally portrayed as a winged maiden holding high a wreath of bay leaves, the victor's laurel. Her most famous temple was in Athens.

OCEANUS Ancient god of the oceans, eventually displaced by Poseidon. With his sister, Tethys, he had six thousand children, half of them sea spirits, the other half river spirits.

PAN "The Pasturer," "the Feeder of Flocks." God of herds, fertility and male sexuality. Pan has the horns and legs of a goat and plays a syrinx, a pipe withs seven reeds. An ancient god, he has no moral or social aspect whatsoever, and is simply the embodiment of pure, basic instinct. Some said that Pan taught Apollo the art of prophecy. Pan especially loves mountains and wild country. Pan has a dark aspect as well, causing men and animals to go suddenly mad with terror in distant, lonely places. His name is therefore the root word of "panic."

PERSEPHONE Also KORE "Maiden." Daughter of Demeter, wife of Hades. Hades kidnapped Persephone and took her to the underworld to be his queen. When Demeter heard, she wandered the earth in mourning, abandoning her responsibilities, and the earth grew gray and barren. The growing famine forced Zeus to demand that Hades return Persephone to the surface world. But Persephone had eaten part of a pomegranate, and eating of the food of the dead bound her to their world. Zeus and Hades struck a bargain -- Persephone would spend seven months a year in the world of the living and five in the world of the dead. When Persephone is in the world, her mother Demeter is content, and te world blooms and lives. When she is in the underworld, Demeter mourns, the world languishes, and we have winter.

POSEIDON God of the sea and earthquakes. Horses and bulls are sacred to him. Originally the god of earth tremors, of vegetation and fecundity, Poseidon fought for the Olympians against the Titans, and his reward after the victory was dominion over the seas, lakes and rivers. Poseidon's fits of rage manifest as storms, and seamen dread his anger. Bulls were thrown into the sea as sacrifices to Poseidon. His amorous adventures played an important role in Greek mythology, and he loved men no less than women.

THANATOS God of death. Sometimes portrayed as a winged spirit, at other times as a man robed in black armed with a sword. Thanatos is not evil or hateful. He is just doing his job.

THETIS Greek Sea Goddess. She is a shapeshifter. She is one of the 50 daughters of Nereus (the "Old Man of the Sea") & Doris -who were often referred to as Nereids or Dorides. Thetis and her sisters were very beautiful and said to have oracle powers - they could both predict and avert shipwrecks. She represents fertility, as in "all life comes from the sea." Thetis is responsible for creating peaceful and calm seas. Best known as the mother of Achillies.

URANUS Heaven personified. The son born to Gaia when she first emerged from Chaos. Uranus' rain made Gaia fruitful, and she brought forth the Titans. Jealous of his children, Uranus confined them to the earth, and Gaia conspired wth Cronus, the boldest of her children, to overthrow him. Cronus castrated Uranus with a sickle, only to be overthrown by Zeus in his turn.

ZEUS ; to the Romans, JUPITER. "Cloud Gatherer." The ruler of the Olympian gods, god of the sky, thunder, and lightening, the upholder of custom and tradition. Zeus had many names. As Soter, he is know as the father and saviour of mankind; as Herkeios, guardian of the home; as Xenios, keeper of the rules of hospitality; as Ktesios, protector of property; as Gamelios, god of marriage; as Zeus Chronius, god of the earth and fertility; as Zeus Eluetherious, protector of freedom; and as Zeus Polieus, god of the civic virtues. Despite all these duties, Zeus still had plenty of time to romp with young girls and boys. His wife Hera persecuted his lovers, both mortal and divine.

AJI-SUKI-TAKA-HI-KONE One of several thunder gods. Born noisy, he grew up even noisier, and so they carry him up and down a ladder to quiet him. That is why you can hear him receding and approaching.

AMA-NO-UZUME Fertility goddess. A companion of Ninigi, she performed a bawdy dance hoping to entice the sun out of hiding. This dance symbolizes the planting of seed which waits for the sun come after winter.

AMATERASU Sun goddess, ruler of the heavens. When her great enemy, the storm god Susa-No-Wo, destroyed her fine palace, Amaterasu went to hide in a cave. The other gods used all their magical tricks to get her to come out, to no avail. In her absence, darkness and demons ruled the earth until Ama-No-Usume lured Amaterasu out of the cave with a trick. With a comical and obscene dance, he made the gods gathered at the mouth of the cave laugh. When Amaterasu asked waht was going on, Ama-No-Uzume replied that they had found another and better sun goddess. Amaterasu peeped out of her cave and saw her own reflection in a mirror which Ama-No-Uzume had hung on a nearby tree. Fascinated, Ameratasu drew a little closer for a better look, and the gods grabbed her and hauled her out.

AMATSU MIKABOSHI "August Star of Heaven." God of evil.

BENZAITEN Goddess of love, one of the gods of happiness. Benzaiten rides a dragon while playing a stringed instrument.

BISHAMON God of happiness and war, a strange combination. Bishamon protects men from disease and demons. Bishamon was often portrayed wearing a wheel of fire like a halo, which some see as the Wheel of Fate.

