Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

178 Lubangacarpenters. He is particularly revered in HongKong. According to tradition he was born in 606BC in the kingdom of Lu, where he became askilled carpenter. He turned into a recluse onthe Li Shan mountain, where he perfected hisskills. He is said to have constructed the palaceof the queen of the western heaven. Because ofhis powers he was murdered. He is also aninvoker of harmonious relationships. His festivaltakes place on the thirteenth day of the sixthmonth, when the rains are due. Attributesinclude a set square and carpenter’s plane. He isalso depicted with an ax, the symbol of a marriagego-between.LubangaGod of health. Bunyoro [Uganda, East Africa].He is invoked by offerings of beer and his sanctuariesare surrounded by rows of trees.LubangalaRainbow god. Bakongo [Democratic Republic ofCongo, central Africa]. The chief adversary of thestorm god. He stills the thunder and makes hisappearance in the sky. Considered to be theguardian of the earth and sea, including the villageand its community.LucinaMinor goddess of birth. Roman. Concerned withbringing the child into the light. Usually associatedwith CANDELIFERA and CARMENTES.CENTER(S) OF CULT Lugudunum (modernLyons) and elsewhere in Continental Europe;possibly brought to Ireland in the first centuryBC by settlers from Gaul.ART REFERENCES various stone carvings.LITERARY SOURCES Books of Invasions; Cycles of Kings.The texts infer that Lug was a latecomer to theIrish pantheon, a tribal god who was particularlyskilled in the use of a massive spear and a slingboth of which possessed invincible magic properties.One of his epithets is lamfhada—“of the longarm.” A young and apparently more attractivedeity than the DAGDA. The main festival in hishonor seems to have been Lugnasad on August 1, aparticularly agrarian celebration in a country whichotherwise tended to observe pastoral calendardates, suggesting again that Lug was a later arrivalwho possibly superseded an arcane tribal god TRO-GRAIN. An alternative name for the August festivalwas Bron Trograin (Rage of Trograin). It is inferredthat, like many Celtic deities, Lug was capable ofchanging shape, hence the possible translation ofthe name as lynx. There appear to be strongRomano-Celtic associations in ContinentalEurope and Britain with place names such asLugudunum [Lyons] and Luguvalium [Carlisle].Lugal-IrraChthonic underworld god. Mesopotamian(Sumerian and Babylonian-Akkadian). Probably aminor variation of ERRA, the Babylonian plaguegod. The prefix Lugal means “lord.” Often coupledwith MES LAM TAEA, god of war.LUG (possibly lynx)ORIGIN Celtic (Irish). Lord of skills.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP early times untilChristianization circa AD 400 or later.SYNONYMS Lugh, Lamfhada.LulalGod of uncertain status. Mesopotamian (Sumerianand Babylonian-Akkadian). Mentioned as livingin Badtíbira in the Sumerian text Descent ofInana. Also linked with a god Latarak.