Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

Malamanganga’e 185MaiaChthonic or earth goddess. Greco-Roman. Originally,in pre-Homeric times, a mountain spiritwho subsequently became a minor consort ofZEUS. The Romans worshiped her as an obscuregoddess of the plains who became briefly a consortof JUPITER, and they perceived her as themother of the messenger god Mercury. Her cultwas associated with that of VULCANUS. Possiblythe origin of the name of the month of May.See also MERCURIUS.MAITREYA (the loving one)ORIGIN Buddhist [India]. Bodhisattva or buddhadesignate.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa 500 BC topresent.SYNONYMS none.CENTER(S) OF CULT pan-Asiatic.ART REFERENCESpaintings.LITERARY SOURCESritual texts.metal and stone sculptures,Sadhanamala and TantricOne of the most popular deities of the Mahayanaand Hinayana sects of Buddhism. He originatesfrom the yellow mantra syllable MAIM in theTusita heaven. He is also regarded as a manusibuddhaor future human buddha. He equates withKALKIN in Hinduism and is perceived as a happy,rubicund figure of benevolent character. He hasno SAKTI and his attendant animal is a lion. Color:gold or yellow. Attributes: five DHYANIBUDDHAS,flower, prayer wheel, shrine (in the hair) andwater jar. May be three-eyed or three-headed. Hemay also be identified symbolically by white blossoms.Also MI-LO FO (Chinese).Majas GarsHousehold god. Pre-Christian Latvian. Invokeduntil very recent times in country districts as a deitywho would bring prosperity to the family home.MajuGod. Basque [Pyrenean region]. The consort ofthe mother goddess MARI, he appears in the guiseof a serpent.Make MakeSea god. Polynesian [Easter Island]. The tutelarydeity of the Easter Islanders, he created mankindand animals. His sacred animal is the sea swallowand the huge anthropomorphic stone figureswhich characterize the island’s archaeology formpart of his cult.MalCreator god. Early Dravidian (Tamil). Probablyequating with a syncretization of VIŠNU andKRSNA. The name implies a deity of great stature.In Sangam texts, his face is like the moon, hiseyes are lotuses and his CAKRA is the beams of thesun. Also TIRUMAL.Mala (garland)Mother goddess. Buddhist-Lamaist [Tibet]. Oneof a group of ASTAMATARA deities. Color: red oryellow. Attributes: garland of forest flowers, or ofjewels.MalakbelVegetation god. Pre-Islamic northern Arabian.Mentioned as the brother of AGLIBOL on aninscription at Palmyra dated to AD 132.Malamanganga’e (light eastward)Creator being. Polynesian. One of the two personificationsof light who, with MALAMANGAN-GAIFO, engendered Lupe, the dove, whose consortis rock. From these primordial principles came