Anubis is the Egyptian jackal-headed God of protection and the dead.
He also accompanies Isis.
Anubis had three important functions. He supervised the embalming of
bodies. He received the mummy into the tomb and performed the Opening
of the Mouth ceremony and then conducted the soul in the Field of
Celestial Offerings. Most importantly though, Anubis monitored the
Scales of Truth to protect the dead from deception and eternal death.
Anubis was the son of Nephthys and his father was Osiris. One myth
says that Nephthys got Osiris drunk and seduced him, another says she
disguised herself to look like Isis, but whichever it was, the result
from that seduction was Anubis. Some believe him to be the son of
Seth, and was later adopted by Isis, although this view was not as
popular.
Apollo is the Greek and Roman God of the Sun, music (especially the
lyre), poetry, and medicine. He was also the twin brother of Artemis.
His great love was a nymph Daphne. Cupid struck Apollo with the arrow
of love and Daphne with the arrow of independence, she did not want to
love or be loved, it was abhorrent to her. He pursued her and she ran
from him in fear and loathing. She cried out to be released from this
and scarcely had she spoken, she turned into a laurel tree right in
front of Apollo. He said that because she could not be his wife, she
would be his tree.
The Great Baal was of Canaan. Depending on which version you read, He
was the son of El, the high god of Canaan or Dagan/Dagnu, Himself a
god of agriculture and storms, and not actually a son of El.
He is an obscure deity linked by the Hebrews with the Philistine city
of Ashdod. Dagon was perhaps associated with the sea, as a coin found
in the vicinity portrays a god having a fish tail.
While the word "ba`al" means simply "master" or "owner," He is
considered a prince. Among His other names are Rider of the Clouds,
Prince, Thunderer, and Master of the Earth. Ba`al is an executive
force, dynamic, and able to accomplish what He sets out to do. Ba`al
is often depicted striding forward, wearing a horned helmet and short
wrap kilt, carrying a mace and spear or lightning-bolt staff.
The worship of the god or gods of Baal extends back to the 14th
century BCE among the ancient Semitic peoples, the descendants of
Shem, the oldest son of Biblical Noah. Thus, people speaking the same
or similar languages first worshiped Baal in his many forms. In
ancient religions the name denoted sun, lord, or god. Baal was also a
common name of smaller deities.
Ba`al is the god most actively worshipped in Canaan and Phoenicia, the
Storm God, source of the winter rain storms, spring mist, and summer
dew which nourish the crops. Therefore He is considered responsible
for the growth of vegetation, and for the maintenance of life. But, He
is NOT a god of vegetation, more like fertility.
The cult of Baal celebrated annually his death and resurrection as a
part of the Canaanite fertility rituals. These ceremonies often
included human sacrifice and temple prostitution.
Baal is still principally thought of as a Canaanite fertility deity.
Remnants of His worship survive in the Jewish prayerbook in late
spring prayers for dew and late fall prayers for rain.
So little information remains now outside of the Bible. And less than
a handful of secondary and tertiary Greek sources (Lucian of
Samosata's De Syria Dea (The Syrian Goddess), fragments of the
Phoenician History of Philo of Byblos, and the writings of Damasacus)
remain to describe the beliefs of the people of the area.
Brahma is the Hindu God of creation. He is part of a trinity, but is
not considered as important as the other 2 (Mahesh and Vishnu). When
he is needed to create another universe he floats in on a lotus
blossom from Vishnu's navel. His name is not mentioned in the Vedas or
the Brahmanas but is mentioned as the Golden Embryo of active creation.
He has 4 heads and 4 arms, although myth has it he had 5. Originally
he had just 1 head, but he cut a part of his own body and created a
woman named Satrupa or Saraswati. She was so beautiful that he fell in
love with her and could not take his eyes off her. She, being shy,
tried to turn away but he created more heads in order to see her from
every direction. The 5th head is said to have been taken off by Shiva
when Brahma spoke disrespectfully about him. He is usually shown as a
bearded, older man.