CHIMATA-NO-KAMI God of crossroads, highways and footpaths. Originally a phallic god, his phallic symbol was placed at crossroads.

HO-MASUBI Fire god. His birth killed the creator goddess Izanami, and his father, the creator god Izanagi, was so enraged with grief that he killed the baby. From his blood came eight gods, and from the body came eight mountain gods.

IZANAGI and IZANAMI Creator god and goddess sent down from heaven to build the earth. The other gods and goddesses are their descendents, but when the god of fire was born he burned his mother to death. Descending to the underworld, Izanami became old and ugly. Izanagi followed her to bring her back, but she forbade him to look at her. Izanagi looked anyway and Izanami tried to imprision him in the underworld. Pursued by Izanimi's furies, Izanagi escaped and sealed up the entrance to the underworld with a boulder. Enraged, Izanami vowed to kill a thousand of Izanami's subjects a day, and Izanami vowed to create fifteen hundred a day. So it was that Izanami became the goddess of death and Izanagi became the lord of life.

KAWA-NO-KAMI God of rivers. Larger rivers have their own gods, but all waterways are under Kawa-No-Kami's authority. When rivers flooded, the gods were sometimes appeased with human sacrifices.

NAI-NO-KAMI God of earthquakes. A late addition to the Japanese pantheon, Nai-No-Kami was inducted in the seventh century A.D.

NINIGI Grandson of Amaterasu, sent to rule the earth, the ancestor of all the Japanese emperors.

O-KUNI-NUSHI God of sorcery and medicine. Originally the ruler of the province of Izumo, he was replaced by Ninigi, but in compensation he was made ruler of the unseen world of spirits and magic.

SENGEN-SAMA Goddess of the sacred mountain of Fujiyama. At her shrine at the top of the mountain, worshippers greet the rising sun.

SHINE-TSU-HIKO God of the wind. Shine-Tsu-Hiko fills up the empty space between earth and heaven, and with his wife Shina-To-Be, he holds up the earth.

SUSA-NO-WO God of storms, snakes and farming. Amaterasu's brother and greatest enemy. From the moment he was born, he was a troublemaker. After Amaterasu was finally taken out of her cave, Susa-No-Wo was punished. The other gods shaved his beard and moustache, pulled out his fingernails, and banished him to live as a mortal on the earth.

(Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian)

ANU The god of the sky, from whence the sun shines and the rain falls. Lord of all, the fountainhead of order in both the natural and supernatural worlds. The stars are his warriors, the Milky Way his personal highway. Anu dwells exclusively in the celestial heaven. Unapproachable, remote and otherwordly, he cares little about men and seldom intervenes in their affairs.

APSU The Abyss. The waters upon which the earth floats. When the gods were first created, their noise disturbed Apsu, who complained to his mother, the great dragon Tiamat. Tiamat made war on the gods and was slain by Marduk.

ANSHAR Father of Anu and all the other gods. His consort is his sister, Kishu. Anshar is the male principle, Kishu the female principle. Anshar is the sky, Kishu the earth. Anshar led the gods in the war against Tiamat.

EA Also ENKI "Lord of the Sacred Eye." God of water, supreme god of magic and wisdom, patron of the arts. An oracle. Ea is the god of fresh waters. Ea is portrayed as a goat with a fish's tail or a human with water flowing from his shoulders. Mating with Ninhursag ("Lady Mountain") he created the plants and gave men agriculture.

ENLIL The god of earth and wind. The master of men's fates. The god who dries up the flood waters after the Tigris and Euphrates have overflowed their banks; who brings rain; who fills the sails of ships and boats; who fetrilizes the palm blossoms. The god who struggles against the suffering of the world. Enlil's power moves all; he is the active principle which drives the earth. Enlil sent the flood which destroyed all mankind except Utnapishtim and his family. Enlil can be found in the howling storm and the ruins and ashes of war.

ERESHKIGAL Goddess of the underworld, consort of Nergal. Some consider her a dark side or apect of Ishtar. When Ishtar descended into the underworld to save Tammuz, Ereshkigal tricked her into leaving some part of her clothing or insignias at each of the underworld's seven gates as she passed through them. Standing naked at the seventh gate, Ishtar threw herself on Ereshkigal; but like Samson shorn of his hair she was powerless. Ereshkigal confined Ishtar in the underworld until the wily Ea contrived her release with a trick.

GILGAMESH Like Hercules, a hero-god, two parts divine and one part human. The story of his adventures survives in an epic poem on twelve tablets dating back to Akkadia in the middle of the second millenium B.C. Gilgamesh fought and tamed the wild man Enkiddu. Despite the warnings of the priests and ill omens from the sun god, Gilgamesh and Enkiddu set out upon a quest. Enkiddu's death incited Gilgamesh to seek immortality, and after many adventures he found at last Utnapishtim who survived the Great Flood and with his wife was granted eternal life by the gods. Utnapishtim convinced Gilgamesh of the futility of immortality.

