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"The famous immortal, winged horse which sprang forth from the neck of Medousa when she was beheaded by the hero Perseus."
Pegasus is amongst the very few of so-called epic creatures which are NON-evil.... Further Info: http://www.qwiki.com/q/Pegasus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus
More: http://www.theoi.com/Ther/HipposPegasos.html
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Yam, the Ugaritic-Canaanite sea god of the waters: the seas, rivers, lakes, and chaos and disorder, periodically battled the weather-storm god Baal for supremacy.
Yam represents the power of the tempestuous sea untamed and raging.
He lived in an undersea palace; a dragon, serpent, and Leviathan (Lotan) may have been in his following...
When Baal succeeded in killing his arch enemy, he scattered his remains as fertilizing rain...
Yam's defeat by Baal parallels the Mesopotamian legend of the storm god Marduk's victory over the primordial sea goddess Tiamat.
Numerous other parallel legends have been noted by mythologists and religion scholars, often interpreted as representing the triumph of heavenly order over primeval chaos...
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Nergal is the (southern) Mesopotamian god of death, pestilence, plague and the netherworld...
Nergal represents a very particular aspect of death, one that is often and rightly interpreted as inflicted death, for Nergal is also the god of plague and pestilence as well as being closely associated with warfare. It is quite likely that as Nergal ascends to power in Babylon and Assyria in the pantheon because of his connection with war, he becomes the most suitable consort to Ereshkigal...
Nergal's warlike qualities identify him to a considerable extent with warrior gods such as Ninurta and Zababa.
His attributes are the club and the sickle...
This Sumero-Babylonian entity is sometimes regarded as representing the sinister aspect of the sun god Shamash...
In the late Babylonian astral-theological system Nergal is related to the planet Mars. As a fiery god of destruction and war, Nergal doubtless seemed an appropriate choice for the red planet, and he was equated by the Greeks either to the combative demigod Heracles (Latin Hercules) or to the war-god Ares (Latin Mars) -- hence the current name of the planet.
In Assyro-Babylonian ecclesiastical art the great lion-headed colossi serving as guardians to the temples and palaces seem to symbolise Nergal, just as the bull-headed colossi probably typify Ninurta...
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Rhiannon is the Celtic goddess of Inspiration and the Moon...
She is a goddess of movement and change who remains steadfast, comforting us in times of crisis and of loss...
Rhiannon's name meant “Divine /Great/ Queen” of the fairies. She is probably a reflex of the Celtic Great Queen goddess Rigantona and may also be associated with the horse goddess Epona.
She is an inspiring figure to invoke for Poets, Artists, and Singers.
She possesses deep magic and can manifest her dreams and desires for the good of all.
Rhiannon was married to Pwyll, the Lord of Dyfed. When Pwyll first saw her, she appeared as a golden goddess upon a magnificent white horse.
Rhiannon managed to outrun Pwyll for three days, and then allowed him to catch up, at which point she told him she'd be happy to marry him, because it would keep her from marrying Gwawl, who had tricked her into an engagement.
Rhiannon and Pwyll conspired together to fool Gwawl in return, and thus Pwyll won her as his bride. Most of the conspiring was likely Rhiannon's, as Pwyll didn't appear to be the cleverest of men.
In the Mabinogion, Rhiannon says of her husband, "Never was there a man who made feebler use of his wits." After Pwyll's death, Rhiannon married Manawyden.
Later, after Pwyll's death, Rhiannon married Manawydan, brother of Bran and Branwen and son of Llyr, a great magician. One day, all of Dyfed turned into a wasteland, and only Rhiannon, Manawydan, Pryderi, and his wife Cigfa, were spared.
Manawydan and Pryderi out hunting followed an enormous white boar into a caer, where Pryderi saw a golden bowl; when he touched it, he was enspelled.
Rhiannon went after him and fell under the same spell the caer then vanished, taking them with it.
She was rescued when Manawydan captured the wife of their enemy, Llwyd, who was taking revenge for the illtreatment of Gwawl.
The story of the Rhiannon reminds us of the healing power of humor, tears, and forgiveness...
