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Lots And Lots Of Gods
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- W’amurreti-kwonci:
Our tongue gives Him no proper name, but titles more than
one;
We call Him "Dweller in the Height," since there He sits
alone.
The "Great Our Father," though to Him for comfort none have
gone,
And of "Our Maker" oft we speak, but never call upon.
That Mighty Maker all things formed; 'tis He that made them
move;
And food for all things He bestows, which seems a proof of
love.
But calm He sits above the sky,
To Him for succour none can fly,
He is so high above! The Arawaks, Guiana
- Waaq, the supreme and universal deity who the universe with
opposing but complementary and interdependent forces such as
night and day, young and old, in fine balance. Oromo. East
Africa
- Waaq, the sound of the crow, which according to legend was an
object of worship among ancient Somalis.
- Wabun. Son of Mudjekeewis, East—Wind, the Native
American Apollo. Young and beautiful,
he chases Darkness with his arrows over hill and valley, wakes
the villager, calls the Thunder, and brings the Morning. He
married Wabun—Annung, and transplanted her to heaven, where
she became the Morning Star. Hiawatha
- Wabung Annung, the Morning Star. She was a country maiden
wooed and won by Wabun, the Native American Apollo, who
transplanted her to the skies. Hiawatha
- Wa cinaci. Our Father who art in heaven. The supreme being of
the Arawak. Guiana
- Wachilt, goddess of the sea who rose from the depths and
halted the ship of King Vilkinus of Norway, proclaiming that she
was pregnant with his child. Celtic
- Wadd, the Minaean moon god. Snakes were believed to be sacred
to him.
- Wah-con-tun-ga. The creator of all things. The
Assiniboin
- Wah-pec-wah-mow. The omnipotent and omnipresent ruler of the
heavens. Yurok
- Wailan wangko. Said Wailan Wangko to Wangi, "Remain on earth
while I climb up the tree." Said Wangi to Wailan Wangko, "Good."
But then a thought occurred to Wangi and he climbed up the tree
to ask Wailan Wangko why he, Wangi, should remain down there all
alone. Said Wailan Wangko to Wangi, "Return and take earth and
make two images, a man and a woman." Minahassa
- Waitoke Hazho, mythic personage. Shawnees
- Wahini-Hal. Demonic mother figure who sneaked through the
night stealing and eating small children. Polynesian
- Wahuiidedan, mythic personage. Shawnees
- Wagadu. Mother of the Fulbe nation and the personification of
physical prowess and hunting. Africa
- Wagyl, a snakelike creature who created the waterways in and
around the south-west of Western Australia
- Wah Kah Nee, a sacred being, able to walk unprotected, even
barefoot, through the winter and to communicate with its spirits,
asking for the return of the sunshine to warm her people.
Chinook
- Wahhahnah. The supreme spirit of the Winnebago.
Wisconsin
- Wah-kon-tah, the Great Spirit divine who, with prayer and
supplication, granted guidance and favours. Osages
- Wahini Hai, Demonic mother figure who steals and eats small
children. Polynesia
- Goddess of Health. Oceanic
- Wak. The Father of the Universe, the omniscient sky god who
is associated with rains and thunder. Ethiopia
- Wakahirume, the favourite maiden of the Japanese sun goddess
Amaterasu. Wakahirume fell onto her shuttle and fatally punctured
her vagina. Japan
- Wakan, powerful or sacred in the language of the Lakota
Sioux
- Wakan Tanka, the term for the sacred or the divine.
Lakota
- Wakantanka. The name of God is Wakantanka. The name of the
Lord is Itankan. Sioux
- (1) Wakea, the eldest son of Kahiko, the Ancient one, and
lives in Olalowaia. Wa-kea is the ancestor of the aristocracy,
the ali‘i. The priests and common people come from his
brothers. Hawaii
- (2) Wakea, lives in Hihiku and marries Pa-pa, also called
Pa-pa-nui or Pa-pa-nui-hanau-moku, who is a princess of
Olalo-i-mehani and a granddaughter of Princess Kaoupe-alii. The
Hawaiian Islands were created by Wa-kea and Pa-pa. Wa-kea had
sexual relations with Hina and she gave birth to the island of
Moloka‘i. Hawaii
- Waking a Witch. If a witch was obdurate, the most effectual
way of obtaining a confession was by what was termed
“waking her.” For this purpose an iron bridle or hoop
was bound across her face with four prongs thrust into her mouth.
