Guide to the Gods 1.0
Si... to Sz...
Si
Moon god of Peruvian Chimu Empire.
Sia
See Hu.
Siannon
(Shannon)
Celtic goddess of the river Shannon.
Sibu
Supreme being of Central American peoples.
Sida
(Sido)
Culture hero and fertility god of the Torres Islanders of Melanesia. He taught people language and the uses of plants.
Sidhe
The hill people of ancient Ireland. They were believed to be the spirits of the dead.
Sido
See Sida.
Sien-Tsan
Chinese goddess of silk culture.
Sif
Nordic goddess wife of Thor.
Sigyn
Norse goddess, wife of Loki.
Sihai
See Sirao.
Siho I Salo
A demon from the Solomon Islands.
Sila
(Silma inua)
Eskimo divine ruler of the universe.
Sileni
Greek woodland gods or spirits. Similar to the Satyrs (qv), except that they were sometimes said to be half horse, whereas the Satyrs were half goat. The Sileni tended to be depicted as lechers and drunkards, often bald-headed and pot-bellied.
Silenos
(Silenus)
Minor Greek woodland god. Son of Hermes and Gaia, or of Pan. King of Nysa, and the teacher of Dionysos. One of the Sileni, half-man and either half-horse or half-goat. He was a talented musician.
Silewe Nazarata
Goddess of island of Nias in Indonesia.
Siltim
A malevolent demon of the forests in Zoroastrianism.
Silvanus
Roman god of woodlands and of the countryside in general. He may have developed from the Etruscan god Selvans. He was usually depicted as a rustic peasant. Silvanus had no official cult, but was very popular among the common people, who typically worshipped him in a sacred grove or tree.
Simbi
Benevolent Voodoo patron of the rains and of magicians.
Simigi
Hurrian sun-god.
Simurgh
See Senmurw.
Sin (1)
(Suen, Old Assyrian Suen)
Babylonian moon god.
Sin (2)
Chief god of the Hadramut of pre-Islamic south Arabia.
Sina
(Hina, Ina)
Polynesian moon goddess. Sister of the sun god Maui.
Singbonga
Chief god of the Mundas in eastern India.
Siofn
Norse goddess.
Sipe Gyalmo
Tibetan Bon goddess.
Sirao
First of the gods on Nias in Indonesia.
Sirens
Hybrid creatures in Greek mythology who were half bird and half woman. In Homer, there were two Sirens on an island in the western Mediterranean. Their number later increased to three or more. The names most commonly given are Parthenope, Ligeia and Leucosia. They were said to be the daughters either of the sea god Phorkys or of the river god Acheloos. They were depicted in Greek art either as birds with the heads of women, or as winged women with bird legs.
They were known for luring sailors to their island with their bewitching song, where their victims starved to death. Odysseus managed to escape them by having his men stop up their ears and tie him to the mast of his boat. When the Argonauts had to pass them, Orpheus sang a song that was even more enchanting than theirs, so that the sailors paid no attention to them.
Sirona
(Dirona)
Continental Celtic goddess of the Mosel Valley.
Sisiutl
Snake-spirit of the water on Pacific coast of North America.
Sita
"The Furrow". In Vedic myth, the wife of Rama who was kidnapped by Ravana.
Sitala
Bengali goddess of smallpox.
Sius
Hittite sky-god and sun-god.
Siva
See Shiva.
Sivri
The seagull, Australian totemic deity.
Siwini
Urartian sun-god.
Skadi
Nordic wife of Njord.
Skan
Sky god and creator of the North American Sioux.
Skanda
An alternative name of Kartikeya, the Hindu god of war.
Skuld
One of the Norns of Nordic myth.
Skylla
(Latin Scylla)
Greek monster.
Smertrios
War-like deity of Gauls.
So
Ewe god of thunder and lightning.