She appears in both the first and third branches of the Mabinogi and is further mentioned in the early Arthurian prose tale Culhwch and Olwen...
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Tykhe, daughter of Aphrodite and Zeus or Hermes, is the spirit of originally fortune and chance, and then of prosperity in Greek folklore.
However, according to Hesiod, Tyche is an oceanide; daughter of the Sea Titans Oceanus and Tethys.
She is usually honoured in a more favourable light as Eutykhia, goddess of good fortune, luck, success and prosperity.
Tyche personified the combination of unexpected, random, circumstances that we call luck, fortune, chance or fluke can be good or evil. The element of ill fortune and bad luck is reflected by words such as disaster, misfortune and unlucky whereas good luck and fortune reflect success, and prosperity.
Indeed, paired with her sister Eudora, she and her sibling together represent a combination of Bounty and Luck...
Tykhe is represented with different attributes. Holding a rudder, she is conceived as the divinity guiding and conducting the affairs of the world, and in this respect she is called one of the Moirai (Fates); with a ball she represented the varying unsteadiness of fortune--unsteady and capable of rolling in any direction; with Ploutos or the horn of Amalthea, she was the symbol of the plentiful gifts of fortune...
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Brynhildr,the daughter of Budli, is a shieldmaiden and a valkyrie in Norse folklore, where she appears as a main character in the Völsunga saga and some Eddic poems treating the same events...
Under the name Brünnhilde she appears in the Nibelungenlied and therefore also in Richard Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen.
She may be inspired by the Visigothic princess Brunhilda of Austrasia.
The history of Brynhildr includes fratricide, a long battle between brothers, and dealings with the Huns...
According to the Völsunga saga, Brynhildr is a valkyrie She was ordered to decide a fight between two kings, Hjalmgunnar and Agnar, and knew that Odin preferred the older king, Hjalmgunnar, yet she decided the battle for Agnar.
For this Odin condemned her to live the life of a mortal woman, and imprisoned her in a remote castle behind a wall of shields on top of mount Hindarfjall in the Alps, where she must sleep within a ring of fire until any man rescues and marries her...
The hero Sigurðr Sigmundson (Siegfried in the Nibelungenlied), heir to the clan of Völsung and slayer of the dragon Fafnir, entered the castle and awoke Brynhildr by removing her helmet and cutting off her chainmail armour.
He immediately fell in love with the shieldmaiden and proposed to her with the magic ring Andvaranaut...
Promising to return and make Brynhildr his bride, Sigurðr then left the castle and headed for the court of Gjuki, the King of Burgundy...
Gjuki's wife, the sorceress Grimhild, wanting Sigurðr married to her daughter Gudrun (Kriemhild in Nibelungenlied), prepared a magic potion that made Sigurðr forget about Brynhildr.
Sigurðr soon married Gudrun. Hearing of Sigurðr's encounter with the valkyrie, Grimhild decided to make Brynhildr the wife of her son Gunnar (Gunther in the Nibelungenlied)...
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Ammit is the crocodile-headed goddess of the Underworld (Duat), the 'Devourer of the Dead' and 'Eater of Souls' in Ancient Egyptian folklore...
Although Ammit is often referred to as a goddess of the Underworld, a more accurate description is that of a demon, a supernatural and malevolent being...
She was depicted as having the head of a crocodile, the torso of a lioness and the hindquarters of a hippopotamus, a combination of the most terrifying and ferocious creatures known to the ancient Egyptians...
She features in the Book of the Dead as the punisher and executioner...
Ammit waited in the Judgement Hall of the Two Truths during the Weighing of the Heart ceremony, and devoured those deemed to be sinners...
Depiction of Ammit in Papyrus of Hunefer
The Papyrus of Hunefer is a historical document that gives a detailed account of the devourer of souls. It narrates that upon Hunefer’s death his heart was weighed at the head dress of Ma’at by Anubis.
The results were being recorded by Thoth who was believed to have an Ibis’s head.
It showed that if the results were bad then Hunefer would be restricted from entering the afterlife and would be passed on to Ammit who would devour his soul and keep him in a state of constant restlessness.
Ammit was also sometimes said to stand by a lake of fire.