Cernunnos or Kernunnos is the horned God of the Celts,
sometimes called the Horned One or Green Man, and is born at Winter
Solstice. He is considered the universal father. He is the God of
fertility, life, animals, wealth, the underworld (death) and rebirth.
He looks like a man that has stag antlers on his head. His consort is
the Lady of whom he is also born. His symbol includes a ram-headed
serpent.
Dionysus is the Greek God of wine, life force, agriculture, and wild
instincts. His counterpart is Bacchus. His name means twice born and
there are 2 versions of this story. In one, he is the child of Zeus
and a mortal woman, who gets killed while she is still pregnant with
him. He is rescued and is born out of Zeus' thigh. The other one is he
is born of Zeus and Persephone and when he was just a tiny tot was
lured to his death and all was destroyed but his heart which was
rescued, then Zeus remade Dionysus from his heart.
He was also a mean, angry God who destroyed anyone who dared oppose him.
Eros was the god of love and sexual attraction in Greek mythology. His
counterpart is Cupid of Roman mythology. The word "erotic" is derived
from his name. Some say he is the child of Chaos and the Underworld
but another version calls him the son of Aphrodite. It is said that he
represented all of the pain and misery that could be brought about by
love and desire. He is usually seen as a baby or small young man with
wings and carries a bow and arrow.
Ganesha is a Hindu God that has an elephant head, a huge pot belly,
and has 4 hands. He presides over wisdom, wealth, and overcoming
obstacles. He rides on a small rat.
Geb is the God of the Earth. He is often depicted as holding up the
sky (his wife Nut) by lying propped on one elbow and a knee pointed to
the sky. This is said to represent mountains and valleys of the Earth.
He either has a goose on his head, or may at times be seen as a goose.
Hades was the Greek God of the underworld, dead, and wealth. He is the
son of Cronus and Rhea and his brothers are Zeus and Poseidon.
He was the one who abducted Persephone and made her his wife, although
she is allowed to come to her mother Demeter for several months of the
year.
Of all the gods, Hades is the one who is liked the least and even the
gods themselves have an aversion of him. People avoided speaking his
name lest they attracted his unwanted attention. But, he is not the
God of death.
He is seen as a mature man sitting on a throne. He has a helmet than
can make him invisible.
Hanuman is the Hindu winged-monkey God. He praises and sings the name
of Sri Rama and has great strength, courage, and learned all the
scriptures in just 60 hours from his mentor Surya, the Sun God. He was
a bit mischievous and could grow and expand his size at will.
Helios is the young Greek god of the sun, rides through the sky in a
four-horse chariot drawn by winged horses.. He is the son of the
Titans Hyperion and Theia and brother of Eos (Dawn) and Selene (Moon).
By the Oceanid Perse, he became the father of Aeetes, Circe, and
Pasiphae. His other two daughters are Phaethusa ("radiant") and
Lampetia ("shining").
At the end of each night his sister Eos (Dawn), rises in the east and,
mounted on a chariot pulled by the horses Lampus and Phaethon, she
rides to Olympus to announce the approach of her brother, Helios. Once
Helios appears Eos becomes Hemera (Day) and escorts him on his travels
across the sky until, becoming Hespera, she announces their safe
arrival on the western shores of Oceanus.
Helios sees and knows all that happens on earth.
Represented as a handsome youth with a halo standing in a chariot, his
usual attributes are the rooster, the whip, and the globe.
Hermes is the Greek God of communication (messenger of the
Gods), thought, and travel. He also guides the dead to the underworld.
He is also the one who brings dreams to mortals.
His Roman name is Mercury.
Hermes was born to Maia after one night of pregnancy by Zeus.
The offspring of Hermes are believed to be Pan, Abderus and
Hermaphroditus. Hermes as with the other gods had numerous affairs
with goddesses, nymphs and mortals and in some legends even sheep and
goats.
Herne is the Celtic God of the Underworld. Some consider him to be
Cernunnos because he is also the God of the hunt, the Horned God (with
antlers of a stag).
