Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

Pancanana 241PalaemonMinor sea god. Greco-Roman. Originally Melikertes,the son of Ino, Palaemon was deified by thegods when his mother hurled herself from a cliffwith her son in her arms. According to versions ofthe legend she was either insane or escaping thewrath of Athanas, King of Thebes.PalaniyantavanLocal god. Hindu-Dravidian (Tamil). Known onlyfrom southern India and considered to be a formof SKANDA or of MURUKAN, who is an old Tamiltribal snake god.PalesPastoral goddess. Roman. A guardian of flocksand herds. Her festival was celebrated annually inRome on April 21.Pallas (Athene)Goddess. Greek. The full name of the deity whois thus Pallas of Athens. The origin and meaningof the word Pallas is unknown.See also ATHENA.PANORIGIN Greco-Roman. God of shepherds andpersonification of undisciplined procreation innature.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa 800 BC andearlier until Christianization circa AD 400.SYNONYMS Consentes.CENTER(S) OF CULT Arcadia; Marathon (Attica).ART REFERENCES stone reliefs and carvings.LITERARY SOURCES Theogony (Hesiod), etc.According to tradition, Pan is the son of HERMES(Mercury) and a nymph, Penelope. One of thecompany of SATYRS, Pan possesses the horns andfeet of a goat, is typically shown with phallic connotationsand is reputed to live in caves. Wellknownas a pipe player, an interest stemmingfrom an infatuation with the nymph Syrinx,whom the earth goddess GAIA changed into aclump of reeds to protect her from Pan’s amorousadvances. The pipes of Pan are cut from hollowreeds and called the syrinx. The name Pan mayalso be applied in a pluralistic sense. Pan’s reputationextended to sudden frightening of travelers,whence derives the term “panic.” Pan is depictedwearing a garland of pine boughs and bearing thesyrinx pipes and a shepherd’s crook.PanaoCreator god. Kafir [Afghanistan]. Local deity worshipedin Ashkun villages in southwestern Kafiristan.Also a generic title for deities controlling thenatural world and said to live in the mountains.These include Lutkari Panao (fertility), SaramunPanao (health), Plossa Panao (rain and goodhealth), Passamun Panao (rain and good health),Indermun Panao (fruit and wine), and Malek Panao(nut trees). These gods were generally worshiped insacred open spaces where their wooden imageswere regularly drenched with blood sacrifices.PancabrahmaCollective name for five aspects of ŠIVA. Hindu.The five aspects are Aghora, Isana, Sadyojata,Tatpurusa and Vamadeva. Also Isanadayas.Pancamukha-PatradevaGod. Buddhist. A “bowl-god.” Attributes: an almsbowl in each of sixteen hands. Five-headed.PancananaDemonic deity. Hindu (Puranic). Regarded as aform of the god ŠIVA possessing five faces, each