ISHTAR ; to the Sumerican INANNA; to the Egyptians, ASTARTE The greatest of all the mother goddesses of the Mesopotamians. Goddess of fertility, goddess of sex, goddess of the moon, goddess of war. Lady of heaven, lady of sorrow and battles. The great lover, the great mother. The hero-god Gilgamesh spurned her, ensuring his death. Venus is her star, and the lion is her cult animal. Ishtar's love is all consuming and even deadly. An Egyptian sculpture portrays her nude, standing on a lion, and holding a lotus blossom (the symbol of life) in her right hand. Ishtar's worship involved phallic symbols, sacred whores and painted priests in women's clothing. At her shrine at Uruk the priestesses performed a sexual rite in her honor. A priestess played the goddess; the priest who played the god was slain. The Christians turned her into a demon, and she is mentioned as such in Milton's PARADISE LOST.

KINGU Tiamat's general in the war against the gods. Keeper of the tablets of destiny, which hold the divine plan for all the cosmos. Ninhursag used Kingu's blood to make the first man, and from this comes the demonic, rebellious aspect of human nature.

LILITH Controversial figure that has been portrayed as both a goddess and a demon. Said to be from the Middle East, and rule over abundance, fertility, freedom, courage, sexuality, death and transformation.

MARDUK The great god of Babylon, King of Kings, Guardian of the Law, the Great Sorcerer, the Great Healer, slayer of Tiamat. Marduk is Order fighting against Chaos, the conflict from which all Creation emerges. Defeating Tiamat, Marduk brought order and life to the world. When the tablets of destiny were seized from Kingu, Marduk fastened to his own breast, and so brought control of the earth under the divine authority of the gods. The stele of Hammurabi shows Marduk on his throne with a horned headdress, giving Hammurabi his ring and sceptre. The Amorites saw Marduk as a god of spring and sunlight, of herbs and trees.

NEBO Also NABU God of writing and speech, speaker for the gods. Nebo maintains records of men's deeds and produces them for judgment after death. His symbol is the stylus.

NERGAL God of the underworld, mass destruction and plague, consort of Ereshkigal. Thrown out of heaven, he stormed the underworld with fourteen demons until Ereshkigal consented to marry him.

NINHURSAG Also MAAT "Lady Mountain." An earth mother. She mold the first man out of clay and brought him to life with the blood of Kingu.

SHAMASH Also BABBAR, UTU The sun. Son of the moon god Sin, brother and husband to Ishtar. The great god of justice. In Sumer, a god of divination. The enemy of darkness and all the evil darkness brings. Every morning, scorpion-men throw open the gates of his great palace, and Shamash mounts his chariot. He then crosses the sky from one horizon to the other, casting his rays upon the earth like a net, seeing all the evils and wrongs of the world. Entering the earth on the eastern horizon, Shamash travels through the underworld back to his palace. Shamash requires justice of earthly kings and champions their subjects, especially the poor.

SIN The moon god. Wise and secretive, the enemy of all evil spirits. An old man with a long beard who flies through the sky in his sailboat every night.

TAMMUZ Also DUMUZI God of the harvest. The god who dies and rises again. The love of Ishtar killed him, and Ishtar fought Ereshkigal in the underworld to bring him back.

TIAMAT ; to the agnostics, LEVIATHAN Goddess of the primeval depths, the chaos from which Marduk formed the world. She took the form of a dragon and swam in the primal waters. Tiamat warred on the gods, spawning a brood of dragons, sphinxes, scorpion-men and other demons and monsters for her army. Marduk slew her, defeating her with magic and powerful winds. Splitting her in two, Marduk cast one half of Tiamat into the sky to form the heavens and the other he cast down to form the earth.

(Canannite)

ANAT Goddess of love and war. Female counterpart of Baal-Haddad. Anat often aids Baal-Haddad in his battles and takes his part in defeat.

ATHIRAT In the Bible, ASHERAH Mother of the gods, female counterpart of El. Athirat persuaded El to give his blessing to a temple for Baal-Haddad after his great victory over Sea, the god of chaos. Corresponds to Ishtar.

BAAL-HADDAD "The Mighty," "He who mounts the clouds." Son of Dagon, the corn god. The executive of the divine assembly. Baal-Haddad dies and rises again so that the world may live. Baal-Haddad is the champion of divine Order against Chaos. LIghtening is his weapon, and he can be found in storms and thunder. Defying Mot, the god of death, Baal-Haddad was swallowed up by the god of death and taken to the underworld which Baal Haddad laid waste after a terrible struggle. In the beginning of all things, Baal-Haddad warred with and conquered Yamm the Sea, and so brought the unruly waters of Chaos under divine authority and control.

The term "Baal" (alternate spellings: Beel, Bel) is not a proper name but a title. It means simply, "Lord." To know the proper name of a god was t possess great power, and so the proper name was often kept secret from anyone who was not a member of the priesthood. Many local and regional gods were therefore referred to simply as "Lord" -- Baal. The Baal of the Bible is most often Baal Shamim, "Lord of the Skies." In Carthage, a colony of the Phoenicians, the people worshipped Baal Hammon or Ammon, a sky and fertility god whose symbol was the ram. The god of the Semitic nomad tribe of Zebulon was the "Fly," or Beel-Zebul, Lord of Zebulon, often mistakenly called Beelzebub.

