Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

Kyumbe 169depicted as a salacious character. Also Kutq;Kutkinnaqu.Ku’urkilThe founder of the world. Chukchee [easternSiberia]. Not only a deity, but a powerful shamanand the first human. He equates with the Koryakdeity QUIKINN.A’QU.KvasirMinor god of wisdom. Nordic (Icelandic). By traditionhe was created from the saliva of the AESIRand VANIR deities, who thus combined theirknowledge into a single being. He was slain bydwarfs who concocted a fermented drink fromhis blood, mixed with honey, and this meadbecame the inspiration of poets. He is also identifiedin Welsh mythology.KwannonForm of AVALOKITESVARA. Buddhist [Japan].See also KUAN YIN.KwothCreator god. Nuer [Sudan]. The Nuer peoplehave been affected by the expansion of Islam, andprobably by Christianity, and recognize asupreme deity, or spiritual being, responsible forall creation. One of his epithets is Tutgar, meaning“strong and without limit.”KYBELEORIGIN Phrygian [northwestern Turkey]. Mothergoddess.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa 1500 BC andprobably much earlier in prehistory, untilChristianization (circa AD 400).SYNONYMS CYBELE (Roman); Kybebe.CENTER(S) OF CULT Pessinus (Asia Minor) andRome, but also extensively elsewhere.ART REFERENCES black obelisk (lost); many classicalsculptures; a dish from Parabiago (inMilan); possibly the subject of a well-knownseal from Knossos.LITERARY SOURCES votive inscriptions, etc.One of the most important of the Asian mothergoddesses. She probably originates as a mountaingoddess who became closely equated with theGreek mother goddesses RHEA and DEMETER.According to legend, the Greek god ZEUS rapedher and she bore a monstrous son Agdistis. Herconsort is ATTIS, whom she discovered to beunfaithful. In remorse, he castrated himself undera pine tree and bled to death.In circa 204 BC the black stone by which she waspersonified in Pessinus (Phrygia) was carried toRome and installed in the Temple of Victories onthe Palatine as Cybele Magna Mater. This fulfilleda prophecy that if the “great mother” was broughtto Rome, the war with the invader Hannibal wouldbe won. She is often depicted riding in a chariotdrawn by panthers or lions and is accompanied byfrenzied dancers or Korybantes. She was invokedin the three-day festival commencing with mourning(tristia) followed by joy (hilaria) in the springduring which her emasculated priests, the galloi,gashed themselves with knives. Attributes includekey, mirror and pomegranate.KyumbeCreator god. Zaramo [Tanzania, East Africa].Tradition has it that the earth and sky may havebeen present before this being emerged. He is,however, perceived as having engendered all livingthings on earth. He first created animals’ bodieswithout tails. When they had their legs fitted,Kyumbe added tails as an afterthought.