Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

10 AhuraniAlthough never popular among the civilian population,Mithraism spread under Flavius and waswidespread among the Roman military, though italways enjoyed a greater following in the east thanin the west. It was one symptom of the more generalRoman return to sun worship. In AD 307, asanctuary on the Danube was dedicated toMithras (and Ahura Mazda) in an effort to sustainmilitary power in the empire.Ahurani (mistress of Ahura)Fertility goddess. Zoroastrian (Persian). Invokedby ordinary people to bring prosperity and children.Water libations were a key part of the ritual.Ai ApaecSupreme god. Mochica Indian (pre-ColumbianSouth America) [northern coast of Peru]. Probablyoriginated as a jaguar god but came to rule the destiniesof the world. He was thought to live like ordinarypeople and could reveal himself as man or godat will. He is depicted in anthropomorphic form,but with huge fangs and a cat-like wrinkled facewith whiskers coming from his nose. He receivedsacrificial victims hurled from the top of a high cliff.AidesSee HADES.AineObscure sky or sun goddess. Celtic (Irish). Mayhave an association with horses.Ajaya (invincible)Minor goddess. Buddhist (Mahayana). An attendantof BUDDHAKAPALA.AjeGoddess of wealth. Yoruba [Nigeria, WestAfrica]. She is thought to appear as a fowl scratchingthe earth and, in creation mythology, was sentdown with ODUDUWA, the earth goddess.Aji-Shiki-Taka-Hiko-NeRain god. Shinto [Japan]. One of the RAIJINdeities whose name is often linked with that ofKAMO-WAKA-IKAZUCHI.AjysytMaternal spirit. Yakut [central Siberia]. Thedeity who oversees the lying-in of an expectantmother and who brings the child’s soul to thechild-bed. The term ajysyt can also apply to amale spirit, thus the ajysyt that oversees the birthof horses is male, while that of horned cattle isfemale.Akasagarbha (essence of the sky)Astral god. Buddhist (Mahayana) and Lamaist[Tibet]. One of the BODHISATTVAS or spiritualmeditation buddhas. He lives in the “womb ofthe sky.” Color: green. Attributes: book, jewel,lotus and sun disc. Also Khagarbha. In JapaneseBuddhism this deity becomes the god Kokuzo.AjalamoGod of unborn children. Yoruba [Nigeria, WestAfrica]. According to legend, in some vaguemythological realm there exist rows of shelveswith spirits of the unborn. These are the responsibilityof Ajalamo.AkelosRiver god. Greek. The son of OKEANOS andTETHYS. According to mythology he was a rivalsuitor for Deianeira who became the wife of HER-AKLES. He was the consort of Melpomene and hisdaughters were allegedly the sirenes. A river of the