EL "The Bull," the Father of Men, the Kindly One, the Compassionate. Creator of all things, greatest of all the gods, father of the divine family, head of the divine assembly.

KATHIRAT "The Skillful Ones." Minor goddesses who preside over childbirth.

MOT The god of death who rules the underworld amid wreckage and blackness.

SKILLFUL AND PERCIPIENT ONE, THE The divine artificer, patron of craftsmanship and magic. The Skillful One made Baal-Haddad's weapons for the struggle against Yamm and built the temple in which Anat and Baal-Haddad dwell.

YAMM THE SEA Aslo PRINCE SEA, OCEAN-CURRENT THE RULER God of primordial chaos, much like Tiamat and Coatlicue. Baal-Haddad's enemy. Before the great combat with Baal-Haddad, Yamm terrified the divine assembly of gods and sent emissaries to demand tribute from them. Part of the tribute he demanded was Baal-Haddad as a slave. Infuriated, Baal-Haddad drove the emissaries from the assembly hall, lashing their buttocks and depriving them of all dignity. So the war began.

AEGIR "Alebrewer." So called because Aegir loves to give feasts for the gods. God of the sea. Saxon pirates gave to Aegir a tenth of their captives, who were thrown into the sea.

ANGRBODA The giantess who mated with Loki to create Hel, Fenrir and the Midgard Serpent.

BALDER A hero god, the god who dies and rises again. Fair skinned, fair haired, wise and merciful, beloved of all. Loke tricked Hoder into killing Balder, who had to be rescued from the underworld. According to the epic poem VOLUSKA, Balder will come to rule again after Ragnarok.

BRAGI God of poetry and eloquence, husband of Iduun. It is Bragi's duty to prepare Valhalla for new arrivals.

DONAR German god of thunder, forerunner of Thor. His symbol is the swastika. Oak trees are sacred to Donar, as they are to Jove.

FENRIR Also FENRIS WOLF A monstrous wolf conceived by Loki. Fenrir was raised in Asgard, the home of the gods, until he became so immense and feroucious that only the god Tyr was brave enough to feed him. Tyr bound Fenrir until the day of Ragnarok, when Fenrir will break loose to slay Odin.

FORSETI God of justice, the great arbiter, the god who "stills all strife." Forseti dwells in a hall of gold and silver called Giltnir.

FREYR "The god of the world," son of Njord, husband of Freyja. God of fertility, sunlight and rain, peace, joy and contentment. Freyr was worshipped with human sacrifices and a kind of religious play in which men dressed as women mimed and danced to the sound of chimes and bells. Freyr had some association with the horse cult as well, and horses sacred to his service were kpet near his shrines. Freyr and his sister/wife FREYJA were of the Vanir, a family or race of gods which originally competed with the Aesir and later became allies. The Vanir may have been the gods of an earlier Scandinavian race who were adopted into the pantheon of later conquerors.

FREYJA Goddess of magic and death, goddess of sex, daughter of Njord, a shape-shifter who often took the form of a falcon. When her husband Od disappeared, Freyja wept golden tears. Donning a magical garment, Freyja could fly long distances. Patroness of seithr, a practice in which a sorceress would enter a trance to foretell the future. The women who practiced siethr, who were know as Volva, wandered freely about the country casting spells and foretelling the future. Freyja's worshippers involved orgiastic rites which horrified and outraged the Christians. Half of all those slain in battle belonged to Freyja, the other half belonging to Odin.

FRIGG Wife of Odin, mother of Balder, queen of Asgard. A fertility goddess.

HEIMDALL The god who guards the Bifrost Bridge which is the entrance to Asgard. Heimdall can see for immense distances, and his ear is so sensitive that he can hear the grass grow. On the day of Ragnarok, Heimdall will blow the great horn Gjallarhorn, and in the ensuing battle he will slay Loki.

HEL Goddess of death. Daughter of Loki. Ruler of Niflheim, the land of mists. Heroic souls go to Valhalla. Those who die of disease or old age come to Niflheim. Surrounded by high walls and strong gates, Niflheim is impregnable; not even Balder could return from there without Hel's permission.

HERMOD A hero god. Hermod rode through the gates of Niflheim to rescue Balder and found Balder seated on the right hand of Hel. Hel agreed to release Balder on condition that all living things weep for him.

HODER Little is known about Hoder, other than that he is blind. Loki tricked Hoder into killing Balder with a sprig of mistletoe. Hoder will join Balder in the new world which will come into being when the present one is destroyed.

IDUNN Wife of Bragi, keeper of the golden apples of eternal youth. The giant Thiazzi kidnapped her with the aid of Loki.

LOKI A trickster. Sly, deceitful, a master thief, not to be trusted. Nevertheless, Loki is charming, witty, quite capable, and possessed of a sardonic sense of humor which he aims at himself no less often than at others. A shape shifter who can change into almost any animal form. Loki was involved in many of the gods' adventures, usually because one of his tricks had made some kind of a mess.