In some traditions, the unworthy hearts were cast into the fiery lake to be destroyed.
Some scholars believe Ammit and the lake represent the same concept of destruction...
Probably Ammit has a link with the goddess Tawaret, who has a similar physical appearance and, as a companion of Bes, also protected others from evil...
It is possible that Ammit's lion characteristics, and the lake of fire, may be pointers to a connection with the goddess Sekhmet.
The relation to afterlife punishment and lake of fire location are also shared with the baboon deity Babi...
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The name ‘Yowie’ is the rather affectionate term for an unidentified hominid reputed to stalk the Australian wilderness...
Yowie is native to the Australian Aboriginal folklore.
This Australian cryptid is similar to the Himalayan Yeti and the North American Bigfoot...
The Yowie is said to be a bizarre, hybrid beast, sometimes with big red eyes on the side of his head, big canine teeth and large fangs.
It emerges from the ground at night to eat whatever it can find, including humans.
This creature’s characteristics and legend are sometimes interchangeable with those of the bunyip...
Yowies have been reported by some witnesses to be unbelievably aggressive, and to pursue people with what was interpreted as predatory intent.
Yowies have sometimes been reported to peer into windows, hang around the outsides of houses, and to approach cars on remote roads – all motifs that sound familiar if you’ve read the sasquatch literature.
In further parallels with sasquatch, extremely bad, lingering smells have also been associated with Yowie sightings, and Yowies also seem to be good swimmers and waders...
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Anapos is the river-god of eastern Sikelia (Sicily).
When Anapos opposed the kidnapping of Persephone along with the nymph Cyane, Hades turned them into a river (the river Anapo in southern Sicily) and a fountain...
The River Anapos flowed into the Mediterranean Sea near the Greek colony of Syrakousa.
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Oynyena Maria in Slavonic and Polish folklore is the "Fiery Mary," a fire goddess who assists and counsels the thunder god Piorun...
Oynyena Maria may have been a fire goddess who later became submerged by Piorun...
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Portumnus, in Roman folklore, is originally the god of gates and doors (Lat. porta), and as such identified with Janus and represented with a key in his hand.
He is also assoiated with keys, livestock, fords and possibly warehouses...
With the introduction of the Greek gods, he became conflated with Palaemon, and evolved into a god primarily of ports and harbors...
Portumnes can appear as a man (possibly two-headed) with a key in his hand.
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Ereshkigal is the "queen of darkness" in Sumerian folklore...
In Sumerian cosmogony, she is originally a sky goddess, who was carried off by force to the Sumerian Underworld by the dragon, Kur, and there enthroned as its lady...
Her world is a place of shadows and dust, a place where the the spirits of of the dead huddle in the darkness...
Ereshkigal rules over the magical arts, secret knowledge, and oracles. She was also the sister of the well known goddess, Inanna...
Ereshkigal was carried away to the underworld when heaven and earth separated. Although sisters, Ereshkigal and Ishtar were enemies, this representing the conflict of life versus death.
A conflict escalatd between the two sisters. This animosity caused the famous legend where Ereshkigal catches Inanna in the underworld, not releasing her until she sacrifices her husband Tammuz.
In early legends, her husband is Ninazu, later it is Nergal. Her son was Namtar, the demon (or god) of death.
Ereshkigal forced Nergal to become her consort, threatening to kill all life on earth if he didn't agree. Together, the two ruled the underworld...
The pure Ereshkigal herself upon her throne, The Annunake, the seven judges, pronounced judges, pronounce judgment before her, They fastened their eyes upon her, they eyes of death. At their word, the word which tortures the spirit... The sick woman was turned into a corpse, The corpse was hung from a stake…
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Nagual or Nahual (both pronounced [na'wal]) is a human being who has the power to magically turn him- or herself into an animal form, most commonly donkeys, turkeys, and dogs, but also other and more powerful animals such as the jaguar and puma...
Such a Nagual is believed to use his powers for good or evil according to his personality...
Specific beliefs vary, but the general concept of nagualism is pan-Mesoamerican...
