Guide to the Gods 1.0
Sa... to Sh...
Saa
Egyptian personification of intelligence.
Sabaoth
Gnostic Archon, ruler of the 5th sphere.
Sabazios
(Sabazius, Sabos)
A Phrygian or Thracian god identified with Dionysos. Perhaps only an epithet of Dionysos. His worship was associated with that of Kybele and Attis, and his cult entered Greece proper in the 5th century BC.
Sabrina
Celtic river goddess of the Severn.
Sachmet
See Sakhmet.
Saci
See Indra.
Saddai
Old Testament epithet of Jahwe.
Sadhyas
Minor Hindu gods who guard the rites and prayers of greater gods.
Sadrapa
Syrian god of healing.
Sae-No-Kami
Japanese collective name for guardian gods of the roads.
Safa
Ossetian god of weapons.
Sagbata
God of smallpox in Benin (Dahomey).
Sahar
(Shahar)
North and south Semitic moon god.
Sahte
An evil spirit in the belief of the Tuleyone people of California. He set the world on fire, but Coyote (Olle) extinguished the flames by sending a great flood that submerged all the world save one mountain top where the survivors sought refuge.
Sai
(Greek Psais)
Egyptian personification of destiny.
Saitan
Arabic form of Satan.
Sajigor
God of the Kalas of the Hindu-Kush.
Sakarabru
God of medicine, justice and retribution of the Agni people of Guinea.
Sakhmet
(Sachmet, Sekhmet)
"The Powerful One". Egyptian lioness goddess. Daughter of the sun god Re. At Memphis she formed part of the Memphite triad together with Ptah as her consort and Nefertum (otherwise the son of Bastet) as her son. Depicted as a lioness or in human form with the head of a lioness. She was generally shown crowned by the solar disk, holding the ankh ("life") symbol or a scepter in the shape of a papyrus reed. At Thebes Sakhmet came to be syncretized with Mut, the consort of the Theban sun god Amun. She had a warlike aspect, and was said to breath fire at the enemies of the pharaoh. Like the goddess Hathor, Sakhmet could become the 'eye of Re', an agent of the sun god's punishment. She was believed to be the bearer of plague and pestilence, but in a more benign aspect she was called upon in spells and amulets to ward off disease.
Sakpata
Dahomey god of smallpox.
Sakra
Jain divine prince.
Sakti
Hindu personification of female creative energy.
Sakyamuni
Japanese name for Buddha.
Sala
(Salas)
Mesopotamian goddess.
Salacia
Roman goddess of springs. Consort of Neptune.
Salim
(Salem)
Ugaritic god personifying Venus as the evening star. He was the son of El.
Salman
Pre-Islamic god of north Arabia.
Salus
"Salvation". Roman goddess of public safety and welfare who later became a goddess of health equated with the Greek Hygieia. She had a temple on the Quirinal, one of the seven hills of Rome, dating to 302 BC. Her festival was on March 30. An annual sacrifice was also held at her temple on August 5.
Samael
(Sammael, Samiel)
Angel in apocalyptic writing.
Samantabhadra
One of the great Bodhisattvas.
Samas
(Shamash)
Semitic word for the sun, became the name of the Babylonian sun-god, Shamash.
Sambara
One of the Asuras af Vedic myth who were vanquished by Indra.
Samjna
Sampsa
Finnish goddess of vegetation.
Sams
(Shams)
Pre-Islamic sun goddess of southern Arabia. Sams was considered to be a male deity in northern Arabia.
Samvara
(Cakrasamvara)
Tantric god of initiation.
San Ch'ing
Three great gods of Chinese Taoism.
Sanda
Luvian god of Asia Minor.
Sangarios
(Sangarius)
Phrygian river god.
Sango
Yoruba god of thunder.
Saone
(Souconna)
Celtic river deity.
Saosyant
(Saoshyant)
The third and final saviour in Zoroastrianism.
Sapas
(Shapash)
Western Semitic sun god.
Saps
Ugaritic goddess of the sun.
Saptaksara
Form of the Buddhist god Heruka.
Sar and Salim
Syrian deities of morning and evening.
Sara
Mesopotamian god of town of Umma.
Sarama
Hindu dog of Indra
Saranyu
Hindu goddess. The wife of Surya or Vivasvat, and the mother of Yama and Yami, as well as of the Asvins.