MIDGARD SERPENT The great snake which lies in the ocean and encircles the world, its tail in its mouth. On the day of Ragnarok, the world will disappear under the ocean's waters when the Midgard Serpent rises from the sea. Thor will kill the Midgard Serpent but will be killed by the Serpent's poision.

MIMIR The guardian of a spring of wisdom at the root of Yggdrasill, the world tree which connects the lower and higher worlds and is the source of all life. Odin gave an eye to drink from that spring.

NERTHUS An earth mother worshipped by the German tribe of the Suebi. Her sacred grove stood on an island in the North Sea.

NJORD The chief of the Vanir, who warred with the Aesir. Lord of the winds and of the sea, giver of wealth. Particularly revered on the west coast of Sweden. In pagan days, oaths in law courts were sworn in his name. Njord may be a masculine form of Nerthus.

ODIN Also OTHINN; WODEN; WOTAN A god of strife and war, magic and death. The chief of the Aesir who lives in his hall Valaskjal in Sagard from which he can look out over all the worlds. In his hall Valhalla, valkyries (female war spirits) serve heros who have fallen in battle and will aid the god in the great battle of Ragnarok. On Odin's shoulders perch two ravens, Hugin ("Thought") and Munin ("Memory") who can fly about all the worlds to bring Odin knowledge. Odin often aids great heros but is quite fickle and can turn against a man for any reason or none. Tales of Odin's treachery are not merely Christian propaganda. Odin's worshippers themselves could be quite sharp-tongued about Odin's unfaithfulness. Odin's worship involved human sacrifices, who were generally hung from trees or gallows.

RAGNAROK "Destruction of the powerful ones." The Twilight of the Gods. The time of fire and ice. The great battle at the end of time between the gods and the Frost Giants in which the world will be destroyed and made anew. Ragnarok will be preceded by three winters of bitter wars followed by the Fimbulvetr, a winter so cold that the usn will give no heat. Then the forces of evil will gather and make war on the gods.

THOR God of thunder. Huge, red-bearded, red-eyed, powerful. His weapon is the magic hammer Mjollnir, which is augmented by a magic belt which doubles Thor's strength, and iron gloves with which Thor grips Mjollnir. In some ways Odin's rival, Thor is the god of law and order, the champion of the people. Unlike Odin, Thor will keep faith. Oaths were sworn in Thor's name, which no sane man would ever do with Odin. When Christianity came to Iceland, the other gods surrendered meekly, but Thor fought to the bitter end. The Hammer is Thor's sacred sign and is the most common image in Nordic art. The worship of Thor survived well into the Christian age; little silver hammers were often made in the smith's shop along with crosses and crucifixes.

TIWAZ The one-handed sky god and war god of the early Germanic peoples. Tiwaz was worshipped with human sacrifices conducted in the deep forest. Tiwaz is god of law and justice, and oaths were sworn in his name. His functions were later taken over by Odin and Thor, though unlike Odin Tiwaz is completely without deceit and guile. Tiwaz is also known as Irmin, and his sacred pillar Irminsul symbollically held the universe together.

TYR God of battle, the only god with the strength and courage to bind Fenris. Warriors marked their swords with a T to gain the god's protection. Tyr was originally was Tiwaz, retained in a later pantheon but overshadowed by Odin and Thor.

WELAND Also VOLUNDR; WIELAND; WAYLAND God of smiths and metal workers. Son of the giant Wade. Weland has much in common with smith gods such as Govannon and Hephaistos, which comes as no surprise. Technology and metalworking spread slowly in the ancient world, usually on a person to person basis, and highly skilled metalsmiths and other technical workers formed a virtual international brotherhood similar to the Masons.

ANGUTA (Inuit/Eskimo) Gatherer of the dead. Anguta carries the dead down to the underworld, where they must sleep with him for a year.

ANINGAN (Inuit/Eskimo) The moon, brother to the sun whom Moon chases across the sky. Aningan has a great igloo in the sky where he rests. Irdlirvirissong, his demon cousin, lives there as well. The moon is a great hunter, and his sledge is always piled high with seal skins and meat.

ASGAYA GIGAGEI (Cherokee) The Red Man or Woman evoked in spells to cure the ill. Asgaya Gigagei is either male or female, depending on the sex of the patient.

ATIRA (Pawnee) The Earth, Sacred Mother of every living creature.

The Pawnee were hunters. When told to abandon hunting and settle down to farming, their priest replied: "You ask me to plow the ground! Shall I take a knife and tear my mother's bosom? Then when I die she will not take me to her bosom to rest. You ask me to dig for stone! Shall I dig under her skin for her bones? Then when I die I cannot enter her body to be born again. You ask me to cut grass and make hay and sell it, and be rich like white men! But how dare I cut off my mother's hair? It is a bad law and my people cannot obey it."

AWONAWILONA (Pueblo Indians) "The One Who Contains Everything." The Supreme God, the Creator of All. Before the creation there was only Awonawilona; all else was darkness and emptiness. Both male and female, Awonawilona created everything from himself and taking form became the maker of light, the Sun.

