Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

Oxlahun Ti Ku 237lives in the Hall of Valhalla in Asgard. He rulesover an army of warrior spirits, the Valkyries.Othin peoples Valhalla with chosen heroes, slainin battle on earth, who will defend the realm ofthe gods against the Frost Giants on the final dayof reckoning, Ragnarok, the doom of the gods.Othin passes out magic weapons to his selectedearthly heroes including Sigmund the Volsung(see also BAAL). In spite of his eminence Othin isconsidered to be untrustworthy, a breaker ofpromises. He rides a winged eight-legged horse,Sleipnir, and is able to change shape at will, anindication that he derives from an older, shamanisticreligion.His symbol is the raven and his weapon is aspear carved with runes or treaties said, whenhurled by the god, to influence the course of combat.He is also symbolized by a knotted device, thevalknut, probably representing his power to bindor unbind the minds of warriors and thus influencethe outcome of battle. Othin is perceived asa shaman, his constant desire the pursuit of occultknowledge through communication with thedead. He wanders the earth disguised as a traveler,and once pierced himself with his own spear andhung himself from the World Tree, Yggdrasill, tothis end. He gave an eye to the god MIMIR as paymentfor permission to drink from the well ofknowledge which rises from a spring beneath thetree.Othin has links with the goddess FREYJA in literature.The goddess SKADI, wife of NJORD insome legends, was reputed also to have bornechildren to Othin, thus linking him with theVANIR gods. Adam of Bremen reports a specialfestival of the gods in Uppsala when men and animalswere slaughtered and hung in trees. Followersof Othin were also burnt on funeral pyres.Othin is thought to have evolved as a syncretizationof the Germanic war gods WODAN andTIWAZ. He was the patron god of a fanatical warriorcult, the Berserks.As Wotan, the image of Othin was popularizedby Richard Wagner in his epic operaticcycle “Der Ring des Nibelung.” The god’s mythicalbiography is, however, most extensivelydrawn by the 12th-century Icelandic poet andhistorian Snorri Sturluson. He refers to Othinas “a mighty one,” but describes, in detail, howhe was instrumental in the breaking of importantoaths to the giants. It was this shortcomingthat led eventually to the downfall of the Aesirpantheon.O-Toshi-No-KamiGod of harvests. Shinto [Japan]. The son ofSUSANO-WO and Kamu-O-Ichi-Hime, he headsthe pantheon of agricultural deities and is generallythe guardian of rice fields.OuranosPrimordial god of heaven. Greek. The creator andincestuous consort of the earth mother GAIA withwhom he engendered six giant sons—OKEANOS,Koeos, Kreos, HYPERION, IAPETOS andKRONOS—and six daughters—Klymene, RHEA,THEA, THETIS, MNEMOSYNE and Phoebe—thetwelve collectively being known as the TITANS.Fearing their power, Ouranos hurled them intothe abyss of Tartaros and chained them up.OwiotMoon god. Luiseno Indian [California, USA].The ancestral deity of the tribe.Oxlahun Ti KuSky gods. Mayan (classical Mesoamerican) [Mexico].The collective name for a group of thirteencelestial deities who are probably still invoked byMesoamerican Indians today.