Baal Title or honorific meaning "owner", "lord" Baal (),[4][a] or Baʽal,[b] was a title and honorific meaning "owner", "lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity. From its use among people, it came to be applied to gods. Scholars previously associated the theonym with solar cults and with a variety of unrelated patron deities but inscriptions have shown that the name Ba'al was particularly associated with the storm and fertility god Hadad and his local manifestations. The Hebrew Bible includes use of the term in reference to various Levantine deities, often with application towards Hadad, who was decried as a false god. That use was taken over into Christianity and Islam, sometimes under the form Beelzebub in demonology. Etymology[edit] The feminine form is baʿalah (Hebrew: בַּעֲלָה; Arabic: بَعْلَة), meaning "mistress" in the sense of a female owner or lady of the house and still serving as a rare word for "wife". Semitic religion[edit] Generic[edit] El[edit]
Amun "Amen Ra" redirects here. For the Belgian band, see Amenra. Amun (also Amon (/ˈɑːmən/), Amen; Ancient Greek: Ἄμμων Ámmōn, Ἅμμων Hámmōn) was a major Egyptian deity. He was attested since the Old Kingdom together with his spouse Amaunet. With the 11th dynasty (c. 21st century BC), he rose to the position of patron deity of Thebes by replacing Monthu.[1] After the rebellion of Thebes against the Hyksos and with the rule of Ahmose I, Amun acquired national importance, expressed in his fusion with the Sun god, Ra, as Amun-Ra. Early history Amun rose to the position of tutelary deity of Thebes after the end of the First Intermediate Period, under the 11th dynasty. Temple at Karnak The history of Amun as the patron god of Thebes begins in the 20th century BC, with the construction of the Precinct of Amun-Re at Karnak under Senusret I. Major construction work in the Precinct of Amun-Re took place during the 18th dynasty when Thebes became the capital of the unified Ancient Egypt. New Kingdom Decline
Ahura Mazda Ahura Mazda (/əˌhʊrəˌmæzdə/;[1]), (also known as Ohrmazd, Ahuramazda, Hourmazd, Hormazd, and Hurmuz, Lord or simply as spirit) is the Avestan name for a higher spirit of the Old Iranian religion who was proclaimed as the uncreated spirit by Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism. Ahura Mazda is described as the highest spirit of worship in Zoroastrianism, along with being the first and most frequently invoked spirit in the Yasna. The literal meaning of the word Ahura means light and Mazda means wisdom. Ahura Mazda first appeared in the Achaemenid period (c. 550 – 330 BCE) under Darius I's Behistun Inscription. Until Artaxerxes II (405–04 to 359–58 BCE), Ahura Mazda was worshiped and invoked alone. Nomenclature[edit] "Mazda", or rather the Avestan stem-form Mazdā-, nominative Mazdå, reflects Proto-Iranian *Mazdāh (female). The name was rendered as Ahuramazda (Old Persian) during the Achaemenid era, Hormazd during the Parthian era, and Ohrmazd was used during the Sassanian era.
Brahma Etymology[edit] In Sanskrit grammar, the noun stem brahman forms two distinct nouns; one is a neuter noun bráhman, whose nominative singular form is brahma ब्रह्म; this noun has a generalized and abstract meaning. Contrasted to the neuter noun is the masculine noun brahmán, whose nominative singular form is brahmā ब्रह्मा. Origin[edit] According to Shri Madha Bhagawata Mahapurana, Brahmā was born through Vishnu's navel, Vishnu is the main source of whatsoever exists in the world; that is created by him of a part of his own body materials in this universe,;later he was wondered about the establishment of Mankind in the planet, hence at first he has created a lotus from his navel and from lotus Brahmā origin. Creations[edit] Head of Brahma in sandstone from the Phnom Bok in Bakheng style now in Guimet Museum in Paris. At the beginning of the process of creation, Brahmā creates the four Kumāras or the Caturṣaņa. Attributes[edit] Appearance[edit] A handcoloured engraving of Brahma. Vehicle[edit]
Ori (Yoruba) Ori is a metaphysical concept important to Yoruba spirituality and philosophy. Ori, literally meaning "head," refers to one's spiritual intuition and destiny. It is the reflective spark of human consciousness embedded into the human essence, and therefore is often personified as an Orisha in its own right . In Yoruba tradition, it is believed that human beings are able to heal themselves both spiritually and physically by working with the Orishas to achieve a balanced character, or iwa-pele. When one has a balanced character, one obtains an alignment with one's Ori or divine self. Fagbemijo Amosun Fakayode. Camara, Louis, 1996. about santeria
Brahman Not to be confused with Brahma, the Hindu god, or brahmin, the caste or varna. In Hinduism, Brahman (/ˈbrɑːmən/; Sanskrit: ब्रह्मन् brahman) is "the unchanging reality amidst and beyond the world",[1] which "cannot be exactly defined". It has been described in Sanskrit as Sat-cit-ānanda (being-consciousness-bliss) and as the highest reality.[note 1][note 2] Brahman is a Vedic Sanskrit word, and is conceptualized in Hinduism, states Paul Deussen, as the "creative principle which lies realized in the whole world".[7] Understanding the concept of Brahman[edit] An old Indian legend says that when a child asked his teacher what Brahman was, his teacher puzzled over a way to explain Brahman, and after some thought came up with this answer: "Imagine that here in front of me I have a sachet of salt, a spoon and a bowl of water, I then mix the salt into the water and let it dissolve; after some time I try and remove a spoonful of water from the bowl, a spoonful of water that does not taste salty.