Nagualism is linked with pre-Columbian shamanistic practices through Preclassic Olmec depictions which are interpreted as humans transforming themselves into animals...
The system is linked with the Mesomerican calendrical system, used for divination rituals...
The birth date often determines if a person will be a Nagual. Mesoamerican belief in tonalism, wherein all humans have an animal counterpart to which their life force is linked, is also part of the definition of nagualism.
"Another legend of Mexico is "The Nahuales." This folktale is told from the viewpoint of a young man who heard the story from his uncle. It is about Nahuales, a people capable of morphing into animals like pigs, burros, and chickens in order to capture other animals.
A man delivering wood walks down the road and encounters a burro carrying a pig. He tells his companion that he will take the burro. As he neared the animal, he notices that the burro had no tail and the pig was unsecured on the animals back. When the man beats the burro, it speaks to him, admonishing the man to stop hitting him...
The man realizes that he has, in fact, come across a Nahuales.
The man delivers his wood and returns to the animals, bearing fried pork and fried pig skin for them to eat..."
In English the word is often translated as "transforming witch," but translations without the negative connotations of the word witch would be "transforming trickster" or "shape shifter".
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See Lycanthrope:
Compare with: *Werecat (Still werejaguar is a werecat):
*Werehyena:
*Wererat:
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Mixcoatl is the god of the hunt and war. He is identified with the Milky Way, the stars, and the heavens in several Meso-American cultures.
Mixcoatl was part of the Aztec pantheon...
Mixcoatl is represented with a black mask over his eyes and distinctive red and white “candy-cane stripes” painted on his body. He can usually be distinguished by his hunting gear, which included a bow and arrows, and a net or basket for carrying dead game...
Scholars have identified Mixcoatl as a hunting god of the Otomi, Chichimec, and Toltec people and their descendants.
The legendary figure may have been based on the real-life warrior Eight Deer, who achieved greatness as a leader of the Pioneer...
Mixcoatl definately sired the four hundred Centzon Huitznahua by Coatlicue, but not Huitzilopochtli, a ball of feathers is responsible for that one, with Ometecuhtli spotted plucking a Quetzal bird just before Coatlicue set off for temple cleaning duties... More:
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Dewi Sri is the Indonesian Rice goddess, equivalent of the Indian Goddess Lakshmi.
Sri is the goddess of the earth, the Rice Bride, and the Mother of the Javanese people.
In the Javanese wayang cycle, Dewi Sri is reborn as the Goddess Sinta to marry her Wisnu in his incarnation as Rama.
Dewi Sri is believed to have dominion over the underworld and the Moon. Thus, Dewi Sri encompasses the whole spectrum of the Mother Goddess- having dominion over birth and Life: she controls rice: the staple food of Indonesians; hence life and wealth or prosperity; most especially rice surpluses for the wealth of kingdoms in Java such as Mataram, Majapahit and Pajajaran; and their inverse: poverty, famine, hunger, disease (to a certain extent) and Death.
Dewi Sri is, as in this Balinese example, usually presented as a young, beautiful, slim yet curvaceous woman with stylized facial features idiosyncratic to the respective locale.
In Bali she is almost always depicted as a narrow-waisted woman at the height of her femininity and fertility, wearing what is essentially a typical dance costume with a finely detailed and elaborate headdress...
Reborn as Rukmini, she marries him in his new form as Kresna. Reborn as Subadra, she once again marries him as Arjuna, son of King Pandu...
Dewi Sri is often associated with the rice paddy snake...
Another power held in high esteem by the Sundanese is Dewi Sri. This is clearly shown by the important role that Dewi Sri holds in the Sundanese ceremonies.
The function of Tali Paranti is to organize the life cycle of the Sundanese. The life cycle's ceremonies start before one is born and continue until t
he thousandth day after one's death. Out of all the life cycle ceremonies, the most important is circumcision for men and marriage for women. Circumcision is ranked first, followed by marriage.
In these ceremonies, Dewi Sri holds a vital position.
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See Gaia:
See Cybele:
See the Elder Mother:
See Amaterasu:
See Shapash:
See Ra:
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Sabazios, the nomadic horseman and the sky/father god of Phrygia, is an ancient Thracian being*, whose precise nature is much debated in academia, with many scholars claiming with certainty an understanding of his place in the Thracian mythos.