The “bridle” was fastened behind to the wall by a
chain in such a manner that the victim was unable to lie down;
and in this position she was kept sometimes for several days,
while men were constantly by to keep her awake. Britain
- Wakinyan, the Thunderer, the one who is the voice of God.
Dakota
- Wakon'da, a power by which things are brought to pass. and
through this mysterious life and power all things are related to
one another and to man." Wakon'da is both a force and a state of
being. Omaha, Native American
- Wakonda, the strong spirit and the one who sent the
mosquitoes. Sioux
- Wakwiyo, Goddess of the winds. Tewa
- Wal. The omnipresent and omniscient supreme being of the
Madin. Ethiopia
- Wali-sa-yali-ze-win, the Creator, and the Light. Ojibway
- Wallim, an angel of the 1st heaven. Early Christian
- Walo, Goddess of war and the sun. Australia
- Walpurgis Night. The eve of May Day, when the old pagan
witch—world was supposed to hold high revelry under its
chief on certain high places. The Brocken of Germany was a
favourite spot for these revelries. Walpurgis was a female saint
concerned in the introduction of Christianity into Germany. She
died February 25th, 779.
- Walutahanga. The eight-fold snake goddess who was born to a
human mother. Melanesia
- Wamara. The supreme spirit and sovereign ruler of the
universe. Tanzania
- Wan-Aisa, Dawan. The creator of the world and the father of
humankind. Honduras
- Wanadi. Celestial father, maker of the sun, the moon and all
beings. Venezuela
- Wandering Jew. (1) Of Greek tradition. Aristeas, a poet who
continued to appear and disappear alternately for above 400
years, and who visited all the mythical nations of the
earth.
- (2) Of Jewish story. Tradition says that Kartaphilos, the
door—keeper of the Judgment Hall, in the service of Pontius
Pilate, struck our Lord as he led Him forth, saying, “Go on
faster, Jesus”; whereupon the Man of Sorrows replied,
“I am going, but thou shalt tarry till I come
again.”
- (3) Another legend is that Jesus, pressed down with the
weight of His cross, stopped to rest at the door of one
Ahasuerus, a cobbler. The craftsman pushed him away, saying,
“Get off! Away with you, away!” Jesus replied,
“Truly I go away, and that quickly, but tarry thou till I
come.”
- (4) In Germany the Wandering Jew is associated with John
Buttadaeus, seen at Antwerp in the thirteenth century, again in
the fifteenth, and a third time in the sixteenth. His last
appearance was in 1774 at Brussels. Signor Gualdi about the same
time made his appearance at Venice, and had a portrait of himself
by Titian, who had been dead at the time 130 years. One day he
disappeared as mysteriously as he had come.
- (5) The French call the Wandering Jew Isaac Laquedem, a
corruption of Lakedion.
- (6) Salathiel ben Sadi, who appeared and disappeared towards
the close of the sixteenth century, at Venice, in so sudden a
manner as to attract the notice of all Europe. Croly in his novel
called Salathiel, and Southey in his Curse of Kehama, trace the
course of the Wandering Jew, but in utter violation of the
general legends.
- Wang Mu Niang, Goddess of female energy, very fond of
peaches. China
- Wang the Pure, the lord of sport and gambling. China
- Wantu, Supreme god. Sudan
- Waptokwa. The sun and creator god. Shavante, Brazil
- War Hsuan, God of wild beasts, prison, robbers, enemies and
demons of all kinds. China
- War Pinx. God of shoemakers. Usually portrayed as a kindly,
respectable old man, he sees to it that the shops under his
protection run smoothly. China
- Waramurungundi, the first woman. Australian Aboriginal
- Wardi Mumi Finnish, Goddess of war Ugric
- Wari Ma Te Takere, Coconut shell goddess. Wari symbolizes the
fertile slime of primordial times and means mud. Polynesia
- Warlock. A wandering evil spirit; a wizard, a deceiver, one
who breaks his word. Satan is called in Scripture “the
father of lies,” the arch—warlock.