Kāla (time) Head of Kala carved on top of Kidal temple portal, East Java. Kālá (Sanskrit: काल, IPA: [kɑːˈlə]) is a Sanskrit word which means "Time".[1] It is also the name of a deity in which sense it is not always distinguishable from kāla meaning "black". It often used as one of the various names or forms of Yama. Monier-Williams's widely used Sanskrit-English dictionary[2] lists two distinct words with the form kāla. kāla 1 means "black, of a dark colour, dark-blue ..." and has a feminine form ending in ī – kālī – as mentioned in Pāṇini 4-1, 42.kāla 2 means "a fixed or right point of time, a space of time, time ... destiny, fate ... death" and has a feminine form (found at the end of compounds) ending in ā, as mentioned in the ṛgveda Prātiśākhya. According to Monier-Williams, kāla 2 is from the verbal root kal "to calculate", while the root of kāla 1 is uncertain, though possibly the same. As Time personified, destroying all things, Kala is a god of death sometimes identified with Yama.
Ishtar Ishtar (English pronunciation /ˈɪʃtɑːr/; Transliteration: DIŠTAR; Akkadian: 𒀭𒈹 ; Sumerian 𒀭𒌋𒁯) is the East Semitic Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility, love, war, and sex.[1] She is the counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna, and is the cognate for the Northwest Semitic Aramean goddess Astarte. Characteristics[edit] Ishtar was the goddess of love, war, fertility, and sexuality. Ishtar was the daughter of Ninurta.[2] She was particularly worshipped in northern Mesopotamia, at the Assyrian cities of Nineveh, Ashur and Arbela (Erbil).[2] Besides the lions on her gate, her symbol is an eight-pointed star.[3] One type of depiction of Ishtar/Inanna Ishtar had many lovers; however, as Guirand notes, Descent into the underworld[edit] One of the most famous myths[5] about Ishtar describes her descent to the underworld. If thou openest not the gate to let me enter, I will break the door, I will wrench the lock, I will smash the door-posts, I will force the doors. In other media[edit]
The Dagda Description[edit] Despite his great power and prestige, the Dagda is sometimes depicted as oafish and crude, even comical, wearing a short, rough tunic that barely covers his rump, dragging his great penis on the ground.[1] Such features are thought to be the additions of Christian redactors for comedic purposes. Tellingly, the Middle Irish language Coir Anmann (The Fitness of Names) paints a less clownish picture: "He was a beautiful god of the heathens, for the Tuatha Dé Danann worshipped him: for he was an earth-god to them because of the greatness of his (magical) power."[2] The Dagda had an affair with Bóand, wife of Elcmar. Whilst Aengus was away the Dagda shared out his land among his children, but Aengus returned to discover that nothing had been saved for him. The Dagda was also the father of Bodb Dearg, Cermait, Midir, Aine, and Brigit. Etymology[edit] See also[edit] References[edit] Further reading[edit] Bergin, Osborn (1927).
Heh (god) In Egyptian mythology, Heh (also Huh, Hah, Hauh, Huah, Hahuh) was the deification of infinity or eternity in the Ogdoad, his name itself meaning "endlessness". His female counterpart was known as Hauhet, which is simply the feminine form of his name. Like the other concepts in the Ogdoad, his male form was often depicted as a frog, or a frog-headed human, and his female form as a snake or snake-headed human. The other common representation depicts him crouching, holding a palm stem in each hand (or just one), sometimes with a palm stem in his hair, as palm stems represented long life to the Egyptians, the years being represented by notches on it. Depictions of this form also had a shen ring at the base of each palm stem, which represented infinity. Depictions of Huh were also used in hieroglyphs to represent one million, which was essentially considered equivalent to infinity in Egyptian mathematics. Heh Renpet