The confusion around Sabazios is not surprising, given the relatively unexamined nature of Thracian culture and religion in general.
Sabazios, whose various syncretisms will be addressed and explored elsewhere, is a god whose name most likely draws from related terms meaning freedom, and fluidity.
He is described at one point in modern scholarship as "the most changeable of gods", and again, "as the god of no mythology".
Sabazios is referred to as the "Unstoried One", for indeed, the documented stories pertaining to him directly are few and far between...
His cult spread from Thrace in the north of Greece to Attica and to Athens in the fifth century BCE. In Indo-European language, the element ' - zios' is precursor of Dyeus-Deus (god) and Zeus. The Greeks, by inherit of the Thrace around century V b.C., associated the phrygid Sabazios with Zeus and Dionysos.
An important symbol of his cult was a snake, which is a chthonian symbol as well as one of revival. Another symbol of Sabazius was a crown (with two small snakes raising their heads) worn by the god himself and by some of the members initiated into his cult.
*Thracians have been denigrated to the ranks (and rancor) of savage drunken barbarian neighbors to the North of the "civilized" Hellenic world. As Dr. Aleksandr Fol, late founder of the Institute of Thracology in Sofia, Bulgaria, points out in numerous academic publications, Thracians have yet to be definitively studied as anything but an "alien culture" through a Greco-Roman perspective.
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'The one on high' is Pinga, the Eskimo goddess of game, the hunt, helper of medicine, men and the living.
Pinga is also the Psychopomp (from the Greek word psuchopompos, literally meaning the "guide of souls"). She brings the souls of the recently deceased to (Adlivun), the transit area where souls are purified before moving on...
Pinga in Inuit folklore also watches over humans' treatment of animals.
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In the Chilote folklore and Chilote legends of the Chiloé Island in southern Chile, the Imbunche is a vampirish monster that protects the entrance to a warlock's cave...
All the lore about the horrendous Imbunche is of macabre quality...
According to legend, the Imbunche was a little one kidnapped by, or sold by his parents to a Brujo Chilote (a type of sorcerer or warlock of Chiloé).
The Brujo chilote hideously transformed the child into a deformed hairy monster, applying a magic cream over the boy's back to cause thick hairs and, finally turning his tongue to snake-like one...
The Imbunche utters ugly grunts in place of speech.
When he goes in search of food it is on three feet, getting along in leaps and letting out bloodcurdling yells scaring anyone who hears them.
If anyone sees him they are frozen to the spot forever.
The only beings who can look at him without risk are witches.
When he has to leave the cavern for some foul purpose he is carried in the air between the witches...
As tough as this abomination may be, it is possible to eradicate the Imbunche.
Because it was once human, the monster is still vulnerable to man-made weapons like cold steel and firearms. However, there is another difficult task to face beforehand: one must kill the Trelquehuecuve, the water beast that serves the Imbunche.
As this creature is said to be large in size and vicious towards humans, slaying the monster will not be an easy task...
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Amaterasu is a sun goddess of the Shinto religion.
It is believed that Amaterasu sent her grandson Jimmu to Earth 3,000 years ago to be the first ruler of Japan, beginning the divine family of Japanese emperors...
Amaterasu was given rule over the sky by Izangi when he handed to her his holy necklace...
Later, in a competition with her brother Susano, Amaterasu gave birth to three goddesses, who with Susano's offspring, are collectively the ancestors of Jimmu...
During this competition, Amaterasu was unwilling to admit defeat. This caused Susano to furiously wreak havoc throughout the heavens and the Earth. Amaterasu fled into a cave, and her absence caused darkness throughout Japan...
Amaterasu's absence caused much dismay on Earth. As the crops died off and the people suffered, the gods decided they needed to return Amaterasu to her position in the heavens.
They sought the help of several dieties, and performed ritualis and sacrifieces outside of Amaterasu's cave.
They also hung a mirror from a tree outside of the cave...
Amaterasu's presence illuminated the fields and life returned to Japan's land...