- Warna, Goddess of healing charms and ship wreckers. Scilly
Isles
- Warongoe. The omnipresent deity of the Sandawe, Tanzania
- Washer at the Ford. An omen of death, she wanders near
deserted streams where she washes the blood from the
grave-clothes of those who are about to die. It is said that they
are the spirits of women who died giving birth and are doomed to
do this work until the day their lives would have normally ended.
Scotland
- Wasterzhi, the god of war and of the sun. He is frequently
depicted as a cavalryman with a long beard, riding on a white
horse. North Ossetia.
- Westri, one of the four strong dwarfs who, with Nordri, Sudri
and Austri, uphold the four corners of the heavenly vault.
Norse
- Watauinewa. "The Ancient of Days," "The One Who Does Not
Change." The supreme omnipresent and beneficent god of the
Yahgan, Tierra del Fuego
- Wati-kutjara, lizard men. Australian Aboriginal
- Waves, the daughters of Ægir. Norse
- Wawalag, sisters who were daughters of Djanggawul. Australian
Aboriginal
- Wayland the Scandinavian Vulcan, was son of the
sea—giant Wate, and the sea—nymph Wac—hilt. He
was bound apprentice to Mimi the smith. King Nidung cut the
sinews of his feet, and cast him into prison, but he escaped in a
feather—boat.
- Wazha-Waud, the Creator. Algonkin
- Weatta, an agel of the seal. Early Christian
- Web of Life. The destiny of an individual from the cradle to
the grave. The allusion is to the three Fates who, according to
Roman mythology, spin the thread of life, the pattern being the
events which are to occur.
- We-duo, divine ruler of the southern hemisphere. China
- Wei Cheng, deity who guards the back door. China
- Weiwobo, Goddess of female Energy China
- Welchanos, minor divinity of vegetation and fertility.
Greek
- Wele. The supreme being and the creator of the world and of
mankind. Abaluyia
- Wele, supreme god of the Kavirondo, Africa
- Weleliideh, mythic locality of the sacred groves.
Shawnees
- Well of Wisdom. This was the well under the protection of the
god Mimir. Odin, by drinking thereof, became the wisest of all
beings. Scandinavian
- Wen-chang, god of literature and writing. Chinese
- Wendigo, a spirit in Anishinaabe mythology. It has also
become a stock horror character much like the vampire or
werewolf, although these fictional depictions often do not bear
much resemblance to the original mythology.
- Wepwawet, God of war and of the funerary cult Egypt
- Were. Supreme Creator God. North West Africa
- Werwolf, Werewolf.
A bogie who roams about devouring infants, sometimes under the
form of a man, sometimes as a wolf followed by dogs, sometimes as
a white dog, sometimes as a black goat, and occasionally
invisible. Its skin is bullet—proof, unless the bullet has
been blessed in a chapel dedicated to St. Hubert. This
superstition was once common to almost all Europe, and still
lingers in Brittany, Limousin, Aurergne, Servia, Wallachia, and
White Russia. In the fifteenth century a council of theologians,
convoked by the Emperor Sigismund, gravely decided that the
Werwolf was a reality.
- Wenchang Wen-ch'ang, Wen Ch'ang, god of literature.
China
- Wepwawet. Jackal god of war and funerary cult leader.
Egyptian
- Whaitiri, a personification of thunder, and the grandmother
of Tawhaki and Karihi, who married a mortal chief. She invented
the toilet, showed humans how to use it, and returned to the sky,
where she still lives. Maori
- Whanin. The creator god whose son, Whanung, was sent to earth accompanied by three celestial helpers of wind, cloud and rain. Whanung descended from Heaven to Mt. Taebaksan and named it the City of God. Korea
- Whatu. The Maori God of Hail.
- Whiro, the Maori god of mischief and evil. Oceanic
- White Buffalo Woman. The sacred woman who brought secret
knowledge to the Oglala. She reminded them of the mysteries of
their mother, the earth. Urging them always to honour her, she
disappeared in the shape of a white buffalo.