Sarapis
(Serapis)
Syncretic god of Ptolemaic Egypt and later a deity worshipped throughout the Roman Empire. Sarapis was the Greek form of Osiris- Apis, a deity who combined the attributes of the bull god Apis and the underworld god Osiris. To this the Hellenistic rulers of Egypt added characteristics taken from Greek deities such as Zeus, Dionysos, Hades, Helios and Asklepios to create a universal god. Depicted in human form with curly hair and crowned with a basket- shaped headdress known as a kalathos. His cult was taken over by Ptolemy I Soter, who elevated Sarapis to the status of a national god. His major cult center was Alexandria, home of the famous temple known as the Sarapeum.
Sarasvati
(Saraswati)
Originallly an Indian river goddess, later a goddess of speech, eloquence and wisdom. In the Vedas, she is the consort of Brahma.
Sarkany
Hungarian weather-demon.
Sarpanitu
Wife of the Babylonian god Marduk.
Sarruma
(Sarrumma)
Hurrian god.
Sasabonsum
Ashanti forest demon.
Sasana-deva
(Sasana-devi)
Jain 'gods and goddesses of the teaching'.
Satan
Judeo-Christian devil.
Sataran
(Istaran)
Mesopotamian divine judge and doctor.
Satet
Egyptian goddess of first cataract of Nile.
Sati
Hindu goddess. She was the daughter of Daksha and the wife of Shiva. When Shiva mistreated her father, she threw herself onto the sacrificial fire and burned to death.
Satis
(Greek form, also Sati; Egyptian Satjit or Satet)
Egyptian goddess whose primary role was that of a guardian of Egypt's southern (Nubian) frontier, killing enemies of the pharaoh with her arrows. As 'Queen of Elephantine" she figures as the consort of Khnum and the mother of Anuket, the three sometimes being referred to as the 'Elephantine triad'. Depicted in human form wearing the tall conical white crown of Upper Egypt bounded on either side by plumes or antelope horns, holding a scepter and the ankh ("life") symbol. She had a major sanctuary on the island of Sahel near Elephantine (near modern Aswan). Satis was also associated with the annual inundation of the Nile.
Saturn
(Saturnus)
Roman god of agriculture concerned with the sowing of seed. Equated with the Greek god Kronos. His consort was either Lua or Ops. He was the father of Jupiter. His temple was constructed in the Roman Forum as early as the fifth century BC. It served as the Roman treasury (aerarium). His festival was the Saturnalia, observed on December 17 but later extended to seven days. It was the most popular Roman festival, characterized by a suspension of all business, a reversal of the roles of master and slave, the exchange of gifts (including candles to symbolize the winter darkness), and a loosening of moral restrictions. Our Saturday was named after Saturn.
Saturnus Africanus
God of Roman North Africa.
Satyrs
Greek woodland gods or spirits. They had a human upper body and the lower body of a goat. They were generally depicted as having dishevelled hair with goat horns and ears, and with an erect penis (ithyphallic). In early Greek art they were portrayed as grotesque in appearance, but Praxiteles began a later tradition in which they were shown as being handsome. The Satyrs were closely associated with Dionysos, and were related to the Silenes (qv).
Saule
Latvian sun-goddess.
Saules meitas
Latvian 'daughters of the sun'.
Sauska
(Sawuska, Sausga)
Hurrian goddess.
Savitr
(Savitar)
Vedic sun god.
Savitri
(Savitar)
Hindu king of heaven and god of active power. One of the twelve Adityas.
Saxnot
(Sahsnot, Seaxneat)
"Sword Bearer". Tribal god of the East Saxons. Equivalent to the old Teutonic god Tiwaz.
Scathach
"Shadowy One". Irish goddess who taught warriors the art of war.
Sceaf
Norse child-god who founded a kingdom in Denmark.
Seasons
See Horae.
Seaxneat
See Saxnot.
Sebek
See Sobek.
Sebettu
Akkadian demons.
Sechat-Hor
Egyptian cow-goddess.
Securitas
Roman goddess, a personification of security. She was later invoked to ensure the continuing stability of the Roman Empire.
Sed
Egyptian 'saviour' god.
Sed
See Sedim.
Sedim
Old Testament demons.
Sedna
Eskimo goddess of the sea and its creatures.
Sedu
Babylonian kind and helpful demon.
Segomo
Continental Celtic war god.
Seides
Stones worshipped as gods by Lapps.
Se'irim
(Sahirim)
Old Testament goat demons.
Seker
(Sokar, Sokaris, Greek Socharis)
Egyptian god of the Memphis necropolis, funerary god. Depicted in human form with a hawk's head.