BIG HEADS (Iroquois) Demon gods. Giand heads without bodies which fly about in storms. They find men very tasty.

BREATHMAKER (Seminole) Breathmaker taught men to fish and dig wells, and made the Milky Way. When the virtuous die, they follow the Milky Way to a glorious city in the western sky.

COYOTE (Southwestern Indians, but known in other areas as well) A trickster, a clown. The creator and teacher of men. Like Loki, Coyote is always lurking about, causing trouble and playing pranks. To the Zunis, Coyote is a hero who set forth the laws by which men may live in peace. The Pomo Indians maintain that Coyote created the human race and stole the sun to keep them warm. The Montana Sioux say that Coyote created the horse.

The Chinook tell how Coyote and Eagle went to the land of the dead to bring back their dead wives. On reaching the land of the dead, they found a meeting lodge lit only by the moon which lay on the floor. Every night an old woman would swallow the moon and the dead would appear in the meeting lodge. Recognizing their wives among the spirits of the dead, the two gods devised a plan. The next day, after the old woman had vomited up the moon and the dead had disappeared, Coyote built a huge wooden box and placed in it leaves of every kind of plant. Coyote and Eagle then killed the old woman, and Coyote donned her clothes. When the time came, Coyote swallowed the moon. The dead appeared, but Eagle had place the box outside the exit. When Coyote vomited up the moon, the dead filed out and were trapped in the box. Coyote pleaded to be allowed to carry the box, and Eagle gave it to him. But Coyote couldn't waitto see his wife and opened the box. The spirits of the dead rose up like a cloud and disappeared to the west. So it is that people must die forever, not like the plants which die in winter and are green again in a season.

DEOHAKO (Iroquois/Seneca) Spirits of maize, beans and gourds who live together in a single hill. Searching for dew, the maize spirit Onatha was captured by the evil spirit Hahgwehdaetgah who took her off to the underworld. Sun rescued her, and ever since she has remained in the cornfields until the corn is ripe.

ESTANATLEHI (Navajo) First Woman's adopted daughter. To punish mankind for pride, First Man and First Woman sent a plague of monsters to kill and devour them. The time came when First Woman repented of the evils she and First Man had visited upon men, and she sought a means for their deliverance. First Woman discovered the infant Estanatlehi lying on the ground near First Woman's mountain, and took her in. The infant Estanatlehi grew to adulthood in four days. Making love with the Sun, she gave birth to the Twin Brothers who after many adventures slew the monsters.

EVENING STAR (Pawnee) An evil star who drives the sun down out of the sky and send his daughter to hinder Morning Star from the sun back up again.

FIRST MAN AND FIRST WOMAN (Navajo) In the beginning, First Man and First Woman ascended from the underworld together with Coyote, leading the people through trials and tribulations into the surface world which became their home. Deciding that the sky was too empty with only Sun and Moon, First Man, First Woman and Coyote gathered up glittering stones and placed them in the sky to serve as stars.

GAHE Also GA'AN (Apache) Supernatural beings who dwell inside mountains. The can sometimes be heard dancing and beating drums. Because they can heal and drive away disease, they are worshipped. In the ritual dances of the Chiricahua Apache masked dancers painted a different color for each point of the compass represent all the Gahe except the Grey One. The Grey One, though he appears as a clown, is really the mightiest of all the Gahe.

GLUSKAP (Algonquin) The Creator, or more exactly, the creator force. Generally benevolent, but often whimsical. Gluskap created the plains, the food plants, the animals and the human race from the body of the Mother Earth. His rival was his wolf brother Malsum, who made rocks, thickets and poisonous animals. After a long struggle Gluskap killed Malsum and drove his evil magic under the earth. Gluskap drove away monsters, fought stone giants, taught hunting and farming to men, and gave names to the stars. His work done, Gluskap paddled towards the sunrise in a birch bark canoe. Some day he may return.

HINO (Iroquois) Thunder god, god of the sky. The Rainbow is his consort. With his fire arrows, Hino destroys evil beings.

IRDLIRVIRISISSONG (Inuit/Eskimo) The demon cousin of the moon. Sometimes Irdlirvirissong comes out into the sky to dance and clown and make the people laugh. But if anyone is nearby, the people must restrain themselves or the demon clown will dry them up and eat their intestines.

KACHINAS (Hopi) Nature spirits which inhabit and control everything -- animal spirits, spirits of departed ancestors, spirits of natural resources such as wind, rain and thunder. Their exact number is not known, but at least five hundred appear in the mythologies of the different villages.

KANATI (Cherokee) "The Lucky Hunter." Sometimes called First Man. He lives with his wife Selu ("Corn") in the east where the sun rises, and their sons, the Twin Thunder Boys, live in the west.

KITCKI MANITOU (Algonquin) The Great Spirit, the Supreme Being. The Uncreated, the Father of Life, God of the Winds. The Great Spirit is present in some way in nearly every North American Indian mythology.

MICHABO (Algonquin) The Great Hare. A trickster. A shape-shifter. Creator of men, the earth, deer, water and fish. Michabo drives away cannibal spirits. In the House of Dawn, Michabo is host to the souls of good men, feeding them succulent fruits and fish.