- White Lady, Dryad of Death Celtic
- White Ladies. A species of fée in Normandy. They lurk
in ravines, fords, bridges, and other narrow passes, and ask the
passenger to dance. If they receive a courteous answer, well; but
if a refusal, they seize the churl and fling him into a ditch,
where thorns and briars may serve to teach him gentleness of
manners.
- Whope. The daughter of the Sun Wi and the Moon, a goddess of
peace and the wife of the south wind. Lakota
- Wi. The sun god of the Lakota.
- Widapokwi, Goddess of health and whirlwinds Yavapai
- Widenostrils. A huge giant, who subsisted on windmills, and
lived in the island of Tohu. When Pantagruel
and his fleet reached this island no food could be cooked because
Widenostrils had swallowed “every individual pan, skillet,
kettle, frying—pan, dripping—pan, boiler, and
saucepan in the land,” and died from eating a lump of
butter. French
- Wigan, Goddess of water Philippines
- Wihmunga. A witch, or a female demon. First Nations
- Wild Huntsman. The German tradition is that a spectral hunter
with dogs frequents the Black Forest to chase the wild animals.
The English name is “Herne the Hunter,” who was once
a keeper in Windsor Forest. In winter time, at midnight, he walks
about Herne's Oak, and blasts trees and cattle. He wears horns,
and rattles a chain in a “most hideous manner”.
Another legend is that a certain Jew would not suffer Jesus to
drink out of a horse—trough, but pointed to some water in a
hoof—print as good enough for “such an enemy of
Moses,” and that this man is the “Wild
Huntsman.” Various
- Wilden Wip, Goddesses of healing. Germanic
- Will-o'-the-wisps. In the mediaeval ages, the
will-o'-the-wisps were known as elf lights, for these tiny
sprites were supposed to mislead travelers; and popular
superstition claimed that the Jack-o'-lanterns were the restless
spirits of murderers forced against their will to return to the
scene of their crimes. Northern Europe
- Willow Pattern. The tradition. The mandarin had an only
daughter named Li—chi, who fell in love with Chang, a young
man who lived in the island home represented at the top of the
pattern, and who had been her father's secretary. The father
overheard them one day making vows of love under the
orange—tree, and sternly forbade the unequal match; but the
lovers contrived to elope, lay concealed for a while in the
gardener's cottage, and thence made their escape in a boat to the
island home of the young lover. The enraged mandarin pursued them
with a whip, and would have beaten them to death had not the gods
rewarded their fidelity by changing them both into
turtle—doves. The picture is called the willow pattern not
only because it is a tale of disastrous love, but because the
elopement occurred “when the willow begins to shed its
leaves.”
- Winifred. Patron saint of virgins, because she was beheaded
by Prince Caradoc for refusing to marry him. She was Welsh by
birth, and the legend says that her head falling on the ground
originated the famous healing well of St. Winifred in Flintshire.
She is usually drawn like St. Denis, carrying her head in her
hand. Holywell, in Wales, is St. Winifred's Well, celebrated for
its “miraculous” virtues.
- Winonah, Daughter of the goddess Nokomis and the mother of
Hiawatha. Ojibwa
- Wintersmith. The personification of Winter. At his core he is
the elemental personification of ice. Originally just a shape in
the snow, with two violet eyes, he later formed a "snowman" out
of all the elements that make a human body. He creates snowflakes
and icebergs, and also the patterns of ice on windows.
Discworld
- Wiradyuri, the ancestor and patron god of the Kamilaroi, as
well as being an important creator spirit or culture hero of the
Eora, the Darkinjung, the Wiradjuri, and several other eastern
Australian language groups.
- Wisaaka, a spirit that figures prominently in their
storytelling, including the story of the world's creation and is
the Ojibwe trickster figure and culture hero.
- Wisagatcak, a trickster god in Cree mythology, similar to
Nanabozho in Ojibwa myth and Inktonme in Assiniboine myth. His
name means "the Flatterer." He is generally portrayed as being
responsible for a great flood which destroys the world originally
made by the Creator, as well as the one who creates the current
world with magic, either on his own or with powers given to him
by the Creator for that specific purpose.
