Guide to the Gods 1.0
Kn... to Kz...
Knpua
Generic term for the demigods of Hawaii, as opposed to the Akua, the gods proper.
Kobold
Mischievous household spirit in German folklore.
Kodoyanpe
A deity of the Maidu people of California who, with Coyote, created mankind. The two later quarrelled, and Kodoyanpe was forced to flee to the east.
Koevasi
Melanesian snake goddess.
Kokola
Guardian god who inhabits a cave on the shores of Lake Victoria.
Kolanthes
Greco-Roman Egyptian god.
Komoku
One of the Japanese guardians of the four cardinal directions. He was associated with south.
Komorkis
Moon goddess of the North American Blackfoot.
Kondos
Finnish god of sowing and young crops.
Kono-Hana-Sakuya-Hime
(Kono-no-hana-saku-ya-hime)
Japanese Blossom Princess. Daughter of the mountain god O-Yama-Tsu-Mi. She married Ninigi, the grandson of Amaterasu.
K'op'ala
Protective god of Georgian mountains.
Kore
"Girl". An epithet of Persephone (qv).
Korraval
Tamil goddess of victory.
Korrawi
Tamil goddess of battle and victory.
Korybantes
Demonic companions of Phrygian Kybele.
Kothar
(Kotar, Kautar, Kusor)
Canaanite craftsman god.
Kothar-wa-Hasis
Ugaritic god of arts and crafts.
Kotys
(Kotytto)
Thracian goddess.
Kouretes
(Kuretes, Curetes)
Semidivine beings who were believed to have been early inhabitants of Crete. It was the Kouretes who prevented Kronos from discovering the hidden infant Zeus by dancing and clashing their weapons to prevent his cries from being heard. They were often equated with the Korybantes. The Kouretes may have had their origin as worshippers of Zeus Kouros (Zeus as a young man), perhaps dating back to Minoan times.
Koyote
(Coyote)
Culture-hero of Apache and Navajo people.
Kratos
"Power". Greek god of strength. Brother of Bia (force).
Krishna
(Krsna, Krisna)
Eighth Hindu avatar of Vishnu. In the Vedas he was a Ksatriya warrior. It was only in later times that he came to be identified with Vishnu.
Krodhadevatas
Buddhist terror-inspiring gods.
Kronos
(Cronos, Chronos, Cronus)
Primeval Greek god of time and a former supreme god. One of the Titans. Son of Ouranos (heaven) and Gaia (earth). Consort of Rhea. Father of Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hades and Hestia. Little worshipped by the Greeks, Kronos may represent the vestiges of a pre-Hellenic god. The worship that was accorded him was generally associated with agriculture, such as the Attican harvest festival of the Kronia.
Kronos overthrew his father Ouranos, castrating him with a sickle for good measure, perhaps as a symbolic separation of heaven and earth. Fearing that his own children might do the same to him, he proceeded to swallow them. Zeus, however, was saved Rhea, who hid him in Crete and tricked Kronos into swallowing a stone wrapped in infant's clothing. When Zeus reached maturity, he forced Kronos to disgorge his brothers and sisters, then hurled him into Tartaros. Subsequently, Kronos remained a prisoner in Tartaros, although some accounts make him the king of the Golden Age. He was generally depicted with a sickle and an hourglass. Known to the Romans as Saturn.
Krttikas
Ksitigarbha
1 of the 8 great Bodhisattvas.
Kuan Ti
See Guan Di.
Kuan-yin
(Kwannon)
Chinese bodhisattva, goddess of mercy.
Kuan Yu
Chinese war god.
Kubaba
(Kupapa, Gubaba)
Luwian and Carchemish goddess.
Kubera
(Kuvera)
Hindu god of wealth; alias Dhanapati, 'lord of riches'.
Kucumatz
(Kukumatz)
Supreme god of Quiche people of Guatemala.
Kud
Old Korean dark and evil principle]
K'uei Hsing
Chinese god of examinations.
Kujaku Myoo
Deity of Japanese esoteric Buddhism.
Kuk and Kauket
Egyptian primeval gods.
Kukalikimoku
Polynesian god of war.
Kuksu
In California, Kuksu was a culture hero among the Maidu people and a god of the Pomo people. He was the first man of the Maidus. In Pomo belief, he and his brother Marumda created the world, then tried to destroy it on two occasions, once by fire and once by flood. On both occasions, the world was saved by the mother goddess Ragno.
Kukulcan
Maya storm god and supreme god. He was credited with inventing the calendar and was also a god of craftsmen. The Aztecs merged him with their Quetzalcoatl.
Kukuth
(Kukudhi)
Albanian female demon of sickness.
Kulkulcan
(Kukulkan)
Mayan serpent god, originally Toltec, equivalent to Quetzalcoatl.
Kulshedra
(Kucedre)
Albanian demonic being.
Kuma
Moon-goddess of Venezuelan Kuma people.
Kumarbi
Chief Hurrian deity ("father of the gods"). He succeeded Anu, and in turn was overthrown by Teshub.
Kumari
In the Vedas, one of the demonic aspects of Parvati.
Kumush
Sky-god of Modoc people of North American Pacific coast.
Kunapipi-Kalwadi-Kadjara
An Australian ogress.
Kung Kung
Chinese dragon god who caused the Deluge by toppling the pillars of heaven.
Kuni-Toko-tachi
Japanese first god.
Kuni-Tsu-Kami
Name of Japanese gods of earth.
Kun-tu-bzan-po
Chief god in Tibetan Bon pantheon.
Kupala
Slavonic goddess of water, magic and herbs.
Kura-Okami
Japanese god of rain and snow.
Kurdalaegon
Ossetian god of blacksmiths.
Kuretes
Greek, originlly Cretan demons.
Kurkil
A raven creator god of a Mongol tribe in Siberia. He created the earth and mankind, and introduced the arts of civilization.
Kurma
Vedic cosmic tortoise. The second avatar of Vishnu or Brahma. After the Deluge, Kurma placed himself at the bottom of the sea so that a mountain might be placed on his back. From this mountain the gods churned the sea and retrieved the treasures of the Vedic tribes.
Kurukulla
Buddhist goddess.
Kurupira
Tupinamba (Brazil) protector of animals, gnome of Amazonian forest.
Kururumany
Arawak creator god.
Kusor
Phoenician god of many talents, controller of the seasons.
Kusuh
Hurrian moon-god.
Kutkinnaku
Beneficent spirit of Siberian Koryak people.
Kuu
The moon in Finnish mythology.
Kuvera
See Kubera.
Kvasir
Wisest of the Nordic gods. He was murdered by the dwarfs Fjalar and Galar. After his death his blood was drunk from a magic cauldron, giving wisdom and poetic inspiration to the drinker.
Kwammang-a
God of the Bushmen of south Central Africa.
Kwannon
Japanese version of the Chinese Kuan Yin bodhisattva, the Buddhist goddess of mercy.
Kwoth
Nuer word for 'god' or 'spirit'.
Kyala
Creator god of the Nyakyusa of South West Tanzania.
Kybele
(Kybebe, Latin Cybele)
Phrygian mother goddess. Also a goddess of fertility and of the mountains. Her son and/or consort was Attis. Known to the Romans as the Great Mother of the Gods.
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