Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

Okeanides 231great heroic Yoruba god OGUN. According tosome traditions Oduduwa is also perceived asa god.OgdoadPrimordial forces. Egyptian. The elements ofchaos, eight in number, which existed beforethe creation of the sun god and which areknown from Khemnu in Middle Egypt (GreekHeliopolis). The Ogdoad also had a sanctuaryat Medinet Habu. They created, out of themselvesrather than by sexual coupling, themound which emerged from the primevalwaters and upon which rested the egg fromwhich the young sun god emerged. They areusually depicted as baboons heralding the sun asit rises. They are grouped in pairs and includeNUN and NAUNET representing the primordialabyss, KEK and KAUKET representing darkness,HEH and HAUHET representing infinity, andAMUN and AMAUNET representing hiddenpower.OgmaOgmiosSee OGMIUS.See OGMIUS.OgmiusGod of poetry and speech. Celtic (Irish). Very littleis known of him, but the Roman writerLucian mentions a Romano-Celtic god ofwisdom, Ogmios, apparently assimilated withHERCULES and described as an old man withlion’s skin holding a crowd of people chained tohis tongue by their ears.NOTE: a goddess Ogma is also mentioned; shemay have been a mother goddess in the originalIrish pantheon.OgiuwuGod of death. Edo [Benin, West Africa]. Believedto own the blood of all living things which hesmears on the walls of his palace in the otherworld.Until recent times human sacrifice wasmade regularly to this deity in the capital of theEdo region, Benin City.OgunGod of war, hunting and metalwork. Edo [Benin,West Africa]. This rather loosely defined deitywas sent by the god OSANOBUA to cut open theland to allow crops to be planted. He is thestrength inherent in metals and piles of metalobjects are left beside his sanctuaries. As a god ofwar he defends the tribe and is depicted wearingarmor and with red eyes. As a god of hunters andfarmers he is generally benevolent.Ohoroxtotil (god almighty)Creator god. Mayan (classical Mesoamerican)[Mexico]. The creator of the sun and thedeity who made the world inhabitable for mankindby destroying the jaguars which once infested it.OiSickness god. Suk [western Kenya, East Africa]. Aspirit of personal illness rather than plague. Thesick person’s house is emptied and the priest exorcizesOi out of the dwelling.O-lwa-Dai-MyojinGod of stoneworkers. Shinto and Buddhist[Japan]. Probably more a Buddhist deity, but alsorevered in Shintoism.OkeanidesSea deities. Greco-Roman. Minor goddessesassigned the guardianship of oceans by the great