Sekhmet
(Sekhet, Sakhmet)
Egyptian goddess of war and battle. Depicted in human form with the head of a lioness. She was the consort of Ptah and the mother of Nefertum and Imhotep.
Selardi
Urartian moon-goddess.
Selene
Greek goddess of the moon. Daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. Sister of Helios (sun) and Eos (dawn). Mother of Pandia by Zeus, and of fifty daughters by Endymion. She rode across the sky in a chariot drawn by two white horses. Also a tutelary deity of magicians. Selene was sometimes identified with Artemis as a moon goddess. She became syncretized with Hekate in later Greek mythology. The Romans equated her with Luna.
Selket
See Serket.
Selvans
Etruscan god similar to Silvanus.
Semele
Minor Greek goddess. She may have originated as a Phrygian or Thracian earth goddess. Daughter of Cadmus (Kadmos) and Harmonia. According to some traditions, she was the mother of Dionysos by Zeus. The story goes that the jealous Hera tricked her into asking Zeus to prove his divinity to her. When Zeus revealed himself to her in his divine form, Semele, then a mortal, was burned to death by the intensity of his appearance. Zeus later deified her and she took her place among the gods under the name of Thyone.
Semnai Theai
Greek earth-goddesses.
Semnocosus
Hispanic war god.
Sengen-Sama
Japanese goddess of the holy mountain Fujiyama. Also known as Ko- No-Hana-Saku-a-Hime: "the Princess who makes the flowers of the trees blossom".
Senmurw
Iranian winged monster.
Sennin
The immortals in Japanese myth.
Sentait
Egyptian cow goddess.
Senx
Bella Coola sun-god.
Sepa
(Sep)
Egyptian chthonic god.
Septu
(Sopd, Sopdu)
Egyptian war god.
Sequana
Celtic river goddess of the Seine.
Seraphim
(Serafim)
Old Testament spirits.
Serapis
See Sarapis.
Seri and Hurri
Anatolian divine bulls.
Serket
(Selket, Selkis, Selchis, Selquet; Egyptian Serket hetyt)
"She who causes the throat to breath". Egyptian scorpion goddess. Depicted in human form with a scorpion-shaped headdress, or with a scorpion body and a human head. She was early a tutelary deity of the Egyptian monarchs. Serket was associated with mortuary rites who helped guard the canopic jars in which the viscera of the dead were placed. From this association she came to be a tutelary goddess of the dead. She was called upon in Egyptian magic to avert venemous bites and stings.
Sesha
(Sesa)
Hindu thousand-headed snake god of the Vedas. He was said to have been born from the mouth of Balarama just before his death. Sesha was chief of the Nagas, a clan of snake worshippers.
Seshat
(Sesat, Sesheta)
Egyptian goddess of writing. Also associated with libraries, letters, archives and historical records. Depicted in human form with a star or rosette above her head, wearing a leopard-skin robe, holding a scepter made of a notched palm branch on which she recorded the jubilee years. Seshat assisted the pharaoh mark out the boundaries of a temple in a ritual known as 'stretching the cord'.
Sesmu
Egyptian god of oil and wine pressing.
Seth
(Set, Setekh, Setesh, Seti, Sutekh, Setech, Sutech)
Egyptian god of chaos who embodied the principle of hostility if not of outright evil. He was associated with foreign lands and was the adversary of the god Osiris. Seth was usually depicted in human form with a head of indeterminate origin, though said to resemble that of an aardvark. He had a curved snout, erect square- tipped ears and a long forked tail. Sometimes he was represented in entirely animal form with a body similar to that of a greyhound. He was said to be the son either of Nut and Geb or of Nut and Ra, and the brother of Isis, Osiris and Nephthys. Nephthys was sometimes given as his consort, although he is more commonly associated with the foreign, Semitic goddesses Astarte and Anat. Despite his reputation, he had an important sanctuary at Ombos in Upper Egypt, his reputed birthplace, and had his cult was also prominent in the north-eastern region of the Nile delta.