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Bellona is the goddess of war among the Romans, similar to the Ancient Greek Enyo...
The name "Bellona" derived from the Latin word for "war" (bellum), and is directly related to the modern English words "belligerent" (lit., "war-waging"), "bellicose" and "antebellum"...
In earlier times she was called Duellona, the name being derived from a more ancient word for "battle"...
She is frequently mentioned by the Roman poets as the companion of Mars, or even as his sister or his wife...
Virgil describes her as armed with a bloody scourge...
The main object for which Bellena was invoked, was to grant a warlike spirit and enthusiasm which no enemy could resist...
Ammianus Marcellinus, in describing the Roman defeat at the Battle of Adrianople refers to "Bellona, blowing her mournful trumpet, was raging more fiercely than usual, to inflict disaster on the Romans"...
Today Bellona stands guard over the Military Affairs Committee of the United States Congress...
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Bellona might be actually Nerio:
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Hebat is the Hurrian mother goddess of beauty, fertility and royalty, and probably sun. She is the wife of the supreme god Teshub, and the mother of Sharrumas. She may be identical to the sky-goddess Hepit. The mother goddess is likely to have had a later counterpart in the Phrygian goddess Cybele. Hebat is sometimes depicted with a lion...
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See Cybele:
See the Elder Mother:
See Amaterasu:
See Shapash:
See Ra:
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The Amazons are a nation of women dwelling near the river Thermodon in Greek folklore... Other historiographers place them in Asia Minor,or more often Ancient Libyē.
They are, as a race, regarded as children of Ares and Harmonia.
The Amazons, described in the Iliad as "antianeirai", meaning: those who go to war like men, were about the Thermodon river were in their full vigour a little before the Trojan war...
The name Amazon is believed to descend from the word amazoi which in Greek means "breast less". They cultivated the manly virtues and pinched off the right breasts of all females so that they might not be hindered by them in throwing the javelin.
But they kept the left breasts so that they might suckle, as they gave birth to children through normal intercourse with the other gender...
Historically, Amazons were portrayed as beautiful women in Amazonomachies, which was an artform showing battles between the Amazons and Greeks.
Normally seen on horseback, the Amazons wore armor made of animal skins and carried either a bow or spear.
An Amazon warrior possessed the strength of a man and was as savage as a wild animal, but she was especially dangerous because she had reason and cunning.
Amazons were trained to use all weapons and especially in single combat. They were honorable, courageous, brave and represented rebellion against sexism.
The legend tells of the Amazons invading Attica to take back their queen, and on reaching Athens a great battle took place, but the Athenians were glorious.
This scene has been depicted in art by the Greeks in many forms, but probably the most famous are the architectural marble carvings from the Parthenon sculpture (Amazonomachy).
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Breo Saighead, or the "Fiery Arrow or Power," is a Celtic three-fold goddess, the daughter of The Dagda, and the wife of Bres.
Known by many names, Brighid's three aspects are:
(1) Fire of Inspiration as patroness of poetry...
(2) Fire of the Hearth, as patroness of healing and fertility...
(3) Fire of the Forge, as patroness of smithcraft and martial arts...
She is mother to the craftsmen. Sons of Tuireann: Creidhne, Luchtaine and Giobhniu...
Excalibur, King Arthur's sword, was forged by the Lady of the Lake, a figure sometimes associated with Brighid because of her fire and forgery aspect...
Like the Arthurian Avalon, or "Isle of Apples," Brigid possessed an apple orchard in the Otherworld to which bees traveled to obtain it's magickal nectar...
The Romans equated Brigantia with Minerva, a goddess of war, wisdom and crafts. There is evidence of this from a statue at Birrens in Dumfriesshire which shows her with Minerva’s symbol of the Gorgon’s head on her breast, a mural crown, a spear and the globe of victory.
Brigid, which means "one who exaults herself," is Goddess of the Sacred Flame of Kildare (derived from "Cill Dara," which means "church of the oak") and often is considered to be the White Maiden aspect of the Triple Goddess... Today, many places in the British Isles bear her name. As “Brigantia” she gave her name to the Celtic lands of the North of England. Rivers are also named after her including, Afon (River) Braint, the longest river on Ynys Mon (Anglesey); Brent, London; and Brue, Somerset.