- Witch—finder. Matthew
Hopkins, who, in the middle of the seventeenth century,
travelled through the eastern counties to find out witches. At
last Hopkins himself was tested by his own rule. Being cast into
a river, he floated, was declared to be a wizard, and was put to
death. Hammer for
Witches. (This link is Not For The
Faint Of Heart and contains perverse logic, immoderate prejudice
and inhumam methods.)
- Witch Hazel. A shrub supposed to be efficacious in
discovering witches. A forked twig of the hazel was made into a
divining—rod for the purpose. Europe
- Witch of Endor. A divining woman consulted by Saul when
Samuel was dead. She called up the ghost of the prophet, and Saul
was told that his death was at hand. 1 Samuel xxviii
- Witches' Sabbath. The muster at night time of witches and
demons to concoct mischief. The witch first anointed her feet and
shoulders with the fat of a murdered babe, then mounting a
broom—stick, distaff, or rake, made her exit by the
chimney, and rode through the air to the place of rendezvous. The
assembled witches feasted together, and concluded with a dance,
in which they all turned their backs to each other.
- Woan-no-mih. A sacred spirit. Shawnees
- Wodan, the deity in Anglo-Saxon polytheism corresponding to
Norse Odin, both continuations of a Proto-Germanic deity,
Wodanaz. Other West Germanic forms of the name include Dutch
Wodan, Alemannic Wuodan, and German Wotan.
- Woden, the Old English name as used by the Anglo-Saxons for
the Germanic god Woden, known more commonly as the Norse god
Odin.
- Wokey. Wicked as the Witch of Wokey. Wookey—hole is a
noted cavern in Somersetshire, which has given birth to as many
weird stories as the Sibyls' Cave in Italy. The Witch of Wokey
was metamorphosed into stone by a “lerned wight” from
Gaston, but left her curse behind, so that the fair damsels of
Wokey rarely find “a gallant.” Britain
- Wolaro. The creator of the sky of heaven and earth and of
everything that walks, crawls, swims or flies. Australia
- Wollunqua, a snake-god of rain and fertility. Australian
Aboriginal
- Wopeh, Goddess of happiness and pleasure. Lakota
- Wonajo. the supreme god and the leader of the mythological
snake people. Rossel Island, Melanesia
- Wondjina, cloud and rain spirits. Australian Aboriginal
- Wonekau. The all-seeing and all-hearing supreme celestial
god. New Guinea
- Wonomi. The benevolent supreme being and creator of the
world. The Maidu, California
- Wood Maidens. Northern European Elves.
- Wotan, God of inspiration and magic germanic
- Woto, God of fire Oto/Shongo
- Woyengi, Creator Goddess who shaped humans from clay dolls.
Africa
- Wraith. The spectral appearance of a person shortly about to
die. It appears to persons at a distance, and forewarns them of
the event.
- Wrath's Hole. The legend is that Bolster, a gigantic wrath or
evil spirit, paid embarrassing attention to St. Agnes, who told
him she would listen to his suit when he filled with his blood a
small hole which she pointed out to him. The wrath joyfully
accepted the terms, but the hole opened into the sea, and the
wrath, being utterly exhausted, St. Agnes pushed him over the
cliff. Cornwall, Britain
- Wu Guan. king of the fourth hell. Chinese
- Wulbari, the Creator god who made heaven to close to earth
and was uses as a towel and sniffed by dogs. Africa
- Wulleb, was born in an oyster shell from between Loa's legs.
When he lifted the top half of the shell, it became the sky,
while the bottom became the earth. Micronesia
- Wuluwaid, a rain god. Australian Aboriginal
- Wuni, Supreme god of the Dagamba, Ghana. Africa
- Wuragag, first man. Australian Aboriginal
- Wuriupranili, solar goddess who carries a torch that is the
sun. Australian Aboriginal
- Wuruntemu, 'Sun Goddess and mistress of the Hatti lands, the
queen of heaven and earth.
- Wurrunna, a culture hero. Australian Aboriginal
- Wurusemu, Goddess of the sun of Arrina. Hittite
- Wu-tai Yuan-shuai, god of musicians. China
- Wyaukeiiarbedaid. Mythical personage. Shawnees
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