For a time during the third millenium BC, Seth replaced Horus as the tutelary deity of the pharaohs. However, the story of Seth's murder of Osiris and subsequent war with Horus gained currency and Horus was restored to his original status. The war with Horus lasted eighty years, during which Seth tore out the left eye his adversary and Horus tore out Seth's foreleg and testicles. Horus eventually emerged victorious, or was deemed the victor by a council of the gods, and thus became the rightful ruler of the kingdoms of both Upper and Lower Egypt. Seth was forced to return the eye of Horus and was himself either castrated or, in some versions, killed. In some versions Seth then went to live with the sun god Re, where he became the voice of the thunder. In the Book of the Dead Seth was referred to as the "lord of the northern sky" and held responsible for storms and cloudy weather. Seth protected Re during his night voyage through the underworld against the Apophis-snake. On the other hand, Seth was a peril for ordinary Egyptians in the underworld, where he was said seize the souls of the unwary. Among the animals sacred to Seth were the desert oryx, crocodile, boar, and the hippopotamus in its aspect as a destroyer of boats and of planted fields. The pig was a taboo in Seth's cult. The Greeks later equated Seth with their demon-god Typhon.
Sethlans
Etruscan god of fire and blacksmiths. Equivalent to the Greek Hephaistos and the Roman Vulcan.
Seyon
One of the chief gods of the Tamils of southern India.
Sha
Sumerian double-faced god, vizier of Enki.
Shai'-ha-Qawm
"Protector of the People". Nabataean deity.
Shait
Egyptian goddess of destiny.
Shakra
Buddhist king of the gods.
Shakuru
Sun god of the Pawnees.
Shamash
(Samas)
Babylonian and Assyrian sun god, god of divination.
Shams
South Arabian sun goddess.
Shang Di
(Shang Ti)
Supreme god and ancestral god of ancient China.
Shango
Thunder god of the Yoruba of West Africa.
Shang Ti
See Shang Di.
Shannon
Irish river deity.
Sharruma
Hurrian god.
She Chi
Chinese earth god.
Sheila-na-gig
Celtic female demon.
Sheng Jen
Chinese Taoist 'holy beings'.
gShen-Lha-od-dkar
Tibetan Bon deity.
Shen-nong
(Shen Nung)
Chinese culture-hero. Reputedly an early emperor who taught people the art of agriculture, and was later elevated to the status of a god.
gShen-rab
Founder of the Bon religion.
Shen-T'u
Chinese guardian god.
Shen Yi
Chinese sun god. The divine archer. He represents the male principle of Yang. His wife Heng-o, the moon goddess, represents the female principle of Yin.
Shesha
Hindu king of Nagas, a serpent race.
Shiang Ti
Chinese 'supreme ruler'.
Shichi-Fukujin
Japanese seven gods of luck. They include: Benten, Bishamon, Daikoku, Ebisu, Fukurokuju, Hotei, and Jurojin.
Shih-Tien Yen-Wang
Chinese 10 rulers of otherworld.
Shi-jia-mu-ni
See Fo.
Shiko-Me
Japanese female devils.
Shimegi
Hurrian and Mitanni sun god.
Shine-Tsu-Hiko
Japanese god of the wind.
Shishupala
Evil cousin of Krishna.
Shitatera-Hime
Japanese daughter of O-Kuni-Nushi, married Ame-No-Wakahiko.
Shi-tenno
The four Japanese gods who guard the four cardinal directions. Bishamon (or Tamon) guards the north, Komoku the west, Zocho the south, and Jikoku the east.
Shiva
(Siva)
Hindu god of the cosmic dance; member of the supreme Hindu triad, with Brahma and Vishnu.
Shiwanna
Pueblo rain spirits.
Shiwini
Urartu sun goddess.
Shojo
Japanese satyr.
Shoki
Japanese: chief enemy of the oni or devils, equivalent to the Chinese Chung K'uei.
Shokpana
Another name for Sakpata.
Shoney
A Celtic sea deity recognized in Britain.
Shosshu
Abkhaz god of blacksmiths and metal-workers.
Shou-Hsing
Chinese god of longevity.
Shou Lao
(Shou Xing Lao Tou-zi)
Chinese god of long life.
Shou-Ts'ang
Chinese servant god of Kuan-Ti.
Shri
Hindu name of Lakshmi.
Shu
(Su; Greek Sos)
Primordial Egyptian god of the air and supporter of the sky. In the Heliopolitan creation myth, Shu was, with his sister Tefnut, one of the first deities created by the sun god Atum, either from his semen or from the mucus of his nostrils. Tefnut then became his consort, giving birth to the sky goddess Nut and the earth god Geb. Shu separated Geb and Nut (heaven and earth) by interposing himself between them. Depicted in human form wearing an ostrich feather (the hieroglyph for his name), with his arms raised to support the goddess Nut above the supine form of Geb.
Shui-Kuan
Chinese Taoist deity who defended men from evil.
Shurdi
Illyrian god of thunderstorms.
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