MORNING STAR ( Pawnee) A protector who leads the sun upward into the sky. A soldier god.

NAGENATZANI (Navajo) Elder Twin Brother.

NESARU (Arikara) Sky spirit. In the beginning, Nesaru had charge over all creation. Displeased with a race of giants in the underworld who would not respect his authority, Nesaru sent a new race to the underworld to replace them and sent a flood which destroyed the giants without destroying the new men. When the new men cried out to be released from the underworld, Nesaru sent the Corn Mother for their deliverance.

NOKOMIS (Algonquin) "Grandmother." The Sacred Earth Mother. Nokomis nurtures all living things.

NORTH STAR (Pawnee) A creator god. Beneficiant and venerated.

OCASTA (Cherokee) "Stonecoat." The name comes from his coat which was made of pieces of flint. Equally good and evil, Ocasta was one of the Creator's helpers. Ocasta created witches and drifted from village to village stirring up turmoil. Some women trapped Ocasta, pinning him to the ground with a stick through his heart. The men cremated the dying Ocasta, who while burning on his funeral pyre taught them songs and dances for hunting, fighting wars and healing. Some of the men were granted great power and became the first medicine men.

OLELBIS (Wintun, Pacific Coast) The Creator who lived in Olelpanti (Heaven) with two old women. When the first people destroyed the world with fire, Olelbis sent wind and rain to quench the flames, and repaired the earth. Olelbis intended men to live forever. When they grew old, they were to climb to heaven and join Olelbis in paradise. Olelbis set two vultures to the task of building a ladder to Olelpanti for men to ascend, but Coyote persuaded them to stop work.

RABBIT (Southeastern tribes) Like Coyote and Michabo, a trickster god. Through a sly trick, Rabbit brought fire to man.

RAVEN (Northwestern tribes) Another trickster god. Very greedy, forever seeking food. Raven stole the moon from a miser and placed it in the sky.

SEDNA (Inuit/Eskimo) Goddess of the sea and the creatures of the sea. A one-eyed giant. A frightfull old hag, but she was young and beautiful when her father threw her in the sea as a sacrifice. A sorcerer wishing to visit Sedna must pass through the realms of death and then cross an abyss where a wheel of ice spins eternally and a cauldron of seal meat stews endlessly. To return he must cross another abyss on a bridge as narrow as a knife edge.

SELU (Cherokee) "Corn." Sometimes known as First Woman. Kanati's wife. Selu created corn in secret by rubbing her belly or by defecating. Her sons, the Twin Thunder Boys, killed her when they spied upon her and decided she was a witch.

SHAKURA (Pawnee) Sun god. The Pawnee performed their famous Sun Dance for Shakura's sake. Young warriors attached themselves to tall poles with strips of hide which were tied to sharp stakes. The stakes were driven through the skin and flesh on the chest. The young brave would then support his entire weight with the hide ropes as he slowly circled the pole following the sun's movement in the sky. This lasted until the sun went down or the stakes ripped out of the brave's flesh.

SOUTH STAR (Pawnee) God of the underworld, the opposite of North Star. Magical and feared.

SUN (Cherokee) A goddess. When Sun's daughter was bitten by a snake and taken to the Ghost Country, Sun hid herself in grief. The world was ever dark, and Sun's tears became a flood. At last the Cherokee sent their young men and women to heal Sun's grief, which they did with singing and dancing.

SUN (Inuit/Eskimo) A beautiful young maiden carrying a torch who is chased through the sky by her brother Aningan, the moon. The planet Jupiter is the mother of the sun and very dangerous to magicians. If they are careless, she will devour their livers.

TEKKEITSERKTOCK (Inuit/Eskimo) The earth god, master of hunting to whom all deer belong.

TIRAWA-ATIUS (Pawnee) The Power Above, creator of the heavens and the earth.

In the beginning Tirawa-Atius called the gods together to announce his plan to create the human race and promised the gods a share of power for their help. Shakura the Sun was assigned to provide light and heat, Pah the Moon was assigned the night, and Tirwara-Atius placed the Evening Star, the Mother of All Things in the west. The Morning Star he set to guard the east. After the gods had raised dry land from the watery chaos, Tirawa Atius told Sun and Moon to make love, and they gave birth to a son. He then told Evening and Morning Star to make love, and they gave birth to a daughter. So the human race was made.

All would have been well if Coyote had not stolen a sack of storms from Lightening. Opening the sack, Coyote loosed the storms and so brought death into the world.

THOBADESTCHIN (Navajo) Youngest Twin Brother.

THOUME ' (Chitimacha) Thoume' taught the people to make clothing and fire, and how to make love. After making the moon and the sun, Thoume' sent the trickster god Kutnahin to teach medicine and food preparation to men. Kutnahin traveled through the world disguised as a derelict covered with buzzard dung.

TORNGASAK (Inuit/Eskimo) The good spirit, representing everything in nature good and helpful to man.