In English folklore, Herne The Hunter is the spirit of a hunter which
guards travellers through Windsor Great Park. Herne was prominent in
the tales of Robin Hood, although Windsor Great Park is nowhere near
Sherwood Forest.
I wasn't able to find out more than this.
In Egyptian myth, Horus was conceived by Isis after the death of his
father, Osiris. The avenger of his father's murder and the model of a
dutiful son. He is the solar God and the avenger of evil.
He is depicted as a man with the head of a hawk (falcon) with the sun
as his right eye and the moon as the left.
Horus was so important to the state religion that Pharaohs were
considered his human manifestation and even took on the name Horus.
He is the Patron of the living Pharaoh, rulers, law, war, young men,
light, the sun, many others.
The Eye of Horus symbol can be quite readily shown to have been
inspired by the Eye of God or Eye in the Sky that manifests in the
heavens above our planet Earth during most if not all total eclipses
of the sun. Horus was evidently inspired by the "winged disk" or the
"Bird of the Sun" that is readily perceivable within the sun's corona
during those total eclipses of the sun in which the streamers of the
sun's corona are concentrated into the sun's equatorial regions and
thus appear very much like a bird's wings spreading out on either side
of the so-called "black sun" that is formed by the dark circle of the
occulting disk of the moon.
It is a powerful symbol of protection, and is also considered to
confer wisdom, health and prosperity. The symbol is also on American
money.
Indra was the Hindu God of war, thunder, and storms. He was the
defender of gods and mankind against the forces of evil. His name
means strong and he is depicted as the form of a golden or red man and
carries a thunderbolt or lightening bolt. Smmetimes he rides a white
elephant.
His parents were the sky god Dyaus Pita and the earth goddess Prthivi;
he was born fully grown and fully armed (4 arms) from his mother's
side. His wife was Indrani, and his attendants were called the Maruts.
His sons are named as Jayanta, Midhusa, Nilambara, Rbhus, Rsabha,
Sitragupta, and, most importantly, Arjuna.
In Brahamanic and later times, Indra slowly lost much of his grandeur.
He was supplanted by Vishnu and Shiva as the most important of gods.
Indra eventually was given the role of weather god and lord of the
lesser gods.
Janus was the Roman God of gates, doors, beginnings. His name is the
basis for January, although it was spelled Ianuarius in Roman.
He is often depicted with two faces due to the thought that doors and
gates look in two directions. In this way, one of his faces could look
forward, while the other looked backward. Janus was worshipped at the
beginnings of the harvest and planting times, as well as marriages,
births, and other beginnings. Although, since he also looked backward,
it could be he represented both beginnings and endings.
Jupiter is the Roman God of the sky and weather, and guardian of all
property, oaths,treaties, and laws and is King of the Gods. His
counterpart is Zeus. His English name is Jove. He is a son of Saturn
and brother of Neptune and Juno (who is also his wife). He was not a
faithful husband to his wife Juno and they did not have a happy marriage.
His sacred animal is the eagle. The planet that bears the name
Jupiter, does so because it is the largest and most majestic planet.
Krishna is, according to Hindu traditions the eighth avatar or
incarnation of Vishnu. He is considered to be the source of all
incarnations. He is the Supreme Lord of Hinduism (internally known as
Sanatana-dharma, or eternal dharma) and has many names. He was
described as black or dark skinned, but after 19th century he was
described as blue-skinned; he is eternally youthful. He has 4 arms.
Krishna was known for his amazing flute playing.
According to legend Krishna was not only divine, but heroic as well.
He is said to have defeated numerous dragons and monsters, and
eventually as predicted, killed his half-uncle the tyrannical demon
king Kamsa.
Most modern scholars think Krishna and his brother Balarama represent
the ancient heroes of the non-Aryan tradition that were adopted at a
late date into the Hindu pantheon.
Maitreya is the coming Buddha. He has been expected for generations by
all of the major religions. Christians know him as the Christ, and
expect his imminent return. Jews await him as the Messiah; Hindus look
for the coming of Krishna; Buddhists expect him as Maitreya Buddha;
and Muslims anticipate the Imam Mahdi or Messiah. Though these names
are different, many believe he is the one and the same; the World Teacher.
