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ASMALL DICTIONARY OF GODS AND GODDESSES byD.W. Owens Copyright1994.This work may be reproducedwithout permission, in its entirety andwithout alteration, together with theother four parts which make up the entire work, for freedistribution.For any other distribution, please contact the author. CONTENTSPt.1 : Contents / Foreword / AFRICA / AZTEC / CELTIC Pt.2 : CHINA / EGYPT / GREECEPt.3 : GREECE (Continued) / JAPAN / MESOPOTAMIA / NORSE Pt.4 : NORSE / NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN / OCEANIA (PACIFIC ISLANDS ANDAUSTRALIA) 
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PT.5 : ROME / SANTERIA / SLAVIC / SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICAN INDIAN /Sources FOREWORDSome time ago, for no particular reason, I startedspending odd moments in the publiclibrary browsing through reference worksabout ancient religion.I startedtaking notes,more or less at random, about the gods and gradually accumulatedinformation aboutsome 330 pagan gods and goddesses.Not wanting all that work to go to waste, and notknowingwhat else to do with the information, I decided to make a small dictionary andplace it on several bulletin board systems, in hopes that others will find thislittle workinteresting and useful. There is no pretense of original or exhaustiveresearch here.The information isdrawnfrom popular books and standard reference works such as can be found inanylibrary.There have been manythousands of pagan deities, of course, and a trulycomplete listing of them isprobably impossible.This littlelisting of only a a few hundredgods does not pretend to be any more than arandom sampling of the riches of the paganreligious genius.Many will disagree with my choices -- why this god and not that one?Why was this pantheon ignored altogether?The answer is that the choices are almostcompletely arbitrary, beingthose gods I thought important or interesting enough to make anote of.I remind the reader that this is a little piece done in spare moments,and not amajor scholarly work. One caveat.Sourcessometimes disagree with each other, and the pagan pantheonswere quite fluid,changing all the time.One godwould split into several, or several godswould merge into one, and often onegod was considered an aspect or form of another god.The pagans borrowed deities from each other quite freely, and the variouscults wentin and out of fashion much the same way that rock groups go in andout of fashion in our own day.Withthat explanation (or excuse), I accept all blame for any truly glaring errors. Blessed be. AFRICAANANASI (Various tribes)The spider.Atrickster.A creator god.Something of ascoundrel, but quite well liked.Many amusing and fanciful stories are told of him.
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ANYIEWO(Ewe)The Great Serpent who comes out to graze after the rain.The rainbowis his reflection.BUKU(VariousWest African peoples)A sky godsometimes worshippedasagoddess.Bukucreated everything, even the other gods.DANHalsoDAN AYIDO HWEDO(Dahomey)Snake god.The Haitians knowhim as DanPetro.The Rainbow Snakewho encircles the world, Danh is often protrayed with his tail inhis mouth as asymbol of unity and wholeness.DXUI(Bushman;to the Hottentots, TSUI; to the Xhosa and Ponda, THIXO)Acreatorgod.In the beginning, Dxui took the form of a different flower orplant every day,becoming himself at night, until he had created all the plantsand flowers that exist.ESHU(Yoruba)A trickster.Ashape-shifter, Eshu can change his form at will, and caneven seem to be bothhuge and small at the same time.Eshuconfuses men and drivesthem to madness.ButEshu also knows all human tongues and acts as a go-between fomortals and thegods.GUNAB(Hottentot)The enemy of Tsui-Goab, Gunab lived under a pile of stones. Gunabkeptoverpowering Tsui-Goab, but the god grew stronger after each battle. Because hekilled so many, Gunab is sometimes identified with death.Creator of the rainbow.GUA(Gatribe of West Africa)God ofthunder, blacksmiths and farmers.Gua'stemplesare often found at blacksmith's forges.KIBUKA(Baganda)A war god sent to save the Baganda people.The king of theBaganda asked heaven for assistance in war, and Kibukawas sent to aid them.Warnednot tohave anything to do with the enemy's women, Kibuka neverthelessm made love to awoman prisoner.Unwisely, Kibukaconfided in her, and after escaping she told the enemyhow Kibuka could bekilled, by firing arrows into the cloud where he washiding.Kibukaflew off to a tall tree to die, and a temple was builtat the place where his body was found.LEZA(CentralAfrica)"The One WhoBesets."Known to a number ofpeoples, Leza isthe Supreme God who rules the sky and send wind and rain.Leza sits on the backs of allpeople, and no one ever breaks free of him.Leza is said to be growing old and so doesnot hear prayers as well as heonce did.MAWU-LISA(Ewe)The great god and goddess of the sun and moon.Lisa is the sun andMawu is the moon.MULUNGU(EastAfrica)God, the Supreme Being. The concept of a supreme being and creator is nearly universal in Africa,althoughthere are few temples to him.Thetitles which Africans have given God are wondrous intheir variety.A few of these are:Creator,Moulder, Giver of Rain and Sunshine, he WhoBrings the Seasons, He Who Thunders,Ancient of Days, the First, the Limitless, the OneWho Bends Even Kings, the OneYou Meeet Everywhere, the Firelighter, Great Mother,Greatest of Friends, theKindly One, the Providence Who Watches All Like the Sun, theGreat PoolContemporary of Everything, the Great Spider, the One Beyond All Thanks, theBowin the Sky, the Angry One, the Inexplicable. 
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