TWIN THUNDER BOYS (Cherokee) The sons of Kanati and Selu. Kanati and Selu live in the east, the Twin Thunder Boys live in the west. When thunder sounds, the boys are playing ball.

WACHABE (Sioux/Osage) Black Bear. A guardian. Symbol of long life, strength and courage.

AGUNUA (Solomon Islands) Serpent god. All other gods are only an aspect of Agunua. The first coconut from each tree is sacred to Agunua.

ALULUEI (Micronesia) God of knowledge and navigation. Aluluei has two faces, one to see where he is going, the other to see where he has been. Aluluei makes his home on sandbars.

BUNJIL (Australian) A sky god. Bunjil made men out of clay while his brother, Bat, made women out of water. To mankind Bunjil gave tools, weapons and religious ceremony.

DARAMULUN (Australian) A sky god, a hero. There are many tales of his adventures. Daramulun is usually portrayed with a mouth full of quartz and a huge phallus, carrying a stone axe.

DREAM TIME (Australian) The period of creation when the gods brought the world and all living creatures into being.

GIDJA (Australian) Moon god. In the Dream Time, Gidja created women by castrating Yalungur, for which he was punished by Kallin Kallin. Gidja floated out to sea and ended up in the sky, where he became the moon.

GREAT RAINBOW SNAKE Also JULUNGGUL, GALERU, UNGUR, WONUNGUR, WOROMBI, YURLUNGGUR, LANGAL, MUIT and many others names. (Australian) The great giver of life who lives in a deep pool, stretches across the sky and shines with water drops, quartz and mother of pearl. In the Dream Time, the Great Rainbow Snake created all the waterways and all living creatures. The Great Rainbow Snake is the greatest of all the gods, and no wise man will dare offend him. Many pools are sacred to him and must not be contaminated with blood. Sorcerers perform their magic with pieces of quarts and mother of pearl, because their iridescence holds the life force of the Great Rainbow Snake.

HINA Also HINE (Polynesia) Goddess of darkness, who brought death to humankind by slaying the god Maui. While sailing with her brother Ru, she drifted off to the moon, liked what she saw, and decided to stay, thereby becoming Hina the Watchwoman and a patroness of travelers.

IO (New Zealand) "Io of the Hidden Face," "Io the Originator of All Things," "Io Eternal," "Io God of Love." Supreme being of the Maori, master of all the other gods, known only to the priesthood.

KALLIN KALLIN (Australian) Chickenhawk. Kallin Kallin punished Gidja for castrating his brother Yalungur, the Eaglehawk, by ambushing Gidja as he crossed a bridge and throwing him into the ocean. Realizing that Yalungur was now a woman and therefore no longer a member of the tribe, Kallin Kallin took Yalungur as his wife and so established the custom among Australian aborigines of taking wives from different communities.

KUKLIKIMOKU (Polynesia) God of war. His colors are red and yellow, and his is the crested feather helmet of the Hawaiians.

MARRUNI (Melanesia) God of earthquakes. Marruni's tail terrified his wives, so he cut it into pieces and from them made animals and human beings.

MAUI (Polynesia) "Maui of the thousand tricks." A trickster and a hero god. Maui lived when the world was still being created, and fought on the side of humankind, constantly struggling to get them a better deal. Maui raised the sky and snared the sun. His death at the hands of Hina brought death into the world.

NAREAU (Micronesia) Actually two gods, Old Spider and Young Spider. Creators and tricksters. Old Spider created the world from a seashell, but the heavens and the earth were not properly separated, so Young Spider enlisted the aid of Riiki, the eel, to fix the problem. They then created the sun, moon and stars, and a great tree from which came the race of men.

OLIFAT (Micronesia) A trickster. Olifat invented the custom of tattooing. Olifat loves pranks and is constantly spoiling food, ruining fishing trips and seducing men's wives.

PELE (Polynesia) Goddess of volcanic fire and sorcery. Pele lives in Mt. Kilauea in Hawaii. Altars to Pele are built beside lava streams, though only those descended from her worship her.

QAT (Polynesia) Creator god. Qat was born when his mother, a stone, suddenly exploded. Qat made the first three pairs of men and women by carving them from wood and playing drums to make them dance. Qat stopped night from going on forever by cutting it with a hard red stone, which is the dawn. Qat sailed away in a canoe filled with all manner of wonderful things, leaving behind the legend that he would one day return. When the Europeans first came, many believed that Qat had finally come back.

RUA (Tahiti) The Abyss. God of craftsmen. Rua invented wood carving.

TAWHAKI (Polynesia) God of thunder and lightening. Noble and handsome.

TU (Polynesia) "Tu of the Angry Face," "Tu the Man Eater," "Tu the Lover of War," "Tu of the Narrow Face." God of war.

WONDJINA (Australian) The primordial beings of the great Dream Time, who created the world. They are shown in rock paintings with halos and no mouths, their eyes and noses joined. The Wondjina give both rain and children, and their paintings are touched up every year so that they will continue to bring rain at the end of the dry season.

YALUNGUR (Australian) Eaglehawk. Yalungur defeated the terrible ogress Kunapipi and became the first woman.