Sobek
(Greek Suchos)
Egyptian crocodile god. Sobek symbolized the might of the Egyptian pharaohs. Son of Neith. Depicted as a crocodile or in human form with the head of a crocodile, crowned either by a pair of plumes or sometimes by a combination of the solar disk and the uraeus (cobra). His cult was widespread, although the Faiyum was particularly noted as a center of his worship, where one of the towns came to be called 'Crocodilopolis' by the Greeks. Kom Ombo (north of modern Aswan) and Thebes in Upper Egypt later became centers of his cult as well.
Sokar
(Seker; Greek Socharis, Sokaris) Egyptian funerary god of the Memphis necropolis. Depicted in human form with a hawk's head. As early as the Old Kingdom, Sokar came to be regarded as a manifestation of the dead Osiris at Abydos in Upper Egypt. Also in the Old Kingdom, he came to be syncretized with Ptah as Ptah-Sokar, in which form he took the lioness goddess Sakhmet as his consort. In the Middle Kingdom, the three were sometimes merged in the form Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. Sokar was associated with the manufacture of various objects used in embalming and in funerary rituals. He became a god of the craftsmen working in the necropolis at Memphis and ultimately a patron deity of the necropolis itself. He also played a prominent role at Thebes where he was depicted on the royal tombs. An important annual festival was held in his honour at Thebes. The festival celebrated the resurrection of Osiris in the form of Sokar and the continuity of the Egyptian monarchy. At this festival his image was carried in an elaborate boat known as the 'henu'.
Soko-No-Kuni
Japanese underworld or hell.
Sol (1)
"Sun". Roman sun god. Equated with the Greek Helios. Under the name of Sol Indiges ("the indigenous Sol"), he had a temple on the Quirinal hill in Rome. During the period of the Empire, the worship of Syrian sun deities were incorporated in a new Sol Invictus ("the unconquered Sol"). The emperor Elagabalus (AD 218- 222) built a temple to him on the Palatine hill. Sol came to be worshipped as the protector of the emperors. The festival of Sol Indiges was observed on August 9.
Sol (2)
Norse sun goddess. She was the sister of Mani.
Solang
Micronesian god of carpenters.
Soma
Hindu moon god.
Somnus
(Somnos)
Roman god of sleep. Equated with the Greek Hypnos.
Somtus
(Harsomtus)
Egyptian god of Dendara.
Sopedu
(Sopdu)
Egyptian god of the eastern frontier. Depicted either in the form of a falcon or as a Bedouin crowned with tall plumes. Sopedu was the god of the eastern desert, of the Sinai peninsula and of the turquoise mines in the Sinai. In the Pyramid Texts he took on an astral aspect, impregnating Isis in her manifestation as the star Sirius, whose appearance in July heralded the annual inundation of the Nile. Isis subsequently gave birth to the composite deity Sopedu-Horus. His primary cult center was at Saft el-Henna in the north-eastern Nile delta.
Sophia-Prunikos
A Gnostic Aeon.
Sors
Roman god of luck.
Sosondowah
Iroquois great hunter.
Sothis
(Greek form; Egyptian Sopdet)
Egyptian goddess who personified the Dog Star, Sirius. The appearance of Sirius at dawn in July (the 'heliacal rising') heralded the annual inundation of the Nile. She naturally became associated with the fertility and prosperity resulting from the annual floods. Depicted in human form wearing the tall conical white crown of Upper Egypt surmounted by a star. In a fourth century BC papyrus, Isis identifies herself with Sothis as she laments the death of Osiris and vows to follow him in his manifestation as the constellation Orion.
Spandarmet
Armenian earth-goddess.
Spenta Armaiti
Iranian earth-god.
Spenta Mainyu
(Spenak Menoi)
Iranian adversary of Angra Mainyu. One of the Amesha Spentas of Zoroastrianism.
Spes
"Hope". Roman goddess of hope. Also a goddess of gardens.
Spider Woman
Navaho spirit who taught the Twin War Gods how to overcome the dangers on their journey to their father, the Sun.
Spirit-Father
One of the Gnostic perceptions of God.