Mars (Ares- Greek) is the Roman God of War and agriculture. Mars was
the son of Juno.
He was the father of Romulus and Remus, the mythical founders of Rome.
Mars raped the vestal virgin Rhea Silvia while she slept, she gave
birth to twins called Romulus and Remus. Rhea was imprisoned because
of the sacred laws of her vows, and her sons were left in baskets on
the river. They were brought up by wolves and eventually founded Rome.
Mars was often depicted riding a two-horse chariot, with a spear and a
shield.
Mars was invoked for battle and all things associated with war. For
obvious reasons he was a favorite among soldiers in the Roman army.
His sacred animals are the wolf, woodpecker, and vulture.
Mercury (Hermes) is the Roman God of communication, the divine
messenger. He is also associated with thought and travel.
Mithra is the Persian (Iranian) Sun God and bringer of Light,
friendships, and contracts, and maintainer of cosmic order.
He is portrayed as having ten thousand ears and eyes, and he rides in
a chariot pulled by white horses. In the 4 century BCE his popularity
rose and again he held a high position in the Persian pantheon.
Eventually his cult spread beyond Iran and Asia Minor and gradually
became a mystery cult. The ascetic religion of Mithraism (to which
only men were allowed) became increasingly popular among the Roman
soldiers around 100 CE, but after the year 312 Mithraism started to decline and eventually disappeared.
Neptune is the Roman God of water and the seas. He is described identically to Poseidon.
Odin is the Scandinavian counterpart of Freya, the God of second sight
(psychic), and wisdom.
In Norse mythology, Odin was a one-eyed god, the wisest of the Aesirs
and their leader, displacing Thor. Odin was also a god of the dead. He
helped to slay Ymir. Odin was accompanied by two ravens named Hugin
(thought) and Munin (memory)who informed him of the doings of everyone
including the Gods, giants, dwarves, and men. He lost his eye in
exchange for a drink from a sacred well full of knowledge and learned
songs and runes by hanging onto Yggdrasil for nine days.
According to the myth of the Norsemen at the end of that present
world, an unavoidable great battle among gods, giants, and men would
take place bringing the destruction of the world. The name of this
battle was Ragnarok. Only two beings would survive from the battle,
Lif (life) and Lifthrasir(eager for life), who would bring the hope of
a better world. At Ragnarok, Odin was swallowed by an enormous wolf
that lived in the land of the gods.
Odin is also known as Woden among the Teutons.
Ogma is the Celtic God of eloquence and learning, language and
inspiration.
He is the son of the Goddess Danu and the God Dagda, and one of the
foremost members of the Tuatha D Danann. He is the reputed inventor
of the ancient Ogham alphabet which is used in the earliest Irish
writings.
He is also credited with the invention of ogham, the (Druidic)
alphabet native to Ireland which subsequently spread to Scotland, the
Isle of Man, and those lands which would become Devonshire, Hampshire,
and South Wales.
He wears animal skins and golden chains pour out of his mouth.
Osiris is the Egyptian God of fertility and resurrection, civilization
and agriculture.
He was married to Isis and ruled over Egypty, but he also wanted to
teach the rest of the world about civility and so he went off to
follow his dream, leaving Isis in charge. Seth (Osiris' brother) and
quite a few others (I've read about 72) wanted to kill Osiris so that
Seth could take over the throne and have Isis for himself. Their plot
was successful and Osiris died and Seth who cast his body into the
floodwaters of the Nile. Isis sought and found the body of her
husband, and with her own magical powers, (assisted by Thoth,
Nephthys, Ambis), restored Osiris to life. But Osiris already belonged
to the world of the dead, though after his resurrection he could have
resumed the throne. It is thought he preferred to maintain his kingdom
in the land of the dead, leaving his earthly vindication in the hands
of his son Horus, whom Isis conceived after bringing Osiris back to life.
