Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

N6NA CHA (here is a loud cry)ORIGIN Taoist (Chinese). Guardian god.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa AD 300 untilpresent.SYNONYMS Li No Cha.CENTER(S) OF CULT throughout Chinese culture.ART REFERENCES paintings and sculptures.LITERARY SOURCES various philosophical andreligious texts, mostly inadequately researchedand untranslated.A somewhat ambiguous god who is generallyregarded as benevolent, but whose traditions hintat a more destructive aspect. He was born a god ofhuman parents, the reincarnation of an olderdeity, Ling Chu-Tzu, the “intelligent pearl.”According to tradition, his father was Li Ching,who threatened to kill his mother because sheclaimed she was made pregnant by the mysticalactions of a Taoist priest who told her she was tobear the child of a unicorn. Na Cha is said to havefought in the Shang-Chou war on the side of theChou dynasty circa 1027 BC. His chief adversarywas the sea dragon king. Ultimately he becameinvolved with the goddess Shih-Chi NiangNiang, accidentally killed her attendant and, inremorse, committed suicide.Na Cha is the tutelary god of Yung Lo, thethird emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and is creditedwith the mission of ridding the world ofevil, but he himself attacks the guardians ofboth Taoist and Buddhist temples and can onlybe defended against by Li Ch’ing, the first ministerof heaven. He is also titled “grand marshalof the skies” and “guardian of the gates ofheaven.”He is depicted surrounded by a red aura, witha white face and wearing red silk trousers whichemanate a dazzling golden radiance. His attributesinclude a bracelet on the right wrist. Originallyhe also carried a thunderbolt, but when hisname changed to Li No Cha, circa AD 1420, thisattribute changed to a pagoda.Na NgutuGod of the dead. West and central African. Essentiallythe guardian deity of warriors slain in battle.NabuGod of writing and wisdom. Mesopotamian(Babylonian-Akkadian). The son of MARDUK andZARPANITU(M), his consort is TASMETU(M). He issymbolized by the inscribing stylus. A major deityin neo-Babylonian times from the eighth centuryBC onward, with an important sanctuary at Borsippa,near Babylon, known as the Ezida. He is209