Srahman
An Ashanti dryad; wife of Sasabonsum.
Sraosha
(Sraosa, Sros)
Iranian being associated with the Amesa Spentas.
Srat
West Slav domestic demon.
Sri
In the Hindu Vedas, a name by which Lakshmi is sometimes known. She was the wife of Vishnu.
Sri
Tibetan Bon demonic beings.
Sridevi
Terrifying goddess of Tibetan Lamaism.
Ssu Ling
Chinese 4 spiritual creatures.
Ssu Ming
Chinese god of life and death.
Ssu Ta T'ien Wang
Four Buddhist Lokapalas, later kings of heaven.
Stheno
One of the Greek Gorgons. Daughter of Phorkys and Ceto. Her sisters were the Graii and her fellow Gorgons, Medusa and Euryale.
Stihi
Albanian female demon.
Stone Giants
Iroquois and Huron monster-gods.
Strenua
Roman goddess of strength and vigour.
Stribog
East Slavonic god of the winds.
Striges
(Strigae)
Roman bird-like demons. Descendants of the Harpies, they preyed on children.
Styx
"Hateful". Greek goddess of the underworld river of the same name. According to Hesiod, she is the daughter of Okeanos and Tethys. Mother of Nike, Bia, Kratos and Zelos by the Titan Hyperion. When the gods swore their most solemn oaths, they drank water drawn from the Styx.
Su
See Shu.
Suada
Roman goddess of persuasion.
Suaixtix
Prussian sun-god.
Succubus
Female demon which preys on men in their sleep.
Sucellus
(Sucellos)
Gallic syncretic god. He appears to have been a god of fertility, as well as a god of the dead. The hammer was a common attribute of Sucellus.
Suchos
See Sobek.
Sud
Akkadian grain goddess.
Suduk
Ugaritic "righteousness".
Suen
Sumerian moon god.
Sugaar
Basque snake-like spirit.
Sui-Jen
1 of 3 Emperors in Chinese myth.
Suitengu
Japanese child god of the sea.
Sukuna-bikona
(Suku-na-biko)
Japanese dwarf god. He was associated with hot springs and healing. Son of the goddess Kami-Musubi.
Sul
(Sulla)
Celtic British goddess of hot springs, especially at Bath (Aquae Sulis).
Sulmanu
Assyrian god of war and the underworld.
Sulpa'e
Mesopotamian god of planet Jupiter.
Sumbharaja
Buddhist Krodhadevata.
Summanus
(Summamus)
Etruscan god of lightning.
Sung-Chiang
Chinese god of thieves.
Sun Hou-Tzu
Chinese monkey god.
Sun Hou-zi
Chinese divine ape.
Sun-Pin
Chinese god of cobblers.
Supai
(Supay)
Inca god of death and lord of the Incan underworld.
Suparsva
Seventh Tirthamkara of Jainism.
Sura
Vedic goddess of wine.
Surt
(Surtr)
Norse fire giant, opponent of the gods.
Surya
Hindu sun god, particularly prominent in the Vedas. He was one of the twelve Adityas.
Susanowo
(Susanoo, Susa-no-wo)
Japanese god of the sea and storms. He was the son of Izanagi and Izanami, and the brother of the sun goddess Amaterasu, who became his consort.
Sus'sistinnako
The creator god of the Sia people of New Mexico. He created the first people by singing and accompanying himself on a harp.
Sutekh
(Sut)
A Hittite and Hurrian weather god.
Suwa
A pre-Islamic Arabian sun goddess.
Svantevit
(Svantoveit, Svantovitus)
A Slavonic god of war worshipped on the island of Rugen in the Baltic. He was also a god of agriculture. Saxo Grammaticus relates that he had four heads and that his attributes included a cornucopia and a white horse.
Svarog
Slavonic god of the sky.
Syen
Household guardian spirits in south Slavonic myth.
Syrinx
An Arcadian nymph or Hamadryad who turned herself into a reed to escape the advances of Pan (qv).
Retour