Pan is the Greek God of nature and the woods, wild places and things,
shepherds, passion, and music. He is portrayed as half man (upper
body) with the horns of a goat- and half goat (lower body). He plays
the panpipes.
Pan, like other gods who dwelt in forests, was dreaded by those whose
occupations caused them to pass through the woods by night, for the
gloom and loneliness of such scenes dispose the mind to superstitious
fears. Hence sudden fright without any visible cause was ascribed to
Pan, and called a Panic terror.
As the name of the god signifies all, Pan came to be considered a
symbol of the universe and personification of Nature; and later still
to be regarded as a representation of all the Gods of Paganism itself.
Pluto is the Roman God of the underworld, the dead, and of wealth. He
is described in the same way as Hades. After the overthrow of Kronos
the universe was divided. Zeus took the sky, Poseidon the sea, and
Hades the underworld, realm of the shades. Here ran the River Styx,
over which the dead had to cross.
His kingdom kept growing with the souls of the newly dead. They were
escorted by Hermes to the boatman Charon on the River Styx, and
prevented from returning by Cerberus, the three-headed dog.
Hades was not regarded as an evil god, but he was grim and implacable,
and worshippers averted their eyes from his image when making
sacrifice. In order not to draw attention to his role as king of the
dead, he was referred to obliquely by the name of Pluto (giver of wealth).
Astrologically, Pluto signifies the transformation which may be found
in renewal. Much as death is a process of renewal of the spirit,
Pluto's role is to destroy and rebuild.
Poseidon is the Greek God of all waters (fresh and salt).
He is a Son of Kronos and Rheia, brother of Zeus, Hades, Hestia,
Demeter and Hera. Poseidon is one of the six original Olympians. His
mission was to give voice to the earth and was commonly called the
earth shaker and the earth encircler in The Iliad and The Odyssey of
Homer. He pounds and shakes the earth and sea with his wrath and
pleasure and answers to no one, except Zeus. His counterpart is Neptune.
He rides a chariot drawn by dolphins, but his favorite animal is the
horse, which he created for a contest held between himself and Athene.
Ptah is an Egyptian creator God who brought all things to being by
thinking of them with his mind and saying their names with his tongue.
He was unique amongst Egyptian creation gods in that his methods were
intellectual, rather than physical. According to the priests of
Memphis, everything is the work of Ptah's heart and tongue: gods are
born, towns are founded, and order is maintained.
Ptah was also the patron god of skilled craftsmen and architects.
His wife was the lioness-goddess Sekhmet, and his children were
Imhotep Mihos, Nefertem.
Ptah is depicted as a bearded man wearing a skullcap and shrouded as a
mummy. His hands emerge from wrappings in front of his body and hold
the was sceptre, an ankh (hieroglyph meaning "Life") and a Djed (sign
of stability).
Ra, Re is the Egyptian Sun God. It is said that as the sun moves across
the sky it is Ra traveling on his chariot. He has the head of a falcon
and the body of a man. At night, he is said to journey through the
underworld and his head then takes the form of a ram. The sun itself
was taken to be either his body or his eye (the 'Eye of Ra'). He took
on many forms, each depending on where he was. Usually Ra was
portrayed with a hawk head, wearing a fiery disk like the Sun on his
head. Surrounding the disk was a cobra-goddess, representing his power
to bring death. In the Underworld, the god took the form of a
ram-head. In this form, Ra even had power over Osiris, ruler of the
Underworld.
According to the Egyptian account of creation, only the ocean existed
at first. Then Ra, the sun, came out of an egg (a flower, in some
versions) that appeared on the surface of the water. Ra brought forth
four children, the gods Shu and Geb and the goddesses Tefnut and Nut.
Shu and Tefnut became the atmosphere. They stood on Geb, who became
the earth, and raised up Nut, who became the sky. Ra ruled over all.
Ra was said to have created humankind from his own tears.
From the fifth Dynasty onwards he becomes a national God and is
combined with the supreme deity Amon.