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Ogmios is a gaulish god of eloquence, and the personification of poetry, literature, learning and persuasiveness...
He was also a binding god who would use his powers of persuasion to bind men onto himself and then escort souls on their journey to the after-live...
It is he who invented the runic language of the Druids.
His attributes are a bow and stick.
The father of Ogham was Oghma; The mother of Ogham was the hand or knife of Oghma...
Roman sources describe Ogmios as an orator of remarkable charisma. Celtic sources from the same era describe Ogmios as a educator and the creator of the ogam writing system.
Combining these, Ogmios becomes a wise and charismatic teacher of Celtic ways and scholarly endevour.This was the guide and patron of the Druid Order of Teachers.
A Celt, in a discussion with Lucian, explained how the Celtic Ogmios, personifying the power of speech was represented by Heracles rather than Hermes.
This Celt made various references to Greek legends in the course of the conversation. - John Rhys, Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as Illustrated by Celtic Heathendom, London 1898.
Stranger, I will tell you the secret of the painting, for you seem very much troubled about it.
We Celts do not consider the power of speech to be Hermes, as you Greeks do, but we represent it by means of Heracles, because he is much stronger than Hermes.
So if this old man Heracles, the power of speech, draws men after him, tied to his tongue by their ears you have no reason to wonder, as you must be aware of the close connection between the ears and the tongue.
...In a word, we Celts are of opinion that Heracles himself performed everything by the power of words, as he was a wise fellow, and that most of his compulsion was effected by persuasion.
His weapons ... are his utterances which are sharp and well aimed, swift to pierce the mind: and you too say that words have wings...
But, whereas Hercules was a mortal with supernatural powers, Ogmios seems more of a god to the Celts...
The German Renaissance painter Albrecht Dürer depicted this deity. Commonly compared with the Irish Ogma...
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NHarbutt's curator insight,
May 16, 8:11 PM
this is a fascinating liik into the power of words and of gods Delete the scoop?
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(Sorath M. l, p. 637) The fire is also a great purifier. It purifles the metal.
Agni is one of the three chief gods in the Rig Veda.
Agni personifies fire; (Sanskrit: “Fire”).
He is one of the 8 Vasus, some say. Son of Kasyapa and Aditi or of Dyaus and Prithivi. Son of Urvashi, some say. Brother of Mara. Husband of Ambi or Agnayi. Father of Agneyi. Father of Subrahmanya by Svaha.
The fire altar was orientated towards the East, the direction of sunrise, the ever new beginning...
As the bestower of immortality and the cleanser from sin after death, Agni acts as a mediator between gods and men...
Agni is depicted as having exhausted his vigour by consuming too many oblations, he renewed his strength in consuming the Khandava forest, with the assistance of Krishna and Arjuna and in defiance of Indra...
No longer the object of a separate cult Agni is invoked by Hindu lovers and by men for virility...
When Agni is described in anthropomorphic form, he sometimes has two faces which are smeared with butter.
He sometimes appears with seven fiery tongues and sharpened, golden teeth. He is red in color, with black eyes and wild, black hair.
He has seven arms and three legs, and seven rays of light emanate from his body. He either rides on a ram, or on a chariot, pulled by goats or sometimes parrots...
'Wonderful is the fire which works wonders.' (Var Asa M. l, p. 464)
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Asteria, the daughter of the Titan Coeus and Phoebe, is the Titan goddess of the oracles and prophecies of night, including prophetic dreams, the reading of the stars (astrology), and necromancy.
She is the mother of the goddess Hekate by Perses (the Destroyer).
After the fall of the Titanes, Asteria was pursued by the god Zeus.
She fled his advances, transforming herself into a quail (ortux) and leaping into the sea (or the island which had fallen from heaven like a star), afterwards called Delos.
Her sister Leto later sought refuge on the isle and there gave birth to her son Apollon.
Asteria appears in Athenian vase-painting alongside the other Delian gods--Apollon, Artemis and Leto.
She is often labelled as "Delos."
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