Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

Huang Ti 129HoursUnderworld goddesses. Egyptian. The twelvedaughters of the sun god RE. They act in concertagainst the adversaries of Re and control the destinyof human beings in terms of each person’s lifespan, reflecting the supremacy of order and timeover chaos. The Hours are sometimes representedon the walls of royal tombs in anthropomorphicform with a five-pointed star above thehead. Also Horae (Greek).Hrsikesa (lord of the senses)God. Hindu. Minor avatara of VIŠNU. His SAKTIis HARSA.HSI WANG MU (queen of the westernheaven)ORIGIN Taoist (Chinese). Goddess of longevity.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP from prehistorictimes until present.SYNONYMS Xi Wang Mu.CENTER(S) OF CULT throughout Chinese culture.ART REFERENCES paintings and sculptures.LITERARY SOURCES various philosophical andreligious texts, mostly inadequately researchedand untranslated.One of the oldest deities known in China, she mayhave originated as a plague goddess depicted withfeline fangs and tail. Under Taoism she becamemore benign in nature, identified as both governingthe length of mortal life and granting the boon oflongevity and, in some instances, immortality. Herhome is in the western Chinese K’un Lun mountainsor, alternatively, in the Hindukush, where sheis accompanied by five jade ladies. According totradition she visited the earth on two occasions,once in 985 BC to the emperor Mu, and again in thesecond century BC to the emperor Wu Ti.She is the ruler of the west and is associatedwith the autumn, the season of old age. She isalso identified in some texts as the golden motherof the tortoise, the animal which embodies theuniverse but which is also the dark warrior symbolizingwinter and death. Her sacred animal isthe crane, which is the Chinese symbol oflongevity (it is often incorporated into funeral rituals).She is also said to be represented by themythical phoenix.HuGod personifying royal authority. Egyptian. Oneof several minor deities born from drops of bloodemitting from the penis of the sun god RE (seealso SIA). Hu epitomizes the power and commandof the ruler.HuacaSpirit being. Inca (pre-Columbian South America)[Peru, etc]. The apotheosis of a naturalobject such as a rock or a place of local importancesuch as a spring. It is uncertain whether theprinciple is one of animism (when a deity takeson different natural shapes at will) or anímatism(when an object is a supernatural being in itsown right).HuanacauriGuardian spirit. Inca (pre-Columbian SouthAmerica) [Peru, etc]. The apotheosis of a specialspindle-shaped stone sited near Cuzco which protectedthe Inca royal family and also featuredstrongly in the maturation rites of male Inca adolescents.Also Wanakawri.Huang TiAstral god. Chinese. Allegedly a deified emperor,the so-called “yellow emperor,” who rules themoving as distinct from dark heavens, the latter