Shiva is the third form of the Hindu God as the Destroyer, one of the
trimurti (popularly called the "Hindu trinity"). In the trimurti,
Shiva is the destroyer, while Brahma and Vishnu are creator and
preserver, respectively. However, even though He represents
destruction, He is viewed as a positive force (The Destroyer of Evil),
since creation follows destruction. According to the Bhagavata Purana,
Lord Shiva appeared from the forehead of Lord Brahma. When Lord Brahma
asked his sons the four kaumaras to go forth and create progeny in the
universe, they refused. This angered Lord Brahma and in his anger a
crying child appeared from his forehead
Shiva is not limited to the personal characteristics he is given in
many images and can transcend all attributes. Hence, Shiva is often
worshipped in an abstract manner, as God without form, in the form of
linga or mark. Linga is also the word for gender, as in pursha-linga,
sexual organs, and penis. The linga is a phallic symbol, and
represents the fertility of Nature.
Hindus believe that if we can hear the voice of God in the way
Judaeo-Christian religions believe that God communicates, then it is
not neccessarily wrong to view a form of God so long as it is
recognized that God is not limited to a particular form.
Thor is the Norse god of thunder, thunderstorms, and the life force.
He is a son of Odin and Jord, and one of the most powerful gods. He is
married to Sif, a fertility goddess. His mistress is the giantess
Jarnsaxa ("iron cutlass"), and their sons are Magni and Modi and his
daughter is Thrud.
Thor was usually portrayed as a large, powerful man with a red beard
and eyes of lighting. In his hands he carries a hammer. Despite his
ferocious appearance, he was very popular as the protector of both
gods and humans against the forces of evil. He even surpassed his
father Odin in popularity because, contrary to Odin, he did not
require human sacrifices. During a thunderstorm, the Norse believe
Thor (who is riding in a chariot drawn by 2 goats) throws his hammer
which results in lightning.
Thoth was the wisest of the Egyptian Gods. Thoth was usually depicted
with the head of an Ibis or with the face of a dog-headed baboon and
the body of a man or, again, as a full dog-headed baboon. The name
Thoth means 'Truth' and 'Time'.
He was the Scribe who wrote the story of our Reality
then placed it into grids for us to experience and learn. Thoth was
the Demi-Urge who created everything from sound.
Thoth supposedly overcame the curse of Ra, allowing Nut to give birth
to her five children, with his skill at games. It was he who helped
Isis work the ritual to bring Osiris back from the dead, and who drove
the magical poison of Set from her son, Horus with the power of his magic.
The magical powers of Thoth were so great, that the Egyptians had
tales of a 'Book of Thoth', which would allow a person who read the
sacred book to become the most powerful magician in the world. The
Book which "the god of wisdom wrote with his own hand" was, though, a
deadly book that brought nothing but pain and tragedy to those that
read it, despite finding out about the "secrets of the gods
themselves" and "all that is hidden in the stars".
Ancient Egyptians believed that before the dead could enter the
Afterworld, their hearts were weighed against Maat's feather of truth
to determine whether they had led good and honest lives. In his role
as scribe, Thoth recorded the results of each judgment.
Vishnu is regarded as a major God in Hinduism and Indian mythology. He
is thought as the preserver of the universe while two other major
Hindu Gods Brahma and Shiva, are regarded respectively as the creator
and destroyer of the universe. Vishnu is portrayed as blue or black
shinned and has four arms which hold a club, a shell, a disk, and a
lotus. He has a thousand names and their repetition is an act of devotion.
Vaishnavism believes that their God Vishnu incarnates periodically for
the establishment of righteousness, protection of good and destruction
of evil. The concept of Vishnu being the preserver of the world came
relatively late in Hinduism. Presumedly it sprang from two other
beliefs: that men attain salvation by faithfully following
predetermined paths of duty, and that powers of good and evil (gods
and demons) are in contention for domination over the world. When
these powers are upset Vishnu, it is further believed, descends to
earth, or his avatar, to equalized the powers. Further it is thought
that ten such incarnations or reincarnations of Vishnu will occur.
Nine descents are said to have already occurred, the tenth is yet to
come. Krishna and Buddha were the eighth and ninth incarnations.
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